Many of us, as adults, have had to change our ways to become more environmentally friendly. One of the many favors we can pass on to the next generation is to teach them ways to be green so that’s it’s second nature to them to care for the world around them.
My daughter is only 4, but it’s been really easy to explain about and involve her in helping the environment. When we do something, I make sure to explain why I am doing those things. If I refuse a plastic bag at the store, I tell her why. We go online and look at power plants together and I explain how energy works. When we go to the gas station, she asks me why cars need to get gas all the time and can’t run on batteries. By explaining how things work and how easy it is to waste resources if we aren’t careful, I am hopefully teaching her to be thoughtful of her actions and how they affect the world.
Absolutely the most important thing is to get kids outside. A child who plays outside, helps in the garden, enjoys nature and has outdoor living as part of their life will be easier to teach about the ways they can help keep the outdoors beautiful.
Some other ways to help teach them how to be green:
Explain conservation of resources
- Teach them to turn off lights when they leave a room
- Turn off water when they brush their teeth
Make it a game
- Let them help sort recycling
- Have them help hang laundry
- Make toys and crafts out of containers and other household items
- make repurposing and reusing a normal part of their life
- Involve them in composting
- Have them help you unplug everything before bed
- Take them to clean up litter in your neighborhood
- Take them to a landfill so they see what happens to what they
Help keep the world beautiful for the next generation by teaching through example.
This is a guest post from Emily, who blogs at Remodeling This Life about living a simple and frugal life. She’s a stay at home mom to 2 kids and enjoys teaching them about the value of living simply and responsibly.