This Week in Animal Crossing: Meet Leif the Sloth and Celebrate Earth Day

It’s the third week of April in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and it feels like we’re just getting into the groove of being the island resident representative. If you started around at launch, your Nook's Cranny might be upgrading this week! But for everyone, players will be celebrating Earth Day and all the things related to the conservation of our planet. We'll break down what we know about Earth Day in New Horizons, as well as a little bit of history around the special character running the special event, Leif. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=animal-crossing-new-horizons-visiting-characters&captions=true"]

What is Earth Day in Animal Crossing?

This week in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, players will be celebrating Earth Day! As we mentioned in our previous weekly roundup, Earth Day is an upcoming event arriving in-game on April 22 as a free downloadable update. Earth Day is also an annual holiday in real life that celebrates and spreads awareness about the conservation of the environment. Some even take it a step further by celebrating the event for an entire week. Based on some promotional material shown in a Nintendo Direct Mini in March, the special character leading the event in Animal Crossing: New Horizons will be Leif the Sloth. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/03/26/nintendo-direct-mini-3262020"]

Who is Leif the Sloth?

Leif is a sloth that was first introduced in Animal Crossing: New Leaf where he ran a gardening store. Players could purchase items such as gardening tools, plants, flowers, fertilizer, and even young trees at his store.

What to Expect on Earth Day in Animal Crossing: New Horizons?

It's still uncertain what will happen come Earth Day in ACNH but we can speculate based on events previously ran by Leif the Sloth. In Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, Leif ran a Spring Flower Event where he would visit campsites and ask players to collect rare ladybugs. In order to attract these special ladybugs, players needed to plant limited flowers for the occasion. Once a player acquired a certain quantity of ladybugs, the insects could be exchanged for limited edition items such as furniture, decor, clothing, and accessories. It’s possible we will see something similar happen on Earth Day in Animal Crossing this week. However, it's worth noting New Horizons' Fishing Tourney followed a different model from Pocket Camp's, so there's a chance Nintendo has a different challenge in mind. Make sure to check out ACNH Earth Day guide later this week for more on the event.

How Can I Prepare for Earth Day in Animal Crossing?

If Leif celebrates Earth Day similarly to how he ran the Spring Flower Event in Pocket Camp, we suspect it will have something to do with planting flowers and/or trees and catching bugs. One particularly useful skill we encourage players to learn is creating hybrid flowers through crossbreeding. Players can crossbreed flowers in Animal Crossing by taking two flowers of the same type, planting them diagonally from one another, and then watering them. There is one important factor to consider, however, and its the color of the flowers. Not all flowers of the same type are able to crossbreed as only certain color combinations work! Take a look at our flower guide in our guide for a list of crossbreeding combinations in Animal Crossing: New Horizons. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Felicia Miranda is SEO Editor at IGN and is very exited to meet Leif the Sloth!!! Share you excitement with her on Twitter @FeliciaVagabond.

source https://www.ign.com/articles/animal-crossing-new-horizons-earth-day-update-how-to-prepare