When it comes to issues of sustainability there can be very mixed feelings among Christians. For some we are stewards of the earth and all that is in it, so we have a real responsibility to care for it. For others there can be a sense of everything changes and comes to an end so there is little we can really do to protect or prevent that. If we take the view that we are here as stewards and protectors of a great gift, then perhaps we will be more confident to address the area of sustainability with Early Years children, encouraging them to nurture and care for our planet and its resources.
Psalm 24:1 (NIV) tells us “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it; for he founded it on the seas and established it on the waters.” This one verse can give us a basis for supporting young children to value and care for creation and nature, and we have other examples which encourage us to care and treasure our world and its creatures. Psalm 19:1 reminds us “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the works of his hands.” God commissions us to care for creation in a way that sustains, protects, and enhances the world, so that all creation may fulfil the purposes God intended. We are trusted to manage the environment not simply for our own benefit but for God′s glory.
We know that the Early Years are the time when enormous changes take place in physical, emotional and social development. As a result, patterns of behaviour and thinking can be encouraged which become lifelong understanding and actions. Using the 3Rs ideas of reduce, reuse and recycle can help us introduce Early Years children to very practical ways that we can be looking after the world we have been entrusted with. Various pieces of research have looked at whether Early Years children can relate to these 3Rs, and other sustainability concepts, and have produced some interesting findings.
In 2005 a report from Australia gave feedback around the Sustainable Planet Project. The focus of the project was to consider activities around lowering the quantities of waste produced, using less water and increasing biodiversity in local areas. Then to assess whether very young children were able to include sustainability concerns into their everyday lives. The researchers made use of portfolios and observations which had been kept around the children’s behaviour and responses. Using these notes as evidence, the researchers could clearly see that Early Years children were able to make sustainable actions an inherent part of their daily living (Davis, 2007). In 1990, research was carried out to see if children’s regular contact with animals and pets made a difference to their overall attitude of care and concern for environmental issues. While it may seem obvious to those of us working with young children that this link would develop, it is helpful to have research to support this view. This can help us further when considering the environment and activities we provide for children. Kidd and Kidd (2009) highlighted that preschool children have a more positive view towards animals and the environment if they regularly care for animals or visit places where this takes place. In 2012 research showed that the more often young children engage with recycling and discuss the reasons for this, the more likely they are to continue with this activity. When children have enough experiences, interested adults and opportunities to engage with recycling, then this becomes a familiar part of their life (Ozturk-Kahriman & Karaaslan, 2010) This may simply mean having and using a recycling bin in their preschool. Sometimes the simplest actions have the biggest impact. The research showed that children who had not been introduced to recycling issues were unaware of them. That sounds so obvious but it should encourage us that the regular, daily routines we use with the children make a difference to their thinking and understanding. The research suggests that to help Early Years children embed ideas of sustainability, we need to provide very practical applications in their daily lives.
So where can we start with introducing concepts of sustainability? Perhaps we could take the idea of home as a starting point for our Early Years settings? Home is for us both an actual place and hopefully a place of spiritual and emotional safety. Home is a familiar concept for young children. And for the children who spend many hours with us in nursery and preschool, this is another homelike space. Home should feel safe and supportive as should our Early Years provision. They are places of belonging and acceptance and we often make sure that visitors to our groups feel welcomed. But what about our animal visitors? A variety of other creatures have their homes in and around our nurseries and preschools. Talking about how we can make them feel welcome can be a useful way to help children develop care for all creatures. After all, God knows the location of every sparrow, as Jesus says in Matthew 10:29.
Could we talk more about ‘giving nature a home’, creating more room in our shared spaces for birds and wildlife. Perhaps it’s time to take a look with the children around our settings and outdoor spaces, and see what else calls our settings their home. What lives in our gardens? How can we ensure we give a generous welcome to all God’s creatures? Even in the most urban environment we can hunt out the plants and animals who live in the smallest spaces and cracks in the walls.
Take a walk and see what you can find. Depending on where you are, you may find a bird’s nests, see insects, find plants clinging to walls, or maybe even see molehills. You might see signs of wildlife but not be able to see their homes – and that’s a helpful learning point in itself. Ask the children why the animals have hidden their homes. If you find animal homes, encourage the children to observe where they are, how they are built, and what they are made from.
Look for a spot in your outside area where you can have a go at building your own animal home. Can you make a bird’s nest? Gather fallen sticks (don’t break any off bushes or trees) or bunches of grass and see if you can arrange them into a nest. You could build one on a stump, in a low branch, or in a bush or a sheltered spot. It’s not as easy as you think!
Bug hotels can be built any time of year, although Autumn is a good time to source materials such as wood, dry grass and straw. This is also a great way to give nature a home in more difficult locations or areas where wildlife appears quite sparse. Guests at your bug hotel might include beetles and ladybirds, solitary bees and lacewings. Butterflies will find a safe spot to hibernate for the winter. There are a variety of designs and sizes you can build to suit your available space and resources. The stacked pallet design is very useful for a range of insects. Constructing a bug hotel is a great all-age activity, and children love gathering materials and packing the spaces.
Think carefully about how to choose the location for your hotel. Ideally it should be somewhere that receives plenty of sun and not too exposed, so the residents stay warm. You can also get great ideas from www.buglife.org.uk with all the information about the different styles of homes, bugs you can attract, and even how to study them. What you make is up to you, but probably sensible to make something that is manageable according to your space, the size of your team and the available materials.
It seems clear that we have a role to play in developing the resources and commitment to helping children learn about sustainability in our Early Years settings. We are encouraged to make the best use of practical activities alongside conversations about what we can do and why. As we nurture our youngest children, and welcome natural visitors in to the homes around us, we can develop an understanding of sustainability and a love of the creation that reveals the glory of God all around us.
Lucy Waterman
REFERENCES
Davis, J. (2009). Revealing the research ‘hole’ of early child-hood education for sustainability: A preliminary survey of the literature. Environmental Education Research, 15 (2), 222- 241.
Kidd, A. H. & Kidd, R. M. (1990). Social and environmental influences on children’s attitudes toward pets. Psychological Reports, 76, 807-818.
Ozturk-Kahriman, D., & Karaarslan, G. (2010, August). Effect of a short-term intervention on preschool children’s attitudes towards recycling and reusing. Paper presented in the European Conference on Educational Research, Helsinki, Finland.
RESOURCES
A Rocha describe themselves as “a global family of conservation organizations working together to live out God’s calling to care for creation and equip others to do likewise.” They have a good selection of children’s activities to encourage thinking around sustainability and environmental care. https://atyourservice.arocha.org/en/category/childrens-activities/
The Google Lens app is helpful to identify plants and flowers as you look carefully around you.