Our changing world needs environmental leaders with a passion for our planet.

Make your classroom a playground for learning and discovering the wonders of the natural world. Celebrate the world's largest environmental movement this spring with Illinois Extension Earth Day Kits. With quick, fun, and engaging hands-on activities, you can help us create the change-makers of tomorrow.

Register for your FREE kit today! (50 kits available)

Each Earth Day Kit contains materials for 25 students to complete activities. Everything (or almost everything!) is included in your kit, some activities may require markers, crayons, scissors, paper, etc. from student supplies.

Earth Day Kits will be distributed April 4 - 7

McLean County Extension Office, 1615 Commerce Parkway, Bloomington
An email with details on kit pick-up will be sent to you the last week of March, lunchtime and evening pick-up options will be available.

Illinois Extension Earth Day Kits meet Next Generation Science Standards for Kindergarten through 5th grade, while exploring the following real-world content:

CLASSROOM KIT

includes lessons with background information, hands-on activity directions, and materials for groups.

• Two Earth Day-themed books: This Class Can Save the Planet by Staci Tornio and Thank you, Earth by April Sayre
• Water cycle: With a plastic band, a little water, and help from the sun, students can create a miniature version of evaporation, condensation, and precipitation.
• Geology: Explore characteristics and formation of different rock types through a rock testing lab.
• Pollinators: Discover how a plant's flower colors communicate messages to animals and assist with pollination.
• Web of Life: Students will discover that all life in an ecosystem is connected when playing a game about a food chain and by dissecting owl pellets.
• Oil Spill Clean-Up: Explore different Earth-friendly methods and materials for cleaning up and containing an oil spill using engineering and inquiry skills.
• Slime: Reduce costs and waste by creating a favorite gelatinous material out of supplies in the classroom.            

TAKE-HOME KIT

(or supplemental activities for the classrooms) is prepacked for each student to receive directions, materials to complete the activity, and supplemental ideas for further exploration at home.

• Earth Day bracelets: A collection of beads and a little string is a reminder that the cycles of nature are like circles going around and around, with no beginning or end. Discover how we are connected to all the cycles.
• Anemometers: Engineer a device to measure wind speed and understand wind patterns in nature.
• Pollinator garden: Start a pollinator garden of your own in a cardboard carton!
• Eco-friendly bird feeder: Reduce waste and support backyard wildlife with a cardboard bird feeder

If you require a reasonable accommodation for participation or have further questions, please contact Brittnay Haag at bhaag@illinois.edu or by calling the McLean County Extension Office at 309-663-8306.