Parenting Tips: How to Teach Eco-Friendly and Sustainable Practices to Kids
Kids are full of curiosity about their surroundings, nature, and the world we live in. Without a doubt, we must encourage kids to pursue their curiosity. However, as parents, it is also our duty to educate our children about how to care for the environment.
Many parents worry that educating kids about sustainable practices will lead to ecophobia : the fear of being powerless against environmental changes.
The good news is that there are several ways to teach kids about sustainable living without causing them anxiety. Here is how:
Build Memories Outdoors
The first step to learn to care about anything is to learn its value. Therefore, to develop a healthy relationship with nature, kids must spend time outdoors.
As kids grow up and create memories outdoors, it will be easier for them to appreciate how amazing nature is and why we must care for it.
Talk to Them
As we all know, kids question everything. Therefore, we cannot expect kids to commit to practicing sustainability without knowing why it is important.
When talking to kids about sustainability, we recommend keeping it short and sweet. Leave the negativity aside and focus on explaining the benefits that nature provides to humans. For example, talk to them about how plants clean the air or how bees and birds help us grow food.
Lead By Example
We resemble our parents in more ways than we can even imagine. Ultimately, kids often develop their own perspectives from watching the behavior of adults. Talking to our kids about sustainability will be useless unless we lead by example. Therefore, it is crucial to include eco-friendly activities in our everyday lives, such as:
Turn off the lights and faucets.
Prioritize outdoor time before prioritizing social media and TV time. This could be as simple as spending an evening in your garden with a summer drink.
Don’t fall for consumerism. Also, teach your kids the value of “less is more.”
Use eco-friendly homemade cleaning supplies, such as vinegar, baking soda, etc.
Set Eco-Friendly Chores for Your Kids
When it comes to children, there’s no better way to learn than with hands-on learning. To create environmental awareness, try implementing eco-friendly chores. For example, if you have a preschooler, they can help you classify recyclables. If your child is a little older, you can get them to help you in a composting project.
Make Your Garden a Family Project
You don’t have to go far away from home to teach your kids about reforestation . You can do it in your own garden! Besides planting trees, you can also try fun activities like:
Planting your kid’s name in flower seeds.
Put a bird feeder and enjoy birdwatching.
Set up water sources for bees and birds.
Grow your own food (this will allow them to learn the time and effort it takes to grow food and possibly value it more).
Environmental Books for Bedtime
Books or storytime is a learning opportunity for kids to have a better understanding of the environment.
Here are some environmental books to try for bedtime:
Follow the Moon Home: A Tale of One Idea, Twenty Kids, and a Hundred Sea Turtles, by Philippe Cousteau
The Tree Lady: The True Story of How One Tree-Loving Woman Changed a City Forever, by H. Joseph Hopkins
Kate, Who Tamed the Wind, by Liz Garton Scanlon
Charlie Goes To The Beach, by Robin Rotenberg
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