The official start of summer is just around the corner. All over the country, most kids are finally out of school, and ready to start their vacation. Summer is a great time for kids to learn new things that they might not otherwise learn in a classroom. Plus, keeping your kids ‘entertained’ with different projects throughout the season can make it more exciting for them. You won’t hear the dreaded boredom blues by the end of June!
Luckily, there are many different projects your kids can do throughout the summer that will not only be fun for them, but that can help conserve water, too. Check out these three simple solutions to show your kids how easy water conservation can be this summer.
- Give Them a Green Thumb
Summer is a great time for gardening and taking care of plants. Why not let your kids take over the watering duties for the summer? It’s an opportunity to explain to them how plants really work, and the process they go through in order to grow. At the same time, you can explain that using too much water is wasteful. You can even come up with ideas together on how you can waste less water while watering your plants.
They’ll love to have a job to do each day, and it will become a fun ‘challenge’ for them to figure out how to save as much water as possible while giving the flowers a soak.
- Bingo
Kids love games and challenges. So, turn water conservation into both for them! Create a ‘bingo board’ with different water-saving ideas all over it. This could include things like:
- Turn off the faucet while brushing your teeth
- Take a five-minute shower
- Run the dishwasher once it’s completely full
- Find a way to cool off without using the sprinkler
- Take a shower instead of a bath
You can make up as many ideas as you’d like, and even personalize them for your family. Once your child gets a ‘bingo,’ you can reward them with something simple! If you have more than one child, try to turn it into a race to see who can fill up their bingo board the fastest.
- Be Water-Wise with Your Sprinkler
If you decide to use a sprinkler or irrigation system to water your flowers or your lawn, get double the use from it! Use those times to let your kids (or even yourself) run through the sprinkler to cool off, too. This can prevent you from turning it on later just for the kids and wasting more water.
Better yet? Make memories that will last a lifetime by using nature’s sprinkler; the rain. Summer rain is usually warm and refreshing on an otherwise-humid day. If there’s no threat of lightning, take the kids outside and have a rain dance! Everyone will cool off, and it will be something they’ll never forget!
It’s not hard for kids to learn about water conservation and even take part in it over the summer. They can use the skills they learn over the summer to continue saving water into the school year and beyond. If you make these activities fun and exciting, they’ll even be likely to share them with their friends and keep the cycle going strong!