Earth Day is just about upon us and it made me think about how parents could use this day as an opportunity to help kids learn about the environment and conservation. Here are a few ideas I thought of for helping children understand more about the Earth and it’s precious resources:
** Help children plant a flower, or better yet a vegetable plant. This is great because it helps kids understand that vegetables don’t originally come from the grocery story but from the Earth.
** Teach children to conserve water and electricity whenever possible. Examples: turning off water when brushing teeth, turning off lights when leaving a room.
** Take kids on an outing to a local farm or orchard. Even if you live in an urban area, many times a farm or orchard is just a short drive outside the city.
** Even young kids can help sort items for recycling. Young children usually like sorting games and recycling can put their sorting skills to good use.
** Take your kids to visit a state or national park. While there, go for a nature hike and point out new animals, plants or insects that you find.
One of my favorite blog, Because Babies Grow Up, has some more wonderful ideas for helping your children understand Earth Day. Here are also some other great Earth Day tips and spring recipes.
*********GIVEAWAY***********
In honor of Earth Day, our regional grocery chain, H-E-B (yeah for Texas companies), has offered to give three lucky readers a reusable grocery tote. To enter, just leave a comment on this post mentioning ideas for helping kids celebrate Earth Day.
** For extra entries:
– Become a fan of The Thoughtful Parent on Facebook (and post a comment here telling me). If you are already a fan, post a comment saying so.
– Follow The Thoughtful Parent on Twitter (@thoughtparent) (and post a comment here telling me). If you’re already a follower, post a comment saying so.
**Winner will be randomly chosen from all entries received by 8:00pm (CST) on Sunday April 25.**
(open to US residents only)
John
Kids are more and more aware of environmental and conservation issues these days than when we were growing up since they learn it in school from an early age. That said, Earth Day is definitely an excellent opportunity to make it a family project and show kids that conservation starts at the home.