Taking Part in School Activities
School is a great place for children to learn about caring for the Earth. Fortunately, this is a topic that is covered in most curriculum for children of all ages. Being good stewards of this Earth that we share is an important part of everyday life. When children learn with friends rather than just studying a topic alone, it helps them to get excited about it. Most schools will offer plenty of opportunities for this type of learning to happen.
Your child can also take the initiative to motivate their teacher and fellow students to get more active in regards to earth-conscious activities. When there is an opportunity for your child to educate others, encourage them to take it. This kind of behavior will cause your child to grow as a leader among their peers and even people in different age groups.
When Earth Day is coming close, encourage your child to ask their teacher if they have any activities planned. If they do, your child can volunteer to lead the others in activities, and to assist the teacher where needed. If there are no activities planned yet, your child could display his (or her) leadership by suggesting some activities and making plans to help the teacher find some worthwhile activities for the class to participate in.
Your child could help copy pages for an Earth Day school yard scavenger hunt. Or how about giving a presentation to the class about some of the hardships that the world is facing at this point in time, along with ideas on how to make changes for the good.
When it is time for your child to take part in a science fair, encourage them to choose a project that can make a difference in the world. There are many young people whose concern about the environment has led them to make large and positive changes, even at a young age. For example, it was a very young man who came up with an idea on how to clean the oceans of their trash in a fairly quick manner. Impress upon your child the fact that they don’t have to be an adult to help make a difference in the world in a substantial way.
Your child can take a stand for the Earth at school informally as well. Give him a few ideas and see what he chooses to run with. How about if he initiates a competition between him and his classmates to challenge each other to cut down on their amount of trash, including packaged food wrapping?
Watching Nature Programs and Finding Earth-Conscious Online Activities
When your child is at home, is he (or she) tempted to waste time on the computer, playing games that don’t matter and won’t make a difference in anyone’s lives? Offer some earth-conscious alternatives in replacement for his current choice of entertainment. There are plenty of different publications and programs that can give your child hours of fun, while motivating him to learn more about caring for the Earth.
Give your child access to the Planet Earth collection, which is a well-done series produced by the BBC Natural History Unit. Each of the eleven episodes dissects a different habitat on Earth.
Disneynature also produces great environmental-focused shows… movies that are about the environment and the creatures who live within it. It is an excellent group of movies that will familiarize your child with various animals, as they learn how each and every one plays their specific part. Movies such as “Bears” and “Monkey Kingdom” will have your child laughing hysterically at the antics and sweetness of the animals they focus on, while determining to keep this world a safe place for them to exist in.
Videos of this quality will stimulate and challenge your child to take a look outside the small part of the world that they live in. It encourages care and dedication to making the world a better place for everyone to live in.
There are some great websites that help children to learn more about the world and its complexities. NASA’s Climate Kids is one such site. With an unlimited amount of information, this site is geared for kids, but adults can learn a lot from it too. There are many articles that are written with school-age children in particular in mind, and games to play that will cement the ideas into your child’s mind. This site is a great and reliable resource if your child needs to reference their learning for a report or other project.
National Geographic Kids is another great site, with age-appropriate activities for children young and old which focus on wildlife and issues that affect them and the world they live in. TIME For Kids is an online offshoot of the adult’s version of the popular magazine. The website offers educational information about the Earth and other topics of interest.
Get your kids excited about these websites since they are the kind of activity that is both fun and causes personal growth. The whole family can get in on the action, since we are never too old to learn more.
