Every Day Should Be Earth Day!

The Moon Maiden of Green Willow
by Warwick Goble, 1920

"The ultimate test of man's conscience may be his willingness to sacrifice something today for future generations whose words of thanks will not be heard."
Gaylord Nelson (1916-2005), founder of Earth Day

Earth Day is April 22 and Arbor Day is April 27.  What better way to celebrate than sharing stories about our beautiful planet?

STORIES

The Circle of Life and the Clambake - A lovely story from the Wampanoag culture that encompasses the circle of life and caring for the earth.
http://tinyurl.com/kpdyaq

Earth Cakes, Sky Cakes – Folktale from Cambodia
http://tinyurl.com/dy6dsv

The Haudenosaunee Creation Story - Iroquois/Native American
https://www.oneidaindiannation.com/the-haudenosaunee-creation-story/

The Owl and the Deer - Cambodia

http://www.mekongwatch.org/peoplestory/zone1-story6.html

When The Earth and Sky Were Married - India
http://tinyurl.com/cw34y8

Why is the Sky So Far Away – Nigeria
https://reelrani.wordpress.com/2017/01/10/why-is-the-sky-so-far-away-an-african-folktale/

STORY COLLECTIONS

The Earth Stories Collection – “a cultural seed bank, a base of global educational resources for the construction (or reconstruction) of a deeply sustainable global society, based on social and economic justice, and values of peace and democracy; that is, the values of the Earth Charter.” Under the Principal sections 1-16 you will find stories to fit many areas including Ecological Integrity, Social Responsibility, and more.
https://theearthstoriescollection.org/en/earth-stories/

Forest Stories – 7 Tales from far-away lands - “Stories of forests, rivers, mountains, deserts and magical beings who call these places home. Journey to amazing places through these short stories and learn the wisdom of the forest.”
https://healingforest.org/2019/10/26/forest-stories/ 

Plants, Animals, Salt and Spirits: How People Live, Work and Talk About the Environment in Rural Cambodia, Laos and Thailand - The People’s Stories Project, launched in 2014 with three purposes: “ (1) To record legends, old tales, folklore and narratives, and access the local knowledge and experience over natural resource use…(2) To develop an environmental education tool kit…to bring about better governance of local resources, and; (3) To convey knowledge of local natural resource use and the richness of the world …providing a new point of view for observing natural resource management in the Mekong Region.”
http://www.mekongwatch.org/PDF/Booklet_PeopleStory.pdf

BOOKS

Earth Care – World Folktales to Talk About
A limited preview of this excellent book by Margaret ReadMacDonald. You can read some of the folktales online, but I know you will want a copy of your own. I know, I have it on my shelf!
http://tinyurl.com/aap7ug

Keepers of the Earth: Native American Stories and Environmental Activities for Children by Michael J. Caduto and JosephBruchac. “Beginning with Native American stories, this invaluable resource provides hands-on activities that inspire children to understand and appreciate Native American cultures and the Earth.”
https://www.amazon.com/Keepers-Earth-American-Environmental-Activities/dp/1555913857 

CRAFTS 

Enchanted Learning - Earth Day activities, crafts, and projects. 
https://www.enchantedlearning.com/crafts/earthday/

Housing A Forest – 20 Earth Day crafts and activities for kids. 
http://www.housingaforest.com/20-earth-day-crafts-and-activities-for-kids/

iheartcraftythings.com – 25 Earth Day Day crafts for kids. 
https://iheartcraftythings.com/25-earth-day-crafts-for-kids.html

CURRICULUM

Edutopia.org - Earth Day: Lesson Plans, Reading Lists, and Classroom Ideas - Resources from around the web. There is so much valuable information at this site you could be here for days. 
https://www.edutopia.org/blog/earth-day-lesson-plans-matt-davis

Field Trip Earth - A global resource for teachers, students and wildlife proponents offering educator resources, essays, and information on conservation projects around the world. 
https://fieldtripearth.org

The History Behind Earth Day 
https://www.earthday.org/history/

Planet Pals.com - This is a colorful, fun and information filled website on all things Earth: Lesson plans and activities for both teachers and parents, the history behind Earth Day, coloring pages, puzzles, clip art and so much more. 
http://www.planetpals.com/index.html 

SCHOLARLY ARTICLE

The Concept of Environment in Folktales from Different Cultures
https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1060556.pdf

Please note, websites change at a rapid pace and weblinks may change or break without notice. I cannot be responsible for redirected or broken links.  At the time of this posting all links were in working order. Thank you for understanding.

 

Karen Chace 2012 ©

This blog post was researched and compiled by Karen Chace. Permission for private use is granted. Distribution, either electronically or on paper is prohibited without my expressed written permission. For permission, please contact me at storybug@aol.com. Of course, if you wish to link to my blog via your website, blog, newsletter, Facebook page or Twitter please feel free to do so; I greatly appreciate your support and personal integrity.