Cooking with Children

Involve your kids with meal preparation. Teach them about genuine organic food. At http://www.lepetitparadispreschool.com children prepare their own healthy snacks and even make their own orange juice.

Start a Compost

Show kids that when they have finished their fruit and vegetables, there are parts than can be composted. Involve your children in composting food scraps, coffee grounds, etc. Get them used to seeing that food waste is not garbage, but rather something that can be turned into soil to grow more food.

Paper Reduction

Use old paper, newspapers, magazines, cardboard boxes, and paper bags for arts and crafts projects. Be thrifty with paper. Did you know that every year, Americans throw away enough writing paper to build a wall twelve feet high, stretching from Los Angeles to New York City? Whenever possible, make two-sided copies.

Going Outside

Taking a walk through the park and woods, or rowing a boat, are all time-tested ways for kids to develop an appreciation for their place within nature.

Adopt an Endangered Species

Have you taken a trip to the local zoo lately? Not only will your child learn about animals, but several zoos now display information about endangered species. Children and their families can actually help save some of these beautiful creatures from extinction by adopting them. Zoos like the world famous San Diego Zoo has programs like CRES (the San Diego Zoo’s conservation research arm). They work to protect endangered species like the Congo gorilla and koalas. They have programs like “Adopt an Australian Iguana,” where kids can learn about the species while helping to save them from extinction!

Visit Your Library

Borrowing from libraries instead of buying personal books and movies saves money and printing resources.

Pick Up Litter

Choose a park or a neighborhood in your community that needs cleaning and get together with your children to pick up the trash.

You can teach children about various subjects like the extinction of polar bears in the Arctic region, because glaciers are melting as a consequence of warmer temperatures. Two wonderful DVDs that teach everyone about our planet are the films Planet Earth and March of the Penguins. Both films will help bring awareness to how beautiful and fragile our planet is, and how we can make the effort to preserve it. Yes, global warming is real, but parents incorporating an eco-friendly lifestyle at home can be examples for their children, and in some cases it’s the children that end up teaching their parents about the environment.