five ways the whole family can go green

Is going green important to you? Then you should teach your kids to go green, too. Take a look at these five games and activities to get the whole family involved in making a lifestyle change together.

• Plant a Family Garden
  

Planting a garden is a proactive way for your family to go green. It gives you the opportunity to talk to your kids about organic gardening and water conservation. The best part about planting a garden with your kids is that they get more excited to eat vegetables after taking an active role in growing the food. You can weed the garden together and take turns watering it throughout the week. If you don’t have the space or time to take care of an entire garden, you can get a couple of pots and plant one or two things indoors for your children to take care of.

• Play Energy Police

One really great way to get your kids thinking about conserving energy and water is to pretend to be energy police. Give your kids badges and have them do things that are eco-friendly, such as turning off lights and monitoring water usage. Create charts and prizes to make this an ongoing event. You can also take turns being the chief of the energy police. Kids will begin taking a more active role in conserving energy and encourage others in the family to do the same thing. While playing energy police, you can also do green home projects together, like sealing doors and windows.

• Create a Recycling Game

Recycling is an important step in going green. Start by placing a recycling bin in your kitchen and encouraging your family to use it. At the end of the week, have a recycling race game where the kids quickly sort the recycling bin into different types of recyclable materials. You can also look for items in the recycling bin that can be reused in art projects or around the house.

• Buy Some Eco-Friendly Books and Movies

It’s easier for kids to get excited about going green when they have books and movies to help them learn. There are all sorts of books you can buy about recycling, conserving energy, and reducing your impact on the environment around you. Books and movies also give you the opportunity to talk to your kids about these topics.

• Plan a Neighborhood Cleanup Activity

It’s great to do things in your own home that help your kids go green, but they should see that it’s important to be green outside of the home, too. Plan a neighborhood cleanup where your kids look for trash while out on a walk or help a neighbor with a recycling project.

If you teach your kids to go green and model the behavior for them, they are more likely to stay green throughout their lives. That’s why it’s important to teach about eco-friendly topics while going about your family activities.

Do you have any other ideas you’d like to share?