By Erin Smith

It is often difficult to educate young children on serious topics. In recent years, climate change and environmental harm has increasingly been brought to our attention. This means that schools are looking for ways to teach this to their pupils.

Here is 10 ways which a teacher could use to educate their class.

Make bird feeders with recycled materials:

Children can go on a walk through their local park and find natural materials such as leaf litter and twigs for the creation of their bird feeders.

The main part of the bird feeder can be made by a used milk or juice cartoon with an opening cut out in the front and a twig pierced under the opening will create a perch for the birds. Bird feeders can also be made by used tin cans on their side with wooden spoons stuck to the bottom. The leaf litter that the children collected can be stuck around the object to camouflage it in the garden and attract animals.

Finally, add bird feed into the containers and it’s ready for hungry wildlife to enjoy!

Plant seeds in the garden:

By planting seeds in the garden, it will give the children a sense of responsibility.

Seeds can be extracted from flowers or plants that have already grown, this is a better alternative to buying them from the shop. A bed of flowers may be an easier task for the child as they grow quicker and easier to take care of, but a tree means they can learn to be responsible for their plant for a longer time. Showing them how to water the plant and give it enough sun light for it to thrive can also be a learning experience on how to look after a living thing. For example, proving they are ready for a pet.

Environmental scavenger hunt:

By conducting a scavenger hunt the children can learn through play. This has been shown to be an effective way of learning for young children.

Different stations can be set up within the garden and letters with clues or a map can help the children find where they need to look to find the ‘treasure’. They could be asked to complete tasks or do a physical activity before the next clue is given.

These tasks could be answering questions about what different recycling symbols mean or stages of plant growth, etc. This helps the children to learn but making it a little more fun than learning in the usual classroom environment.

Reward charts:

A reward chart could be set up in the home and collecting these rewards means getting a sweet treat or a toy at the end of the week.

The children can be rewarded for putting different types of rubbish in the correct bins, using a reusable water bottle throughout the week, turning off lights and switches when they’re not in use, using both sides of paper when writing, etc.

By using a reward chart, children are more likely to take interest and think about what they can do to help the environment as they look forward to the special treat at the end of the week.

Environmental awareness books:

A children’s book with lots of illustrations and exciting words can easily interest children. The environmental point of view can be incorporated into the books too!

By purchasing fun but informative books, children can read and learn a couple thigs from them. Dr. Seuss is a famous example of many books which have the environment mentioned within them, a well-known example is The Lorax. Another author which writes environmental books for children is Emily Gravett. She writes books about animals with lots of colours and illustrations. Her book, Tidy, has an environmental message that can easily be read to young children.

Earth day:

Earth Day is celebrated on the 22nd of April each year and is an event to support the protection of the environment. Each year has a different theme and Earth Day 2025 is ‘Our Power, Our Planet’ themed.

On the lead up to Earth Day, teachers and parents can take this opportunity to teach them more about the theme of the year. ‘Our Power, Our planet’, is about the power we as humans hold on the planet, meaning that if we try to become more economically friendly then we can help save our planet that little bit extra.

Volunteering:

There are many opportunities to volunteer and take actions to help the environment. This may be more suited towards older children and teenagers.

They could take part in a group litter picking activity or take groups of younger children with them to create activities and maybe make challenges, like who can find a certain colour of leaf or the largest twig. Sometimes volunteers can help with organising events, possibly for Earth Day, and planting some new shrubs.

Saving electricity:

Parents and teachers can teach children ways to save electricity and why it’s important.

A lot of schools have added stickers beside light switches saying, “Please turn me off, if not in use”. This helps the children to remember to turn off lights when they are leaving rooms. They can also be taught to turn off switches at the wall if nothing is plugged into it but should always ask an adult if that’ s alright to do first. Not only can turning off switches and lights help save electricity, but it can also be a safety hazard for young children if there are no plug covers on sockets or hot blubs left laying on.

Plastic symbols:

Plastic symbols are often not noticed by children and even adults. Usually, no-one takes the time to learn about the different types of plastic and what they mean.

A learning task could be created by matching the symbol of plastic with the description. Another could be to put the different types of plastic in the correctly symbolled bins. This way the children can learn with an interactive and fun task.

Carbon footprint:

A lesson can be taught to children about carbon footprint, what it is and how they can reduce it.

By teaching the children how to reduce it they may learn to prefer to cycle places rather than get a parent to drive, however they should only cycle if it’s safe.

The children could trace around their foot onto paper and then write ways they could reduce carbon footprint within the outline.

As a class, each person could describe their usual day and measure their own use of carbon footprint. This way they can see how much they use and find ways to possibly decrease it.

10 exciting ways to educate children about the environment