Assalamu alaikum dear readers,
In our previous edition, we read about the importance of connecting to green. In this edition, I will share a few ways parents can help their child/children bond with green.
1. Include dinner table discussions on nature with children at home. Praise the abundant creations around us from which we benefit every moment.
2. Use nature as an analogy. Incorporate the various lessons in nature into their subjects and projects.
3. Give DIY projects to children. Parents can bond with children on these projects during weekends. The best ones could be upcycling (converting waste into something useful)
4. Take children on nature trips such as rock walks, trek in a nearby hill or green belt, visit a lake or a butterfly park or zoo. Apart from providing entertainment, parents can help them connect with what they see and appreciate its creation and its importance for our survival.
5. Involve children in gardening activities like tilling, digging, sowing, weeding, planting a sapling, watering, trimming, manuring, repotting, or even simply observing the ecosystem in the garden, e.g., creatures that dwell in the garden like butterflies, other insects, birds, and their nests. Just observing and clicking photographs of the park is also good enough. A trip to the open is better than a visit to a closed mall any day.
6. Encourage children to choose National Geographic, Discovery channels over their normal choice of T.V programs. This increases their general knowledge and gradually helps them appreciate and connect with nature.
7. Gift books and encyclopedias on nature, sustainable toys, and other practical eco-friendly gifts to children. Replace plastic wrappers with paper wrappers.
8. Encourage taking children to exhibitions, nurseries, and shows related to nature, environment, and sustainability.
9. Teach and remind children to keep our environment clean and tidy while stressing the importance of 3R – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.
10. Praise and acknowledge children each time they contribute to nature and sustainability, even in a minor way, like picking trash and discarding it into the trash bin.
Every Muslim parent aspires that their children build a strong connection with Allah swt, the Prophet pbuh and the Holy Quran. True connection with the Creator can only be possible when children first acknowledge His creations and bond with them through unconditional love and care for them.
Of the many things that we will be questioned for in our Akhirah, is our responsibility towards Nature and Environment. May Allah Taala give us the taufeeq to fulfill this responsibility as parents and reward us in our Akhirah. Ameen!!
Sahera Jamal
(Sahera Jamal runs an initiative called GardenYaar to spread awareness for green and sustainability in people, mainly in children. She can be reached on [email protected] / [email protected]; @Garden.yaar (Instagram); 91 8919479455 (call/whatsAp)
COMMENTS