Sustainability Activities for Kids

Teaching your kids about sustainability can be easy and fun! It may seem overwhelming in the beginning but by starting with a few small changes and green activities, they will quickly catch on. You want your children to grow up knowing how to take care of the planet. By being a role model, you will teach them how to do just that – and have a great time while doing it!

What does sustainability mean – and how to explain it to your kids?

Let us start by explaining what sustainability means. Sustainability is responsibly working with the planet to protect our natural resources without compromising the needs of future generations. To put this simply for kids, it means that we need to try and save energy and water, learn to recycle, and do as much as we can so that one day their kids also have what we have.

Here are some environmental sustainability activities that will get them started. These are enjoyable, so they’ll love learning while doing them.

Start Recycling

You can easily turn a few old dustbins or buckets lying around at home into recycling bins. Ideally you should have a bin for each of these recycling groups.

• Glass

• Plastic

• Paper

• Metal

• Cardboard

Get the kids involved in learning what each group is by creating colourful labels for each bin. Every time something needs to go into the dustbin, teach your children to understand how to tell the difference between the types of material and to throw it into the correct bin.

Plant a Veggie Patch

Wouldn’t it be wonderful to pick your veggies for dinner straight from your vegetable garden in the backyard? You don’t need a lot of space to start growing a few of your own vegetables, even some pots on the windowsill can be effective. You can use some recycled pots or plastic tubs that you have lying around – all you need to do is fill them with soil and compost and get planting.

Alternatively get the kids to dig up a small area in your garden and add some compost. Then buy a few seeds or seedlings and get the kids to plant them. Make sure you water them as often as necessary. Soon enough the kids will be amazed by what starts to sprout and grow.

Try starting with these vegetables as they tend to grow and sprout easily.

• Lettuce

• Spinach

• Tomatoes

• Herbs

• Strawberries

Start Composting

It’s so easy to keep all of your vegetables and fruit off-cuts and peels. Use an old bucket or tub with a lid and put all the organic scraps into it. Make sure your kids know what can decompose and what can’t. Teach them to keep all of their fruit peels and stalks and fill up your compost bin. Use a little area in the corner of your garden to create a compost heap. Then get one of your kids to empty the kitchen bucket onto the heap every few days. It helps if you can put some make-shift walls around the heap to contain all your scarps. Adding a bit of water now and then will speed up the process. In no time, all of your organic matter will start turning into compost. Once your compost is ready, you can use it in your veggie patch.

What to put into your compost bin:

• Fruit peels

• Egg shells

• Potato Peels

• Grass cuttings

• Tea Bags

• Leaves

• Sawdust

At the end of the day, you and the environment benefit from these easy projects. You want your children to grow up knowing how to take care of the planet. Look at the Messy Play Zone to learn more about your child’s development. With these go green activities, they will learn how to do just that – and have fun going green! And parents, remember that OMO believes that Dirt is Good. Let us worry about getting the dirt out of clothing, while you worry about educating your kids on the importance of looking after our Earth.