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Crafts to teach kids energy conservation

Here are crafts to teach kids energy conservation! 

Energy conservation is more important now than ever as we move toward increasing green innovations. But teaching your kids about energy conservation might feel a little trickier than telling them “don’t waste water.” So if you’re looking for a few good teaching tools, here are a few crafts that can help you teach your kids about conserving energy.

“Turn Off the Lights” Door Hanger

When it comes to conserving energy, turning off the lights as you leave a room is one of the simplest things you can do. But sometimes kids need a reminder to help them get in the habit. With a fun little door hanger, remembering to turn off the lights will be a breeze. For this craft, you’ll need:

  • Card stock and construction paper
  • Scissors
  • Markers or colored pencils
  • Hole puncher
  • Yarn or twine

To begin, cut your card stock into a thin rectangle. After that, you can cut colored construction paper in the shape of a lightbulb or have your kids draw their own lightbulbs. If you’re cutting out your lightbulb, you’ll need to glue it onto your card stock paper. Once your lightbulb is done, you or your kids can write the “turn the lights off!” message on your door hanger.

After that, your kids can decorate it any way they like, provided a little bit of space is left at the top. When your door hanger is looking amazing and the glue is dry, use your hole punch to put two holes in each top corner. You’ll use those to tie your yarn around and hang your new craft on its intended door.

Painting with Energy

When you’re trying to explain energy conservation to your kids, you’re going to help them get their creative juices flowing – but with a good meaning. Draw or print out a giant light bulb. Ask your kids to fill in the entire lightbulb with color.

After they’re done, start a conversation about how much energy it took to fill in the entire lightbulb with paint. This is your gateway into teaching about how, without painting, your kids could have done something else with their energy. They could have saved it for later! A lightbulb without any “paint” in it can save energy.

Make Saving Energy a Game

If all else fails, gamify your teaching strategy. Every time you leave the house, send one of your kids to check and see if all of the light switches are off. If you have more than one child, let them take turns. Whoever can check all of the lights with a faster time might get a prize. You can do this with faucets and electronics, too. Are all of the chargers unplugged? Is every screen in the house turned off? There are plenty of ways to make this activity fun for your kids.

Lessons on energy conservation can help your kids better understand green initiatives and eco-friendly projects at a younger age. And as they grow, they’ll have these fun activities to look back on that taught them all about conserving energy at home.

Other ideas:

Sun Catchers: Use recycled materials like old CDs and bits of colored plastic or tissue paper to create sun catchers. Hang them in a window to remind kids about the power of solar energy.

Recycled Material Robots: Collect various recyclable materials such as boxes, plastic bottles, and cans. Let kids build their own robots, emphasizing the importance of recycling and reusing materials to save energy.

DIY Windmills: Create simple windmills using paper, straws, and pins. This craft can help explain how wind energy can be harnessed for power, encouraging discussions about renewable energy sources.

Water Cycle Bracelet: Use different colored beads to represent parts of the water cycle (evaporation, condensation, precipitation, collection). Assembling these bracelets can lead to discussions on water conservation and energy used in water treatment and transport.

 Light Switch Reminders: Have kids decorate light switch covers with reminders to turn off the lights when they leave a room. This simple activity reinforces the habit of saving electricity.

Earth Day Posters: Using recycled paper, encourage kids to make posters that promote energy conservation messages. They can use their creativity to spread awareness on reducing energy consumption.

Solar Oven: Construct a simple solar oven using a pizza box, aluminum foil, and plastic wrap. Kids can learn how the sun’s energy can be used to heat and cook food, highlighting an alternative to conventional ovens.

Energy Saving Pledge Cards: Kids can design pledge cards with commitments to save energy, like turning off electronics when not in use or taking shorter showers. Decorating these cards can make the commitment more personal and memorable.

Through these crafts, kids can learn about energy conservation in a hands-on and engaging way, fostering a sense of responsibility towards the environment.

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