Arbor Day is a holiday each year in Spring when people are encouraged to plant and care for trees. It started in 1872 when J. Sterling Morgan, a newspaper editor in Nebraska, proposed a tree-planting holiday. This year Arbor Day is on Friday, April 30th.
There are many ways you can celebrate. Here are just a few!
- Plant a tree. Get your kids involved. You can plant a tree in memory or someone, in celebration of an event (birthday, anniversary, wedding), or just for fun. Gift trees to your friends and family.
- Read a book about trees. Learn about trees around the world. This is a great way to show kids how trees are important to the environment. Trees provide oxygen as well as homes for many animals.
- Take a virtual tour of some of the biggest trees online.
- Watch this PBS Video about Arbor Day.
- Enjoy the outdoors. Take a hike, go for a walk on a trail, have a picnic. Here are some great local options.
- Draw or paint a tree, do leaf rubbings, collect a few leaves and make a collage. Draw a trunk and let kids use their fingerprints in ink (or q-tips and paint for a less messy version) to make the leaves. Here are some fun Pinterest Arbor Day activity ideas.
- Have an Arbor Day Tree snack. Use stick pretzels and different colored grapes (or broccoli and cauliflower) to make a tree. Here are some fun Pinterest Arbor Day Snacks.
- Watch a movie about trees or nature. I recommend The Lorax, Ferngully: The Last Rainforest, Swiss Family Robinson, Over the Hedge, and Avatar.
