Parent tips: How to teach your child to be environmentally conscious

SaveOnEnergy has written some top tips for parents, focusing on how to teach children to be environmentally conscious, including the best eco-conscious activities to try!

These are some eco-conscious activities to do with your child:

1. Plant together: growing a plant (or crops!) from scratch is a great way to teach your child to be nature loving. Watering and taking care of the plant until it is fully grown will prove very satisfying and could teach kids how to grow their own food in the future.
2. DIY projects: a great way to keep your child busy and happy at home is by doing DIY projects together. This can involve recycling materials you find at home such as toilet rolls, plastic bottles, and cereal boxes. This will teach ways to reuse and recycle rather than throw away. This is especially important in the current lockdown, with many recycling sites closed, Brits have no choice but to become more inventive with waste!
3. Watch cartoons or child friendly documentaries about saving the environment: you can use the time your child watches cartoons wisely, by making sure those cartoons or series send a healthy message (like Captain Planet, Bill Nye the science guy or Sesame Street). Children look up to their favourite characters, and if they are fighting to save the environment, your child will want to do the same.
4. Care for animals: animals are affected by environmental changes just as much as us, possibly even more. It is very important to teach our children to be kind to animals. One way to do so is by getting a pet and involve your child in walking, feeding, and bathing them. If getting a pet is not possible, there are virtual farms that you can explore from home with your family!
5. Ride a bike, don’t drive: teach your child eco-friendly modes of transport by riding a bike or walking rather than jumping in the car, when possible. This will not only be great for the environment, but it is a great way for them to get their daily exercise too.