I’ve always been the parent who likes to keep my kids a little more active and engaged during their time at home. This season, I tried my best to limit their time on screens or playing video games and make it enjoyable. One of my favorite things that I have been able to keep them entertained is getting them involved in eco-friendly projects around the house.
What are the eco friendly activities for kids that they will love?
There are so many things you can do to help the environment, and most of them are fun for kids. The best part about these projects is that you can go about your day with your kids, still having fun and learning simultaneously. In this article, I will give you ten of my favorite eco-friendly projects to do with the kids.
10 Best Eco Friendly Activities For Kids & Parents
1. Learning About the Environment
Working on green projects will help make learning more about being environmentally friendly enjoyable for everyone involved. Learning about the environment doesn’t have to be limited to the classroom; incorporating it into your kids’ daily lives excitingly and engagingly will help them become more conscious of environmental challenges.
Collecting reusable cardboard and containers to use in craft projects is one technique to help children become conscious of trash issues. With some consideration, repurposed materials can provide almost limitless craft supplies. Plastic bottles create excellent musical instruments, paint containers, and other uses!
2. Go Cycling and Explore the Outdoors
Cycling is one of the best ways to enjoy the outdoors while eco-friendly. There are so many places you can bring your kid to give them a good learning experience. Having fun while you are at it will help the kids become more conscious of their actions and how they affect our planet.
A good example is taking them on a bike ride that circles a local lake or park every month and having them record what they observe in a nature journal. You should also ask if there are questions or facts they would like to read about nature and our environment.
3. Grow Your Own Veggies
Allowing a child to cultivate a few plants in a bit of a garden area is an excellent method to foster an interest in the environment. Lettuces, carrots, and other salad crops quickly grow and require little maintenance.
These are perfect tasks for beginning gardeners. A gardening project is also an excellent method to teach children the importance of eating fresh food and shopping locally wherever possible.
4. Recycle Paper Projects
Getting children to gather and recycle newspapers is a fantastic way to learn more about recycling and trash management. Craft projects can also benefit from the usage of recycled paper.
Gift wrapping paper, for example, can be created by painting newspaper sheets and gluing them together. Newspapers can also produce recycled paper products in the comfort of one’s own home. This is a beautiful exercise for kids of all ages to take part in.
5. Water Management
Understanding the need for water conservation is one of the most vital eco-friendly activities for kids. Making it more exciting for children can be achieved by incorporating eco-friendly activities for kids that involve them in finding ways to manage water in their own homes.
This approach can be particularly effective as part of a class project, where children learn hands-on how to contribute to environmental sustainability through practical, everyday actions.
Older kids can calculate the amount of water saved by turning off the tap while brushing their teeth and performing other water-saving actions. This might be used for different energy conservation in the household, such as encouraging kids to develop creative ways to reduce their electricity consumption.
6. Green Crafts
Crafts are a fantastic method to teach kids about the environment and the need for recycling, making them ideal eco-friendly activities for kids.
By allowing children to create posters that promote awareness of environmental issues or other goods, such as homemade cards and calendars, these eco-friendly activities for kids not only raise the profile of a problem but also provide an excellent method for children to engage in environmental stewardship while also having fun.
7. Family Projects
Embarking on a journey of eco-friendly activities for kids goes beyond teaching sustainable habits; it’s about building a shared commitment within the family and fostering a green spirit that lasts.
Planting some plants in pots, learning more about recycling, and taking part in other eco-friendly activities for kids are more enjoyable and meaningful when the entire family participates.
This approach not only educates but also instills a sense of responsibility towards the environment in children from a young age.
Creating a garden is another excellent way to teach children about the environment. Kids will also have fun helping family and friends plant and harvest their vegetable garden!
8. Have Your Own Recycling Game
Recycling is an essential eco-friendly activity for kids that significantly contributes to the well-being of our planet. By engaging in recycling, children can learn about sustainability and environmental stewardship.
One practical way to implement eco-friendly activities for kids is by encouraging them to write postcards and letters to local businesses, urging them to increase their recycling efforts. This not only fosters a sense of responsibility in children but also helps them understand the impact of their actions on the environment.
Moreover, for kids with a strong interest in environmental preservation, initiating a recycling campaign at school or among friends is an excellent way to promote eco-friendly activities for kids, instilling a lifelong habit of caring for our planet.
The best part about these projects is that they are perfect for all kids. They will allow everyone to learn new things while also having fun and saving the planet!
9. Calculate Your Carbon Footprint
One of the eco-friendly activities for kids is understanding and calculating the carbon footprint. With our specialized carbon footprint lesson for kids, you can introduce your children to the concept of a carbon footprint. Utilize this guide to facilitate the learning process! Take this quiz to determine your family’s carbon footprint. Based on the results, engage in eco-friendly activities for kids to commit to reducing it.
10. Read Books About the Environment
Among the eco-friendly activities for kids is reading. Encouraging your kids to delve into books that touch upon environmental topics is a fantastic way to spark their interest in the pressing concerns of our planet. The list provided here is just a glimpse of the vast array of eco-friendly-themed books out there. As a part of eco-friendly activities for kids, motivate your children to share their reading experiences with their peers.
If they like reading a lot, ask them if they want to consider collecting and donating books to bookmobiles or libraries. You can also encourage them to buy environmentally friendly books for their younger siblings once they start school.
11. The Significance of Proper Waste Management: An Eco-friendly Activity for Kids
Understanding and managing waste is the cornerstone of an eco-friendly lifestyle. As one of the eco-friendly activities for kids, introducing color-coded boxes can be an engaging way to help them understand waste segregation. Picture this: vibrant bins designated for food waste, paper and cardboard, glass, and items for charity. This approach not only promotes order but also subtly communicates the value of recycling and repurposing.
Furthermore, to address the growing concern of plastic waste, kids can make a substantial impact with minor yet significant steps. Encouraging them to avoid single-use drink bottles and products made from or packaged in plastic is paramount. Imagine a shopping trip where they enthusiastically select unwrapped produce at the supermarket or pick non-plastic items like bamboo toothbrushes and paper straws. Such eco-friendly activities for kids make sustainability an adventure!
12. Planting Trees: A Crucial Eco-Friendly Activity for Kids with Big Impact
The world loses billions of trees annually due to deforestation, posing a threat to the balance of our ecosystem. Trees play a monumental role by removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Here’s a hands-on eco-friendly activity for kids: they can actively participate in replenishing the planet by planting tree seeds in a local park or forest. Not only does this inculcate a sense of responsibility, but it also makes them stewards of the environment from a young age.
13. Birds and Their Habitats
Bird feeders are more than just an aesthetic addition to a garden. They provide sustenance to our winged friends and offer kids a practical insight into the world of birds. Crafting a bird feeder, an eco-friendly activity for kids, especially when they monitor the different birds that flock to their creation, is both educational and enjoyable. Remember, it’s essential to ensure that the hole is just the right size—big enough for a bird to enter but designed in a way that the feeder remains stable.
Moreover, adults play a significant role in making these activities safe. Whether it’s cutting the top off a plastic jug for a DIY eco-friendly activity for kids or covering the rough edges with fabric, adult supervision and assistance are crucial. They can guide and ensure that every project is both fun and hazard-free for the kids.
14. Exploring the Outdoors and Appreciating Wildlife
If there’s one place where kids can genuinely connect with the planet, it’s the great outdoors. Whether it’s an extensive garden or a modest balcony, any outdoor space can be transformed into a haven for nature. Planting vegetables, observing bugs, or simply enjoying the fresh air can immensely boost their appreciation for the planet.
Activities like marking off items during a walk—be it bugs, acorns, animals, and beyond—can be an exciting eco-friendly activity for kids. Not only does this engage their senses but it also offers an enriching learning experience about the different creatures cohabiting our environment.
Outdoor activities aren’t limited to physical exertion alone. Creative ventures like learning how to reuse paper, an eco-friendly activity for kids, can be an excellent way for them to understand the value of resources. Moreover, delving into activities that merge environmental consciousness with academics, like collecting weather data for the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network, can amplify their enthusiasm for learning.
15. Understanding Pollution and Its Consequences
Amidst the excitement of hands-on projects, it’s equally important to equip kids with knowledge. Discussing facts about pollution can be enlightening. From plastic pollution facts to understanding its broader implications, kids can delve deeper into the subject, making it a foundation for research projects and interactive lesson plans.
Bottomline
It is not always easy to work on eco-friendly projects with your kids. However, we hope you like these ideas for your next eco-friendly family project. After all, the best way to teach anything is by example. Don’t you agree?
Our planet needs all our help! Discover these eco-friendly guides below that will surely help you live a more sustainable lifestyle.
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