Front view of a child hand holding a damaged toy globe, shallow depth of field
It is a fact that teaching, by example, is the best way to reach your children rather than just telling them what to do. You can begin to teach them about sustainable living after improving your lifestyle. You can effectively teach them by applying the same to yourself. Here are some ways to encourage them to be conscious of the environment.
Read storybooks about climate change and bring them grocery shopping
Reading is a favorable bonding opportunity for you and your child. It also is a great chance to teach them about the difference in a climate without being intense. There are books for children that allow you to emphasize the importance of sustainable living. Some of them include where the wild things are and Charlotte’s web. If you find them blunt, some choices are more direct, like Dinosaurs, a book written by Michael Foreman. You are allowing your kids to accompany you while grocery shopping is a good learning experience. However, it would be best if you remembered to set some guidelines before you leave. The guidelines should help them understand the difference between organic products and locally produced products. You should also discuss with them the concept of eco-friendly products. You should also check if they understood your explanation by helping you select items. It would be best if you showed them how to identify eco-friendly products by using labels and stickers.
Practice recycling at home and schedule visits to sustainable farms
It is also essential for your kids to understand the proper ways to dispose of waste and which items are supposed to be recycled. This can be done by explaining how paper is made and how it can help protect the forests. You can also tell how some materials take longer to breakdown and can be hazardous to the environment and animals. Once they understand the significance of recycling, you can now categorize your bins. Separate bins should be for disposing of materials such as broken glass, cans, plastics, and papers. You should also indicate in the container which elements are to be disposed of mainly. Visiting farms is the best way to teach your kids where the food they eat comes from. It also allows you to tell them the benefits of buying organic fruits and vegetables. This allows your kids the chance to know if fruits are ripe or not; this is because of the practice of some firms to enable you to pick some fruits and vegetables. It is also an educational chance for your children to know how domestic animals are kept. This link can prove my facts.
Consider spending time in nature and starting a vegetable garden
It would be best if you used free time during holidays and weekends to visit places like forests and parks. This will encourage your kids to see the values of nature and why it is worth protecting. During this time, it is appropriate for you to discuss how human actions affect the environment. You could also advise them on the best effort to minimize these effects. You could also practice your teachings by making a game of collecting litter you can find while you walk. It is also recommended to start a garden if your land has space. This is a great bonding strategy and a sure way to teach your children how to grow food themselves. It is a great way to show your kids which season favors the growth of which type of vegetable or fruit. If you lack the necessary space on your land, consider growing things like cucumbers, tomatoes, or even herbs in pots. You can also design a simple vertical garden or to implement greenhouse kits in your home garden to make it more sustainable.
Implement meat-free days in your diet and also discuss preserving water and energy
If your family loves meat, then establishing a day without meat to create a conversation about decreasing your family’s carbon footprint. You could also make your kids understand why reducing meat in your diet is good for the environment. It will also make it a fun exercise to select new meat-free recipes together with your kids. This will broaden their taste buds, making them experience new flavors. It is usually hard for kids to understand that some resources are limited. They are not even able to understand the concept that certain electricity is produced using non-renewable sources. There are ways to educate them about certain things without continually talking to them. This is by using educational children’s videos; they make the learning process fun and exciting. You can also implement fun activities to make the process less stressful to them.
These ways will help you make your kids live sustainable lives and encourage the future generation to become more Eco-friendly.
