Looking for ways to teach your children about preserving the environment? Check out these fun and educational activities for a sustainable future.
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If you’re looking for a reason to get the kids out of the house (and away from their screens) for a few hours, you’re not alone. The long, cold winter, combined with the seemingly endless list of health concerns and fears is enough to send anyone running into the woods.
Heading out of the house and into nature is just what the doctor ordered. Plus, getting kids into the outdoors makes them healthier and more well-rounded adults later in life.
The delicate balance of the natural world is a heavy concept to lay at the feet of the little ones. Your goal is to educate and illustrate how inspirational and rejuvenating nature is. Start with the things that they understand—tangible concepts like clean air, water, and picking up litter—and how those actions impact us in the future. Below is a list of fun ways you can use to teach kids about environmental preservation.
Nature Bingo
Printing out nature bingo cards is an excellent way to get your kids interested in the great outdoors and improve their ability to recognize trees, animals, plants, flowers, and more. Create custom Bingo cards and fill out each box with pictures of the local plants and wildlife in your neighborhood. Print them out and head outside, having the kids mark off when they see something on the card. You can also make unique cards for the different seasons to highlight the changes to the environment all throughout the year.
X Marks the Spot!
Ever heard of geocaching? It’s a recreational activity where explorers get to hunt for hidden objects using GPS coordinates. For example, hikers use it to leave notes, chocolates, and other little surprises for other hikers along the same path. Visitors to campsites, hiking trails, and state and national parks all over the country leave behind clues and markers for other folks to find. Search for a geocaching app on your phone and use it with your kids to find and contribute to this fun treasure hunt!
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Augmenting Reality
If you want to incorporate your kid’s digital devices into the activities, try downloading a few apps to help you engage and your kids learn. Seek is an app for iPhone and Android that uses live image recognition to teach kids about wildlife and the outdoors. Users snap a photo of just about anything in nature, and the app analyzes the image to provide relevant facts, data, and content. Users also earn badges along the way as they learn about creatures and their habitat.
Leave Nothing but Footprints
Perhaps the best way to teach kids about nature is the simplest: Just get out there! There really is something restful and restorative when you commune with the outside world. Talk about what you’re seeing and doing when you hike or walk. Kids are receptive and can understand big concepts with surprising clarity. Showing a child the wonder of nature instills in them a sense of pride in preserving it.
Ultimately, incorporating any of these ideas into your outdoor time with your kids will help them treasure nature the same way you do.
#environmentaleducation #sustainablefuture #parentingtips
