How to Teach Kids About Sustainable Living At Home in 13 Steps

Taking care of the world around us is already a hard task, but getting young kids to care about doing their part? This can be even more challenging. 

The good news is that there are plenty of fun sustainability activities for kids to learn and appreciate the environment. You can even try a lot of them at home!

In this guide, we’re teaching you 13 ways to make sustainability for kids interactive and fun, but more importantly, hands-on so they get excited about becoming environmentally conscious. 

Why Teach Kids About Sustainable Living? 

Making the world a better, healthier place is an on-going process that requires raising the next generation with awareness of their own. Kids are constantly growing and evolving in their mindset, but starting early with teaching sustainability ensures children grow up with awareness they need to protect and enjoy the environment. 

As adults, we’re already aware of what it takes to lower our environmental footprint and what choices we need to make to cut down on waste and pollution. Kids need to be taught about sustainable living at a younger age so they carry this awareness with them as they grow up. 

12 At-Home Sustainability Activities for Kids to Get Them Excited About Living Green

1. Be an example

One of the easiest ways to teach kids about sustainability is to be the leading role model in your own home. As you practice sustainable living by conserving water and waste, swap plastic materials for better alternatives, and recycle, talk to your kids about how these practices benefit the environment. When they see their guardians living sustainably, they’ll want to follow!

2. Make recycling fun

Speaking of recycling, this is one of the best sustainability activities for kids since you can turn it into a fun experience! After teaching your kids about recycling (what it is and what the process results in), set out colored bins in your home for recyclable items. 

For example, a green bin can be for paper and cardboard, a yellow bin for donation items, and a brown bin for trash and food scraps. This helps kids easily identify what items go into each bin, and gets them involved in a hands-on way. 

3. Start a backyard garden

There’s no better way to truly give your kids a hands-on experience when teaching sustainability than by starting a backyard garden. Letting your kids choose whether they want to grow florals or vegetables gets them personally involved in the project while sparking curiosity about nature at the same time. Plus, this is an excellent way to teach kids about responsibility since they have to nurture the plants for healthy growth. 

4. Take a nature walk

When you’re teaching sustainability to your kids, never miss an opportunity to get them outdoors. Sometimes taking a nature walk is an impactful way for kids to connect sustainable living practices to the environment. This also helps them appreciate the world around them while experiencing different ecosystems.  

5. Teach them composting

While you’re starting a garden or taking a nature walk, it would be a great time to start the conversation about composting. This can turn into a fun science experiment for your kids that allows them to see their food scraps transformed into a material that’s healthy for the environment. 

With a helpful countertop compost bin in your home, you can let your kids discard their dinner scraps to be even more hands on in the process. 

6. Plant a family tree

To kids, trees are some of the most curiosity-sparking elements of nature. Trees provide several environmental impacts on our air that kids love to discover, so why not get them involved with bettering our Earth by planting a family tree? If you don’t have enough yard space to plant a tree, then you can find a tree planting donation program near you with a quick online search. 

7. Read sustainability-centered books

Ignite your kid’s love for nature and reading at the same time with sustainability-centered books! There are plenty of sustainable living books for kids on the market or at your local library that teach about the environment and how to take care of the world around them. Plus, letting them choose the books they want to read allows them to make an independent choice to make learning fun and effortless. 

8. Let them prepare a meat-free meal

Cutting down on the meat you consume weekly helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions that impact the environment. Teaching your children about smarter meal choices while letting them cook their own vegetarian meals is a great way for them to use vegetables they’ve grown themselves for an environmentally-friendly meal. Not to mention it also sharpens their culinary skills!

To make the teaching moment even more eco-friendly, make sure they enjoy their delicious meal on a plastic-free dinnerware set!

9. Turn shopping into a treasure hunt

Today’s market is saturated with products that are both eco-friendly and not so environmentally conscious. Take your little one shopping and turn groceries into a fun treasure hunt by having them search food labels for locally sourced items in eco-friendly packaging, or household products without chemicals. 

10. Make recycled art

Kids love to be crafty and creative. Teaching kids how to make recycled art is another area perfect for teaching sustainability since it allows them to use their imagination with what they make. The best part is that you likely already have a lot of usable items on hand like cardboard boxes, egg cartons, bottle caps, and more. 

11. Visit the farmer’s market

Visiting the local farmer’s market can be a fun outing for your kids while teaching sustainability at the same time. And, if you’re letting your little one get creative in the kitchen, they can participate in food selection by picking their own ingredients. 

Farmer’s markets help the environment by significantly reducing the amount of pollution that goes into the air from food factories. Not to mention, the ingredients are better for you and buying locally helps support the community. 

12. Tap into their water awareness

High water consumption is one of the leading causes of waste. Teaching kids how to conserve water at home by turning off the faucet while they’re brushing their teeth and not taking long showers helps to build their awareness for practices they’ll carry with them for the rest of their lives.