Teaching our children to take care of the environment is one of our main functions. Educating them in love, respect and consideration for nature will provide them with great benefits. These values can be instilled through stories, books, movies, of which we are going to give you some examples.
But above all this care for the environment must be based on our own example, our attitude on the beach, the mountain, the way we use energy at home, the transport we use, the recycling measures ... everything is part of caring for the environment.
Books and stories for children who want to take care of the environment
We recommend a few books that in one kind, and understandable for all ages, will help us develop links with nature and caring for the environment. In addition, it will make us love and enjoy reading.
- Whole Ocean. This is a book with drop-down pop-up that will delight the little ones. Through beautiful illustrations it shows us the nature of the ocean. You have the version in Spanish, and the original in French, so that your son or daughter can practice this second language.
- A garden It is a book illustrated by Isidro Ferrer and written by María José Ferrada, very original, due to its format. It is a horizontally and counterclockwise fold-out book, which it becomes a 180 centimeter garden. It tells a very short story of a garden in which the beings that live in it are transformed.
- The girl with the sparrows recounts Ming-Li's struggle, a Chinese girl, to save as many birds as she canThe government has ordered the extermination of all the sparrows because they eat a large part of the crops. With this brave gesture, Ming-Li teaches us the importance of each species in the life cycle of nature.
Movies based on environmental care books
One of the essential films that you have to watch as a family to understand caring for the environment is The Lórax: in search of the lost trupula. This character is the protector of the forest, and one day he must face the ambition of those who want to cut down the trees. The film shows the environmental consequences of unconscious actions, but also it speaks of vindication and positive actions that can change the course of things.
The animated forest It is another of the essentials, and it is also a Spanish animated film. Through a story of love and self-improvement, the characters show us the relationship of animals with humans and trees with new, unnatural objects, like an electric pole, for example. It is ideal to raise awareness about life around us.
These two films are based on works of literature. With these adaptations, made for the little ones, it is also a way to bring them closer to other formats. In this same line is the short: the biggest flower in the world, written and narrated by the Nobel Prize winner José Saramago.
Movies to watch and talk about nature as a family
Sometimes the movies we see seem simple, we spend a while and turn them off without commenting on them, however they carry a message inside. Talk with your children about what you have seen together, You will be surprised how agile children are.
- Hedge, makes a reflection on how humans are an invasive species. It all starts when an urbanization is built next to a forest. The initial fear of animals becomes an opportunity to take advantage of people.
- Tiny: the valley of the lost ants. This story invites children about consequences of abandoning trash In nature. By the remains of an abandoned picnic two tribes of ants will be able to reach the war.
- Princess Mononoke, It is one of the great classics of Japanese animation cinema. It focuses on the fight between the supernatural guardians of a forest and the humans who desecrate its resources. It is a movie for the most adolescent. It offers a complex vision about the role of mother nature and the struggle of human beings to control the entire environment, regardless of the consequences.