Teach Your Kids About Climate Change and What They Can Do About It with These Tips!

Climate change can be a complicated and scary topic. But what if I told you it isn’t actually that difficult for children to understand? Climate change affects each and every one of us after all, no matter how young or old we are. When I was seven years old, I learned about proper waste segregation in school: We had trash bins all over the campus labelled “Biodegradable” and “Non-Biodegradable” and we’d even get quizzed about which materials would go in which bin.

In simple ways like this, young kids are taught early on how to protect the environment. So let’s get the kids involved in our fight against climate change! I did some research and even asked two educators for some tips for teaching your kids about the issues affecting our environment today and what they can do about them. Find out how you can help your kids save planet Earth!

Teach Your Kids About Climate Change with These Tips!

Do your own research about climate change

In order to teach our kids, we have to do our part to learn as much as we can about climate change. The more we understand the issue, the easier it will be to fight it and pass on the knowledge to solve it to younger generations. Luckily, there’s plenty of info out there for you to go through and it’s all just a Google search away!

Have you seen the documentary “An Inconvenient Truth” by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore? Well, this film sparked the conversation about the climate crisis and it can be a good crash course for you! Al Gore also founded The Climate Reality Project  to call on people to act against climate change. Their website has a lot of info to help you know more about the crisis and what we can do to stop it, so it’s also great material to start with!

 

Share what you know with your kids using visuals

Most kids are visual learners so using images and videos will be very helpful! Why not use your time on Netflix or YouTube to learn about the environment together? You can easily search for videos anywhere online that can help break down the facts about climate change for kids. And these videos could even give them a deeper appreciation for nature and why they should care for it. Don’t be afraid to get real about what’s actually happening too! Your kids could really benefit from knowing as much as they can.

 

"Sometimes parents don't want to show the truth because it might scare kids. But when I show kids photos of turtles with plastic in their tummies and straws in their noses, them immediately ask what they can do to help. Kids have a strong sense of justice and they're smarter than we think." - Joni Galeste, Teacher

Try out D.I.Y. projects that promote sustainability

Teaching kids simple ways they can reuse or repurpose things at home could help them learn the value of not being wasteful. You could try something as easy as making your own homemade paper: All you’ll need to do is blend newspaper scraps and mix that pulp with water, dry it out, and voila! A new sheet of recycled paper! Doing fun activities like these can encourage recycling and remind your kids that they can always try to be more resourceful by making new things out of what they’d normally throw away.

 

Join and build on your kid's school activities

Getting involved with the environmental projects at your kid’s school is a great opportunity for you to show them that the concepts they learn actually go beyond their grades. So find out about their eco-friendly school activities, help out, and maybe try them at home too! And why not initiate your own projects for your kid’s classmates, like a tree-planting activity? This way, you’re not only reinforcing what your kids learn in school, but you’re also reminding them to act on what they learn.

 

"Ask teachers for help! We teachers can give parents topics to learn with their kids and we can help you apply the projects that we do at school. We can even give you more suggestions on what you can do at home to lessen waste." - Tanya Tayag, Teacher

 

Help your kids adopt sustainable habits

As parents, we have to set the example for positive change. So try helping your kids practice eco-friendly habits wherever they go! An easy start would be having your family use reusable utensils and containers at school or even when you decide to go out for fast-food, to lessen the single-use plastics that end up polluting the earth. Shopping consciously by turning to local brands and vendors that promote sustainable alternatives can also show your kids simple ways to actively take a stand against wasteful practices.

At home, instead of adding to the food waste that worsens global warming, show your kids how the food they can’t finish can actually be used to grow new food with composting! By letting your food scraps decompose, you’re turning them into nutrient-rich fertilizers that can help your gardens grow. And looking up composting methods (like the Bokashi Composting method) online is super easy too! This useful household practice will surely help your kids be less wasteful and more environmentally friendly.

Overall, giving your kids different opportunities to learn about what’s really happening to the environment can definitely encourage them to make a difference. It’s time to get the whole family moving!

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