eco activities for kids

[Jon von der Heyden]

Hi All

I have a bit of a strange question. But as there are sooo many that pass this way, and as this IS my favourite forum, I thought I'd go ahead and ask anyway.

Some may know I'm a bit of a wannabe eco-warrior. At the moment I'm looking for some good ideas for eco activities for kids. So imagine a bunch of screaming kids, say 5-14, all out and about having fun doing good for the environment. What would those kids be doing? The activities must be educational and fun! I have various ideas, some hands on other not:

1. Uproot and destroy alien invasive plant species
2. Beach combing (specifically here cleaning up a penguin colony of rubbish left behind by beach goers)
3. Tree planting
4. Indigenous animal show followed by a bug hunt
5. Building of a distributing bird boxes in woodlands
6. Some sort of recycling challenge (how would that work?)
7. Veggie gardening lessons for kids
8. Nature Cam (some idea I had about positioning some outdoor webcams to study nature from home)

Do please share any bright ideas you have, no matter how elaborate... Also ideas for competitions and prizes.

Thanks
Jon

 

[Joe4]

Sounds like fun! I imagine the ideas are going to be tailored to your geographic region. My daughter would certainly get a big kick out of item #2!

One of the big things around here is people "adopting a highway", where they are responsible for picking up garbage along a designated stretch of road. Maybe you could do something like that for a competition, see who collects the most recyclables or collects the most trash?

Or you could try to go the route of the Crocodile hunter and try to teach kids about many of the animals (especially reptiles) that people kill out of fear to sew the seeds of understanding in them young to help protect those species.

Or education regarding endangered/threatened species in your area and what can be done to help protect them.

 

[J.Ty.]

Dear Jon,

A completely different idea. I must admit I haven't tried it myself.

1) Organize z normal party for kids and their friends.

2) Next week organize the same party again, but ask the kids to try saving resources: electricity, water, natural gas (we cook on it in Europe), gasoline. Let them invent what to do: switch off lights whenever they leave a room, bring computer to sleep whenever they stop playing, car-pool on the way to your place, close taps whenever they do not really need water (wet the hands-close the tap-use soap-wash-open the tap-rinse-close the tap), open the fridge as seldom as possible for as little time as possible, etc.

Assuming you have written down all the values of all electricity,water, etc. meters in your house at the beginning and end of the first party, you can then calculate how much electricity, water, sewage, petrol, etc., has been saved, translate it into money, coal, natural oil, carbon dioxide, etc. I guess it could be fun for the older ones to look up in the WWW, e.g. how much oil is actually used to produce 1 kWh of electricity. And then a nice exercise in introductory Excel to get the final figures

Best regards,

J.Ty.

 

[Jon von der Heyden]

Sounds like fun! I imagine the ideas are going to be tailored to your geographic region.

I'm thinking yes... and no. Certainly some things would be very specific but I hope to draw inspiration from others that have had some eco experiences with their kids.

My daughter would certainly get a big kick out of item #2!

Until she smells them - LOL.

One of the big things around here is people "adopting a highway", where they are responsible for picking up garbage along a designated stretch of road. Maybe you could do something like that for a competition, see who collects the most recyclables or collects the most trash?

Awesome idea Joe! We can't necessarily do the highways (SA has one of the highest road death tolls and very dangerous here); but love the concept. Perhaps we can weigh the garbage collected from some of our commons and gardens and award prizes based on weight. Nice one! Thanks.

Or you could try to go the route of the Crocodile hunter and try to teach kids about many of the animals (especially reptiles) that people kill out of fear to sew the seeds of understanding in them young to help protect those species.

Yup! As you know I'm a bit of a reptile/snake fanatic. We have done snakes shows before and will do the same again. Our focus is on our indigenous species, the role they play in our eco-system and conservation. Next time we'll follow up with a bug hunt. Our snake guy is amazing! He knows all animals and bugs. I was (am) a big fan of Steve Irwin but this guy is even better.

Or education regarding endangered/threatened species in your area and what can be done to help protect them.

Yup, that's kinda the idea. Just thinking of ways to make it fun. We have a cheetah conservation here and kids can stroke the Cheetahs and learn about the Anatole sheep dog. That's fun for sure!

Another idea was to have a nature cam or two in some park and kids can track the goings on from their computer. We could follow up by awarding prizes to kids that manage to snap any animals captured by the cam and also do some chats on whatever animals we spot.

Love to hear some more ideas. Thanks Joe for your ideas so far.

 

[Jon von der Heyden]

Dear Jon,

A completely different idea. I must admit I haven't tried it myself.

1) Organize z normal party for kids and their friends.

2) Next week organize the same party again, but ask the kids to try saving resources: electricity, water, natural gas (we cook on it in Europe), gasoline. Let them invent what to do: switch off lights whenever they leave a room, bring computer to sleep whenever they stop playing, car-pool on the way to your place, close taps whenever they do not really need water (wet the hands-close the tap-use soap-wash-open the tap-rinse-close the tap), open the fridge as seldom as possible for as little time as possible, etc.

Assuming you have written down all the values of all electricity,water, etc. meters in your house at the beginning and end of the first party, you can then calculate how much electricity, water, sewage, petrol, etc., has been saved, translate it into money, coal, natural oil, carbon dioxide, etc. I guess it could be fun for the older ones to look up in the WWW, e.g. how much oil is actually used to produce 1 kWh of electricity. And then a nice exercise in introductory Excel to get the final figures

Best regards,

J.Ty.

Ohh this is getting me thinking!

So we could have a blast of a party with computer games. Maybe bake a cake! Stuff that involves the use of electricity. Then note the elec consumption.
At the next party we could move it outside. Get the kids to invent some fun games. Maybe make a make shift outdoor oven and bake a cake. Have an absolute blast. Note the difference in elec consumption and illustrate that having fun doesn't necessarily mean being indoors and chowing up electricity.

 

[Taul]

Walking School Bus - This would need to be organised by an adult but keep the kids involved to provide a sense of ownership. Walking School Bus

Bug Count - Place 4 small sticks in the round to form a square, say a 6 inch square, place an elastic band (rubber band) around the sticks to mark out a square territory. Kids laying down and close-up their chosen square to use a pencil and gently start moving the grass/undergrowth to try and identify how many bugs (mini-beasts) they can find hidden in their little area. Treat it like a competition. It’s a great sight to see loads of kids lying on their belly being silent.

Weigh the Garbage – maybe not all the smelly stuff but certainly the recyclable stuff. Weight it each week and keep graphical records., How many packets, newspapers, tin cans, bottles etc.

Yard Sale – don’t throw it out, sell it and make more pocket money.

 

[Scuderia]

Hi There

This is a UK site with ideas but I'm sure will transmit to Stellenbosch OK if you want to check it out...
Activities by Eco Friendly Kids (UK)

 

[Jon von der Heyden]

More great ideas Thanks chaps

 

[hiker95]

Jon,

You would be amazed at all the links that would come up if you do a search on the web for eco activities for kids

Games & Activities

EcoKids Home

Earth Day 2012 | Crafts, Environmental Games, and Recycling Activities for Kids - Kaboose.com

5 Eco-Friendly Kids' Activities | Gaiam Life