Children can examine the importance of conserving natural resources through reading and understanding fables. A fable is a fictional story that teaches a lesson. One of the most famous environmental fables is the story of The Lorax by Dr. Seuss.
Share The Lorax with the children in your life:
- Read a copy of the 1971 book (ISBN: 0394823370)
- Watch the original 1972 TV video special at http://bit.ly/1BWYHWc (25 min)
- Follow along with an online read-aloud at http://bit.ly/1ZgwgO0 (18 min)
- Watch the 2012 computer-animated film (86 min)
Talk about the main ideas:
- Why do you think the Once-ler did what he did?
- What were environmental conditions like before the company started making Thneeds? What were they like after?
- What kinds of things can we do today to ensure that trees will be available for all different purposes in the future?
At the end of the story, the Lorax leaves a small pile of rocks with one word written on them. Invite children to complete The Lorax’s important message (right) and write a lesson learned (below).
What’s the moral of the story?
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This family activity is adapted from Project Learning Tree’s PreK-8 Environmental Education Activity Guide which can be obtained through an in-person professional development workshop or online course.
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