6 ways to teach kids to care and want to create change.

So many teachers ask me, "How to you teach kids to care enough to want to create change?". This is something that's taken trial and error and a great deal of thought pinpointing what I do in my classroom and what works! I've thought of the 6 easiest, yet most impactful ways that teachers can do this and I'm so excited to share this important blog post with you! We're all under pressure to teach the curriculum, plan lessons, grade work, counsel kids, log data and maintain lives outside school.  These 6 ways of teaching kids won't break the bank and won't demand all your time! Some adjustments, an open mind and the willingness to make some small changes are all that's needed. Let's adequately prepare our kids for the near future and inspire eco warriors!

1. MODEL

"Children are great imitators so give them something great to imitate." - Anonymous

I think this quote sums up the most profound way to get kids to care and want to create change for the environment. You have to lead by example if you want to really influence children in a meaningful way. If you’re teaching your class not to use single use plastic for example, and they spot you drinking out of a plastic bottle, what you teach loses all credibility. If you talk about saving rain forests and how many trees are cut down for palm oil and paper, but you mindlessly keep eating food with palm oil in it or are wasteful with paper in your classroom, the message of what you are teaching won’t make a lasting impact. LIVE what you TEACH. Your lessons need to translate to everyday life. When I taught my class about plastic pollution, I stopped laminating in my classroom and made sure to point that out to my kids. They loved that I was being true to what I was teaching. Of course nobody's perfect, but we need to think carefully about what message we are sending by how we act and live in front of our kids.

2. NATURE

"Cherish the natural world because you’re part of it and you depend on it." - David Attenborough.

You cannot ask someone to care for something that they don’t know about or feel attached to. Help to foster a connection to the natural world in your class. Bring the natural world into your classroom by having real plants and asking your students to look after them. Grow things as part of your science lessons. Have pictures of habitats and animals for children to see. I like to have cuddly toys of real creatures like gorillas or whales. The kids love to name them or cuddle them. We watch Blue Planet and Planet Earth whenever we have five minutes to spare at the end of the day. I show my interest and passion by getting excited to watch or read anything with animals or nature in it! When outdoors with my class, I will always point out the weather, trees, soil or small creatures. Show and model a love and care for the world. Take your class on trips to science museums, zoos, parks or beaches.

3. BOOKS

"Let us pick up our books and pencils. They are our most powerful weapon." - Malala Yousafzai

No matter what our topic is for the term, I always have books dotted around my classroom about the environment, animals or nature. I use early morning meetings or read alouds at the end of the day to share new books or draw attention to books I love about the environment. I stir up an interest around non-fiction books so the kids want to read them in their free reading or guided reading time. I find even the tiniest links in the curriculum that are related to waste, pollution, climate change, animal extinction, or the environment in general. It is so easy to bring these topics into reading and writing. You can do persuasive letters to companies asking to cut out single use plastic, diary entries or stories about animals losing their homes, research reports on animals or habitats, and poems on any relatable topics.

4. VOICE

"We’re the first generation to feel the effects of climate change and the last generation that can do something about it."- Jay Inslee

I don’t want to overwhelm the 7/8 year olds I teach, but I think they deserve to know the urgency of what is going on in the world in a way they can understand. They have a right to know what is happening and how they can help. You can show video clips, read articles and share what’s going on in the news but equally empower them to make changes! Tell them to use their voice to make posters, write letters to companies and politicians, and teach them how to cut out waste or conserve things like water, paper and electricity in their own way. I constantly share with my class how I am living zero waste and ways that I am making changes.

5. ZERO WASTE CLASSROOM

"Tell me and I forget, Teach me and I remember, involve me and I learn." - Benjamin Franklin

I did a waste audit with my class that spurred us into making lasting changes to our classroom to cut out waste. We looked at our bin after just a week and were shocked at how much waste we produced. Seeing it with our own eyes had the biggest impact. We noticed lots of tissues, paper towel, paper, plastic bottles, snack packets and fruit peels being sent to landfill. Solutions we came up with were to have a food waste bin, paper and general recycling bin, a scrap paper tray to reuse paper, reusable tissues and clothes and fabric towels for washing hands and cleaning tables. Check out more zero waste classroom tips in my post.

6. REPETITION

"When you know better, you do better."- Maya Angelou

Children need repetition for things to stick and to form new habits. Keep modeling to your kids how to care. Keep repeating things like “We don’t waste paper, because we care about trees.” or “Bring your own reusable bottle on the school trip because we don’t want to create plastic waste.” Encourage them to repair things that break and look after what they have. Find time to have show and tell to reinforce ideas you've spoken about. I sometimes quiz my class on what can or can't be recycled or randomly ask kids to tell me how to do something such as wash hands without wasting water. They love demonstrating or showing what they know. It's a subtle way of reminding the ones who may have forgotten.

What are some ways that you encourage your students or kids to care about the environment? I'd love to know in the comments below!