Teach your children to save energy

Kids will not understand the way energy works. They will likely not comprehend climate change until they are older. While most children are too young to understand these fundamentals, it shouldn’t stop you from teaching them how to conserve in your own way. If we can provide our kids a basic understanding of what it means to save power and do our part, you will instill a willingness to keep energy use down. 

It will come with an understanding of why you should conserve and what it means. Having an energy efficient household starts with the people in the house doing basic things to decrease energy consumption, teaching your kids can be fun and creative. Making sure your household consumption isn’t bigger than it needs to be and to help decrease the family’s carbon footprint. To get started, you need to at least to explain a few things. Here’s a graphical display of the interconnection of energy, cost, and pollution for a light efficiency retrofit of a home. This…is too complicated for kids. So where to begin? 

Explain Electricity

While this is difficult, it is essential to at least try to explain electricity in your own way. This doesn’t mean that you’re going to tell them about the wires, and the ways of producing power, and why they are harming the planet. It can start with simple terms. For example, according to MoneyPug—an energy comparison site—you can teach your kids that when things are powered and on, it costs money. You can differentiate between things that are powered and working, switched off or unplugged, and the things that are not reliant on power at all. 

You can explain that electricity makes electronics work and show them that that means plugging into the wall. If you can get the point across that these things cost money and waste it, they kid will begin to understand that and will change their habits. It’s just like anything, if you can make it a mindful part of their lives, you can make it fun to learn about conservation. 

Make it a Game

One way to get through to your children about power is to use it to create a game. Have them guess what uses electricity. They can choose between things like lightbulbs and chairs, video games and board games, and they will begin to see the difference. You can also show them tools that can be used for the same purpose. 

For example, showing an electric-powered shaver and a razor can show what to use that will save power. A broom and a vacuum are also an example of this. Using the dryer versus hanging clothes on a line can also help your kids understand that it does the same thing. Lastly, toys that need to be charged and toys that don’t can put the comparison in their terms. Using these tools, you kids will begin to learn what items use energy and what does not. This way, they will think about it before leaving the lights or game on. You can even make a household energy challenge. Set up a chart that you can put on the ridge of somewhere else that has all the things people in your home can do to curb power consumption. 

Make it Educational

Unsurprisingly, there are many educational tools used to teach people how to conserve energy. You can find a month-by-month archive of educational material that will not only help you conserve energy overall but how to do it each month. Every season has its own energy benefits and drawbacks. You should do your best to recognize these differences and do your best to use them to your advantage. 

There are also various projects you can start to help you save energy in the long-run. Including your kids in these efforts can make it so they see that saving energy is important, curbing power use is integral, and important for our world. You can install solar panels, make a wind turbine, and make weekly tasks to save energy. 

These few things are just the beginning. You can take your energy use into your old hands. Make sure there is natural light in your home. Get outside to enjoy nature and use less power. Plant trees to make a point about the environment. However you look at it, the sooner you get your kids started on basic energy conservation, they will become people who are productive, thoughtful members of society.