Every year on April 22nd, millions of people around the world honour Earth Day by learning about and addressing environmental challenges and discussing how we can work together to safeguard our planet for future generations.
Getting children involved in taking care of the environment when they are young encourages them to continue the practice as they grow older. Parents and caregivers have a duty to teach children to be respectful of the earth, encouraging them to love and respect their planet and natural surroundings.
There are wonderful ways to enjoy this day with your children and family while being mindful of your carbon footprint. This week we give some fun activities and ideas that can be shared with families.
Brainstorm Ideas With Children
Asking questions without providing answers is a brilliant way to learn about children’s prior knowledge and their feelings and opinions. You can start with simple questions like:
- What can be recycled?
- Why should we not litter, and what is littering?
- Why we cannot throw litter into the ocean?
- What benefits do plants provide to the environment and human beings?
- What can you do at home to save energy?
- What can we make out of old or recyclable materials?
Treasure Hunt: Clean-up
Transform a neighbourhood, park or beach cleanup into a treasure hunt. Give everyone gloves and a bin bag. Make it a competition to see who can gather the most waste, transforming a community service chore into an enjoyable and pleasant challenge. It’s a hands-on approach for children to learn about the effects of waste products on our planet.
Build a Birdfeeder or Birdhouse
Building a garden birdhouse or feeder is an excellent family project. Children enjoy building things, and getting birds into your yard can provide plenty of opportunities to observe and learn about the birds in your neighbourhood. You can purchase kits or build your birdhouse using recycled plastic bottles.
Celebrate with a Puppet show
Making puppets out of recyclable materials is a great way to celebrate Earth Day with children. You can have children do online research or read books about how to safeguard our environment. Then, they can do a puppet show to demonstrate what they have learned!
If you would like more resources and activities to do with children in your Early Years or SAC service, check out our “Climate Change Awareness Resource Pack” available in the EYshop:
https://earlyyearsshop.ie/product/climate-change-awareness-resource-pack/
If you would like more information about our services
or if we can help you with any questions or queries,
please call us at:
(+353) 1-623-5908 or email us at eys@canavanbyrne.ie.
