Children and the environment: Why it is important to teach them Young

By fostering a concern for the environment and sustainable habits early, parents can raise children who will be more aware of environmental issues. Encouraging an interest in the outdoors will allow them to appreciate what they love about the environment. Children are our future, so it’s important to teach them about environmental issues so they can continue to help create change together.

Establishing Good Habits

It’s a lot easier to establish a habit in children than to teach them a new habit as they get older. Though some green living habits won’t come into play until a child gets older, there are plenty of habits for them to learn and witness in their parents. Teach them about littering, keeping lights off, and turning off the water when they brush their teeth.

In your child’s early years, try to focus on social-emotional learning in order to help them adopt a conscientious mindset. During these formative years, focus on teaching them foundational skills required for critical thinking, social interactions, and creativity. 

Later in life, these skills will enable them to analyze environmental issues, communicate those ideas to peers, and ultimately find solutions.

Raising Environmentally Conscious Consumers

Becoming environmentally conscious from a consumer standpoint was something learned for many adults. For older generations, paying attention to your own role as a consumer and how that affects the environment wasn’t something many people thought about. However, parents today can change that for their children.

Encouraging an Interest in the Outdoors

It’s easier for people to care about an issue if it hits close to home for them. Lead by example and provide them with activities. Take them on walks, hikes, and outings to the lake or ocean. Allow them to climb trees, look at bugs, and admire wildlife. Encourage their interest and questions and foster their appreciation. By providing them with more outdoor experiences, they will begin to associate their environment with interest and happiness.

Not only will a love for the outdoors help them to have an emotional connection to environmental issues, but the outdoors will encourage them to move more and stay healthier overall.

Children Are the Future

Children need to learn how to protect their environment, be kind to each other, and make decisions that benefit the world as a whole.

No one needs to be perfect in order to teach children about the environment. Teaching children that they can make a difference will help to raise a generation of adults who are more aware and environmentally conscious than the generation before them.

It’s important to teach your children about the environment at an early age because these teachings will become their normal. The environmental habits they learn, the environmentally conscious consumer choices they see, and the time they spend learning to love and appreciate the outdoors will shape them into the future of environmental sustainability.