Caring for the environment and living more sustainably every day is important to us at Little Green House. We know we can always do better and more, and try to improve wherever possible. If you would like to help your child cultivate a love for the planet, consider trying some of these fun sustainability activities for kids.

À Little Green House, prendre soin de l’environnement et vivre de manière plus durable au quotidien nous tient vraiment à cœur. Nous savons que nous pouvons toujours faire mieux et nous essayons de nous améliorer dès que possible. Si vous souhaitez aider votre enfant à développer un amour pour la planète, voici quelques idées d’activités simples et amusantes à essayer en famille. (article en français ci-dessous)

1. Separate Trash at Home

   Sorting your waste to ensure you are disposing of your trash, recyclables, and compostables properly is a great place to start with sustainability in your home. Be sure to clearly label your receptacles and talk to your kids about which items go in which bin!

2. Clean Up Your Neighbourhood

   Picking up just a few pieces of trash in your neighbourhood can have a big impact! Whether this means collecting litter when walking around the block or getting a group together to do a large-scale cleanup, your family’s efforts can make your area cleaner and more beautiful for everyone.

3. Talk About the Three Rs

   If your family is partial to living green (or if you have heard the Jack Johnson song), teaching children about “the three Rs” — reduce, reuse, and recycle — can be an excellent jumping-off point for a sustainability discussion. Finding ways to reduce your waste, reuse things, and recycle helps introduce children to being environmentally conscious.

4. Start a Sustainable Storytime

   Families hoping to explore sustainability with their kids have no shortage of engaging books to choose from. From saving the whales to learning how to create less waste, looking for some children’s stories about living green is a fun way to get your kids thinking about sustainability. Find some inspiration with this list of sustainability books for kids.

5. Shop Local

   Did you know that buying groceries from your local farmers’ market can decrease congestion, reduce habitat loss, curb pollution, and more? Consider pushing that education a step further by taking a family trip to your local farmers market — or even better, make shopping local a part of your routine. This can help your kids learn about sustainable food production while getting the ingredients for a delicious meal!

6. Start a Garden

   Whether your family members are expert gardeners or your green thumb is still in training, starting a garden with a few small plants is an excellent way to get your kids outside and learning to love nature.

7. Make Your Home More Green

   Do you still use a regular flow showerhead and standard light bulbs? Making a day out of improving your home’s sustainability through simple upgrades — such as changing your light bulbs to compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs) and implementing low-flow showerheads — can be a great family activity!

8. Volunteer For Sustainability Activities

   Volunteering your family’s time to contribute to a sustainable cause can do some good for the planet while also getting your kids engaged in the community! Set aside time for a lake beach cleanup, a park maintenance day, or other beneficial activity.

9. Take a Hike

   What better way to foster a love of the environment than spending time outside and exploring nature? Taking your children for a hike or even a quick nature walk can help them appreciate the beauty of the world around them and want to support it!

10. Try Recyclable Art

    Whether you are using bottle caps, gently used paper, paper towel rolls, or something else entirely, the sky’s the limit with recyclable crafting. Consider trying one of these fun art projects or coming up with your own way to turn used materials into works of art.

11. Start a Conversation About Saving Water

    Do your children turn the water off when they are brushing their teeth? Do they know that taking a shorter shower every day could save gallons of water in the long run? Having conversations about how to save water at home is another great sustainability activity to try!

12. Explore Nature Virtually

    Are you hoping to show your children some of the world’s beauty without travelling too far from home? Consider virtually exploring the Great Barrier Reef – Australia, The Amazon Basin – Brazil, Galápagos Islands – Ecuador, and other world treasures through Google Street View. This may give your children a better understanding of why caring for the earth and the oceans is so important!

13. Calculate Your Carbon Footprint

    Calculating your family’s carbon footprint is a concrete way to help your children understand the resources they use on a daily basis, identify ways to use fewer resources, and ultimately live more sustainably.

14. Ride Bikes

    Does your family tend to drive everywhere even though walking or biking may be accessible? Consider spending some time with your family and saving a little fuel by biking from point A to B instead of taking the car.

15. Spread the Word

    A final way to practice sustainability with your family is to spread the word and get your community involved. Whether this means cleaning up your local park with your neighbours or starting a carpool to cut down on emissions, spreading the word about sustainability — especially to the younger generation — can have a big impact!