Why Is It Good To Teach Children To Respect The Environment?
There are many benefits of teaching children to respect the environment. However, respect for nature is not something we can teach in a single day. In fact, it is a process that we must begin when our children are very young.
Currently, concern about what affects the planet has increased. However, we also need actions to combat the negative effects of man’s action on earth.
Every small contribution made by an individual in their home or workplace will have ecological benefits both for themselves and for future generations.
If we care about the environment and demonstrate this to our children, they certainly cannot conceive of a way of life other than this one, which is in harmony with nature and animals. Raising our children’s awareness of the environment is a way to educate them for life.
If they internalize the importance of ensuring the well-being of our natural spaces and animals, in the future, we will have ecologically conscious adults, multipliers of a conservationist message.
In addition, teaching children to respect the environment brings many personal benefits as they can develop empathy and economy. Empathy because they are able to put themselves in the place of the plant or animal that is being mistreated and feel sensitized towards them. And economics because we teach you to reuse and recycle.
How to teach children to respect the environment?
From a very young age, with simple activities at home, we can convey the idea of ​​preserving the environment to our children. Put the following tips into practice at home and you will raise a child with pure ecological principles and renewable ideas.
Painting and Outdoor Activities
Most kids like to draw. So, there is no better strategy for teaching about preserving the environment than through painting.
You can take your little one to a park with a basket of fruit, their toys and materials to paint. Once you get there, spend a few hours playing with him. For example, ask him to represent the day’s activity in a drawing.
Take this moment to emphasize the importance of taking care of green areas. Tell him that if they didn’t exist, you wouldn’t have had the opportunity to have as much fun as you did.
Making crafts and school assignments with recyclable materials
Teach your child thousands of ways to reuse waste generated at home. There are many fun activities that we can make crafts, toys and more with the containers we dispose of at home.
Plastic bottles, aluminum cans and paper towel or toilet paper cardboard cylinders are excellent options to take advantage of our creativity and that of the little ones, offering fun and useful creations.
On the other hand, at school, activities are often designated to do at home, such as making a model or representation that involves the use of wood, plastic or others.
This is an excellent opportunity to recycle. In addition to teaching your child the value of reusable things and materials at home, you will also promote the habit of saving money, as your child will notice that you don’t need to spend more money when you have so many options at hand.
Sort materials at home to take to collection centers
Certainly, in your city, there are collection centers for citizens to take their clean, dry and separated waste for processing.
So, have a space in your home to separate recyclable materials and ask your child to help you do that. Once some material has been used, ask your child to put it in the right place, so that he knows that, in your home, the only option that exists for these objects is recycling.
Then, when you have enough material, take your child with you to deliver it. Make it a habit, a family activity.
Teach to appreciate movies in which the environment is protected
There are many children’s movies whose main message is the preservation of the environment. For example: Pocahontas, The Lion King, Wall-E and Avatar (ideal for teenagers). Likewise, there are also great documentaries and programs aimed at children on this subject.
Watch it with your child and a delicious popcorn, like a movie like any other. Make these activities natural at home. Teaching kids to respect the environment is so easy and fun that you can do it without any problems.
In conclusion, a child with firm ecological principles will be an environmentally responsible adult. This is an indispensable condition for human beings today, and even more for the future.
