How To Raise an Environmentally Conscious Child

It’s important for young people to grow up with a sense of respect for the environment, as it will help benefit their future world. It’s easy to raise an environmentally conscious child, as long as you are a good role model and lead by example with various hands-on activities. Here’s some advice from a private school in Surrey.

Outdoor Adventures

Weather permitting, try and find opportunities to take your child on some day trips outdoors so that they can learn about the environment and start to appreciate how beautiful it is. You could go to the beach, have a picnic in the park, go fishing, or take a stroll/build a den in your local woods. During your trips, be sure to chat to your child about their surroundings and how they are changing with global warming. 

Gardening

If you’re lucky enough to have a garden, perhaps you could encourage your child to plant some seeds, build a bug hotel or a bird feeder, or various other activities. Teach them the names of different plants and birds. Essentially, the idea is to help your child bond with nature, to encourage them to treat it with respect.

Recycling

Make sure your child knows to separate their rubbish into different bins and remind them why that has to be done in the first place. Teach them about raw materials and explain that recycling helps us preserve resources and reduce pollution. You could stick pictures to your bins to help your child remember what each one is for and try and make it into a game so that it can be more enjoyable for them. You could even set up a rewards chart and give your child a treat if they remember to recycle all week. 

Switching Off

Encourage your child to switch off the lights as they leave a room or turn off the sockets on the wall once their electronics have finished charging. Not only will this reduce your bills, but it also reduces energy waste which is kinder to the environment. You can also show them how to save water by turning off the tap when they’re brushing their teeth or taking quicker showers. Teach your child that energy and water is precious, and we should try not to waste it. If you remind them enough, it will eventually become a habit to switch things off.

*This is a collaborative post