Be earth friendly with your little ones

Invest in Kids
News Release

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Toronto - Teaching young children about the environment and protecting the world that they live in is important, and when you combine that with activities that support a child’s healthy development parents can feel even better about being green.

Just in time for Earth Day, Invest in Kids, a national charitable organization dedicated to ensuring the healthy development of Canada’s youngest children, presents its Earth Day Activity Guide, full of ideas to help infants, toddlers and preschoolers develop a love for, and an interest in, the world around them.

All of the tips and ideas in the guide are based on the principles of Comfort, Play & Teach™, Invest in Kids’ research-based approach to positive parenting. Comfort, Play & Teach™ is built on the everyday moments that are already part of a parent’s and child’s daily routine – it shows the relationship between a parent’s behaviour and a child’s development. If you comfort, play with and teach your child every day you will be supporting the healthy social, emotional and intellectual development of your child and ultimately be opening up a world of possibilities for you both.

The Earth Day Activity Guide includes suggestions for creating new toys out of everyday household items and turning family outings into opportunities to learn about and appreciate nature. There is also a list of age-appropriate books and resources that parents can read to and with their children to inspire an interest in nature.

Activities include:

Sorting Nature Items

Collecting and sorting items from nature can help your toddler learn about the natural world, as well as help her to learn new words as you talk about and describe the items that you find. This is a wonderful opportunity to turn a nice spring walk into a learning exercise. You can take home your discoveries and sort them into categories based on colour, shape or texture.

Instant Orchestra

Parents can make musical instruments out of recyclables and items from around the house. Children can explore different sounds and "play along" to their favourite songs and rhymes as they discover different uses for familiar items. Making music a daily part of your child's life is a great way to Comfort, Play with and Teach them and this activity can also help with fine motor skills and basic music concepts.


For details on each of these activities and many others, head to www.investinkids.ca/tips to read the entire Earth Day Activity Guide.

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