They say, ‘Train a child in the ways he has to go and when he grows up, he will never depart from it’. How often we long to teach good manners to the children and yet they may not listen or learn. But ultimately with discipline, we can definitely inculcate good manners and teachings into our children’s lives.

One such crucial teaching is about waste management. This will make your children not only grow up to be responsible citizens but it will instill in them a sensitive approach towards the environment. The easiest approach to teach your kids the importance of waste management is by helping them to realize the importance of recycling.

However, children will not simply learn by lecturing or through moral lessons. The best way to teach children is through getting them involved. Find out activities and games through which you can practically teach them waste management skills.

This way you could make recycling a fun and easy activity for your children.

We have come up with a few ways to teach waste management to your children:

1. Recycling Relay

Relays are always fun and exciting. Children love to run around and this is an easy way to channel their energy. This will be fun and work at the same time. One idea to conduct the relay would be to line up a few recycling bins along with a garbage can in your yard. Scatter a few even-numbered pieces of litter. These should be a mix of recyclable and non-recyclable items. You could make your kids geared up by asking them to wear gloves and dressing up in dungarees. As soon as you open the relay, the first person runs and picks up one item that is littered. Then he/she would run to the bins and place the item in the correct bin. This way they will alternately put in the trash items in the appropriate bin and learn not only about recycling but also about which items are recyclable and which are not. Kids must also be educated about how medical equipment such as syringes, EZ io needles (the ones used for dental procedures), etc should be properly disposed of.

2. Excursion to a recycling unit 

Children learn more through observation. If you take your children to a recycling unit, they will see in action how things get recycled and also realize that there are many people serious about recycling. Arrange an outing to a local recycling plant.

3. Introduce reading materials

Try to introduce reading materials to your children about recycling. Don’t worry! Not all books are boring. Children’ books are often made with some interesting pictures. Choose some interactive and colorful books which will interest your kids. We have chosen some books like
‘The Lorax’ by Dr. Seuss, ‘Don't Throw That Away!: A Lift-the-Flap Book about Recycling and Reusing’ by Lara Bergen, ‘I Can Save the Earth!: One Little Monster Learns to Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle’ by Alison Inches and Viviana Garofoli. If you browse through a good bookstore, you will get these and many more such interesting books.

4. Clean your environment drive

Once a week, take your children to a cleanliness drive in your neighbourhood. You could walk around your block or take them to a nearby park. Do make sure to equip them with a set of good gloves and a mask if necessary. And then join with them in cleaning and have fun while doing the activity together. This will help your children to learn to respect the environment. Teach them at the end of the drive to throw recyclable items in recyclable bins.

5. Online Games

With our next generation getting techno-savvy, it is a good idea to introduce them to the online world of recycling games. Most of the games designed to educate the user about recycling are well equipped and highly user-friendly. And they are fun to play as well. You could help your children to learn about recycling through such exciting and fun games!

6. Recycled at home

You could teach your children with practical methods on how to recycle things easily at home. When they see that things can be easily recycled at home instead of throwing them away, they will be more intrigued by the whole idea of recycling. You could make colorful vases from old plastic bottles or puzzles out of old cereal boxes or reuse shoeboxes to create showpieces or utility boxes etc.

Conclusion:

Waste management is not just the government business. It belongs to us all. Therefore it is necessary to inculcate it as an important routine in our daily lives. This should begin with our children as well. What they see is what they will believe ultimately.

Author Bio:

Ross is a blogger who loves to write especially in the Science vertical. He has written many informative Blogs. He has also written blogs in other verticals too like personal development, unique gifting blogs.