Sustainability education in child care is so very important, to develop connections to the natural world by nurturing children’s understanding and respect for their natural environment. For children to gain an understanding of the connection between people, plants, animals and the land, we make this hands on and FUN, which makes it a lot easier for children to grasp.
I know as a child I remember thinking why is it so important that I put my rubbish in the correct bins, and why is it so important that I turn my bedroom light off (I am sure mum said that to me hundreds of times over the years), I guess I didn’t get it because I didn’t fully understand the importance.
It is so important to explain ourselves clearly when communicating with adults, well it is even more important to communicate clearly when communicating with children.
By having an onsite cook that uses vegetables from our very own vegetable garden, this helps show children how we make these connections. At Sanctuary we have a holistic approach towards sustainability education and we make sure the children get to take turns in picking the vegetables and we have special cooking days so that they make that connection from growing the food to using it in our cooking and eating it.
We encourage children to reduce, reuse and recycle each and every day to all help do our part to protect our world. Our educators spend time with the children showing how each child can make a positive difference, through stories, games, songs and getting out in the garden and showing them hands on.
