How to Teach your Kids to Help our Environment
Environmental awareness is more than just a buzz word, it's a way of life for many families and individuals. It involves a commitment from these people to care for a planet presently threatened by pollution, population growth, over-depletion and over-consumption. The present phenomenon wherein more and more people are taking up greener lives is a recognition of our own responsibility as stewards of this planet. It is built on a commitment to care for a planet that has only be lent to us, and which we are obliged to pass on to the next generations.
Among the most common questions that some parents ask is whether they can raise their kids to be eco-friendly individuals? Well, there is no such thing as being too young when it comes to helping the environment, and its actually very easy for children to learn environmentally-friendly practices. Like many things, it's actually better to start young when it comes to living a green life.
So how do we go about it? You won't need a teaching manual, or a series of strictly formatted lessons detailing the historical volume of carbon emissions that now define the climate crisis. Teaching children to help the environment is much simpler than that. It all boils down to one basic lesson, and that lesson involves teaching your children to love the environment. If you can teach your kids to love the environment, everything else will follow and they themselves will actively find ways for them to help care for the planet.
This leads us then to the wide myriad of activities that you can use to teach your kids to love the environment. Here are some ideas:
* Expose them to nature. Always make use of every opportunity to bring your kids outdoors and closer to nature. Nothing beats camping out under a night sky sprinkled with glittering stars to give a child a sense of wonder and admiration over his natural environment. Take them hiking through parks and forests, and spend vacations in places that will give him a larger glimpse of what nature has to offer.
* Cultivate their green thumbs. Give your child a small plant that he can take care of and show him how to tend it. This will give him a sense of wonder over the natural growth process of nature and will also train him to respect and care for plants as living beings.
* Take small steps to educate them. Talk to them about what's going on with our environment. You don't need to bombard them with facts and figures, but focus instead on the basic lessons such as how forests and water sources are becoming depleted and how these are affecting the animal and plant species. Don't forget to also show them how small steps like recycling, taking a bike to school, and turning off unnecessary lights can help the environment.
* Encourage them to learn more about the environment. Many parents find themselves pleasantly surprised when they get environmental tips from their kids. You should not underestimate your child's capacity to learn more from media, books, and other people. Encourage them to deepen their interest in the environment and provide them with opportunities to learn more through small kiddie activities sponsored by environmental organizations and special screenings of environmental films and shows.
Green Parenting Resources
- Raising Baby Green: The Earth-Friendly Guide to Pregnancy, Childbirth, and Baby Care
- Green Guide Families: The Complete Reference for Eco-Friendly Parents
- Growing Up Green: Baby and Child Care: Volume 2 in the Bestselling Green This! Series
- Feeding Baby Green: The Earth Friendly Program for Healthy, Safe Nutrition During Pregnancy, Childhood, and Beyond
- The Everything Green Baby Book: From pregnancy to baby's first year - an easy and affordable guide to help you care for your baby - and for the earth! (Everything Series)
- Green Baby
- Teach Yourself Green Parenting
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- Youth Organizations that Teach Green Living Values
- Throwing Out the Textbooks in Homeschooling
- The Next Generation: Teaching Green Living Values to the Very Young
- Teaching Teens: Taming the Advertising Giant
- Teaching Your Kids How to Live Green
- How to Have a Green Pregnancy and a Healthy Baby
- Going Green in the Classroom
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- Keeping the Cost Down While Providing a Quality Education at Home
- Homeschoolers are Going Green!
- Creating a Green Mentor Program
- Getting Kids Back to School: The Green Way
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Our school recently started the move towards waste free lunches after finding out that kids go through about 70 pounds of trash each year at lunch time!...
