Yes, you and your kids can celebrate Arbor Day despite stay-at-home orders.

Did you know that Arbor Day was initiated by a pair of Detroiters who settled in Nebraska in the 19^th century? After moving to the Great Plains, J. Sterling Morton and his wife, Caroline Joy French, advocated for tree planting to serve as windbreaks to keep soil in place; for fuel and building materials; and for shade from the summer sun.

On the very first Arbor Day in 1872, more than one million trees were planted in Nebraska. Today, the holiday is celebrated in all 50 states and many countries around the world.

While the COVID-19 is hampering this year’s celebrations, schooling at home provides Arbor Day opportunities students might not get in the classroom. Try some of these activities this year:

• Get outside and identify the trees in your yard and neighborhood. Don’t worry if you don’t know much about trees, check out the PBS KIDS for Parents video Learning About Trees for the basics. Plus, this free online field guide will help you identify trees.
• Once you know what trees are nearby, discover what benefits each provides. Do certain birds or animals nest in your trees? What trees provide the most shade? How can trees be used to conserve water and prevent erosion?
• If your students like English and performing arts better than science, introduce them to poems about trees. Have them write their own poem or rap. Record them reciting or performing their work and and share it with friends and family who are also socializing from a distance.
• Trees can also inspire visual art. Use leaves and paint to make prints or make bark rubbings to discover the intricacies of the patterns.
• If math is what your student likes, help them learn to calculate how tall a tree is using trigonometry, or how to estimate the height with just a stick.

Happy Arbor Day!

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