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By EMILY SPARACINO / Staff Writer

MONTEVALLO – Earth Day 2020 will be Wednesday, April 22, and the University of Montevallo Environmental Education Programs team is providing kids with fun activities to celebrate it at home.

Environmental Education Program Director Jecca Shumate said this year marks the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, which started in 1970 when a large group of U.S. citizens gathered together to show how important environmental conservation and protection were to them.

“They didn’t like pollution anymore, and they knew that, as citizens, if they banded together they could make a difference,” Shumate said. “Since that day every single year, people still celebrate Earth Day, and I think that is great.”

Resources available on the Environmental Education Programs website, Montevallo.edu/eeprograms, include the following:

• An educational video about Earth Day from Shumate (also available here: https://youtu.be/tRWJF8tUf8g).
• An Earth Day Fact Sheet printable.
• A “Letter to the Earth” worksheet printable with journal prompts.
• Sun Print Nature Craft printable instructions.
• Tin Can Wind Chime printable instructions.
• Instructional video for the Tin Can Wind Chime craft (also available here: https://youtu.be/jThCy3hGDqg).
• Link to an Earth Day Kahoot! quiz that participants can use to challenge their friends or students (https://create.kahoot.it/details/earth-day/5adf35f8-c2ab-4c21-873c-c6170510b285).

“These resources are all free, and we hope our local educators are able to use them as supplemental material in their e-learning curriculum and that parents have something fun they can share with their kiddos,” Shumate said.

In her educational video about Earth Day, Shumate shared several other ways to celebrate the occasion, including using a reusable water bottle, planting a garden, starting a compost bin, building a bird or bee house and simply going outside.

“Enjoy nature, go for a hike or picnic, start a nature journal and make observations even in your own backyard,” Shumate suggested. “Hang up a hammock and go out there whenever it’s not raining.”

For more information and updates from UM’s Environmental Education Programs, visit Montevallo.edu/eeprograms or follow @UMontevalloEE on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.