Each day, we learn more about the ecological impacts we are having on the planet. As parents and adults, it’s essential that we educate our children about the need for a sustainable environment while they’re young. Sustainability for kids involves the small changes they can carry out to protect plants, animals, and natural resources to ensure that their future generations can enjoy them. In this post, we’ll share ways you can teach little kids about environmental sustainability.
Make them a part of household chores
Including your little kids in household chores teaches them about sustainability and also helps them gain life skills needed for the future. Some examples or chores you can include them in are:
- Packing Groceries: Showing your kids how to pack and put groceries in a reusable bag is the first step. Replacing the bag with some nice cotton carriers may prompt them to ask why you made the change. Take them shopping with you and explain how the plastic reusable bags damage the environment when they end up in oceans and landfills.
- Washing clothes: Teaching them how to place and remove clothes from a washing machine creates awareness. As they grow older, they can start learning about energy conservation from the machine’s temperature.
- Make them assist you with recycling: Making recycling a part of your kids’ lives can develop their environmental conscience, from disposing of used gift bags to donating clothes they’ve outgrown to charity. You can teach them why they need to put egg shells, banana skins, apple cores and more into a waste bin meant for food rather than a standard garbage bin.
Make it enjoyable for them
Children love having fun, so if you’re looking for ways to teach them about sustainability, then you can make it enjoyable. Below are two ways you do that:
- Use the game concept: Teaching kids through games and play is an old concept that can be utilized in several ways. One interesting way to utilize this concept is by using colored boxes to distinguish your recycling, then ask your kids to pick the correct box.
- Take them on an excursion to a recycling center: While this might not be interesting to you, it’s definitely a good way for the kids to learn. Children will learn about how to reduce environmental impact at home through recycling and waste management.
Practice a greener lifestyle
Your kids will learn faster from you when you practice what you teach. You could try reducing your screen time and take a walk in the woods. Changing your disposable items and one-time use plastic with recyclable or reusable ones is also a good idea. Some simple swaps you can make in your house are, using reusable sanitary items and cloth nappies. You can also utilize metal straws that are reusable severally and patronize brands aiming to decrease waste generation.
Environmental sustainability is an important aspect of human lives, including our children. Now you know some ways to teach your kids to adopt a greener life and reduce waste generation to make the world more habitable for future generations.
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