Our planet has had a bit of a rough time recently – her oceans are awash with single-use plastic, wildlife populations are declining at an unprecedented rate, and we have a limited period to limit irreversible climate change catastrophe.
As adults, we’ve grown up seeing the planet a little greener than it currently is, and yes, how can we forget learning the 3Rs – reuse, reduce and recycle! We still remember how every birthday as a kid was spent going to a nursery, picking up a sapling and planting it so that we could ‘help our planet become a little more greener!’
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As parents, it falls upon us to educate our children in a similar fashion, and if it can be made fun, we’ve hit the jackpot!
Every year in April, there’s a day we celebrate together, and it’s the perfect time to educate our kids on climate change, recycling, composting, reusing and other ways in which they can help protect our home.
These simple hands-on nature-inspired activities will help keep kids busy and teach them a valuable lesson! Remember, these activities can be done all year round, not just during the month of April!
Now, before we begin, some questions need answers.
How To Help The Environment
Here are some pretty relevant questions to ask kids and prep them! Don’t give the answer away, but let them delve deep into their feelings and thoughts.
- What can you recycle?
- What can you do around the house to conserve energy?
- What do plants do for us and the Earth?
- Why shouldn’t we litter, and what is littering?
- Why don’t we dump trash into the ocean?
- What can we make from old or recyclable items?
Activities To Keep Your Kids Engaged
1. Take A Walk And Connect With Nature: When you think of helping the environment, the first thing that comes to mind is connecting with nature, and the easiest way to do this is by going to the park or a garden near home. Talk to your child about flora and fauna present there, and when they come home, ask them to draw pictures of their favourite flower in the garden, or even draw pictures of the birds they saw!
2. Grow Their Love For Plants With Seed Containers: Every kid loves a science experiment! All you need to do for this is collect small containers, get seeds (mustard, rye or whatever’s available in the kitchen), paper towels and some water. Add the paper towels at the bottom of the containers, fill up the containers with a little water, enough to keep the paper towels wet and then, add in your seeds. Let the kids see how amazing nature is when they watch these plants come to life!
3. Recycle, Recycle, Recycle: This is a cool activity for preschoolers or kindergarteners since it’s a skill that they can use for many years. Here, all you have to do is show kids how to separate plastics, metals, cardboard and glass. Get the kids to place different plastics into separate bins and slowly turn this into a habit that they pick up at a young age.
4. Go On A Virtual Holiday: Why don’t you travel to a place that you’ve always wanted to visit with your kids, places that showcase some of the most beautiful scenes the Earth has to offer!
- Explore Mt. Everest
- Swim in a famous coral reef
- Explore the Antarctic landscape
- Know all about the secrets of ancient ruins
- Spot the Northern Lights
Virtual holidays are so much fun and help the environment as there’s no cost of flying! Kids can now understand how to reduce their carbon footprint and have fun simultaneously!
5. Learn All About Composting: Composting is something that we should all try and do at home. How can you make it fun? Involve the kids in the process by playing a game! “Queen of Sheeba says bring me an orange peel!” or “Simon says bring us a banana peel!” This makes it fun for the kids, as they get to involve themselves in the process from stage 1 itself, and it’s something they’ll remember, as it’s made fun.
6. Make A Pledge: This is another fun, craft-filled activity. Ask your kids to list down five things they can do to help their natural surroundings (could be them wanting to play outdoors more than using their screens, planting trees, picking up waste and litter, etc.) Once they’ve decided what they want to go ahead with, make it a plan that the follow that year. Ask them to list it down on chart paper and make it glittery, add craft elements that they love, and hang this up in their room to remember.
Our planet deserves to be shown a lot of love and kindness! Every small change will help make a big difference, and hopefully, these can be the start of new conscious habits and practices!
