By Susan Lutz
My son kisses flowers and hugs trees. His love of the environment is a natural, raw, yet untouched force within him. Keeping children in touch with that reverie and joy is a challenge in the button-pushing-we-can-get-anything-we-want society.
Most homes have recycling bins somewhere in the house, and most know we need to turn off the lights when leaving a room. One way to expand the understanding of the environment for children is to meet-up with them on their own turf, the video. Immediate and satisfying, video shorts are quick loads of messages that can be watched in less than a minute or two yet pack a powerful punch.
One of my favorites is from Animal Planet. They have some wonderful shorts between programming that my kids and I have truly laughed and learned with. We don’t mind watching them over and over.
The task of teaching children about environmental responsibility requires creating a culture of learning from schools to games to how we eat to discussions about visual media from photography to film. Clicking on any one of these videos opens a dialogue. Watching a kangaroo decline the use of plastic bags is cute. A farting cow always gets laughs and the message across. Kids will love the animation. The themes are clever and catchy. Even if they are brief, kids take note.
When the kids of today run tomorrow, we hope they still have the power to stand beneath a tree and feel awe for all it represents in our world. Without the trees, without the power of our kids to change things, we are nothing. So, pass that tablet of phone to your kids and take a few minutes to share these simple, delightful, meaningful videos. Then, search for more or go out and make your own, passing on the message to others.
1. Animals Save the Planet: A montage of funny, poignant, cute shorts teaching little life lessons on we can make small changes to help the planet.
2. What It Means to Be Green: A video story book on ideas to go green.
3. Sesame Street: Water Conservation: Less than a minute, just the right length to get a quick point across about turning off the water faucets.
4. Save Our World: A three-minute look at our planet and our responsability.
5. Explaining Carbon: What is carbon anyway? An animation helps kids, and adults, understand the basics of carbon in our environment.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Jp1D1dzxj8