Little Earth Friends (Ages 2-4)
📖 STORY (Read to child – 2 minutes)
“We live on a big, beautiful ball called Earth!
Earth has blue water – swish, swish!
Earth has green trees – rustling leaves!
Earth has warm sunshine – so bright!
Earth has soft ground to walk on.
Earth has air to breathe – in and out!
Earth is our home. We love Earth!
When we take care of Earth, Earth takes care of us.”
🎨 ACTIVITY 1: Earth Sensory Bin
Time: 10 minutes
Type: Sensory play, exploration
You Need:
- Large bin or box
- Blue fabric or paper (water)
- Green fabric or paper (land)
- Small toy animals
- Pebbles or sand
What to Do:
- Let child explore materials (touch everything!)
- “This is Earth! See the blue water? The green land?”
- Place animals: “Animals live on Earth!”
- Let child play, arrange, explore
- Talk: “What do you feel? Soft? Rough? Smooth?”
What They Learn:
- Sensory exploration (touch, sight)
- Earth has water and land
- We share Earth with animals
- Vocabulary: Earth, water, land, animals
🎨 ACTIVITY 2: “I Love Earth” Art
Time: 5 minutes
Type: Creative art
You Need:
- Paper plate
- Blue and green crayons/paint
- Stickers (optional)
What to Do:
- “Let’s make our Earth!”
- Color plate blue and green (messy is perfect!)
- “Blue is water, green is land!”
- Add stickers if you have (animals, sun, trees)
- Display proudly!
What They Learn:
- Earth is blue and green
- Creative expression
- Pride in Earth
- Fine motor skills (coloring)
🌍 ACTIVITY 3: Earth Walk
Time: 10 minutes
Type: Outdoor exploration
You Need:
- Just yourselves!
- A park, garden, or neighborhood
What to Do:
- Go outside (garden, park, neighborhood)
- Point out: “Look! Trees from Earth! Grass from Earth! Sky above Earth!”
- Let child touch grass, feel breeze, see birds
- Collect 2-3 natural items (leaf, stick, rock)
- “Earth gives us all these wonderful things!”
What They Learn:
- Direct connection to nature
- Wonder and curiosity
- Gratitude for Earth
- Observation skills
📝 VOCABULARY WORDS
- Earth – Our home, the big ball we live on
- Water – Blue, splashy, we drink it
- Land – Green and brown, where we walk
- Home – Where we live, where we’re safe
- Beautiful – Pretty, nice to look at
👨👩👧 TIPS FOR PARENTS & TEACHERS
Age Adjustments:
- Age 2: Focus on sensory bin, keep it simple, lots of help needed
- Age 3: Can do art more independently, talk more about what they see
- Age 4: Can collect items on walk, explain what they learned
Extension Ideas:
- Take photos on Earth walk, make picture book
- Sing “Earth songs” (to tune of familiar songs)
- Read books about Earth (see suggested reading list)
- Repeat activities! Preschoolers love repetition
What Success Looks Like:
- Child shows interest in going outside
- Uses words like “Earth,” “water,” “land”
- Touches natural materials gently
- Points out “That’s from Earth!”
🌟 CONNECTION TO NEXT TOPICS
This topic introduces Earth as our home. Next topics will explore specific parts:
- Topic 2: Water (the blue part!)
- Topic 3: Sunshine (gives us light!)
- Topic 4: Trees (growing on land!)
Keep building that love of Earth! 💚
Part of Little Earth Friends – Ages 2-4
Building love for Earth from the very beginning
