Arbor Day

6 Ways to Celebrate Arbor Day in a Time of Social Distancing

By Sheereen Othman | March 20, 2020

We are weeks away from National Arbor Day. As communities, schools, organizations, companies, and residents adjust to a new routine, there is still a lot of uncertainty (and anxiety) in the air. We’re witnessing shutdowns and event cancellations across the country to slow the spread of COVID-19.

But the spirit of Arbor Day remains strong. This public health crisis has taught us to be more agile and creative in finding ways to celebrate trees and connect with nature. After all, there are many benefits to being around trees, including less stress.

Read 6 Ways Urban Trees Make You More Active Outdoors

Here are six easy ways you can celebrate Arbor Day while practicing social distancing.

1. Hike Through a Forest

Find a nearby trail in a forest (or park) and go for a walk, hike, or bike ride. Natural settings are effective in lowering stress. Exercising outdoors compared to exercising indoors helps people feel more revitalized, engaged with others, and less tense.

2. Online Nature Learning

When you can’t make it outdoors, stay in and learn about it. Carly’s Kids Corner is full of fun and educational resources to connect children with nature. The site includes interactive games that highlight that value of trees.

3. Draw Your Favorite Trees

This is a great activity to do with young ones. Bring out the colored pencils and crayons and start drawing your best artwork. You could even use it as an extension of Carly’s Kids Corners by trying to identify the trees and including some tree facts.

4. Nature-based Crafts

Indoor days are perfect for arts and crafts. Pinterest is full of creative ideas for crafts made with natural materials like pine cones, needles, leaves, and twigs. See what you can find in your backyard and let your imagination get to work.

5. Order a Tree

Can one ever have too many trees? Whether you find a tree from a local nursery or the Arbor Day Foundation Tree Nursery, nothing says Arbor Day like buying and planting a tree. The tree you plant will benefit your whole community. Times like these remind us of the importance of healthy communities.

Read Designing a Landscape with Trees

6. Become a Member

When you become a member of the Arbor Day Foundation, you support tree planting efforts around the globe. In addition to supporting something greater, your membership includes discounted trees from the Tree Nursery, our bi-monthly newsletter, and a copy of the Tree Book.

There is a lot of uncertainty in the air. Although we don’t know what the coming weeks look like, it’s still important to take time to pause, relax, and continue to celebrate the good things. Trees are proven to reduce stress and improve well-being. If ever there was a time for trees, now is that time.

Have a happy and healthy Arbor Day!

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  • Elizabeth Taylor March 28, 2020 at 4:18 pm

    This is a lovely article. Do you have any suggestions for how an organization that was planning to do a group activity (a hike on an area open space) to celebrate Arbor Day might still be able to do some kind of a group event that allows people to stay home and/or practice social distancing?

  • Marsha Harvey April 22, 2020 at 10:31 am

    I received a donor form to celebrate Arbor Day by planting groves of trees in National Forests in my name.
    I would like to plant trees, but would like them to be planted in our Grandson’s name.
    Also, is there anyway to find out where they are planted so he could visit them?

    • Sheereen Othman April 22, 2020 at 1:44 pm

      Hi Marsha,

      This is through our Trees in Celebration/Trees in memory program. You can choose from two forests that we plant in through the program, however the trees are not marked within the forest, so we aren’t able to tell you which trees are specifically planted in your grandson’s name.