[Free Resources] 4 Fun and Easy Spring Equinox Activities

Spring is in the air! The spring equinox falls on around March 19-21st, marking the end of winter and the beginning of sunny days and fresh flowers. To help you celebrate the changing of the seasons, we have prepared a FREE Spring Equinox Classroom Resource Packet from Edmentum, including fact sheets, critical thinking questions, and a festive classroom poster!

The spring equinox not only brings with warm weather and more sunshine, it also means more opportunities for learning! In addition to the old reliable (and always fun) science lessons we turn to when the seasons to change (the solar system, plant life and vegetation, weather patterns) there are fresh, creative ways to touch on the spring-themed subjects we know and love, and even incorporate subjects like art and writing. Check out these four activity ideas for equinox themed learning:

1. Explore Colors

Skill focus: Science, Art

Exploring color theory and the light spectrum are two concepts that make combining lessons in science and art a breeze, and spring brings the perfect excuse for taking class outdoors. With all the fresh flowers, sparkling sunshine, and vegetation that comes with spring, stepping outside can sometimes feel like Dorothy stepping out into Oz, especially when a spring shower results in the occasional rainbow. On a sunny day, grab your color wheel, head outside with your students, and see how many primary colors they can find in nature. What about secondary colors?

You can also use plants and flowers growing outside as examples to explain concepts like color harmony and context. For lessons on the light spectrum, going outside can also help learning come alive. If the sky is looking particularly clear one afternoon, why not take everyone outside and answer the age old ‘why is the sky blue’ question? Discuss why we see rainbows and why everything turns green again after winter ends. It’s the perfect excuse to get outside and get creative.

2. Spring into Reflective Writing

Skill focus: Mindfulness, Writing

Spring weather is notorious for being unpredictable and quick to change, making it perfect for a reflective writing lesson with a little mindfulness mixed in.  At the end of recess or when they are at home, instruct your students to spend 5 minutes simple overserving the weather around them. Is it warm, is it humid, is it windy? What do they hear and smell? Do they notice any change in the environment? How can they tell spring has arrived? After they’d had time to reflect, have your students jot down their observations so they don’t forget, then use what they observed to write a poem or journal a response.  

You can also add a scientific spin to this activity with older students by adding in a word band of weather-related vocabulary to use in their writing. Can your students think of creative ways to describe their favorite spring weather using the terms in their science book?   

3. Flower Pressing

Skill focus: Science, Art

Pressing flowers is a pretty simple and kid-friendly craft, (especially if you follow Martha Stewart’s 3-step process) that can also double as creative way to teach students about the different parts of a plant. Simply have your students find a healthy flower specimen from outside at school or around their home (or you can always grab a trey of bedding flowers from your local nursery or farmer’s market), and bring them to class. Gather your materials pressing, then have students gently pull their flowers apart, separating the different parts of the plant and arranging them neatly, or into a fun design before pressing them.

After a few days when the flowers are pressed, have your class revisit their specimens and see if they can identify the different parts. How have they changed since being pressed? Once you’ve finished using your flower pressings to learn about plants, your students can take their unique pressings home to share with their families. Nothing like some spring art to decorate the fridge!

4. Egg Balancing

Skill focus: Physics

Similar to the #BalancingBroomChallenge in early 2020, you’ve probably heard the old myth that an egg will balance upright during the spring equinox due to the Earth’s position relative to the sun. In reality, you can balance an egg any day of the year, as long as you have the right egg. Balancing eggs is a fun way to mix together a lesson in folklore with a little bit of physics. First discuss with your class what happens during the equinox and ask them if they think an egg will balance because of this special event. Then, follow the instructions for this egg balancing experiment from National Geographic Kids. Are your students still convinced the equinox can make the egg balance? After everyone has completed the experiment, talk with your students about the truth behind this interesting myth, and why balancing eggs has become an equinox tradition.

Interested in exploring more content to celebrate important events and holidays? Check out our other FREE March classroom resources from Edmentum for fun, interactive toolkits celebrating Women’s History Month and National Reading Month!

This post was originally published on March 18, 2019, and has been updated.