Do you want to protect the environment for future generations? If so, you should practice sustainable living and encourage your kids to follow your example.
Don’t know how to explain the sustainability concept to your little kids? We’ve got you covered! Here are a few ideas on how you can educate your son and daughter about sustainability and green living. Try out these ideas, and you will raise environmentally conscious children.
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Encourage playing environmental games
Do your kids like to play video games? Offer them to play the following environmental games:
- Clean and Green. This game was designed by a team of experts from Cambridge English Online. By playing this game, kids can test their knowledge on recycling and learn new tips.
- Recycle City. It’s another fun game about recycling. This game illustrates how an ideal sustainable city looks like.
- Smog City 2. This game works as an interactive air pollution simulator where kids can control the air quality in Smog City 2. This game was designed to show kids how individual choices and environmental factors contribute to air pollution.
- It’s an online game that allows kids to build their very own farm and learn more about renewable wind energy.
Provide your kids with personal reusable items
Do you want your kids to skip plastic straws and stop using plastic bags? Visit a zero-waste shop together with your family and offer your kids to choose their personal reusable straws, tote bags, water bottles, lunch boxes, and other single-use plastic alternatives.
If you provide your kids with the reusable items they truly like, they will be more likely to use them in everyday life. A cute tote bag with Hello Kitty print and a water bottle with a Hulk are those little things your kids need to start their zero-waste journey.
Spend days and nights outdoors
How do your kids spend most of their time: indoors or outdoors? If they don’t spend enough time outdoors, it might be challenging for them to understand the concept of sustainable living.
To make your kids more eco-conscious, you should encourage them to spend more time in nature. Your family should visit national parks and try out such activities as camping, horse riding, and snorkeling.
Exploration of flora and fauna will help your kids understand why they should protect the environment. For instance, if you invite your kids to snorkel and show them beautiful coral fishes, you will motivate them to use reusable items to protect coral reefs from plastic pollution.
Explain everything
One of the best things you can do to encourage your children to be more sustainable is to provide detailed explanations and answer all “Why?” questions.
Let’s say you want to teach your kids to turn off the tap while brushing their teeth. If you ask your kids to turn off the tap but don’t explain why it’s so important, you will unlikely achieve any positive results.
But if you talk with your kids about the water scarcity problem and explain that one in five children globally does not have enough water to meet their everyday needs, your son and daughter will make it a habit to turn off the tap.
Raise an eco-blogger
Are your teenage kids interested in blogging? Do they want to become Instagram or TikTok famous? As a parent, you should support your children in their endeavors and help them to choose the right topic to blog about.
If your kids haven’t decided on a blog theme yet, you can offer them to focus on sustainability and green living. These topics are super relevant and interesting to research.
Working on their blogging project, your kids will learn more about climate change, global warming, and sustainability in general. And, most importantly, your kids will learn to raise their voice and talk about the problems they care about.
You can also help your kids with topic research and blog post writing. Provide them with links to reputable educational resources and invite them to check EssaySupply offers – that’s the kind of support your teens need to start blogging. No extra assistance is needed from your side. If your kids need help with editing, they will ask you for such a favor.
Send your kids to an environmental camp
If your kids don’t really want to discuss sustainability topics with you, you can get help from experts in the field. You can offer your kids to participate in environmental workshops. Or you can even send them to the eco summer camp where educators will help your kids learn the fundamentals of green living.
The best thing about environmental camp is that your kids will be surrounded by like-minded children who care about the planet. While in the camp, your kids will gain valuable experience that will inspire them to make more sustainable choices.
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Watch documentaries on sustainability
Do your kids like documentaries? Offer them to watch documentaries on sustainability. Here is a list of films and TV shows that you can watch together with your children for educational purpose:
- Our Planet by Netflix (Age 7+). This documentary will allow kids to see the planet’s natural beauty and understand how climate change impacts all living creatures.
- The Biggest Little Farm (Age 8+). This film discusses different aspects of building a sustainable farm and urges viewers to opt for greener living.
- Hostile Planet by National Geographic (Age 13+). This TV show presents the world’s harshest landscapes and shares stories of the animals that have adapted to survive in these conditions.
- Minimalism (Age 13+). This movie explains the basic concept of minimalism.
If you have a toddler, you can opt for children’s movies with a green theme:
- Ice Age: The Meltdown. This movie will help your kids to grasp the idea of global warming and its negative consequences.
- Happy Feet. This children's movie shows the human impact on marine life.
- Free Willy. This movie teaches kids that wild animals are better off left alone.
- Over the Hedge. This movie demonstrates how urban development impacts the lives of local animals.
Wrapping up
Luckily, today we have free access to numerous tools and recourses to educate our kids about sustainability. It means we, parents, can raise eco-conscious children who will do their best to save the planet for future generations.
Author’s bio. Jessica Fender is a professional writer and educational blogger. Jessica enjoys sharing her ideas to make writing and learning fun.
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Photo by Anna Earl on Unsplash
