How to teach baby environmental protection？

2020-07-10

| Simon Mak, CEO, Friends of the Earth (HK)

As a father of a baby, I always ask myself how I can educate my son on environmental protection. At this young age, teaching them alphabet and numbers is already difficult enough let alone some abstract concept (such as: climate changes, circular economy, green finance and biodiversity). Recently, I find a way: Nature.

With the coronavirus outbreak, my family moved from the concrete jungle to Lantau Island (a rural area) to maintain social distance from the crowd. It gives us an opportunity to make new friends and experience something new, while we are still able to maintain our habit.

Photo source: Simon Mak

One of our daily practices is that we always have a morning walk. When we were living in the city, we visited the urban park every morning. We were greeted by the elderly in the park. Now that we are living in the rural area, we are greeted by fish, tortoises, dogs, horses, and other animals. It doesn't take long for my son to get familiar with his new friends. He started to build up bonding with his new friends, and sometimes he even shows them his tummy.

Photo source: Simon Mak

For a baby or youngster, nature is the best teacher for environmental protection. Once he gets in touch with nature, he will be intrigued by how colourful it is and want to protect it. I am fortunate to have the chance to share that with my son. Should you have any young friends, I highly recommend you to connect them with nature. It will bring them bigger amusement than in any amusement parks.

Photo source: Simon Mak

Interested Topic：

Nature Conservation

Keyword：

environmental protection

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