Raising Eco-Conscious Kids

Read our tips to pass “green” habits on to your children to ensure they live in a clean and healthy world!

Consequences of Actions

Explain to your children, without frightening them, the long-term effects pollution will have on the planet. Discuss problems like global warming and the thinning ozone layer, and tell them that there are courses of action they can take to change the current global conditions.

For example, explain that every time your child wastes paper, more trees that provide us the oxygen we breathe will have to be cut down. That’ll definitely get him or her more concerned on the subject!

Initiate a Recycling Program

Recycling can be quite a tricky thing, particularly in regards to what you can and can’t recycle. Clarify this with your child: draw up a chart with them on two separate pages, one with objects they can recycle and the other with things they can’t recycle.

Paste the sheets on the fridge and use them as a point of reference not only for your child, but for yourself as well! Also, initiate the principle of the three Rs: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.

Eco-crafts

Arts and crafts are a fun activity for kids, but it allows for much waste of construction paper and other supplies! Recycle a large cardboard box and decorate it with your children; tell them that this is where all their odds and ends and left-over paper should go. That way, for their next artistic endeavours, they can procure paper from the box. And be sure to remind them to use both sides of the paper!

An Ecological Summer

As summer approaches and you’re getting ready to sign your kids up for camp, note that there are a few programs that cater specifically to getting children to open their eyes to environmental issues. This will get them outside the house and give them a more hands-on interest in the subject.

For example, Exploring Toronto takes kids around the city’s parks and gardens to raise ecological awareness, and Montreal’s Biodome offers a two-week educational program to get kids interested in science and nature. Find out what your city has to offer! Take part in “green” activities.

To make the issue of the environment more interesting for your kids, partake in outdoor activities offered in your city. For example, there is National Forest Week and National Arbor Week (look into when in the year your province recognizes it); help your children to plant a tree in your yard and watch it grow over the years!

Get Your Kids in Touch With Nature

Being more familiar with nature will definitely get your kids more concerned about the environment. Get away from the city and take your kids camping; while there, you’ll be able to explore ecological concerns and view animals in their natural habitat. It’ll also get the kids to take a real look at nature and see the beauty they need to protect and preserve.

Finally, while you’re in the process of making your child more conscious about the environment, be sure to change your own consumption habits, and become an example for the whole family!

Myreille Simard for divine.ca
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