Kaboutjie SA Mommy Blogs by Lynne Huysamen
There are many important things that we need to teach our children that will benefit them in their lives and one of these thing should be looking after our planet. If we don’t look after our planet and teach our kids how to, where will they (and future generations) live?
The human footprint on the earth has been devastating so far and we need to change this for future generations. There are many things we can do to teach our children a better way of doing things in the future.
Here are some ways we can teach our children about looking after the earth:
Make Your Child An Earth-Saving Super Hero
Children learn best through play and stories. Making it fun and interactive will help your children to remember things.
Get your hands on a personalized children’s book that will teach your kids about the plight of the earth and what they can do to change it. Making your child the hero in the book will excite and inspire your child.
United Letters has published the well received and popular personalized book The Tree Of Life and more recently the personalized Ocean Adventure book.
Soon to be available on Amazon and Etsy too!
Teach Your Children About Plastic
The effect of plastic on our earth is nothing short of catastrophic. You can show your children videos of all the plastic in the ocean as well as the effect that it has on animal life.
My daughter saw a picture in a magazine of someone removing a straw from a turtles nose and she got very upset asking why someone is forcing a straw into it’s nose. I explained to her that she has gotten it the wrong way around, that person is trying to remove the straw. I then explained that is where plastic straws often land up.
The next time we went out to a restaurant she told the waiter she does not want a straw and explained why.
Point out to your children when you see litter lying around. My kids asked me about the litter all over when we went for a walk a while back and they were very upset that people throw their rubbish on the ground. The next time we went for a walk my kids each grabbed a bag and picked up litter on our walk without me saying anything – it was all their own idea.
Understanding the dangerous effects of plastic will help your children to make better choices even from a very young age.
Read Also: Why Parents Should Opt For Toys Made Of Wood Instead Of Plastic
Teach Your Children About Recycling and Upcycling
We still live in a throwaway society and this needs to change. Teach your children that you want to throw away as little as possible and make use of what you already have at home.
Isn’t amazing that we will throw away or recycle glass jars from food products then go and buy a pretty glass jar to store our sugar in?
Kids love creative projects so have a look on Pinterest for some inspiration and you will have a steady stream of activities to keep your kids busy, make use of items in your home that you would normally throw away or recycle and you will have some beautiful and useful products for your home that your kids have created.
Teach your children what must be thrown away and what can be re-used or recycled so that they can help you sort and organize “waste” products at home.
Garden With Your Kids
Gardening is very beneficial for you and your children. You can grow your own vegetables and fruit which will save you a fortune financially, as well as reduce the amount of waste your household uses. It may seem like something so small, but think about the amount of single use plastics that your food is packaged in – long term you will be reducing a massive amount of waste.
You can grow your own food organically without the use of chemicals and pesticides that the big commercial companies use. You will no longer be taking part in that damage to the earth and your family will be eating food that is healthier, tastier and safer.
If you don’t have your own garden you don’t have to let that stand in your way, you will be amazed at how much you can grow in pots!
While perhaps your household alone won’t make such a massive difference worldwide think about the effect if each household started to grow as much of their own food as possible?
I really hate seeing people litter outside. What’s even more sad is people dumping their dirt on our beaches
I love this post – and yes we really need to make some big time changes here and the most important is for our children to understand that mistakes have been made and we need to turn things around before it is too late. I worry about the world we are leaving for our children.