Green Child of Mine
Making a difference one little eco-step at a time.
Why buy organicand fair-trade?Eco-activities
for childrenPostage &
deliveryGift wrap
serviceAbout
usContact
usLinks to
our friends
Eco-Ideas and Activities for Kids
Below are a few ideas to help your child learn how to care for the environment. Some are just for fun, many build on skills developed at school and others help children to think about how their actions around the home can have a positive effect on the world in which they live.
(Sorry - once a teacher always a teacher, I can’t help myself!)
Junk Modelling
Save packaging from going in the bin by recycling it. Use food packaging for junk modelling – e.g. cereal boxes, egg cartons, plastic tubs – to help your child’s creative development. What are their interests and what could they make? A robot, a spaceship, or a boat perhaps. Could it be linked to their school topics to enrich their understanding? A Victorian home, an Egyptian artefact, a Tudor ship, an island home or a mountain perhaps.
Make a Monster
Make a monster who loves eating used paper. This could be made from an old box or unused tub to encourage your child to recycle. Your child could decorate the tub or box as a monster using old scraps of fabric, junk modelling materials, paper mache from used paper etc. They could then put their hungry paper eating monster in a corner of their room to eat any old paper, magazines, drawings or scrap paper left over from their cutting and sticking activities. Emphasise that the monster only likes old paper that has been used otherwise you may find your child putting everything in there from important bills to their school newsletter, before anyone’s had a chance to see them.
Sock Puppet
Make a sock puppet from odd socks, where do they go!? Decorate with items you would normally put in the bin such as straws, string, scraps of fabric, beads from a broken necklace, ribbon from old gift tags etc. Your child could make an imaginary creature, a snake, a crocodile or anything else that you or they could think of. They could make their own puppet show helping to develop their communication and language skills and also their imagination.
Make a Veggie Patch
Have your own veggie patch, plant seeds and watch them grow. If you only have a small garden this could be done in a large plant pot or inside on your window sill. You could plant the seeds from a tomato or pepper you are cutting up for dinner and watch what happens - developing your child’s sense of awe and wonder in nature, at the same time as saving money and eating organic produce!
Compost Heap
Have fun making a wormery or compost heap. Encourage your child to take fruit and veg peelings to the recycling bin/compost/wormery and discuss the changes that happen to the food scraps, helping to develop their knowledge and understanding of the world.
Mini-Beasts
Search for mini-beasts in the garden and see how many you can find, creating a respect for creatures and developing scientific enquiry. You could discuss how they move, what they eat, where they live and why. They could recycle paper into a paper- mache model of their favourite mini-beast or make a collage using scrap paper such as used gift wrap.
Feed the Birds
Feed the birds or ducks with left over stale bread rather than throw it away. Look at the different birds in the garden as they feed. Could your child become an inquirer by researching in books or on the internet to find out what kind of birds they are?
Counting Games
Recycle plastic and glass by turning it into a counting game as they place each item into a recycling tub or bin, helping mathematical development.
Other Ideas
If you buy an organic or fair-trade product that was made overseas show your child a map of the world or a globe and show them how far their item has travelled and explain that the people who made it got a fair price for their hard work compared to lots of other people in the world who make clothes. This will help to develop your child’s geographical skills but also their sense of right and wrong and respect and care for others.
If you buy something that is recycled explain how the item started out its life originally, i.e., was it once a magazine or was it made from milk bottles or something else?
Buy organic food when possible, even if it is just the basics such as eggs, milk and cheese and explain to your child what makes them special and different from other foods.
Encourage them to turn out the lights and make it into a game as to who can remember first when you both leave the room. Keep score and at the end of the week the winner gets a treat.
Encourage children to recycle paper and lead by example. Taking any names and addresses off important mail, have a special box or tub for your little one to use as drawing paper or scrap paper for art work or collage.
Your Ideas
If anyone has any other good ideas they have tried and tested please contact us and we will endeavour to add them to the site.
lisa@greenchildofmine.com
« Terms & Conditions » « Privacy Policy »
Copyright© 2008. Green Child of Mine. All Rights Reserved.
Web Design :: dIGITAL Omelette.
We accept all major forms of payment. No PayPal account required.