The invention discloses a method using rare earth for modification of a lead storage battery negative electrode plate, in the battery formation process of the lead storage battery negative electrode plate, a rare earth sulfate or rare earth oxide is added into a battery formation fluid, reduction reaction of rare earth ions is performed at a negative electrode for modification of a lead storage battery negative electrode plate, while transition of a lead compound on the negative electrode plate into lead dioxide, rare earth modification of a negative electrode plate gate and a negative electrode active material can be realized, and the lead storage battery performance can be improved. The method is simple, some trace rare earth is easy to be uniformly and quantitatively incorporated on the electrode surface, the control of the electrode surface performance can be realized, investment in equipment is low, process improvement is large, the method can adapt to different electrodes, greatly reduces the dosage of the rare earth and improves the utilization rate of the rare earth; by use of the electrochemical technique for rare earth modification on the electrode surface, the dosage of the rare earth is greatly reduced, the utilization rate of the rare earth is improved, large-scale industrialization is facilitated, and the control of the electrode surface performance can be realized.