Just 7 ideas for teaching kids about caring for the planet.

My son is coming up to two now, and while he’s doing his thing, growing into a little person, I’ve been trying to cultivate his sense of wonder and awe for the natural world as he finds his place in it. 

We live in a big city, so from the beginning, I’ve tried to incorporate stories about our ecosystem and the creatures it nurtures, while instilling a sense of responsibility as caretaker for the animals, insects, and plants in our immediate environment. It’s a tall order, but it’s a such a beautiful age to plant these seeds, so speak.

While you're here, learn how to get your kids help around the house. Post continues after video.

And while there are so many ways to build on our little ones’ positive relationship with the natural world, here are a few of my favourite ideas we've been trying lately.

Got pets? Get them involved.

A child’s first encounter with our planet’s wondrous creatures tends to happen at home, with a big lick from a Toby, a soft snuggle with kittens, or maybe even a staring contest with Nemo. Teaching little ones to be kind and gentle with our pets sets up a beautiful foundation for the respect and care of animals. 

If you don’t have pets, don’t fret, you are bound to know someone who does, just take your little cub over to their place and let them grow accustomed to being around animals. Our cat recently passed away, so we don’t have any furry friends at our house at present but visits with the grandparents’ two rescue dogs and grumpy cat are all my son will talk about on the way home.

Help them learn through imaginative play.

Little kids are wonderfully tactile creatures. They learn by exploring their environment through all five senses, with their first point of contact being touch. 

Image: Supplied.

My little boy is always busy. Busy unpacking draws, retrieving icy poles from the freezer, or building towers and knocking them down with a raucous round of applause. I try to construct little stories around the things he creates, and when he got his hands on the LEGO^® DUPLO^® My First Garden range, we started to explore the concept of our magical ecosystem and how we can nurture the surrounding nature. We’ve set up our own organic veg stall at the farmers market with his Organic Market set, talked about how the bees help our flowers and veggies grow while exploring the Organic Garden, and made a little compost spot in the corner of our Growing Carrot garden.

We were also lucky enough to be passed down a big box of LEGO DUPLO bricks from my little one’s older cousins six months ago, and it has played a huge role in advancing his fine motor skills. As our collection has grown, he’s developed a deeper understanding of colours, numbers, plants and animals, and it’s been so cool to watch.

Start a veggie garden and compost in your backyard. 

If your space allows for it, give your little ones something to recreate with their LEGO DUPLO bricks from their own backyard! A vegie garden, or even a smaller herb garden is an amazing way to introduce toddlers to sustainable living and nourishing, healthy food. You can teach them about how plants rely on insects for pollination, how the soil contains all the nutrients they need to grow big and strong, and even how sunlight feeds them through their leaves.

Image: Supplied.

Image: Supplied.

A compost is also a fantastic example of sustainable living and your little one will go mad for a worm farm if you’re up for housing some squirmy little suckers. 

Trips to the zoo and aquarium.

What better way to also introduce your little dreamer to the animal kingdom than at the zoo or aquarium? They always have kids’ programs designed to teach young ones about critter care, but just walking through and glancing at the placards at each stop will give you some awesome animal facts to talk about on the train ride home.

Take them to a farmers’ market.

I love any excuse to visit my local farmers’ market and my son can’t get his little shoes on fast enough when that special Sunday rolls around once a month. It’s a beautiful place to talk about where things are grown, see the faces of the real people that made it happen, and introduce them to the idea of seasonal produce, while encouraging them to try some new fruits and veg.

Get them involved in cooking!

Once you’ve brought home your goodies, you can set your kiddo up next to you at the kitchen bench to help you prepare some beautifully fresh meals from the produce you’ve gathered. You can talk about all the yummy vitamins and minerals you’ll find in that carrot, how the bread was baked that morning at a little bakery nearby and find some new and interesting things to taste together for the first time. 

Take them camping (if you’re game).

Look, I’ll be honest here, camping with little kids is not for the fainthearted. But if it’s your thing, then you’re in luck, because when it comes to nurturing your kiddo’s love of nature, not many things beat a night or six spent under the stars. Camping strips everything back to its simplest form – some protection from the wind and rain, a fire for warmth and cooking, and a water source for bathing and dive bombing into! It’s a great way to introduce your toddler to the wonders of nature, teach them to leave everything just as it was, and have them help you scour the campsite for any rubbish to take home again with you.

At 18 months and beyond, toddlers are gaining new language and a broader social and situational awareness almost every day. It’s the perfect time to start introducing concepts like sustainability, healthy living, and environmental consciousness, to support them in growing kind and courageous.

Open your child's world of possibilities for pre-school play with LEGO^® DUPLO^®. Explore the new My First Garden range, educational toys that put the focus on fun.

Feature Image: Supplied.