How to Raise an Eco-friendly Child Easily and with TONS of Fun!!
A few fun and simple green parenting ideas are all you need to raise an eco-friendly and eco-conscious child. Yes, the children of today are the adults of tomorrow and helping them understand the impact their actions have on the environment will make a big difference in the long run. However, you don’t have to be all boring and serious about it. You can make it tons of fun and encourage long-term learning in the process as well:
1. Go to the Farmers’ Market
Kids love looking at fruits and vegetables. A trip to the local farmer’s market or even the produce section of the supermarket is a great way to introduce children to fresh produce. While you pick up veggies and fruits, talk about farming, where fresh veggies and produce come from and how we must protect the earth to keep enjoying all this yumminess.
2. Encourage Kids to Recycle and Reuse
Recycling and reusing are the fundamentals of eco-friendly living and it is quite easy to introduce children to these eco-friendly practices.
Every weekend, get the kids together and have them sort paper from plastic and put it into boxes or carton. Donating clothes and toys to charity is another way for them to understand that things that no longer fit them or are needed by them can still be used. Help them understand why things need to be recycled. Make giving things away fun for children and help them see that their toys will still be loved and their clothes will still be worn.
3. Switch to Cloth, Wherever You Can
Whether it is using cloth swim nappies for the baby at the beach or reusable sandwich wraps and snack bags for the older kids, switching to cloth will help kids appreciate the impact that reusing has on the environment. Explain why you don’t use disposable nappies, plastic wrap or paper bags and how they are filling up landfills the world over.
4. Go Gardening
Gardening can be full on family fun with kids as young as toddlers. They can get messy, play with mud and water and finally, see something they’ve planted blossom and grow. Make it even more fun with their own set of gardening tools, gloves and a bucket to tote things around or pour water from, like this gardening tools set from Twigz.
You can also get them a Mini Greenhouse complete with biodegradable peat pots that they can use to start their plants in and then, simply plant it into a larger pot or garden. Being able to see things grow and actually be part of growing herbs or flowers is not only fun but also very educational for little ones and will help them appreciate the environment even more.
As always, remember that children learn best from example. So, if you're being eco-friendly and green in your everyday life, kids will follow!
Ready, steady, go green!! What are some of your favorite ways to raise an eco-conscious child?