Earth Day Activities for Preschoolers: Simple Printables for Hands-On Learning

If you’re looking for easy, fun, and meaningful Earth Day activities for preschoolers, this post is packed with ideas you can use right at home. In our homeschool, I’ve learned that keeping things simple is often the best way to keep little ones engaged—and that’s exactly why printable activities are such a great option for teaching young kids about the Earth.

Earth Day is a wonderful opportunity to introduce big ideas like recycling, taking care of nature, and protecting animals—but it’s important to do it in a way that makes sense for preschoolers. That’s where simple, hands-on activities come in! You don’t need complicated crafts or elaborate experiments. Sometimes, all it takes is a few printable games, some crayons, and a little conversation to make a lasting impact!

The printables in our Earth Day Preschool Activity Bundle are designed to do just that. They’re screen-free, low-prep, and packed with meaningful learning—perfect for families who want to celebrate Earth Day in a fun, age-appropriate way.

You might wonder if kids this young really understand what Earth Day is all about. The answer is yes—they absolutely can! Preschoolers are naturally curious about the world around them. They love learning about animals, plants, and the environment. Earth Day activities give you the chance to start important conversations early and help your child build habits of kindness and responsibility toward the planet.

These kinds of activities also support key preschool learning skills like:

• Fine motor development through cutting, coloring, and tracing

• Early math and literacy skills through matching, sorting, and letter recognition

• Critical thinking as they learn about recycling and taking care of the Earth

• Creativity and self-expression during art-based activities

Plus, these printable activities make it easy to celebrate Earth Day without adding extra prep to your already busy homeschool day.

The Earth Day Preschool Activity Bundle includes a variety of activities designed specifically for ages 3–6. Everything is ready to print and use with simple items you have around the house (kid scissors, dice, dry erase marker)! The focus is on keeping things simple, hands-on, and meaningful.

Here are just a few of the Earth Day activities for preschoolers you’ll find inside:

• Tracing Mats & Printing Word Mats: Practice fine motor skills and early writing.
• I-Spy Activity: Build visual discrimination skills.
• Bottle Cap Activities (Patterns, Counters, Color Matching, Addition): Learn colors, numbers, and patterns through hands-on play.
• Roll & Cover Mat & Memory Game Cards: Strengthen counting and memory skills.
• Recycle Bin Number Match Cards: Fun counting with an environmental theme.
• Alphabet Dough Mats: Sensory play meets early literacy.
• Counting Cards (Set of 20): Practice numbers and counting.
• Scissor Practice Sheets: Develop fine motor skills.
• Finger Plays & Songs: Rhymes and songs to boost language skills.

These activities are designed to build early learning skills while gently introducing the concept of Earth Day in a preschool-friendly way.

One of the best things about printable preschool activities is how flexible they are. You can easily use them as part of a formal homeschool lesson, a morning basket, or even just as an afternoon activity during Earth Month.

Here are a few ideas for how to use these printables throughout the week:

• Morning Work – Print a few pages for your child to color, trace, or sort while you work with older siblings.

• Nature Walk Connection – After a walk where you collect leaves, sticks, or even trash, come home and do the sorting or I Spy activities.

• Quiet Time Activity – Print and prep the matching games or clip cards for your child to do during independent play.

• Story Time Add-On – Pair the printables with Earth Day-themed picture books to reinforce the concepts.

• Family Discussion Starter – Use the sorting mats or matching game vocabulary to start conversations about what your family can do to care for the Earth.

Preschoolers learn best through repetition and play, so feel free to use these activities multiple times throughout Earth Month!

If you’re looking for even more simple ways to celebrate Earth Day with your preschoolers, here are a few easy ideas you can add to your homeschool day:

• Take a nature walk and collect sticks, leaves, or rocks

• Sort your family’s recycling together and talk about why it matters

• Read Earth Day-themed books (here are our favorites!)

• Create a simple Earth-themed sensory bin with blue and green items

• Make an Earth Day snack, like “dirt cups” with pudding and crushed cookies

These activities pair beautifully with the printables and can help your child make connections between what they see, do, and learn.

Earth Day activities for preschoolers don’t need to be complicated or messy to be effective. Kids this age learn best when they can play, explore, and talk about what they’re doing—and that’s exactly what these printables are designed for.

The Earth Day Preschool Activity Bundle is an easy, low-prep way to introduce your youngest learners to important ideas about recycling, conservation, and caring for the planet—all while building early learning skills at the same time.

If you’re ready to add some simple, screen-free fun to your Earth Day homeschool plans, you can check out the full printable bundle here:

If you’re looking for even more ways to celebrate Earth Day in your homeschool, we’ve got you covered! In addition to these simple preschool printables, we also have Earth Day activities for older kids and free resources you can use with the whole family.

Whether you’re keeping things simple with preschool printables or digging deeper with a full unit study, Earth Day is the perfect time to inspire your kids to care for the world around them!