How to help your kids be planet-friendly around the home

At thelittleloop, we’re all about raising earth-friendly kids who appreciate and care for the environment. Our little ones aren’t going to take proper care of the planet if we don’t show them how! And there are dozens of simple ways to make caring for the environment fun. Here are our top tips to help your kids learn green habits and be planet-friendly around the house. 

Start a compost bin

Did you know that households throw away 6.6 million tonnes of food waste every year in the UK? Not only is this a huge waste of money, but it’s also causing serious environmental damage. Landfills are filled to the brim and food waste is contributing enormous amounts of carbon emissions. A simple way to reduce household waste is by starting a compost bin. Composting will teach your kids to take responsibility for the waste they generate and encourage them to reduce food waste.

The best part is, you’ll be rewarded with a quality fertiliser that you can use in your garden. Starting a compost bin is super easy. You simply buy a secure container, place it in an area outside where worms can get to it, and fill it with natural waste like food scraps and leaves. You kids will love watching worms transform your food waste into compost. Check out this kids’ guide to composting for more tips on composting with your little ones. 

Turn recycling into a game

Recycling doesn’t have to be a boring job. There are lots of clever and creative ways to make recycling fun for kids. Decorate your recycling bins with colourful stickers and notes to make sorting recyclables more exciting. You can turn recycling into a game by holding a family competition. Give the family member who recycles the most a reward for their green efforts. You could also plan a family outing to your local recycling centre to help your kids understand what happens to their waste once it leaves the house. We love these free Printable Recycle Kits that teach kids about recycling.  

Get junk modelling

Perfect for the murky October weather, staying in and building things out of all that recycling is a great way to teach kids the value of everything we have, including packaging which they might otherwise see as worthless.  And you can still recycle it afterwards by separating it out again.

Use large boxes to create a spaceship or boat, and save your smaller egg cartons, boxes and pots for crafting adventure scenes for their play characters. 

You may need to help with construction but they’ll love decorating them with paint, tissue paper (saved from yet more packaging), old wallpaper and cut outs from old magazines and newspapers.  There’s nothing quite as satisfying as glue and (safety) scissors for a 4 year old!  

The instructables site is great for ideas of how to really go to town with your cardboard, but it’s easy enough to make up as you go. Yesterday we made the Scar’s Volcano from the Lion Guard with an old whisky tube (spot what mummy’s been doing with lockdown!) and some leftover wallpaper.

Teach them to conserve water

Water waste is a massive issue that is causing serious damage to our environment. Teach your kids the importance of conserving precious natural resources and being less wasteful. Show them the benefits of turning the tap off when they’re brushing their teeth or washing their hands. Encourage water-saving habits like taking shorter shorters and only running the dishwasher on a full load. Collecting rainwater in buckets and using it to water plants is also something that kids enjoy doing.

Take a look at our Big Planet Little Hero initiative for more tips on getting kids to appreciate nature and take care of the environment.