On Wednesday, preschoolers at The Goddard School in Jackson Township and Highland Heights, along with over 460 other Goddard School locations nationwide, kicked off the 7th annual Root for Earth initiative. While the children learn about eco-friendly topics throughout the year, this week especially celebrates learning about the environment and what it means to be a good environmental steward.
During Root for Earth, preschoolers engage in a range of activities including harvesting vegetables, creating art projects with items found in nature, and other eco-friendly projects inspired by STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math). These projects foster creativity and imagination while giving children the opportunity to learn about recycling, going green and preserving the world around them, according to The Goddard School.
A signature of Root for Earth, “Lights Out!” will take place Friday, April 21 — the day before Earth Day. Every Goddard School across the country will shut off all non-essential lighting for an hour beginning at 10:00 a.m. local time. System-wide, the Lights Out initiative will save roughly 3.4 million watts of energy.
“We began planning our Root for Earth Campaign by planning to incorporate recyclable materials into our daily activities during the month of April,” said Kelley Coles, director of education at The Goddard School in Jackson Township. “Out of all the materials explored, many children showed interest in cardboard, especially after building various cardboard projects in many classrooms.”
When planning its schoolwide project, the teachers and children decided between an outdoor pizza oven and an indoor kitchen set (both made of cardboard) that could rotate classrooms, she added. Currently, the completed set is on display in the school foyer.
The Goddard School in Highland Heights participated in the following activities:
- Pre-School 1 will be building with recycled boxes and painting with bottle caps.
- Pre-K 2 is creating Earth-shaped collages with recycled materials.
- Young Pre-K is making bird feeders with recycled toilet paper tubes.
- Infants will be exploring their sensory bottles made out of recycled water bottles.
- First Steps will be coloring with apples.
