How to Get Your Kids Interested in Recycling
As recycling becomes more popular at home, at the store, and at school, children have the chance to see firsthand how household items can be reused. Whether it's buying eco-friendly, reusable containers for lunchboxes, using cloth grocery bags at the market, or knowing which box is which for glass items and paper products in the classroom, kids have an opportunity to take part in recycling activities every day.
That doesn't mean their involvement has to stop there.
These four online resources for kids teach them why it's important to recycle while still engaging their interest with fun graphics and cool games. These sites are all kid-friendly yet informative, empowering children to take action on their own.
1. Recycle City
This kid-focused site from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency features a fictional town called Recycle City, where kids can explore different neighborhoods to see how they are reducing waste and using less energy.
Kids can click on the northeast corner, for example, which contains a re-run movie theater, pet shop (a used one, at that!), café, community warehouse, materials recovery center, and landfill. They'll learn that the café offers used books and newspapers for customers who want to read while sipping their cocoa. They'll also see how the materials recovery center sorts different types of waste from all over the city.
When kids are done exploring, they can take on the role of city manager in the Dumptown Game. They'll work to change a town with no recycling stations into one whose citizens are happy to reduce waste.
2. National Geographic Kids' Recycle Roundup
In Recycle Roundup, kids are introduced to Gus the Gorilla, the cape-wearing recycling superhero who wants to put all of the waste in its proper container. Items from aluminum cans to cell phones need to be deposited into the blue recycling container, while things like eggshells, leaves, fruit rinds, and vegetable bits need to hit the compost box. Children can maneuver Gus to pick up the items while at the same time gaining a better understanding of where our leftovers ultimately go.
National Geographic Kids' website, which hosts the game, also offers other recycling-friendly content. The site gives kids fun tips on how they can help protect the planet and what they can do to improve the outdoors or cut down on waste.
Ever wonder what you do with those batteries after their energy has been drained? Don't just drop them in the trashcan. According to National Geographic Kids, "be sure to recycle all batteries to keep harmful metals from entering the environment."
3. Kids Recycling Zone
Would you like your youngster to see out what happens to items such as soda or milk bottles after they've been recycled? Or maybe they would like to take a short true-or-false quiz about recycling basics. Perhaps you're interested in how your child can train to be a recycling superhero - because, after all, one child can make a difference. The Kids Recycling Zone website, from the Association of Postconsumer Plastic Recyclers, is where you need to go.
This fun and informative site talks to kids on their level, using such texting-based acronyms as WTG (Way to Go) and SRSLY (Seriously) to get them excited about recycling. The site also points out that every town is different, so be sure to check out Earth911.com to get more info on your city's recycling centers.
Kids Recycling Zone makes a point of telling kids that they can have a real impact on their community, whether it's through their own recycling efforts or by spreading the word to friends and teachers about how important recycling is.
4. Kids Be Green
Featuring animated characters such as dancing light bulbs and grocery bags, Kids Be Green invites kids to learn about the 3 R's - Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle - in a lighthearted though informational way. The site offers children a printable coloring book that illustrates how paint, motor oil, and car batteries can be recycled, along with other eco-friendly tips. Kids can also explore fact sheets that teach them easy ways to compost and how to be a vermiculturist (a worm farmer!).
While the site is based in California and sponsored by the state's Integrated Waste Management Board, kids from all 50 states are almost sure to learn something they hadn't known before about the importance of recycling.
Recycling doesn't have to be a chore for kids. Whether you engage them through fun games that also teach and inspire action or implement family-friendly tips from one of these green websites, children will learn more about their environment and maybe teach Mom and Dad a thing or two as well.
This article was written by Laura Clark and originally appeared on Tecca
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