Raising kids is always tough. You have to teach your children about the world and all of the bad and good things in it. You also have to teach your kids about things that are too complicated for them to easily understand. That’s just a part of being a parent. One of the issues that our children will become more and more acquainted with is energy.
The world is in transition. We need to fully do away with our reliance on fossil fuels and work towards a cleaner, more sustainable world. It starts with education. While you could argue that major corporations are making a huge impact on our atmosphere and environment, but the political will needs to be there to change it all. However, we can focus on our own behavior and do our best to do our part. It starts with conserving power. To teach your kids to save energy, it starts with the basics.
Tell your Kids about Electricity
Explaining complex things like electricity to children is not easy, but it is possible to get the point across while showing your kids how to save energy. According to MoneyPug, a site where you can compare energy prices, you should start with the fact that electricity, what you can tell them is energy costs money. Show them the difference between things that are powered on and working and electronics that are switched off and unplugged. Then you go into the distinction between items that are not reliant on power. You can explain that electricity is required for some objects to perform their function. When your kids begin to understand how energy works, they will start to conserve on their own.
Make Saving Energy a Game
Children learn by doing and having fun. One way to make learning about energy and conservation fun is to create a game out of it. There are many ways to do this. First you should point to household items and ask your kids if they require electricity. This is a good way to get started showing them the difference. Quickly they will begin to learn and understand what this means.
While you’re at it, you can teach your children safety tips. This depends on which household items you are using and the dangers associated with them. Showing your kids a razor and an electric powered shaver is one way to illustrate the differences between objects that require electricity and ones that don’t. Another example of this is a broom and a vacuum. Teach your kids that you can avoid using energy by changing your habits. This includes hanging up clothes instead of using the dryer, playing table top games instead of video games, and playing with toys that don’t need to be charged.
Furthermore, you can make a challenge out of the game. The whole household can take part in this. Show your kids how to save energy and make a competition out of it. They will be motivated to save power and show you that they understand how to do it. While you do this, you can encourage them to try to make positive changes and reward them with money or gifts. Making little changes day-by-day will help everyone save power and make it second nature. Creating a game out of energy conservation is fun and productive.
Use Educational Tools
It is also very helpful to use educational tools to help teach your kids about energy and conservation. There are plenty of ways to do this. One way is to use one of the many monthly guides that help you come up with creative ways to save energy. These guides take into account the weather, the wind, the amount of sunlight, and other helpful things that will lead to productive use of energy and conservation techniques. In addition, you can work on projects to help produce green energy for your home. You can have your kids help you install a wind turbine or solar panels, although you probably don’t want them on the roof.
These are just some of the ways to teach your children about the conservation of energy. It starts with the fundamentals, but once they understand they will not only become energy conservationists they will become better people.