Tree Activities for Arbor Day

Kid Friendly Activities that Celebrate Trees

Jan 5, 2009 Belinda Mooney

Make leaf rubbings, plant a tree in the kitchen or make a tree sewing card. These are a few of the fun activities you can do with your kids on Arbor Day.

Oak trees, pine trees, and elm trees – these are just a few of the many wonderful types of trees you can find in the United States. Trees are a part of the nature that surrounds every community and part of what makes the United States so beautiful. Communities need trees to provide oxygen.

Trees provide homes for animals and insects of all sorts. Without trees the birds would have no place to make their nests. April 24 is National Arbor Day. On this day trees are planted and nature celebrated. By planting trees in your neighborhood you can help beautify your neighborhood and help control pollution. Here are some fun activities for kids that can extend the learning.

Preschool Activity – Sewing Card Tree

For this activity you will need a light weight cardboard, a hole punch, markers, scissors and yarn. Draw or trace the shape of a large tree onto the cardboard. Cut out the tree and let the child decorate the tree with markers are crayons. At this point you may wish to laminate the cardboard tree before punching holes. Now take the hole punch and punch holes all along the outside edge of your cut out tree. Make sure they are evenly spaced.

Now give the child a long piece of yarn and let him "sew" along the edge of the tree. He can do this over and over again. It teaches fine muscle coordination and hand eye coordination. Dipping the very end of the piece of yarn into glue and allowing it to dry to form a hard end can help the child to thread the yarn through the holes.

Plant a Tree in Your Kitchen

Save orange, lemon or grape fruit seeds and plant them in a cup. Place on a sunny windowsill, and remember to water regularly. Before long you will have a tiny tree growing. You can also plant at an avocado seed.

Make a Seasonal Mural

Pick a tree, such as an elm tree, that changes with the seasons. Now have the child draw a picture of the tree in each of the different seasons. How does the tree look in spring, summer, fall and winter? What changes take place? What happens to the color of the tree?

Leaf Pictures

Collect different types of leaves for this project. Using crayons lay a piece of plain white paper on top of each leaf and rub over it with a crayon. Write the name of the leaf below the rubbing. Hang your pictures on the wall. You can also do this activity with the bark of a tree. Only then you will need to take crayons and paper with you, and actually go to the tree.

Arbor Day Story

Write a story or poem about a tree or a leaf. Share your story with someone else. By including these fun kid friendly activities on or around Arbor Day you can teach your children to appreciate the beauty of trees and how to protect nature and our natural resources.

These are just a few of the many activities you can do with your children to teach them the importance of conservation. Many of these activities are adaptable to any age group. It only takes a few minutes a day to make a sewing card, create a picture or write an Arbor Day story. Take the time to personalize the activities to fit your neighborhood and family. And be sure and add Arbor Day to your list of holiday's to celebrate – it's important for you, your community and the world.

The copyright of the article Tree Activities for Arbor Day in Kids Crafts is owned by Belinda Mooney. Permission to republish Tree Activities for Arbor Day in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.