VHFLC Earth Week Celebrations!

Last week, each of our sites chose to explore projects that would help promote the discovery of the Earth's beauty, and inspire those around us to help preserve and respect it. Take a look at our photo series to see some of the creative and diverse interpretations teachers and kids came up with for their own unique celebrations of VHFLC's Earth Week.

At our St. Andrews ECE site, students put on Earth Day badges and walked around the center offering to collect recycling for everyone who worked there. As you can tell, they had a great time doing this good deed for the planet, and also seeing how they could touch others with their thoughtfulness.

Our younger children at St. Andrews painted the Earth (either by brush or by hand) and listened to their teacher Liz tell a story about recycling. At the end of the story, Liz held up various materials and asked, "recyclable or not?"

Some careful work going on here...

Liz reads a story about recycling as a way to help preserve the Earth's resources.

Over at our St. Luke ECE site, site director Adina and her students planted native shrubs for their natural playscape project in tandem with the West Multnomah Soil and Water Conservation District. Everyone enjoyed getting their hands dirty and learning about the magical process of planting (and about the insects who seemed equally enthusiastic about the project).

There was no shortage of helping hands here!

At Bridlemile, Regional Supervisor Steve and his students plucked lavender, sage, and wild flowers from their school garden in order to create their own bespoke natural fragrances. What an awesome use for some of the natural materials that flourish all around us!

Meanwhile, over at RS Jana's sites, children at North Plains made little earth shrines and totems, and planted flowers, fruits, and vegetable seeds in recycled plastic containers for their indoor garden! Some seeds were placed in the window so that first sprouts could be more easily viewed. 

An adorable and practical solution in the absence of planting beds

At Rock Creek, children made drawings to commemorate some of their favorite animals and natural landscapes, while at Butternut Creek, unused paper plates were made into Earth Day signs.

At Creston elementary, children personified various aspects of nature by taking on nicknames and characters that sounded similar to their names (Ben was 'Bean', Ava was 'Avacado', Max was 'Maxadamia Nut, teacher Kate was 'Kale', etc). They then made eraser dot art as tribute to their character, with the final touch being a collaborative Earth Day poster in honor of their Regional Supervisor Jon (aka 'Johnny Apple Seed')... 

RS Ashley and her staff celebrated Earth Day by planting gladioluses (more commonly known as 'sword lillies') and by transforming their space into their own 'natural' paradise (i.e. a butterfly & flower-filled utopia complete with rolling fields and cascading rainbow chains). Students also made some cool "stained glass" worlds and hand-print paintings with the Earth depicted as a heart in need of protection.  

Can you imagine a world where adults embrace this message as children do?

Gorgeous!

Lastly, at Woodstock, teacher Jill and her students wanted to study and document the beautiful shapes of leaves, shells, and other natural objects by preserving their images with sun prints, also known as cyanotype prints. Cyanotype prints use a photosensitive solution that darkens when exposed to UV light. By placing items on top of a surface treated with this solution (often a thin paper you can buy in kits) and then exposing this surface to light, you get the following effect.

Also an excuse for a little hang-out in the sun!

Woodstock students also enjoyed making refrigerator magnets of flowers, insects, fish, and other awesome nature-y things.

In our busy culture often focused on the man-made, we can sometimes forget to marvel at the incredible perfection (and purpose) of natural entities – something as 'simple' as an herb or a leaf, as our Bridlemile and Woodstock students observed. Earth Day/Week and projects like these can be a great tool for helping to keep our kids and families in touch with the natural world, and for re-examining the things we appreciate and love about it. At VHFLC, we believe that every day should be Earth Day! After all, we rely on it 365 days of the year.

What are some of the ways that you celebrate?