Celebrate Earth Day with the Lorax!

We're talking about trees and the Lorax this month—which makes perfect sense with Earth Day just around the corner! Now here at our Wooster, Ohio, campus, we're celebrating Earth Day with on April 17 with our Scarlet Gray and Green Fair.

Source: wcsen.org via Oardc on Pinterest

And while we'd love for you to come join the fun, some of you just might not be close enough to join us for the day. If not, have you considered hosting an Earth Day celebration with the Lorax?

Stop by Suessville for plenty of fun, fabulous and hands-on ideas for celebrating Earth Day the Lorax way!

Source: bigplastichead.com via Oardc on Pinterest

Who Speaks for the Trees?

Last week we talked about the new Lorax movie based on Dr. Suess's classic book. Trees and tree health are certainly intertwined with the lives of humans throughout history. Whether for firewood, tools, paper, shelter or something else, humans rely on trees. And that means this renewable resource needs to be replenished as well!

Source: google.com via Oardc on Pinterest

Project Learning Tree has put together a series of cool lesson plans based on the Lorax book and subsequently the movie. They are targeted to a variety of age levels and are a lot of fun—not to mention very timely with the new movie coming out in theaters!

In their Who Speaks for the Trees activities, students in grades 2-8 read the book (or watch the movie) and investigate questions why the Onceler did what he did, how the environment changed and the impact one person can have on changing the status quo. There are variations for older student and follow up activities as well.

We're actually doing a variation of this lesson plan later this month, and we were fortunate enough to receive a large pack of Lorax bookmarks from IHOP—one for each child in our group.

Source: Uploaded by user via Jenney on Pinterest

How fun is that? We are loving the Lorax here and excited to share the tale with our preschool programming this spring!

Source: grandoptimist.tumblr.com via Brittany on Pinterest

Discover Secrest Arboretum

Are you and yours excited about the upcoming Lorax movie based on Dr. Suess's book? My household is for sure.

Source: cinemark.com via Jane on Pinterest

One of the key themes from the movie is protecting and enjoying the trees and forests we may often take for granted. In fact, the U.S. Forest Service has even launched a new public service announcement campaign with the Lorax:

Have YOU spent time enjoying and discovering the wonderful world of trees lately? If not, be sure to plan a visit to OARDC's own Secrest Arboretum. The 88-acre arboretum is perfect to explore on your own as a family. Much of the arboretum is even handicap accessible with paved paths through our holly plantation, unique plant collection, million flower walkway, prairie plantings, butterfly garden, water garden and so much more. There's even a Discovery Pavilion to learn about the biological calendar that affects us all, a forest plantation, deciduous tree planting, share tree planting and much much more.

Or, you can join in one of our upcoming special events like our Dormant Pruning Workshop, Guided Bird Walk, Scarlet Gray and Green Fair or even a Guided Spring Walk. Details for these events as well as directions to the arboretum can be found at the Secrest Arboretum website. 

Be sure to come back next week for more information on how you can use the Lorax book and movie as a teaching tool.