Young Minds & Earth Day

What is Earth Day?

Earth day is an annual event celebrated in most countries as a special day to raise awareness about the importance of protecting the planet. Although this awareness should be raised every day, taking care of the environment is not easy. Every day we make choices that impact it and on earth day which is celebrated on April 22nd preservationists remind us why it’s so important to protect the earth.

Now is the time to teach those young minds more and more about sustainability by modifying our daily choices.

Here are some things we as a family follow to introduce sustainability in the young mind of my 19-month-old.

• Get your little one to help with simple chores, such as watering plants, planting new seeds, or even taking them along with you to select their plant of choice and let them watch it grow. We have a banana and mandarin tree (two of my babes’ favourite fruits) planted Infront of her too on her first birthday.

• Tell them to turn off the fan, light, etc when leaving the room, but make sure to explain why. Every day when we wake up my daughter reminds me in her language “off, “FHA-an” off” too cute!

• Do it yourself! We all know that kids learn with modeling, and they only do what they see, at least based on my experience with my baby. She learns faster when she sees us doing things rather than us explaining or repeating them multiple times without a visual.

• Join a free community toy & book library ad take your kids along for exchanges.

We became members of our local toy library. It was recommended by a friend, And I try to take my little one with me, which reduces buying and teaches your little ones the entire concept of reusing & exchanging. Also gets them excited for toys exchange day, so they know new toys are coming but first, they need to return toys. It also helps with the entire system of toy rotation, recycling, and repurposing.

• Buy new toys consciously or from brands making toys sustainable. There are so many amazing brands and small businesses out there, I am sure they would love your support. Once your kids are done playing with the toys, have a plan such as donating them to a toy library or another family to use and circulate. Join groups on Facebook etc where they show you how to upcycle items in your household, including toys. The goal is to reuse and re-cycle as much. And get your little one as involved as possible. This is something as a family we are still working on. Nobody is perfect but even trying makes a 100% difference.

• Involving children in more daily chores such as drying clothes outside rather than using a dryer.

I always make sure to do my laundry on the days my daughter is at home with me. She usually comes out and helps me dry them by handing me the pegs & clothing. Although she is very young and may not understand I keep talking to her about why we dry clothes outside, show her what a dryer does, and just keep talking about this concept. She may not fully understand however as she grows, she will start to model it.

• Reading books with images of nature or stories about the wild world.

My little one loves books, especially touchy-feely ones, so I make sure to get her books about nature, animals, and the environment. Books that have a great sensory experience and big pictures.

“Proviso- I’m no expert on this subject I’m just a mom trying to run a better business while caring for my 19-month-old daughter. These are the best methods I have been trying to follow myself and educate my tiny human too. Based on my experience this is what works with her, I am still new to this journey of a better and more sustainable life. Hoping someday I can get to a stage where the world needs us to be.

Please share the top tips that you have been implementing so we can all benefit from learning. Thank you for reading & commenting.

Happy Earth Day!