What is Your Child's Role?

It is pretty scary how as we grow up we start to act, and sound just like our parents. That is because our habits were formed when we were children. The way we talk, the things we do, good habits, bad habits are often influenced by our parents. Having said that, you have the ability to help shape your children into responsible young adults. Let's face it, a lot of this info about the environment has just been made available to us. Our parents did not have the resources to teach us about sustainability and environmental concern. There's a lot of negative news about the environment these days, but things are looking up.

Good things are happening every day and our children have incredible power to make a difference, and perhaps make up for some of the things we could have done better if we knew about this stuff years ago. We can not however scare our children, they are too young and not ready to deal with such a heavy burden. So here are a few quick tips for teaching your children about the environment.

Keep it Simple! - Teach them things like reducing, and not wasting. A child may not be able to understand carbon emissions and their effect on climate change, but they can understand that paper comes from trees, and trees are needed in the forest so animals can live.

Get Them Involved - Kids love to help and always want to be a part of something. Talk to them about endangered species and tell them how they can help. Ask them to remind you to bring your cloth grocery bags when you go to the store.

Lead by Example - if you are not doing your part, you can not expect your children to do theirs. If they see that you are interested in it, they will likely follow suits.

Exposure - Let them experience the outdoors with you as much as possible, they will grow to appreciate nature and they will take better care of it.

Pictures and Projects - There are some great children's picture books out there that explain things like, recycling, climate change, wildlife, eco-systems, etc. Read them first to make sure you approve of what is being said. Do simple projects with your kids like, ask them to fill up a gallon of water from the bathroom sink and time how long it takes. This way they will know how much water they can save by shutting it off while they are brushing their teeth.

Go for nature walks and look at trees and birds and try to explain to them how we all work together.

Have Fun With Recycling - do arts and craft projects with things that would have otherwise been thrown away.

TV, yes I said TV. - There are a few good programs like Discovery Planet, where kids can learn about animals and the environment.