Arbor Day

About Arbor Day:

Arbor Day is a day when individuals and groups are encouraged to plant and care for trees. It originated in Nebraska City, Nebraska, in 1872 by a man named J. Sterling Morton. He realized that trees played an important role on our lives and we should give back to the earth what we have taken.

Prizes were offered for the first Arbor Day to those planting the largest sums of trees. An estimated one million trees were planted the first Arbor Day. Within 16 years of that first day, over 350,000,000 trees and vines were planted in the state of Nebraska. Soon people outside the state took notice and Arbor Day became recognized all over the United States.

Even though all states can't plant trees the same day because of climate differences, Arbor Day's official celebration is on the last Friday in April as declared by former President Richard Nixon in 1970.

Fun Facts:

• In Japan, a similarly-themed Greenery Day is celebrated.
• The majority of Arbor Day participates are school children who plant trees and scrubs along highways and other suitable places.
• Morton was a Journalist who also found Nebraska's first newspaper
• Arbor means "tree" in Latin.

Activities:

• Plant a tree and keep journal of its growth
• Create a tree poem
• Make a leaf collection
• Write a story about a tree
• Check out books from the library that have tree characters
• Color code a map of the United States to express tree planting times
• Using a jar, plant a forest
• Take a nature walk and measure some trees
• Make a photo story of trees
• Write about "My life as a tree"
• Adopt a tree and keep a journal of its growth
• Make leaf rubbings and them turn into art