This year marks the 150th anniversary of Arbor Day, and we want all of you to get involved in the celebration! Here’s a list of 150 ways you can celebrate trees and nature on the last Friday in April.
DIY
- Make evergreen tree Rice Krispie treats.
- Bake cookies with different tree designs on them.
- Decorate cupcakes with leaf-shaped icing.
- Make your favorite drink but green (bubble tea, milkshakes, iced coffee).
- Create tree-themed latte foam art.
- Make homemade syrup from a tree.
- Create confetti out of fallen leaves.
- Make your own potpourri out of natural materials.
- Create a tree patterned green tie-dyed shirt.
- Craft jewelry out of leaves, twigs, or nuts.
- Make clay impressions with different leaves.
- Find ways to repurpose fallen trees.
- Build something out of recycled wood.
Arts & Crafts
- Do a paint by number for a treescape.
- Paint or draw your favorite tree.
- Make a fingerprint tree.
- Do an art project of planting fallen tree branches.
- Create some nature art by painting pinecones or painting leaves.
- Sidewalk chalk – drawing a forest through your neighborhood/city/driveway.
- Sponsor a craft show featuring exhibitors who engage in crafts with natural materials.
- Make holiday tree ornaments.
- Do a photo-shoot in a forest or with your favorite tree.
- Create a tree pop-up card.
- Craft an apple tree out of pipe cleaners and red cotton balls.
- Make a bird feeder out of fallen pinecones.
- Create a scrapbook out of different tree leaves.
- Make a ‘shades of nature’ collage with parts of trees.
- Create trees out of yarn stamps.
- Make tree ring stamps.
- Spend an afternoon doing bark rubbings with your local trees.
- Make a forest diorama from only things you find outside.
Kid-Themed Activities
- Create an animal out of twigs and leaves.
- Make a tree sculpture out of a paper bag.
- Organize a nature art show for kids.
- Enjoy tree games and activities on our Tree Education Hub.
- Volunteer at a local school to teach a short tree lesson to students.
- Introduce a young person to tree-related education at ArborDay.org/kids.
- Inspire a local school to apply for Tree Campus K-12 recognition.
Interact With a Tree
- Plant a tree.
- Hug a tree.
- Climb a tree.
- Adopt a tree in need.
- Sponsor a tree.
- Participate in a ‘tree care’ day by mulching, pruning, and watering your trees.
- Bury a treecapsule (time capsule full of trees seeds).
- Meditate under the shade of a tree.
- Put up a hammock between trees.
Group Activities
- Visiting your local park or forest.
- Volunteer to clean up a local forest or park.
- Host a tree distribution where you can give away trees to people in your community.
- Organize a tree fair.
- Have a parade of trees.
- Host tree-themed block party.
- Organize a search for the biggest tree in the community.
- Have a family picnic under a tree.
- Organize a nature or tree scavenger hunt.
- Hold an outdoor concert surrounded by trees.
- Hold an Arbor Day ceremony and honor the good tree stewards in your community.
Competitions
- Hold a bird house building competition.
- Create a tree poster competition.
- Do the jellybean game but with park trees (guess how many trees are in a park).
- Create a tree poetry contest.
- Hold a treevia night where you play tree fact-based trivia.
Education
- Explore how water travels through trees.
- Study the veins of leaves under magnifying lenses.
- Gather a bag of leaves and try to identify the species of trees.
- Learn why leaves change colors.
- Lead or partake in a tree tour (Tree ID).
- Attend or lead a tree planting seminar.
- Learn about trees at a local tree nursery.
- Volunteer with a local tree planting organization.
- Create a tree themed crossword puzzle.
- Learn more about the trees in your yard.
- Help your city with their tree canopy assessment.
- Volunteer to take care of your current trees.
- Learn about the different types of forests: temperate, tropical, and boreal.
- Explore how trees keep our waterways clean.
- Get to know your community trees a bit better with the Tree ID with Pete series.
- Learn about all the ways community trees benefit our health.
- Organize a tree identification hike.
Social Media
- Arbor Day Makeup Challenge – create a makeup look inspired by nature or trees.
- Organize a small social media hashtag campaign about trees with your local community.
- Create a TikTok dance about trees.
- Use the Arbor Day Facebook profile frame.
- Follow and engage with tree organizations on social media.
- Start a Facebook fundraiser for a local tree planting organization.
- Make a Spotify playlist with songs about trees.
- Like and share posts about Arbor Day.
- Create a tree meme.
- Take your partner on a tree-themed date.
- Post a picture of your favorite tree.
- Tell tree-related jokes – (here’s a list to get you started).
- Follow a tree-related Instagram account.
Local Community
- Lead a guided tree walk.
- Hide geocaches under and around trees in your community.
- Donate to your local tree planting organization.
- Send seedlings to school as a gift.
- Create a tree passport for all the trees in your community.
- Volunteer with a local tree-planting organization.
- Visit your local orchard.
- Write a thank you card for your local arborist.
- Thank your local urban forester.
- Urge your community leaders to take on a new urban forestry initiative.
Games
- Play a tree related board game. Here is a list of a few.
- Make or do a tree themed bingo.
- Create and do a tree themed word search.
- Make a sensory maze on a posterboard with leaves.
- Complete a tree puzzle.
Reading and Writing
- Write a song about trees.
- Read a book about trees.
- Write a short story about trees.
- Read a book under a tree.
- Write a haiku about a tree.
- Write a story, produce a play, or present a skit about trees.
- Create an alphabet book for trees.
- Find a favorite quote about trees.
- Make a list of fantasy forests (Fangorn, Forbidden Forest, Mirkwood).
- Write a letter to a tree.
Miscellaneous
- Take a “what kind of tree” are you quiz.
- Have a tree planted in honor or celebration of someone.
- Sport your Arbor Day swag.
- Nominate somebody for the Arbor Day awards.
- Purchase from a brand that gives back to reforestation efforts.
- Dress up like a tree.
- Camp in a national forest or state park.
- Go hiking.
- Make a tree-based sustainable swap.
- Practice Shinrin Yoku.
- Practice tree themed yoga poses.
- Record your own version of John Denver’s “Plant a Tree” song.
- Give names to the trees on your property.
- Tell someone you love them under a tree.
- Make tree shadow puppets.
- Go bird watching in your favorite park or forest.
- Build a charcuterie (treecuterie) board using tree fruits and tree nuts.
- Go on a sound walk to observe the sounds of a local forest or park.
- Look up your neighborhood’s Tree Equity Score.
- Look up your neighborhood’s Nature Score.
- Find out if your alma mater is a Tree Campus Higher Education college or university.
- Admire the trees in a national park on a Google Earth virtual tour.
- Visit an enchanted forest on a Google Earth virtual tour.
- Immerse yourself in a forest somewhere in the world through audio with the Sounds of the Forest project.
- Listen to a podcast about nature.
- Catch a Sudowoodo or other tree-themed Pokémon in Pokémon Go.
- Measure how tall you are in leaves.
- Gift someone a tree.
- Fill out a “3 Ways I Can Help Trees” list.
- Fill out a gratitude tree.
- Vist an arboretum.
