Preschool Earth Day and Recycling Theme

Discover a variety of preschool Earth Day and Recycling themed activities that explore the Earth, nature, and caring for our planet. This page is packed with  learning objectives, and fun, hands-on ideas for small group, whole group, and independent learning centers to support your early childhood program.
Use the buttons below to quickly navigate to each section!

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Quick Links to Key Resources

Theme Planning

Activities

Resources

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Preschool Earth Day & Recycling Theme Planning  Section

Below, you'll find our Theme Map outlining key topics to explore, suggested learning objectives to guide your lessons, and a free activity plan to help you get started. Club Members can download our Earth Day & Recycling theme planning guide and all of our printable resources and instruction pages for free inside our Activity Library! Not a member? Learn More Here

Preschool Earth Day & Recycling Topic Ideas & Learning Objectives

Here are some suggested preschool learning objectives for a Earth Day & Recycling theme:
Science & Nature Exploration

• Identify and describe natural materials like rocks, soil, water, and plants.
• Explore the properties of dirt, mud, and rocks through hands-on observation.
• Demonstrate understanding of basic earth science concepts (e.g., how mud is formed).
• Understand the importance of recycling and how it helps protect the Earth.

Environmental Awareness

• Recognize ways to care for the environment (e.g., recycling, picking up trash, conserving water).
• Sort items into categories: recyclable, compostable, and trash.
• Participate in classroom or outdoor clean-up activities to help the environment.
• Develop respect and appreciation for living things and natural habitats.

Fine Motor Skills

• Use tools (like tweezers, scoops, or brushes) to manipulate small rocks, dirt, and recycled materials.
• Practice cutting, gluing, and building with recycled or natural materials.

Language & Literacy

• Use new vocabulary related to Earth Day, nature, and recycling (e.g., reduce, reuse, recycle, soil, environment).
• Participate in read-alouds and discussions about taking care of the Earth.
• Express ideas through drawing or storytelling about nature and the environment.

Math & Sorting

• Sort objects by size, shape, color, or material (e.g., different types of rocks or recyclable items).
• Count and classify items collected during nature walks or clean-up activities.

Social-Emotional Development

• Work cooperatively during group clean-up or recycling activities.
• Show empathy and responsibility for the Earth and others by making eco-friendly choices.
• Take turns, share tools and materials during nature-based play and group projects.

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Earth Day & Recycling Preschool Activity Plan

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Earth Day & Recycling Preschool Activities

Below you will find some of our favorite activities for this theme. Click on a button below to find specific activities by type, or visit our free Preschool Activity Library to find even MORE Preschool Activities for this theme! Use the yellow arrow to return to the top!

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Painting with Recyclables

Set out some paint and recyclables for children to create anything they like. This is a great time to explore how different tools can create unique designs!
Another fun creativity idea is to invite your preschooler to create 3D art using recyclables. View Member Instructions

DIY Watercolors

Save those dried up markers to reuse! 
Sheena W. of Building Blocks Family Child Care contributed this photo. She placed dried up markers in a plastic bottle then filled with water. She paired them with droppers for her preschoolers to use for painting. 
View Member Instructions

*Make Your Own Crayons

Get creative with your preschoolers with these DIY crayons! Handmade with love, these vibrant colors will ignite their imaginations and make learning even more fun.
View the Blog Post or View Member Instructions

Try this!

*Coffee Filter Earth

Mix blue water color paint and green water color paint in small jars of water. Lay out coffee filters on trays for easy clean up. Invite children to use pipettes to suck up blue and green and drop the color on their coffee filter to create Earth!

Decorate a Reusable Shopping Bag

Create a unique reusable shopping bag. Gather some canvas shopping bags, assorted color markers or paint pens, cardboard pieces (cut to fit into each bag to keep the markers/pens from bleeding through).  Place cardboard pieces inside each bag and begin coloring your design! Let dry and then you can take the beautiful bag with you whenever you go shopping to help reduce plastic use!
View Member Instructions

Paper Towel Art

Create fun art pieces using paper towels!
You will need:
-Paper towel
-Black permanent marker
-Colored washable markers
-Scissors
-Shallow dish of water

​ Fold paper towel in half and then cut in half creating two pieces that look like a book. On one of the books use the permanent black marker to draw a design, allowing it to bleed through to the piece underneath. Next, open the book and color the impression left from page 1. Close the book and place in the shallow dish of water. The black and white design will be magically colored! Remove and let dry.
View Member Instructions

​Making Maracas

Engage little learners with this fun and educational Maracas Craft! Perfect for preschool teachers, this hands-on activity will enhance motor skills while introducing the joy of music. Let creativity flow as children decorate their own maracas and experience the magic of rhythm.
View the Blog Post or View Member Instructions

Tin Can Drums

Collect different sized tin cans to create drums.  Decorate your drums with leftover art scraps, felt, tape, stickers, etc.
View Member Instructions

Recycled Houses Art

Provide plain cardboard, scissors, and markers for children to create houses with. Cutting cardboard is a big workout for those little hands, so consider having some extras already cut for when their hands get tired.
View Member Instructions

More Earth Day & Recycling Preschool Art Ideas

23 Earth Day Crafts from Happy Hooligans
Earth Day Shaving Cream Paint Craft from Easy Preschool Craft
No Mess Painting in a Bag Earth Craft from Still Playing Preschool
Make a Toy Guitar out of Recycled Materials from Projects for Preschoolers

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Recycling Center

Easily set up your own Recycling Center for Dramatic Play using the printables from the Pre-K Printable Fun Recycling Center and Repair Clinic Dramatic Play Pack.  Pair the printables with a variety of bins and recyclable materials for children to practice what they have learned about recycling.  See more ways to set up this invitation to play on my Recycling Center and Repair Clinic Dramatic Play blog post. 

Recycling Center Dramatic Play Pack

Gardening and Composting

Set up a pretend play garden, and learn more about growing fruits, and vegetables and composting. Our Friend Erica created this garden! She placed pool noodles inside a box, attached garden edging, and covered the noodles with brown fabric dirt. View Member Instructions

Repair Shop

Explore our Recycling Center and Repair Clinic Dramatic Play set, designed for easy setup and guaranteed enjoyment for preschoolers! As dedicated educators, we recognize the significance of teaching kids about environmental responsibility. This resource offers hours of imaginative play, featuring a printable recycling center with labeled bins for paper, plastic, and glass, along with forms, signs, and a decorative bunting.
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More Earth Day & Recycling Preschool Dramatic Play Ideas

Recycled Play from The Empowered Educator
Recycled Cardboard Playhouse from Preschool toolkit 

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Materials to Add to this Space

While learning all about Earth Day & Recycling add some fun and interesting materials to your building and small world space. Save up some recycled materials such as cardboard tubes, empty bottles, and a variety of lids for children to build with. For small world play include some recycling trucks, small people, and small containers that can be used as recycling bins.
Consider making your own DIY mini recycling bins to enhance this play as a craft project this week with your preschooler.
View Member Instructions

Build with Recyclables

While learning all about Earth Day & Recycling add some fun and interesting materials to your building and small world space. Save up some recycled materials such as cardboard tubes, empty bottles, and a variety of lids for children to build with. For small world play include some recycling trucks, small people, and small containers that can be used as recycling bins. Consider making your own DIY mini recycling bins to enhance this play as a craft project this week with your preschooler.
View Member Instructions

*Build a Tower with Recycled Materials 

Gather recycled materials and allow your preschooler to build a tower.
View Member Instructions

*Recycled Town

Add a variety of recycled materials, scissors, tape, glue, etc. in the building center. Invite children to build a town with the recycled materials. Help children brainstorm different buildings and structures they could build in their Recycle Town! View Member Instructions

More Earth Day & Recycling Preschool Construction & Small World Ideas

Recycled Building from Busy Toddler
Make a City from Paper Rolls by Today's Parent

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*Earth Day 3-Part Cards

Celebrate Earth Day with this engaging preschool activity! These 3-part cards will teach your little ones about the importance of taking care of our planet. With beautiful real-life images, they will learn about recycling, planting trees, and conserving water. A fun and educational way to instill environmental awareness! Buy Now

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Write an Earth Day Story

Use the writing template included in my Earth Day & Recycling Activity Pack to create your own story about Earth Day. For preschoolers not ready to write encourage them to draw the illustration and dictate the story do an adult. 

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Recycle Name Collage

Put out a variety of recycled materials.  Have children form each letter of their name using the recycled materials to create a fun name collage! This activity is great for practicing letter formation as well as name and letter identification. View Member Instructions

*Flip and Find Recycling Letter Mat

Teach your preschooler about recycling while developing letter recognition and fine motor skills with these fun and engaging flip and find recycling letter match mats. Perfect for an eco-friendly learning experience! Buy Now

Buy this activity pack!

Search for the Recycling Symbol

Environmental print is an important part of learning to read. Everywhere children go there are signs and print to spot; children can easily recognize restaurant logos, food packaging, street signs and more. 
Introduce the Recycling Symbol to your preschoolers and talk about the Recycling Trilogy. 
Then challenge your preschoolers to find the symbol in real life! 
You can provide a bin of recyclables for this project or go on a scavenger hunt. 
​Soon your preschooler will be recognizing this symbol everywhere they go!

Included in our Recycling and Repair Clinic Dramatic Play Pack

Going Green Learning Song

Listen to the song “Going Green” and learn about different ways we can keep the Earth clean.  Work on recalling ways to keep Earth clean through discussion and replaying the song.  Listen to it on YouTube here. 

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The Earth Book by Todd Parr

Recycling Day by Edward Miller

Earth Day Every Day
by Lisa Bullard and Zin Zheng

Earth Day--Hooray!​
by Stuart Murphy and Renee Andriani
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Earth Day, Birthday!
by Maureen Wright and Violet Kim

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*Recycling Counting Mat 1-20

Teach your little ones about recycling and counting with this fun, printable activity! Perfect for preschoolers, this mat allows them to practice counting from 1 to 20 while learning about the importance of recycling. Print, laminate, and use again and again for hours of educational fun. A must-have for any preschool classroom or homeschooling environment!
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Buy this activity pack!

Beach Clean-Up Counting

Teach your little ones about the importance of ocean conservation with this engaging beach clean-up counting activity printable for preschoolers. They'll have a blast counting and matching the sea creatures while learning valuable lessons about keeping our beaches clean. Buy Now

Buy this activity pack!

Sort Cans by Size & Color

Practice sorting cans by color and size with this recycling sorting activity
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*Recycle Roll & Sort 

Teach your little ones about recycling with this fun and educational Printable Preschool Activity! Watch as they roll and sort different recyclable items into the correct bins, developing fine motor skills and eco-consciousness. A fantastic way to make learning engaging and meaningful. Buy Now

Buy this activity pack!

Sort Recyclables by 3D Shape

Provide recycled materials for children to sort by 3D shape (Cylinders, Rectangular Prism, Cube, etc). View Member Instructions

Weigh Recycled Items

Gather a variety of recycles items. Weigh each of the recycled items to discover which are heavier and which are lighter using a scale. Have children make predictions about what items are heavy or light. 
View Member Instructions

More Earth Day & Recycling Preschool Math Ideas

Create a Trash Rainbow from No Time for Flashcards

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Make Your Own Paper

This activity is great to include in your Earth Day and Recycling Theme since creating your own paper is all about reusing materials and producing less waste. This project supports preschoolers in understanding the idea of taking something old and turning it into something new, and, it's a pretty cool experience!
View the Blog Post or View Member Instructions

Try this!

*Recycle or Compost?

Teach your little ones the importance of recycling and composting with this engaging printable activity! Perfect for preschoolers, these sorting pages will help develop their eco-consciousness while having fun. Get your copies today! Buy Now

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Start a Worm Farm

Engage your little learners with a hands-on DIY Worm Farm project! Teach them the wonders of nature, recycling, and responsibility while having fun exploring the world beneath our feet. Perfect for preschool classrooms!
View Member Instructions

Try this!

Shredded Paper Sensory Bin

Fill up your sensory bin with shredded newspaper this week. You can toss in other small recycled materials for children to explore such as cardboard tubes to push the paper through, plastic bottles to fill and a variety of lids to explore. View Member Instructions

Soda Bottle Composter

Use a large clear soda bottle or similar container to create a compost bin that children can observe.  Encourage preschoolers to draw what they see and talk about the changes they observe on a daily basis.
View Member Instructions

More Earth Day & Recycling Preschool Science Ideas

Making Recycled Paper from You Clever Monkey
​Seed Bombs from Little Bins for Little Hands
intheplayroom.co.uk/celebrating-earth-day-with-sensory-play/Earth Day Sensory Play from In the Playroom

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*Recycling Clip and Count Cards

These Count and Clip Cards are perfect for little learners! Help your preschooler practice counting and number recognition with this fun and engaging activity. Simply count the objects on each card and clip the correct answer. Great for developing fine motor skills too! Get your printable copy now. Buy Now

Buy this activity pack!

*Recycle Relay Race

Kids work in teams to sort recyclable items into bins, racing against the clock. They learn the importance of recycling, practice sorting skills, and get exercise! View Member Instructions

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Earth Day Scavenger Hunt

Put together an Earth Day or Nature Themed Scavenger Hunt.

Backyard Scavenger Hunt

Earth Fine Motor Sweeping Mat

This Earth Sweeping Mat printable preschool activity is a perfect way to teach little ones about the importance of keeping our planet clean. They'll have a blast sweeping away pollution and making the Earth shine!
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More Earth Day & Recycling Preschool Physical Development Ideas

Earth Day Game from Teach Preschool
Planet Earth Fine Motor Activity From Play Teach Repeat

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How I Care for Earth​

After learning about what it means to care for our planet, challenge your preschoolers to talk about ways they already care for Earth and new things they can do. Decide on three new things that you can do together to better the environment. View Member Instructions

Learn About the Recycling Community

Take some time to learn about the professionals in our community that help with recycling. This might include visiting a recycling center or taking a virtual field trip to a recycling center (find a link to one in the materials section. Your library is a wonderful unexpected resource for this theme! They often have ideas for crafts that use recyclable material and of course fun book suggestions. View Member Instructions

List Ways to Keep the Earth Clean

During circle time or as a group, help children brainstorm ways that we can keep the earth clean. Some answers might include: recycling, reducing what we use, composting, picking up litter, etc. You can enhance the activity by creating visuals of their answers that you can keep hung up in the classroom during your Earth Day study!
View Member Instructions

Go on a Neighborhood Clean Up

Take the children from a walk around the neighborhood to help clean up litter. Give students plastic dish washing gloves or medical gloves and trash bags. Stop and point out litter that you see and have one child pick it up and put it in their bag. Talk about all of the things they cleaned up from their walk. You can extend the activity by talking about how we can prevent litter from happening.
View Member Instructions

More Earth Day & Recycling Preschool Social Studies Ideas

Learn More About Earth Day from Projects for Preschoolers

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​Up cycle Ideas for Your Space

Early Childhood Educators are always on the lookout for new and engaging activities and materials for their students that fit in their educator budget.
Here are some resources for DIY and Recycling materials to create learning activities and spaces for preschoolers.
View Member Instructions

10+ Ways for Using Tires in Your Outdoor Space
​DIY and Free Ideas for Your Building Space
DIY Educational Activity Ideas

Break Out the Sidewalk Chalk

Hopefully April means it's starting to warm up where you are. If so break out the sidewalk chalk! 
This is a great way to teach children to create without needing to use new materials. 
Use the Sidewalk Chalk Roll & Write set with your chalk to support children in letter recognition and formation. ​

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Reuse Your Printables

If you use printables as a teaching tool consider laminating your materials.  Laminating your printables means they can be used time and time again without the need to reprint. Being able to use your printables with multiple children and even year-after-year is better for the environment and for your pocket book!
All you need is a simple laminator (nothing fancy) and some pocket laminating sheets. 

Laminate Printables to Re-use! Recycling Center Dramatic Play

Places to Visit

Plan to visit places in your community that are related to this theme such as your local landfill or recycling center. Consider a visit to a pond or other body of water; make some observations about litter that may be present and think about what challenges the trash can create for our world and the creatures that inhabit it. 
Consider bringing personal safety equipment and a bin for picking up litter. 

Pledge to do Better: Family Engagement Idea

Identify 3 changes your family can make to make the earth healthier. 
Some ideas: Set up recycling bins, if you already use bins ensure you are using them regularly, start a compost bin, pick up trash in the neighborhood, share a book about recycling with a friend, tell a family member that lives far away about your contributions to inspire them. 

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Shop for Earth Day & Recycling Resources

Pre-K Printables Club Members can download all of these products for free!
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Earth Day & Recycling Preschool Activity Pack

$7.00

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Recycling Center and Repair Clinic Preschool Dramatic Play Pack

$5.00

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The Earth Book Pre-K Book Companion & Recycling Cans Sorting Activity

$3.00

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Spring Sensory Bin Scavenger Hunt Activities

$4.00

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Spring Rhymes for Preschool Circle Time

$4.00

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Spring Preschool Calendar Display and Games

$4.00

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Positive Student Notes

$3.00

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Free Preschool Earth Day Crown

$0.00

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