Five Ways To Teach Kids About the Environment

Summer is here, and with it come long, warm days perfect for exploring the great outdoors with your little ones. Engaging in outdoor adventures and hands-on projects can help children start to appreciate nature and understand how to care for it.

Introducing kids to diverse plants, animals, and habitats early on encourages them to understand the natural world around them and their place within it. Let’s dive into five kid-friendly and educational ways to teach your children about the environment.

1. Go on a Nature Scavenger Hunt

A backyard or park scavenger hunt is an easy way to get kids excited about nature. Ask your child to find simple items such as a yellow leaf, a smooth rock, something purple, something that smells, or something alive.

Give them a small bucket or bag for collecting safe treasures. You can even draw a simple checklist for them to mark off. This turns a regular walk into a fun, educational mission. After the hunt, talk about each find. For example, talk about how leaves come from trees or how rocks might be home to tiny bugs. This game-like exploration builds curiosity and helps children notice the environment in a new way, laying the groundwork for caring more deeply about nature.

2. Plant a Mini Garden or Seed

Planting something together is a sensory-rich, educational experience to try with your kids. You can start a mini garden in your yard or even just a single pot on the porch.

Let your child help dig a hole, place seeds, and water them. Gardening together teaches kids that plants need soil, water, and sunlight to grow. They’ll be excited to check on their plant each day and watch it change. If you plant easy veggies or herbs, your child may be proud to taste the food they grew. And this can also be a sneaky way to get picky eaters to eat more veggies!

3. Try a Backyard Bird-Watching Safari

There are birds to observe everywhere if you just slow down and look. Go on a bird-watching safari in your backyard or to a local park.

Arm your little explorer with a cheap pair of child-safe binoculars. Together, listen for bird songs and scan the trees or sky for movement. When you spot a bird, talk about its colors, what sound it makes, and what it might be doing (is it looking for food or material for a nest?).

You can even keep a “bird journal” where your child draws the birds they see or keeps count of how many they find. This simple activity builds patience and observation skills. By watching birds, kids can better understand their habitats and how they behave.

4. Help the Environment with a Litter Cleanup

Next time you’re on a walk or at a local park, bring a small bag and gloves and encourage your little one to help pick up litter. Make sure to focus on safe items only – paper scraps, plastic wrappers, or bottle caps are ok. But leave anything sharp or questionable for grown-ups to handle.

As you collect each piece, explain why litter is bad for nature: animals might choke on or get hurt by garbage, and trash makes the environment dirty for plants and people. Count how many pieces of litter you pick up and celebrate when you fill the bag. You can even make it a game to find as many as you can. This activity is simple, but it teaches kids that trash belongs in a bin, not on the ground. It shows them directly how their actions can make a positive difference.

5. Stock Up Their Library

To help kids learn more about the environment, be sure to include books in their library about the natural world around them. Take time to read themed books based on the activities you’re planning. For example, if you’re going on a bug hunt, read a book about bugs beforehand to help your child know what to expect.

Here are some book suggestions for the great outdoors and books about water to get you started.

Have Fun While Teaching Kids About the Environment

Teaching young children about the environment is all about making it fun, hands-on, and relatable. By turning eco-friendly practices into games, crafts, and adventures, you’re helping your child form positive associations with nature. These simple outdoor activities plant the seeds of environmental awareness in a child’s mind. Kids learn best by doing, and each time they water a plant, pick up litter, or marvel at a bird or butterfly, they’re building a real connection to the natural world.