Kid-Friendly Lessons in Planet Care (A Guide for Parents)

As a parent, you already know that you have to teach your kids the importance of caring for the planet and working to conserve it. However, some lessons might be too advanced for kids, such as the role capitalism plays in climate change. Try to lecture about this to children, and they’d start wondering if they’re being punished for something.

To make sure the lessons stick, keep them simple, and focus on letting them experience things rather than merely sitting them down for a lecture.

Remember that kids learn better with sensory aids such as looking at visual aids or getting to touch stuff you’re talking about. 

Once you’ve got the method nailed down, here are some kid-friendly topics to cover if you’re trying to teach kids to care more about the planet.

Recycling and upcycling

Teaching kids how to recycle or upcycle old stuff is so much fun because you can turn it into a family bonding experience.

For instance, you can ask your kids to paint old bottles with you to be used as vases or pots for houseplants. You can also ask them to help while you’re making them a new accessory from an old shirt they no longer want to wear.

While you do these fun activities, you can tell them about the world’s garbage problem and how they can help by recycling, upcycling, or donating their old stuff instead of chucking them straight to the bin.

Conservation of power and energy

This is one of the most basic lessons you can teach kids simply by asking them to turn off lights and faucets when not in use.

If you want to take the lesson further, you can bring them along when buying a wicking system and LED lights for your plant nursery, for instance.

Efficiency in water and electricity plays a crucial role in sustainable living, and switching to LED lights and wick watering systems is an excellent way to achieve that.

Alternative power sources

Kids learn best by observing your best practices.

Suppose you want to teach them all about the downsides of using fossil fuels to generate electricity.

In that case, you have to really explore clean energy options available in your area and sign your household up for access. These include wind farms and shared solar farms you can subscribe to, so you can lead your kids by example.

For instance, if you live in New Jersey, you may look for options on how to get community solar in NJ. This should not be too hard since most states now have shared solar farms that allow residents to tap into clean energy without installing any solar panels at home.

Buying organic/local produce

Patronizing locally grown produce helps sustain small farms and farmers while also reducing our dependence on food miles or the fossil fuel required to fly in imported goods.

This lesson can be learned in a fun way by going to the local farmer’s market together.

Maybe they’d even get to meet actual farmers who can tell your little one fun stories about how their veggies journey from soil to their plate. As a side bonus, this might cause kids to eat their greens more willingly.

Dangers of single-use plastic

Another simple planet care lesson kids can understand with ease is why single-use plastics are harmful to the environment.

Spark their curiosity by refusing to take plastic bags from supermarkets or plastic straws from restaurants when you go out and dine in as a family.

Once they start asking questions why you’re refusing something that other people are taking for free, that’s your cue to tell them why in your house, you only use eco-bags and other reusable materials instead of plastic.

Respect for wildlife and vegetation

Finally, respect for other living creatures is another lesson that kids can have fun learning. If you haven’t done so yet, you can start an herb garden or take home a puppy from the nearest pound.

Having plants and animals at home is a great way to teach kids how to be respectful to other living creatures. This way, they’ll learn how to be respectful of different forms of life.

However, it’s also good to let them see plants or animals in the wild or in their natural habitat. For this, a wildlife safari adventure might be in order.

Final Thoughts

Your kids have all the time in the world to learn all about these planet conservation techniques later on in life. Still, they will surely appreciate it more if you already planted the seed of knowledge early on.

Being a parent is tough, but if you can raise planet-conscious kids, you’re already winning.

Home Jobs By Mom

Krystle Cook – the creator of Home Jobs by MOM – put her psychology degree on a shelf and dived into a pile of diapers and dishes instead. She is a wife and mother to two rambunctious boys, sweating it out in her Texas hometown. She loves cooking, DIY home projects, and family fun activities.