• 45 ideas

Earth Day Drawing Ideas

Poster and card layouts for 22 April, each with its main colours and a headline to letter.

Earth Day Drawing Ideas

Show all 45
  1. A river running clean from a mountain to the seaBlues, greens, grey rock. Headline: It All Flows Downstream. One S-curve from a top corner to the base.

Next step Build the poster from scrap paper instead

All 45 ideas

Posters 20

  • A bee landing on a wildflower, drawn large Yellow, black, violet petals. Headline: No Bees, No Blossom. Three ovals for the body, two for wings.
  • A city skyline with a garden on every roof Greys, fresh greens, sky blue. Headline: Grow Up. Flat roofs first, then trees poking over the edges.
  • A footprint made of leaves Five greens, no outline. Headline: Tread Lightly. Pencil a sole shape, fill it with leaves, rub the line out.
  • A lightbulb with a seedling growing inside Yellow glow, green shoot, brown soil. Headline: Bright Idea. A circle sitting on a short ridged cap.
  • A planet split in half, one side green and one side grey Leaf green and blue against grey and brown. Headline: Pick a Side. Let one continent cross the split.
  • A polar bear on a shrinking ice floe White, ice blue, navy. Headline: Keep It Cool. A rounded block of bear on a floe barely bigger than it.
  • A river running clean from a mountain to the sea Blues, greens, grey rock. Headline: It All Flows Downstream. One S-curve from a top corner to the base.
  • A row of recycling bins with one child sorting Copy your own school's bin colours, since they differ by place. Headline: Sort It Out. Boxes with lids.
  • A sea turtle gliding over a clean reef Turquoise, olive, coral pink. Headline: Keep the Sea Clear. Start with the shell, an oval of tiles.
  • A timeline strip that starts at the first Earth Day Green line, blue dots, black dates. Headline: Since 1970. The first Earth Day was 22 April 1970.
  • A tree stump showing its rings beside a new sapling Browns, tan, one fresh green. Headline: Plant the Next One. Many temperate trees add one ring a year.
  • A tree whose leaves are animal silhouettes Brown trunk, mixed greens, one red bird. Headline: One Tree, Many Homes. Swap each leaf for an animal.
  • A wind farm on rolling hills White, green, pale blue. Headline: Catch the Wind. Commercial turbines usually have three white blades.
  • Children with litter pickers clearing a beach Sand yellow, sea blue, bright bags. Headline: Leave Only Footprints. Small figures, wide empty sand.
  • The Earth as a blue marble on a black sky Blue, white, black. Headline: Our Only Home. Apollo 17's 1972 Blue Marble photo shows Africa and Antarctica.
  • The Earth held in two cupped hands Blue, green, skin tones. Headline: Handle With Care. Draw the circle, then wrap the fingers under it.
  • The Earth in bed with a thermometer and an ice pack Blue, green, red cheeks, white sheets. Headline: Get Well Soon. Put the face across the oceans.
  • Every Day Is Earth Day on a ribbon across a globe Blue and green globe, cream ribbon, black words. The ribbon is a long S with a fold at each end.
  • Protect Our Oceans with the letters half under water Navy above a wavy line, pale blue below it. Letter the words first, then run the wave through them.
  • There Is No Planet B with a globe for the O Navy letters, blue and green globe. Write the line in pencil and swap the O for a circle of equal height.

Easy 16

  • A calendar page reading April 22 Red header, black numerals. Headline: Save the Date. Earth Day falls on 22 April every year.
  • A cloth shopping bag with a leaf printed on it Cream bag, green leaf. Headline: Bring Your Own Bag. A rectangle with two loop handles.
  • A globe made from a circle and five green blobs Blue and green. Headline: Love Your Planet. Loose blobs are fine, nobody checks coastlines on a poster.
  • A heart-shaped Earth Blue, green, a red outline. Headline: Home Is Where the Heart Is. Draw the heart, then float land inside.
  • A ladybird on a broad leaf Red, black, green. Headline: Small Things Matter. A half circle, a centre line and spots each side.
  • A light switch flicked to off Grey plate, one yellow spark crossed out. Headline: Flick It Off. A small rectangle inside a big one.
  • A refillable water bottle covered in stickers Any bottle colour, bright stickers. Headline: Fill It Again. A tall rounded rectangle and a screw cap.
  • A round Earth Day badge with words on the rim Green rim, blue centre, white words. Draw two circles, letter between them, and turn the page as you go.
  • A seedling with two leaves in a mound of soil Brown and one fresh green. Headline: Start Small. A curved stem, two teardrop leaves, a low hill.
  • A single tree with a cloud-shaped crown Brown and two greens. Headline: Plant One. The trunk is a tall Y and the crown a bumpy cloud on top.
  • A traced hand turned into a tree Brown hand and wrist, green pencil dots. Headline: Hands Up for Trees. Trace down to the wrist for a trunk.
  • A water drop with a tiny globe inside it Two blues and a green. Headline: Every Drop Counts. A teardrop with a small circle sitting low in it.
  • A watering can tipped over a sprout Blue can, green sprout. Headline: Help It Grow. Dotted arcs of water fall from the spout.
  • Clean Air in puffy cloud letters Pale blue outline on white, sky blue behind. Every stroke is a row of bumps. No straight lines anywhere.
  • The recycling symbol with three chasing arrows Green or black. Headline: Round Again. Student Gary Anderson designed it in 1970; anyone may use it.
  • The word EARTH with ART picked out in green Black E and H, green A, R and T. The word hides another word. Even spacing beats fancy letters.

Lettering 9

  • A pledge card with three tick boxes Green border, black writing. Headline: I Promise To. Three short lines, a square box before each.
  • An EARTH acrostic down the left edge of the page One colour per letter. Make the five capitals large, then write a promise that starts with each one.
  • Bubble letters spelling GREEN, filled with leaves Outline in dark green, fill in lime. Draw the fat letters first, then pack leaf shapes into each one.
  • EARTH DAY in block capitals with a fir tree for each A Dark green trees, blue letters. Rule two guide lines and make each tree as wide as its neighbours.
  • Our Power, Our Planet with a sun and a globe for two Os Yellow, blue, green. This was the Earth Day theme in 2025 and 2026. Keep every other letter plain.
  • RECYCLE lettered round a triangle of arrows Green arrows, black letters. Seven letters, three sides: put RE, CY and CLE along one side each.
  • Reduce, Reuse, Recycle stacked in three lines Three greens, dark to light. Rule three equal bands and stretch the shortest word to match the longest.
  • Save Water lettered in drops Two blues on white. Build each stroke from teardrops that all point down, as if the word is dripping.
  • The word grow written as one curling vine One green, two if you add leaves. Join the four letters in one line and let the w run off as a tendril.

How it works

A school poster or card is due on 22 April, and these Earth Day drawing ideas are made for it. Each of the 45 layouts names its main colours and a headline to letter, so the sheet is planned before the pencil moves. Deal one, then pick a group for posters, easy or lettering.

Read the full guide

An Earth Day poster that reads from across the hall

The Posters group holds 20 layouts built on one big shape and one short headline. The Earth held in two cupped hands works because a circle is readable from the far wall. Give the picture two thirds of the sheet and the words the rest. Blue and green do most of the work, so add one warm colour, a red bird or a yellow bulb, to pull the eye.

Letter the headline before you colour anything

The Lettering group holds 17 ideas where the words are the drawing. Rule two pencil lines, count the letters and start from the middle one, so the headline lands centred. RECYCLE lettered round a triangle of arrows splits its seven letters as RE, CY and CLE. Ink the letters, then rub out the guides. Four words is plenty.

  • The first Earth Day was 22 April 1970, which gives A timeline strip that starts at the first Earth Day a fixed left-hand end.
  • Bin colours differ between towns and countries, so copy the bins in your own school when you draw A row of recycling bins with one child sorting.
  • The recycling symbol is three arrows chasing round a triangle. Draw one folded arrow, turn the page a third of the way, and repeat.

Questions and answers

What is an easy Earth Day drawing for a young child?

Choose the Easy group for 18 subjects made of two or three shapes. A globe made from a circle and five green blobs needs no map, because loose blobs read as land. A seedling with two leaves in a mound of soil is a curved line, two teardrops and a low hill.

When is Earth Day, and can a class use this through April?

Earth Day is 22 April every year. Keep pressing the button and all 45 layouts appear before one comes round again.

Can I use these headlines on my own poster?

Yes. They are short phrases written for this list or already in common use, such as Handle With Care and There Is No Planet B. One to check: Our Power, Our Planet was the official Earth Day theme in 2025 and 2026, so look up this year's theme before a contest.

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