5 Games for children to learn the importance of taking care of our Planet

At any age, environmental education is fundamental in the formation of children, since they need to develop, from an early age, a responsible attitude so that they can have conscious habits in adult life. Showing how to care for ecosystems, encouraging reflection on attitudes that make the planet cleaner and fighting waste on a daily basis do not have to be boring tasks, quite the opposite. Through them, it is possible to foster tolerance, creativity, empathy and participation in society.

O awesome.club developed 5 activities that you can do with your children to make them aware of the importance of caring for the environment.

The game aims to make children aware of the issue of waste separation, teaching them how to separate waste. To start, you need to divide the group into two groups. The following elements are required:

4 buckets; white sheets; Scotch tape; marker pens; garbage a few days; gloves (2 pairs minimum).

Procedure:

With the help of marker pens, sheets and adhesive tape, produce labels for the 4 buckets. Two of them must indicate “Recyclable”, and the other two, “Not recyclable”. Place buckets outdoors where children can play freely and safely. Position the buckets a considerable distance from both teams. Children should stay close to garbage that has not yet been sorted. Give gloves to one member of each team. The objective of the game is to throw the garbage in the right bucket, separating the largest amount of waste in the shortest possible time. Each participant must have 30 seconds to complete the task. The winning team will not just be the one that takes the most trash into the buckets, but the one that separates the waste properly.

Aimed at the most creative children, the game aims to lead to reflection on the importance of the quality of the air we breathe and on the need to preserve our Planet. For the activity, you will need:

white sheets; crayons, colored pencils and/or colored markers; opaque and small objects such as thick cardboard, plastic or metal lids.

Procedure:

Ask the children to draw a beautiful landscape, which should be as colorful as possible so that the effect is most noticeable. When the drawings are finished, place them on a flat surface. It can be on the floor or on a table, positioning the opaque objects on the drawing. Leave the drawing for a whole day in an outdoor place, always with the objects on top. The next day, remove the objects and see how, under them, the paper remains white, and the colors are very vivid. The areas that were uncovered will be gray and opaque. That’s what pollution does to all our landscapes.

The activity aims to make the little ones think about everything we waste in our daily lives. They must use their imagination to find, in what would otherwise be thrown away, items that can gain a second use. You will need:

clean recyclable waste (plastic packaging, cardboard, paper, etc.); White glue; scissors; marker pens and/or crayons.

Procedure:

Leave all recyclable material within reach of children, preferably on a table. In a period of 20 to 30 minutes, the little ones will have to use their imagination to create a sculpture. After that time, ask what materials they used for the artwork, asking if the kids know where each one came from. If there are more than two participants, the one who uses the most materials in the sculpture will be the winner.

We recommend that this activity be carried out outdoors, preferably in a place where children have contact with nature. The idea is that they look around and identify the elements that make up the environment. The materials needed are:

paper sheets; pencils or markers.

Procedure:

Ask children what they see around them and what they like most about that natural environment. As a group, write down words related to the environment, such as “trees”, “birds”, “sky”, among others, on paper. Fold the papers so that the words are hidden. Each participant must indicate at least 3 words. Then, put the papers in a bag and mix them well. Give each child three random words and ask them to use all of them to create a song about nature. Allow 10 to 15 minutes for them to unleash their creativity. It’s time to sing! Share all the songs with each other and choose the group’s favorite.

It’s common that we don’t realize the amount of garbage we generate every day, because it’s easy to throw everything in the basket and forget about the situation. For children to feel more responsible for their own waste, it is important that they identify their own habits. You will need:

a bag; pencil; paper sheet.

Procedure:

The challenge is to make the child spend a whole day carrying all the garbage produced in a normal day inside a bag. But it’s important that the bag is with her at all times, so that the dynamic makes sense. At the end of the day, the little one should write down what actions he took that generated the most waste. Consuming goodies, for example. Thus, the child will be more aware of their own consumption habits.

What activity would you like to do with your children? How do you show them the importance of taking care of the Planet? Comment!