Children are our future and teaching them all about the importance of the environment and world around us is not only a vital part of their education, but helping our planet also. You might think that young children aren’t old enough to learn about sustainability and looking after the planet, but it is actually the perfect time. Children love and are fascinated by the outdoors – if you ever notice your child playing outdoors, then you’ll know they seem to have a connection to nature. Whether it’s spotting cloud formations in the sky, fluffy dandelions in a field or insects crawling around.
Teaching children about the environment builds and develops on their natural interest and helps to encourage their curiosity as they grow up and explore the world around them. This isn’t just about teaching children to be more sustainable as they get older, but to respect and respond to the environment around them. With this in mind, here are 5 tips for teaching young children about the environment.
Spend Time Outdoors
Although it seems obvious, spending time outdoors is one of the best ways to teach children about the environment. Head to your nearest park or explore the local green areas around your home, not forgetting your own back garden. Let your child explore on their own and see what kinds of things they are drawn to.
Children tend to love collecting things such as rocks, sticks, flowers and leaves, so when they show them to you, try to talk to them about where these items came from and why they’re an important part of our environment. You don’t need to be an expert in ecology to talk about the environment with your children, even simple and short chats about how trees help to clean our air or how sticks were once part of much bigger trees can all be good conversation points.
Encourage Wildlife Into Your Garden
Even the smallest of gardens can be home to wildlife and there are plenty of ways in which you can get your children involved in encouraging wildlife to visit your garden. Simple things such as getting a bird table and making some homemade snacks for them to enjoy can be enough to spark interest and conversation in the morning over breakfast. Or, why not look at making your own bug hotel if your child shows an interest in bugs and insects? It’s a simple craft that can be done in no time and is perfect for any size garden, using up any bits of debris you have lying around in the garden. Spend a sunny afternoon planting bee and butterfly friendly flowers around the garden and create little spots where you can sit and watch the wildlife on a nice day.
Teach Children To Recycle
When you’re at home, it’s really simple to teach your children to recycle and learn about the different materials and where they come from. If you have dedicated recycling bins, then get them involved with separating materials into the different bins and why they go in the ones that they do. Explain why different materials are better than others for some things, for example, plastic cling film doesn’t break down and can only be used once, whereas reusable food wraps can be made using leftover or sustainable materials and can be used more than once.
Instead of plastic lunch boxes, invest in a reusable lunch bag in a fun print and include bamboo cutlery for them to use at dinner time. Encourage them to drink using a reusable bottle, instead of buying them different drinks whilst you are out and about.
Make Sustainable Choices Around The Home
Lead by example and make sustainable choices around the home so that your whole family is making sustainable choices and swaps as and when they can. There are plenty of things that can be swapped and even improved upon by making sustainable choices around the home and in every room.
In the bathroom, swap plastic-based children sponges for soft baby washcloths and swap toilet rolls for sustainable bamboo toilet paper instead. In the kitchen, cut down on your waste by using reusable speed mop heads and remove kitchen paper for biodegradable cleaning cloths. Around the home, instead of using harsh and plastic bottled cleaning products, opt for essential oils and refillable glass bottles instead.
You can also teach children other ways to be environmentally friendly around the home, for example by turning off lights when they leave the room, turning taps off when they’re brushing their teeth. Helping out in the garden is another way you can help your little one learn about the environment and how sustainable choices can be made, such as water butts for rain water, making your own compost and even growing your own fruits and vegetables!
