Earth Day is Wednesday, April 22, 2026. It's the 56th anniversary of this celebration of nature. How about drawing some attention to the planet we call home? Here are Shapegrams that fit naturally this time of year.
Circle Panda Lesson
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Build an adorable panda using only circles! The tutorial videos show you how step-by-step, including duplicating shapes and groups.
Globe Lesson
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Draw the planet in the Globe Lesson. The tutorial video walks you through tracing a picture using the Curve tool. It’s a bit tricky, which is why it’s rated Outstanding Orange.
Jane Goodall Lesson
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Jane Goodall dedicated her life to studying chimpanzees and showing the world their intelligence, emotions, and social bonds. The picture is made of 98 shapes, so it's for experienced digital artists.
Koala Zipper
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This gray-t koala is composed solely of ovals!
Tree Zipper
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Branch out by drawing a tree. It can be drawn using only four shapes.
Porcupine Zipper
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Watch this one take shape with 14 pieces. Turns out you can draw its distinctive quills with a single shape.
Whale Zipper
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Make a splash by overlapping 5 different kinds of shapes to draw a whale. One of the shapes is quite unexpected.
Sunflower Zipper
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A bright build that’s perfect for spring. The petals are actually easier to draw than they look with a simple trick.
Frog Zipper
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You can toad-ally build the frog with 20 ovals, 2 hearts, and 1 moon shape.
YouTube Blocked? No problem!
Each Shapegrams Lesson (in Google Slides or Google Drawings) has two video links. One opens the video on YouTube. The other downloads the video, which plays the video from shapegrams.com. If YouTube is not accessible, the Download Video link is there as an alternative.
Addressing Your Account's Email Address
Most teachers sign up for Shapegrams with their school email address. That email is used to reset your password and to notify you when your membership is about to renew.
If you're changing school districts or retiring, it's a good idea to update your Shapegrams account to a personal email address—one you know you'll always have access to. That way, you won't miss important messages about your account.
Don’t worry. Changing your account’s email won’t affect your access to the Shapegram files. You can still copy them into your school account as usual.
Celebrate Earth Day Like It's 1999
If you’ve been following my work, you know I’ve been into vibe coding lately, using AI to build apps. I’ve made dozens, and my newest is Textreme 2000.
It’s a web-based game where you press the numbers on an old-school cell phone to type. There’s an Earth Day list where you copy the phrases as quickly as you can, and you might even land on the global leaderboard. No login, no ads, and no personal information required. But the best part might be your students’ reactions: “This is how you used to write text messages?!”
If vibe coding has you curious, check out Teacher Hive, where teachers are publishing and sharing apps they’ve created. And if you want to learn alongside me, join my June 2026 online workshop, Classy Vibing with AI. Over four weeks, we’ll explore the what, why, and how of building your own tools, websites, and apps just by describing them to an AI chatbot.
Smiles from Iowa,
Tony