Want to Celebrate Arbor Day in a fun, new way? Here are a few ideas:
1. Order the "Celebrate Arbor Day" Guidebook for free. It's jam packed with great ideas on what your school can do to celebrate. It's available through the Arbor Day Foundation at: www.arborday.org.
2. Here is a fun trivia game about Arbor Day facts:
A--The annual obserance that celebrates the role of trees in our lives and promotes tree planting.
Q--As a formal holiday, where was this day first observed and in what year?
Q--The tree has been used in literature as a symbol of ________?
Q--Who is known as the "Founder of Arbor Day?"
A.--J. Sterling Morton. He was a nature lover and a journalist and editor of Nebraska's first newspaper. He wrote and spoke about environmental stewardship and the interrelatedness of life.
Q--What is Arbor Day called in Isreal?
A--New Year's Day of the Trees.
Q--What is Arbor Day called in Iceland?
A--Student's Afforestation Day.
Q--How do other countries celebrate Arbor Day?
A--Korea has a "Tree-Loving Week." Yugoslavia holds an Arbor Day in the spring and an Afforestation Day in the fall. And India celebrates a "National Festival of Tree Planting."
Q--When is Arbor Day celebrated in the U.S.?
A--It used to be celebrated on J. Sterling Morton's birthday, April 22. But today it is celebrated on a date appropriate for tree planting in each region, usually in April or May.
3. Organize a "Big Tree" or an "Oldest Tree" search in your community. Instructions on how to hold a Community Tree contest for your classroom are on the Arbor Day Foundation's web site at: www.arborday.org/programs/teacheractivity.html
4. Celebreate Arbor Day by writing a story, skit, or play about TREES! A sample play about trees is available at the Arbor Day Foundation's web site at: www.arborday.org/arbordayplay .
5. Encourage all 5th grade students to participate in the Arbor Day National Poster Contest. Display your students' posters in a local business or public area. Let the public vote to choose a winner. Votes can cost .25 and the money collected can be used to purchase a tree. Then follow up with a tree-planting ceremony. Details about this annual contest: www.arborday.org/programs/postercontest.html 
6. Pick an area in your town that needs sprucing up. Get a crew of students together to help pick up trash and plant trees, flowers, and shrubs. This could even be an area on the school grounds. Perhaps students could create their own butterfly garden with a small waterfall, flowers, trees, birdfeeders, and birdhouses.
7. Read books about TREES! Annie Glover is NOT a Tree Lover is a perfect one to start with. You'll be amazed at all the books there are about trees, both nonfiction and fiction.
8. Take students on a tour of a local nursery where they can learn about proper tree care, planting, pruning, etc. Perhaps students can help pick out one tree to take back to the school and plant. Assign students to care for the tree afterward.
9. Hold a "Tree Read In" at your library and set up areas with bean bags and comfy chairs for students to read books about trees. Put all the tree books in a special area. Make a huge tree on a wall using mural paper. Decorate the tree with laminated leaves.
10. Take a nature walk with students to help them learn to identify trees in your community. Leaves can be collected and either pressed in books for future art projects or placed under white paper to make "crayon-rubbings" of the leaves.
Encourage your students to write poetry about their leaves, using adjectives and similes to bring their poems to life.
To find out when each state celebrates Arbor Day and what YOUR state's "state tree" is, go to: www.arborday.org.
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