Earth Day is the perfect opportunity to teach students about the importance of taking care of the environment and the important role art plays in bringing awareness to an issue or event. Celebrate with a quick, one-day Earth Day art activity that tasks students with designing an Earth Day poster. Look at past poster examples and what role advertising plays in raising awareness.

Whether you’re teaching kindergarteners or high school students, this Earth Day art activity helps students learn about our planet, explore important environmental topics, and share their message through art.

🌎 Earth Day Art Activity Facts

To kick off your Earth Day art lesson, gather your students and introduce them to interesting Earth Day facts. These could include how Earth Day started in 1970, how many countries celebrate it now (over 190!), and how art has been used in past Earth Day campaigns to spread awareness.

💡 Teacher Tip: Use my ready-to-go Earth Day activity guide or create your own sheet or presentation. Print one sheet per table for students to reference. For younger grades, read the facts together as a class.

🎨 Look at Past Earth Day Posters

Next, inspire your artists by showing them real Earth Day poster designs. One great example is Robert Rauschenberg’s 1970 Earth Day poster. This is one of the first Earth Day posters created, and it includes imagery that students can describe and discuss. Discuss the poster as a group with younger students. Older students can look at the poster and answer questions on the handout. Things to discuss:

• What do you notice about the main image on the poster?
• What do you notice about the images around the main image?
• What message do you think the artist is trying to share?
• Do you think this is a successful way to share Earth Day’s message?

🖌 Design Your Own Earth Day Poster

After learning about Earth Day and discussing Earth Day posters, it’s time for students to design their own. If you are using my handout, have students decorate the page with the frame and add their design inside the frame. If you don’t have the handout, have students work on blank sheets of paper (have older students work on larger sheets of paper).

🧠 Step 1: Before jumping into their poster design, have students think about an environmental issue they care about. Help them brainstorm images they can use on their poster to reflect this issue.

🖍️ Step 2: Provide each student with a poster design sheet or blank paper. They can sketch their design using a pencil before adding color using colored pencils, crayons, or markers.

✔️ Poster Requirements:

• Include the words “Earth Day” and the current year
• Highlight an environmental issue
• Fill up the space, add color.
• Clean up materials after finishing

📦 Supplies Needed:

• Pencil
• Eraser
• Colored pencils, crayons, or markers
• Reflection and poster design sheet (optional)

🎒 Fast Finisher or Art Sub Plan

This activity also makes a perfect fast finisher or emergency sub plan. Keep printed copies of the activity guide, reflection questions, and poster design sheets available for students to grab and go. It’s easy to implement, students can easily read through the information and work independently.

Get everything you need to teach this Earth Day art activity here!

Earth Day Art Projects:

If you want to focus on a longer project, check out these options that can tie into Earth Day.

• Artist Trading Cards: Use recycled materials such as newspapers, magazines, and cardboard to create mini works of art. (Fun for 3rd grade through high school art)
• Found object assemblage sculptures: Use recycled materials such as cans, bottle caps, paper, and more to create sculptures. (Fun for middle and high school art classes)
• Leaf Prints: Celebrate nature by creating prints using leaves. (fun for middle and high school art classes)
• Landscape Paintings: Celebrate the Earth by creating watercolor landscape paintings. (Fun for high school art classes)

Celebrate Earth Day and help educate the next generation about the importance of caring for our planet with a quick Earth Day art activity or longer art project.

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