HOW soon can you teach children to save the Earth?
If you ask me, it’s never too early. Teaching kids about the world they live in, and how to respect it and preserve it is a responsibility every adult should take seriously, especially when you live in a time of depleting natural resources, worsening pollution problems and unprecedented natural disasters.
From the simplest things, like turning off the faucet after use to save water, to more advanced practices, such as segregating waste, there are a number of ways kids can help preserve the environment (and save the earth in their own way). All you need is to nudge them toward the right path.
Surprisingly, one of the easiest ways to help kids learn is by letting them play. (When my daughter was growing up, she and her cousins would spend hours in playrooms, like Science Works and Museong Pambata, and come home spouting all kinds of trivia about the stars and dinosaurs.)
Fortunately for us parents, finding educational playrooms is no longer difficult these days. All they need to do is head over to KidZania in Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.
KIDS FOR A GREENER WORLD
KidZania is an interactive kid-sized city designed to give children, aged 4 to 14, a taste of how the real world works. Kids learn to deal with real-life scenarios through various (more than a hundred of them) role-playing activities that they can explore individually and independently. The concept is designed to give kids the confidence to deal with situations in their own way. This summer (ongoing until June 15), the interactive play city introduced a program of activities that focus on helping kids become good stewards of nature. “Kids for a Greener World” teaches kids different ways to care for the environment and how their actions affect their natural surroundings.
SPECIAL ACTIVITY AREAS
To emphasize the importance of this green campaign, KidZania called on Century Tuna, Shell Philippines, and H&M Conscious to sponsor activity areas that highlight current water, air and land environment issues, such as garbage, overfishing and car emissions.
At the “Century Tuna Fish Market,” kids will be given the day’s fish delivery and taught to identify which ones are sustainable. After grouping the fish together, they will deliver the fish orders to the Cooking School, the RightZKeepers’ House and the Research and Development Center.
The “Shell Transportation Efficiency Center” teaches kids how to plan routes that would use fuel efficiently and reduce air pollution through cleaner car emissions.
At the “H&M Conscious Upcycling Workshop,” kids learn recycling by creating fabric bracelets. Kids are asked to bring old shirts to be recycled and are given strips of colorful cloth in return. Supervisors teach the kids how to braid these strips into bracelets, using fabric pens and ornaments for embellishment.
PLAY FOR PRIZES
Vita is another special play area that drives home various green lessons.
As the RightZkeeper entrusted with the Right to Care, Vita encourages the kids to take on different challenges, like “Fish to Fork!” where kids must take a picture of themselves eating sustainable seafood, showing how much they care for the environment.
The “Good Car-ma” challenge, where kids must take a picture of themselves carpooling, emphasizes the effects of car emissions. In “Upcycle-Rama,” kids ask their parents or guardians to take photos of them “upcycling” fabrics at home.
Those who are successful at the challenges can bring home premium KidZania items.
If you’re a parent looking for a fun but socially responsible activity for your children to get into this summer, you might want to check out KidZania, which is open Monday to Thursday from 9 am to 4 pm, and weekends from 9 am to 2 pm and 3 to 8 pm.
To book tickets and for more information, visit manila.kidzania.com.