Teaching your Children the Importance of Recycling

Children are more likely to participate in recycling today and in the future if they really understand it and why they should do it. Learning how to reuse and recycle is a valuable life skill, and opens the door for a lifetime of reduced waste and creativity. They are also more likely it you can make it fun!

Here are some ideas you can implement for Teaching your Children the Importance of Recycling – how to do it, why it’s important, and how they can help.

1. Make Recycling a game. Children enjoy tossing anything into the bins. So Try mounting your recycling bins to the wall, or line them up in the garage where their tops are open. Have children play a game tossing in unbreakable recyclables like cardboard or plastic from father and farther away. Or try laying out all the recycling and see who can sort and put the items in the right bin first, work on their time and try to improve it the next time you do it.

2. Recycling Arts, crafts, and other projects. If your child is artistic and likes crafts, you can use recyclables to make some cool artistic creations and gifts. Paint a glass or plastic bottle to use as a vase; glue beads and other decorations to glass or plastic containers to make pencil holders, or coasters. Stiff paper and thin cardboard can be cut into squares and folded into little boxes and decorated. Pinterest has TONS of Recycling Crafts Ideas

3. Visit Your Local Recycling center. If you can arrange ahead of time with those in charge of the center to get a tour, or to make it easier just take your child with you when you deliver the recycling. makes sure to talk about how they take old items and make them into new ones. Point out items in the center’s bins that the child may recognize, then talk about how what we throw away and what we create are connected. It might be fun after a visit to come home and find some videos on You Tube about making recycled products into new products.

If you do get into the center to take a tour, get a look at the machines and methods of actual recycling, to see what goes into it. It’s important that children do not think recycling is some kind of magic force! It takes real work and everyone’s, including their, participation.

4. Visit a local landfill or dump. While this doesn’t sound that nice it gives you the chance to s how your children the garbage. Thy can see high it is piled up and how much it smells. Explain that as it decomposes, it lets off carbon dioxide into the air and that this is not good for us to breathe. You can keep it simple, but be honest and realistic.

For even more ideas on Teaching your Children the Importance of Recycling, head over to the Environmental Protection Agency’s website.

Please share your ideas in the comments below. You can also check out our other post on How to Teach your Kids to be More Environmentally Aware or download cute Earth Day Coloring Pages.