Small things,great impact- nurturing love for environment in kids

Every morning melodious number rhyme sweetened our little home. "One, two, three ....seven mangoes.....interruption...mummy clap".Every day my toddler headed straight from bed to balcony to count the number of mangoes hanging in a nearby mango tree and was so contented to see the count increasing as the summers advanced. This was his daily pattern until one day when out of his habit he ran to the balcony and found no tree. "It is gone" he cried. I followed his footsteps only to find that the tree had been axed. It was equally difficult to control an inconsolable child and sight of fallen branches kissing the deserted roadside.

"One, two, three.....". These words echoed in my ears for days. The events that followed - people showing solidarity to protect trees from being axed in Delhi, a  meet in Kolkata on awareness of widespread environmental degradation in megapolises, the concerns to improve the urban living standards by adopting eco-friendly, green architectural techniques and smart technology, the collaboration of more and more corporate and social groups with the forest department for a greener cause were thought-provoking eyeopeners for me. These events reaffirmed the fact that we need an aware public, strong policymakers, sensible design and proper execution to save our environment.


However, the truth is how can we contribute to the environment if we have not experienced green pastures, pleasant wind, clean water, dust-free air? How can we make kids understand that mass industrialisation has led to large-scale deforestation, exploitation of natural resources and pollution of air and water?


What initial step we can take is to start from home- instructing kids to practice small things which would certainly grow to become deep-rooted habits in their everyday life.

Steps to nurture the love for the environment in kids

Prepare kids to be humane: 

This may sound weird but it is the fact that to respect the environment one must show compassion for nature and living beings. They should learn to appreciate the existence of natural elements in nature to nurture the love for the environment.

Let them observe and learn: 

Take them outside, let them watch, think, explore, interact, ask, learn, enjoy. Recently, I visited a heritage garden where a group of school students was so much enchanted by the beauty of nature that they let themselves go on in the arms of serenity. They touched leaves, flowers, read names of trees and birds, followed butterflies. They were excited to see birds in the lake, tried to read small instructions like "keep your environment clean", "clean environment green environment". There was a sense of attachment to nature. The kids were ignorant that amidst nature they were gaining knowledge of different plants and birds, edible and non-edible fruits etc. 

Involve kids in gardening: 

To start with, give kids a pot of seeds. Teach them germination and when a sapling grows, gift them the pot with the lesson how to take care of the plant. This will not only excite them but also develop a sense of responsibility. Each day they will measure the length and breadth of the plant. This continuous engagement improves their focus and retention power. Working together with kids in the garden has the following benefits:

• they get familiar with various plants,

• they can recognise flowers,

• they come to know about the therapeutic use of plants,

• they start differentiating between edible and non-edible fruits and leaves,

• vegetables and fruits grown in the garden develop healthy eating habits in children,

• also, they can gift such pots to their friends,

• also, they will learn how worms help to decompose

Teach them to use water and electricity judiciously:

I train my kids for small things like:

• save electricity by opening doors and windows in daylight,

• every time they open the refrigerator, cold air escapes. So I tell them not to leave the door open,

• to use water judiciously while brushing and bathing,

• how to conserve water in rains to use it for washing bicycles, toys etc. It becomes a fun activity for them,

•  to turn off electric points when not in the room or the one not being used as computers, television, music system

Encourage them to participate in a beach clean up: 

In March 2018 Olive Ridley turtles made a comeback at Versova beach in Mumbai after a cleanup program was launched by lawyer Afroz Shah and his team in 2015. Such beach clean-up activity field trips can be conducted by schools. What do kids learn from these activities?

• come closer to nature by actually digging their hands in the sand,

•  they become conscious to reduce litter,

• they get a lesson about waste recycle,

• the message gets easily conveyed to reduce waste in surroundings and  recycle waste at home,

• participation boosts their self-esteem and a sense of pride promotes in the work done,

• they fall in love with nature-water, marine creatures, rocks, sand, open sky. In fact, they start respecting nature

What else can be done at home?

• Teach them to differentiate between various bins at home- one which has garbage and the other which can be recycled.

• Teach them to share and donate their clothes, toys, stationery and food. They should not waste food.

• Let them be creative with wastes -reuse crayon by melting the broken ones and reshaping in moulds, make a pen stand with sketch pen caps, how to decorate play area using DIY ways.

Pen stand (DIY)

• enlighten them about insects which help us to maintain a healthy ecosystem- earthworms enrich the soil and dragonfly help control the population of harmful insects like mosquitoes as they feed on mosquito eggs.

How to make dragonfly pond

• gift small pots of plants instead of flower bouquets

• provide them knowledge about solar panels through DIY educational solar kit toys which educate young minds on how to use solar power to save electricity. These kits give a practical demonstration of how to harness solar energy to build models such as solar windmills, solar car, solar airboat, plane, robot etc. This improves imagination, analytical and critical thinking.

What can be done at school?

• developing a garden area wholly maintained by kids under the guidance of a mentor,

• prescribing books on environment and making them work on projects based on experiential learning. In fact, schools should encourage children to experiment with ideas and promote innovations,

• field trips to botanical gardens,

• puppet shows and dance drama activities to develop an insight into environmental issues,

• field trips to pet shops to cultivate caring attitude for animals,

• schools can build apps to teach kids about the ecosystem and sustainable development. I believe working towards creating an ecosystem can boost sustainable startups.

Besides, teenagers may explore adventure sports to experience the environment beyond fears. Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has rightly said: "do not look for God somewhere in the sky, but see God in the mountains, water, trees, and animals."