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About Earth Hour

This Earth Hour, switch off for our world.

Earth Hour is more than just an hour. It’s about people coming together globally to show support for our world and connect with what matters most – nature and each other. For Earth Hour 2026, we will invite you to use this hour to switch off for our world, whichever way works best for you. Find out more here. 

Join millions of people across the world for Earth Hour 2026 on Saturday 28 March 2026 at 8:30 PM

Wild Worlds

Action Challenge

25+ minutes / Outside

Zoom into any patch of un-mown grass, an unkempt window box, or a quiet corner of the playground, and you’ll find a ‘wild world’ of wildlife going about its business. In this Earth Hour-inspired bioblitz, pupils will take their time to spend up to an hour discovering wildlife on their doorstep. They’ll work carefully to spot and record as many living things as they can during this time, creating evidence through recordings, drawings, leaf rubbings, or simple journal-style notes. 

Learning outcome: Pupils will practise close observation and identification of local plants and minibeasts, while building care and respect for nearby habitats by noticing what wildlife needs to thrive. 

 

Instructions

  • First watch the Tiny Wonders video with your class in the lead up to Earth Hour, to get pupils inspired by slowing down and observing nature. 
     
  • Next, choose a small “wild world” to study (e.g., a strip of grass, a planter, a hedge or fence line). Remind pupils: look closely, move gently, and leave everything as you found it. 
     
  • Give pupils the ‘Wild Worlds journal worksheet’ and set a timer for 15–20 minutes (or up to an hour). Their challenge is to find and record as many different living things as they can in that time. 
     
  • Pupils can record ‘evidence’ without touching anything, (e.g., quick sketches of bugs, leaf/bark rubbings, tally marks for repeated sightings, a labelled picture of what they notice). 
     
  • Bring the class back together to share. Prompts: What did you notice? What surprised you? How can your chosen wild world remain a good place for wildlife? What can you and your class do to look after these wild worlds? 
     
  • Collate evidence into a simple digital field journal (e.g. one slide or page per group) to celebrate your class discoveries for Earth Hour, for example a PPT or PDF. 
     
  • Share a photo of your class's journals or stories on our Earth Hour digital gallery and you could win some awesome prizes! Scroll down this page for the entry form.

Adaptations

  • To make it easier, provide a short spotting checklist (e.g., “something with wings”, “something crawling”) so pupils can succeed even if they can’t name species or you can use the SEEK App to help identify the creatures?  
     
  • To develop it, assign roles within groups (e.g., spotter, sketcher, habitat detective) and ask pupils to record not just what they saw, but where they found it (under leaves, in cracks, on petals). 

Extensions

  • Repeat or extend the challenge for a full 60 minutes (either at school, or as a home challenge with families) – pupils can split the hour into smaller bursts if needed. 
     
  • After your count, take one small caring action to improve the habitat (e.g., make a bird feeder from recycled materials, or create a bug hotel). 
     
  • Host a mini ‘Wild Worlds’ display (in class or a corridor) and invite families to make a small donation to support WWF’s work protecting nature. 
     
  •  Try our mini-beast word-search. 

Happy By Nature By Night

Creative Challenge

15+ minutes / Inside and Outside

Earth Hour asks people around the world to switch off non-essential lights for one hour (typically 8:30–9:30pm at the end of March). That’s a powerful moment for climate – and it also gives us a glimpse into the world of nocturnal wildlife. In this creative challenge, pupils imagine (or observe) the nature they see or might see at night from a garden, balcony, or window – then bring it to life through a night-scene drawing or a short story. 

Learning outcome: Pupils will build empathy for nocturnal animals by thinking about how wildlife lives after dark, and explore simple ways humans can care for nature at night by reducing disturbance and noticing the world more quietly. 

HBN FAQ Slice

Instructions

  • Introduce Earth Hour (by watching the video) as a ‘lights off’ moment and explain that there’s lot of nighttime nature activity. 
     
  • Ask pupils to choose a ‘night view’ to imagine or observe at home e.g., through a window, in a garden. Encourage quiet listening as well as looking if observing. Provide this webpage to parents, guardians or carers so they can get involved at home. 
     
  • Pupils pick one nocturnal visitor (real or imagined) and create either: a night-scene picture (with the animal hidden or moving through it), or a short story about the animal’s night journey (where it goes, what it needs, what dangers it avoids). 
     
  • Use these example nighttime wildlife images to help pupils with nighttime wildlife such as foxes, badgers, hedgehogs and bats. 
     
  • Add one ‘caring detail’, a simple caption or sentence showing how we can help (e.g., ‘I keep my distance’, ‘I leave wild corners’, ‘I switch off lights to give animals space’). 
     
  • Pupils can then display their work in school and do a silent ‘gallery walk’ in class (or share at home) to spot different night animals and see other’s caring ideas.  
     
  • Share a photo or description of your class's work on our Earth Hour digital gallery and you could win some awesome prizes! Scroll down this page for the entry form.
     
  • For parents, guardians and carers: View the example images of nighttime wildlife at home with your young person, reading the instructions above carefully. Pupils can create a drawing, painting, story etc. that’s either using their imagination or from what they can see in the evening. Use the above prompts for ideas of what to consider and where you could observe the nighttime creatures. 

Adaptations

  • You can provide sentence starters if pupils need help getting started (e.g., ‘Tonight I saw…’, ‘It was looking for…’, ‘It felt safe when…’). 
     
  • Ask pupils to include sensory detail (sound, smell, temperature) and a ‘problem and solution’ (e.g., the animal is dazzled by bright light, so it finds a darker route). 

Extensions

  • Encourage families to switch off non-essential lights and ‘give an hour for Earth Hour by choosing their night scene together. Find out more about Earth Hour 2026 here. 
     
  • Create a class ‘Happy By Nature By Night’ showcase – a page or display of night stories/artwork that can be collated and celebrated as part of the Earth Hour moment. 
     
  • Run a ‘night gallery’ (in school or shared digitally) and invite families to donate to WWF. Pupils can explain that Earth Hour is about showing we care for the planet and its wildlife. 
     
  • Pupils can explore UK Nocturnal wildlife by visiting our GoWild pages. 

How is your school taking action this Earth Hour? Share your story on our digital gallery to enter our prize draw!

Tell us how your school is taking action this Earth Hour to enter our prize draw. 

You could win 1 of 6 book prizes, from:

  • 1 x signed copy of Steve Backshall’s book ‘My Ultimate Lethal Beasts’  
  • 2 x signed copies of Nadeem Perera’s book ‘What Makes a Bird’
  • 3 x books from Magic Cat Publishing; Mini Beast by Rosie Niave, The Stuff that Stuff is Made Of by Jonathan Drori, Buzz by Richard ‘Bugman’ Jones.

All entries will be moderated and subject to our prize terms and conditions. Entries will be displayed on our digital gallery on this page from the 9th March 2026.

The prize draw is open to all UK Primary Schools and UK Home Educators and closes on Thursday 30th April 2026. Good luck!

This form must be completed by a teacher, school staff member, or parent/guardian/carer aged 18 or over.

Tell us what your school or class have been doing to celebrate Earth Hour!
One file only.
30 MB limit.
Allowed types: jpg, jpeg.

Any image you submit will be subject to our prize draw terms and conditions. Please submit a single image ensuring you have the relevant permissions. Images can show a single piece of work or multiple pupil’s work. This may include writing, pictures, graphs, models or a photo showing other pupil activity. Images should not be submitted where individual pupils are recognisable or where submitting the photo to WWF could pose a safeguarding risk.  

Your story and image may be shared on our digital gallery with your School name and Town, and we may also share it on our social media, website, or in our publications.

 

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Submit a description of an earth hour related activity that your primary level pupils have undertaken by 23:59 GMT on 30 April 2026 to be entered into our  prize draw. Six entrants will be selected to win 1 of 6 available nature themed books (exact prize selected at random). This prize draw is open to all UK schools and UK home educators. [You must be over 18 to submit an entry]. Only one entry per individual. Only one prize per school or per household will be awarded. See https://www.wwf.org.uk/competitions-terms-and-conditions for full terms and conditions and details of available prizes. The winners will be contacted by email within one week of the draw date. If the winner cannot be contacted after reasonable attempts have been made, WWF-UK reserves the right to offer the prize to another prize draw entrant.  

Your Earth Hour Stories

We have uncovered raised beds in school. We have left nettles and brambles to support pollinators. We were shocked to hear about the Butterfly Emergency declared in 2024 by the Butterfly Conservation Society. We will plant butterfly friendly crops such as oregano, kale, dill, fennel and parsley.
Ellesmere special school
Leicester
We have a wonderful parent helper for our school wild gardens and allotment. Andreea is involved with a community project to plant fruit trees / bushes and insect-friendly plants in our local green space. The children have been helping her, making nesting packs for birds, tasting wild produce, etc.
Dixons Silver Springs Primary Academy
Stalybridge
I run Forest School everyday for out SEN school. The children this term have been planting trees in our forest school area and around the playgrounds. we have also been litter picking and looking at how to care for own environment. We have planted 500 trees and shrubs in total.
newlands primary school
Manchester
We have been talking about earth hour and its importance. We have been using outdoor learning and our playground to look at our natural surroundings and how we can look after our nocturnal animals when we are away from school. We are ensuring the animals have shelter and safe space to thrive.
Rivington primary school
St. Helens
We held an outdoor pop-up exhibition on our last day of term before Easter to show our parents the work we have been doing to save electricity at school as part of our new 84 solar panel installation. All classes had a lights/screen free Earth Hour afternoon on the same day too!
Stillness Infant School
London
At manor School, we use our Forest School time to create an environment that makes room for nature. We build habitats, learn about the flora and fauna we share our site with and think about ways in which we can help wildlife outside of our school life. This is our hibernaculum in Forest School.
Manor Primary School
Didcot
We have been working hard to develop an eco garden in our very suburban school! Each class had a different section to design.
Gilnow Primary
Bolton
We have recently had a "Bee Celebration Day" where we invited some local beekeepers into school. After an informative & fun assembly, the students participated in a variety of STEM activities and each class made some "Pollinator Paper" using recycled paper and wildflower seeds to take home.
St Hugh of Lincoln RC Primary School
Manchester
At Siddington, we’ve been learning all about how we can help protect our environment 🌍 The children have been busy planting seeds and growing their own vegetables in our school allotment, taking pride in caring for what they grow. We’ve also been out litter picking, helping to keep our community
Siddington C of E Primary School
Cirencester
My reception class did a craft project on making a paper plate earth for Earth Day 2026
Barnburgh Primary Academ
Doncaster
The children and teachers at Quince Tree Day Nursery in South Ockendon,Essex are on a mission to “Save The Bees!”.They have made a picture that they hope will encourage more people to plant more seeds to “Save The Bees!”. Every person who plants more seeds for Bees will be a Bee Hero!
Quince Tree Day Nursery
South Ockendon
We have been planting many beautiful plants and flowers, specifically to attract pollinators. The children have sown lots of seeds and have enjoyed watching them germinate!
Home education
Huntingdon

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