How to explain being *green* to a 3.5 year old...

[momtoS]

Like when she wastes tissues....how do I explain that it impacts the enivironment? Any book reccommendations?

[Limabean1975]

:

Running the faucet for a long time is a favourite activity around here . . .

[camandmacsmom]

Hi there,

There are a lot of great books for kids on protecting the environment, recycling, reusing, etc.

There is a series of books called "Why Should I...?" They are really great.

http://www.amazon.com/Why-Should-I-S..._sim_b_title_2

Another good one is: "Recyle Everyday" by Nancy Wallace

http://www.amazon.com/Recycle-Every-..._sim_b_title_6

There is also a Berenstain Bears book called the "Berenstain Bears Don't Pollute... (Anymore)

www.christa.mabel.ca

hth. CJ

[CalebsMome]

Lol....we explain it when DS rides with DH to the landfill or dump. We say, "wow, look at all those yucky stinky things in there. Let's not put lots of our stuff in there." He's 2, but I think if you keep teaching them, they will learn.

[lexbeach]

We talk about how paper comes from trees, and when we use paper products, it means more trees need to be cut down. We were driving behind a logging truck once and I think our older kids were about 2, and they both started crying about how sad it was to see all the cut trees (without us saying anything). Trees have always been important to them. The only paper product we still use is toilet paper, though we're planning to ditch that one (at least for pee) in the next month (just as soon as I can make enough cloth wipes). I think actions speak louder than words on this one (i.e. stop buying paper tissues and paper towels). Dw is an environmentalist forester so she has instilled in our kids a huge respect for the natural world.

Lex

[nancy926]

To a 3.5-year-old I would save my breath. Honestly. They don't understand the concept of "next Tuesday" - they are not going to get something as complex as wasting tissues affecting the environment.

Plus, it could backfire. I tried a couple of times to explain things like that to my DD, and now she sometimes gets anxious when I forget to recycle a piece of paper. With a history of anxiety disorder in my family, I'd honestly rather have a kid who didn't wash out every peanut-butter jar for recycling than one who was wound up tight about shredding every last bit of junk mail for recycling day.

I do think it's an important issue - to explain when the kids are older (7 or 8). Until then I will just try to be a role model as much as possible.

[janabonana]

^^^ I disagree about "saving my breath" when it comes to explaining environmental responsibility to my newly turned 3 year old... For over a year, I've had him help me put veg/fruit trimmings into the compost bucket (and take the bucket out to our composter where the worms help turn it into rich soil) and put things that can be recycled in the big bin next to our kitchen. When the bin is full, he helps me sort it down in the garage so that the recycling truck can pick it up. It is just how it is... garbage is the last resort. It hasn't caused any sort of anxiety, because I make it a part of our daily routine.

When my son was infatuated with the automatic paper towel dispenser at my gym, I reminded him that paper is made out of trees, and if you waste paper more trees have to be cut down in order to make more paper... so we need to save trees by limiting the paper we use. He knows the importance of trees (they make the air clean and help with river run-off) and has participated in quite a few "tree planting days" in my community.

Environmental education should start young... and should just be a way of living... with no pressure. It's just the way it is. Like taking a bath or brushing your teeth.... You reduce as much as possible at the store, you reuse what you have, you recycle, you compost... and the end result is garbage... which doesn't just "disappear" but actually goes to a land-fill to be burried in the earth.

My 3 year old is quite capable of grasping these concepts, because I've taken the time to explain things to him. I can't imagine waiting another 3 or 4 years to approach this subject.

[mumkenna&lucas]

Originally Posted by janabonana

^^^ I disagree about "saving my breath" when it comes to explaining environmental responsibility to my newly turned 3 year old...

I agree with you! My dd is 4 and she totally understands the concept of turning off water to save water, and using as little tp as she can to save trees, etc. She even goes around the house turning off/making sure the lights are off before we leave the house (its a game to her, but she enjoys it)

[lexbeach]

Originally Posted by nancy926

To a 3.5-year-old I would save my breath. Honestly. They don't understand the concept of "next Tuesday" - they are not going to get something as complex as wasting tissues affecting the environment.

I do think it's an important issue - to explain when the kids are older (7 or 8). Until then I will just try to be a role model as much as possible.

I couldn't disagree more. First of all, I think a 3.5-year-old is perfectly capable of understanding how their actions affect the environment. Secondly, even if a 3.5-year-old doesn't understand, it's still important to talk about it and lay the foundation for later understanding. My 15-month-old is still in diapers full-time and doesn't really seem to have made the connection yet between feeling like he needs to pee and peeing. But we still talk about it with him and explain to him that someday he'll pee on the toilet like the rest of us. We are laying the foundation so that when he's physically ready to ditch the diapers, all of the understanding and expectation will already be in place. There is no reason to wait for complete understanding to be there in order to begin the conversation. In my opinion, the earlier you start the conversation, the better!

[sweetest]

I agree that the modeling factor is very important at this age - we use cloth napkins, bathroom cloth, etc. Dd puts plastic in the recycling bin, we compost, etc.

But a long lecture is not useful at this age. Children need to be able to have a concept of what the environment is in order to want to "save" it. Its a process of building awareness - like previous posters have stated.

[DevaMajka]

It worked for me to just tell ds not to waste water/tissues/etc. It was just fine to use whatever he needed, but not to use more. And of course I'd go more into that- use however much water you need to get the soap off your hands (or even put some in the sink to play in- that counts too), but don't just let it run and go down the drain.
With paper, we just say that paper goes in the recycling when we're done with it (unless it has food on it), veggie scraps go in the compost, etc.

With tissues, we've told him that if he uses more than he needs, it wastes them, and we'll run out faster. Use what you need, and leave the rest for later. Of course, if he really just wanted to pull the tissues out, I'd probably just let him, then stack them in a pile and use them up from there.

We don't really go into details unless ds asks for more info. Kinda just present it as "the way it is" yk?

[mamazee]

We have, since around that age, talked about not doing one thing or choosing to do something else "to help keep the earth from getting sick".

[the_lissa]

Originally Posted by lexbeach

I couldn't disagree more. First of all, I think a 3.5-year-old is perfectly capable of understanding how their actions affect the environment. Secondly, even if a 3.5-year-old doesn't understand, it's still important to talk about it and lay the foundation for later understanding. My 15-month-old is still in diapers full-time and doesn't really seem to have made the connection yet between feeling like he needs to pee and peeing. But we still talk about it with him and explain to him that someday he'll pee on the toilet like the rest of us. We are laying the foundation so that when he's physically ready to ditch the diapers, all of the understanding and expectation will already be in place. There is no reason to wait for complete understanding to be there in order to begin the conversation. In my opinion, the earlier you start the conversation, the better!

I agree. A 3.5 can understand it perfectly well.

[Ruthla]

I explain to all my kids that certain activities are "wasteful" and it hasn't turned into anxiety for any of them. Sure, I don't get 100% compliance on anything, but it teaches them the concept of "not wasting" being a positive attribute.

It's not JUST filling up the landfills and chopping down more trees. It's also wasting money I spent on tissues and screwing up my household planning- I bought enough tissues to last us a certain amount of time and if the child wastes them, we won't have enough to last us until I'd planned to buy more.

[Periwinkle]

I would say this is just totally infused in our daily life and what we do. For everything from picking up litter when we see it ("to keep our earth healthy") to explaining why we don't leave the water on while we brush teeth or whatever ("water is a precious resource and we don't want to waste it") or why we don't buy strawberries in January or squash in May ("those strawberries right there came from really far, far away and it took a lot of fuel for the airplanes and trucks to get them here. Plus, they don't taste very good when they're not in season. We'll wait to enjoy them until the summer") or why we buy locally raised food ("it's really important to support the farmers in our community and if it's grown nearby we're eating it when it's at its most delicious and good for us, plus we're not wasting fuel to get it here").

I could give 50 other examples and these things come up almost every day. It's just completely part of our daily life, not some little thing we "have a talk" with the kids about. Every day is Earth day and all that.

We've been doing this since day 1. It is absolutely NOT a concept we spring on the kids when they're 5 or something.

[nancy926]

Originally Posted by sweetest

I agree that the modeling factor is very important at this age - we use cloth napkins, bathroom cloth, etc. Dd puts plastic in the recycling bin, we compost, etc.

But a long lecture is not useful at this age. Children need to be able to have a concept of what the environment is in order to want to "save" it. Its a process of building awareness - like previous posters have stated.

That is what I meant. Don't lecture, just do what you do. IMHO it's more powerful anyway.

[fernlink]

Our son is 6. He has seen inconvenient truth 2 or 3x. DH has taken a lot of time to explain it, slowly, but he understands. Now he talks about not wasting electricity. His teacher said he was talking about greenhouse gases at kindergarten last week. Kids understand more than we know. I would not have thought to explain that all to him, but DH did.

I would say he appreciates the explanation and likes to understand why we do or not do things (like turning off the lights, etc.)

I don't think it ever to early to talk about it if they are sitting still and listening...

[Periwinkle]

ITA. My 5 1/2 year olds really get it.

My 3 year-old knows "the rules" so to speak (turn off water while brushing teeth, can't have strawberries in January, put paper in the recycle bin...). But he also hears my explanations and is processing them. The explanations are like old friends. They're familiar to him. Does he fully understand everything? Of course not. But I used to talk to him as a newborn too, say, telling him what I was doing when I gave him a bath... "Ooooh now mommy is washing your head! Doesn't the warm water feel nice? Let's get out the maple syrup your brother put on your hair..." Just because a baby doesn't understand language doesn't mean we don't speak to them. Same thing here. They learn by listening and slowly processing a little bit at a time until comprehension sinks in.