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Article Make energy saving fun for children

By Leanne Dempsey
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34 Comments

Having a family and raising children can take up a lot of energy both physically and mentally not to mention all the electricity they use!

Having extra little people in the home can mean an increase in electricity and gas bills, so it is important to keep a track of your family’s energy consumption and getting children on board can be the key in making this effective.

Sometimes, teaching children to be energy efficient can seem boring, but it doesn’t have to be!

Read on to discover four top tips on making energy saving fun for children and watch your energy bills drop:

1) Lead by example

Children learn by example and who better to give them a good example to follow than their parents?

Ensure that older family members are involved in all aspects of energy saving and not just children; if you’re not turning off lights when leaving a room then they will wonder why they should either.

Why not get children to let you know if you leave a light switch on in an empty room or leave an electrical device on stand-by? They’ll love the responsibility!

2) Start young

Make energy saving second nature by starting energy saving practices at home as early as possible.

Not only will this make it easier to create good habits from your children that they will have for life, but it will also help keep your bills lower so you can spend more money having fun as a family.

3) Get children involved

If your children are a little older and taking steps to control your energy consumption is new, it can be a great idea to get your children involved to avoid resistance.

Do a walk through the home with your children and ask them to write a list of things you can do in each room to use less energy as a family.

After this, ask your children to help you create a list of energy saving rules for the family to follow. Children will love this kind of responsibility and will be more likely to follow the rules if they played a part in creating them.

4) Make energy saving a game

Being a child is all about having fun, so why not turn energy saving into a game?

You could create a weekly chart to reward children for completing energy saving tasks around the home, children can then receive a small treat or reward at the end of the week for completing a certain number of energy saving tasks.

So there we have it, four simple ways to make saving energy fun for your children! Implement these ideas and watch as your energy consumption – and bills – drop.

Do you have any tips to add to this? Please share in the comments below.

Image courtesy of Shutterstock.com

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Comments

  • I love this and it is certainly true that kids do lead by example. We do small things in our house but I am sure it makes a huge difference

    Reply

  • Good habit certainly help not only you but them in later life.

    Reply

  • Get them into these good habits early and its easier.

    Reply

  • Great article! I enjoyed it reading it!!

    Reply

  • My kids have been brought up learning how to cut costs on the electric bill.
    Microwave is always turned off at the wall along with the tv, dvd player, dryer and washing machine.
    My bill is usually just under $400 for a quarter.

    Reply

  • Having a family and raising children can take up a lot of energy both physically and mentally not to mention all the electricity they use!

    Having extra little people in the home can mean an increase in electricity and gas bills, so it is important to keep a track of your family’s energy consumption and getting children on board can be the key in making this effective.

    Sometimes, teaching children to be energy efficient can seem boring, but it doesn’t have to be!

    Read on to discover four top tips on making energy saving fun for children and watch your energy bills drop:

    1) Lead by example

    Children learn by example and who better to give them a good example to follow than their parents?

    Ensure that older family members are involved in all aspects of energy saving and not just children; if you’re not turning off lights when leaving a room then they will wonder why they should either.

    Why not get children to let you know if you leave a light switch on in an empty room or leave an electrical device on stand-by? They’ll love the responsibility!
    2) Start young

    Make energy saving second nature by starting energy saving practices at home as early as possible.

    Not only will this make it easier to create good habits from your children that they will have for life, but it will also help keep your bills lower so you can spend more money having fun as a family.

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    3) Get children involved

    If your children are a little older and taking steps to control your energy consumption is new, it can be a great idea to get your children involved to avoid resistance.

    Do a walk through the home with your children and ask them to write a list of things you can do in each room to use less energy as a family.
    After this, ask your children to help you create a list of energy saving rules for the family to follow. Children will love this kind of responsibility and will be more likely to follow the rules if they played a part in creating them.

    Reply

  • We try and get the kids involved with turning lights off after they used them.

    • yes so do we and we also try to switch things off at the wall instead of leaving appliances on standby. i saved around $100 by doing just this one thing.

    Reply

  • God article. Thanks

    Reply

  • agree Leanne – have to show the kids it is fun to keep the planet revolving

    Reply

  • life expensie we have to save

    • Forgive me for saying this, but the majority of your comments mean very little. I believe you are only with MOM for the rewards. Still, it would be nice if you said something constructive once in a while.

    Reply

  • Making it fun for kids is a great way to teach them and get them involved…..if they can remember. Mine seem to have short attention spans

    • You’re right, children can sometimes have short attention spans when it comes to this kind of thing… although they always seem to remember when you said they could have a sweet treat? haha!
      Thanks for taking the time to read and leave a comment.
      – Leanne

      • lol yes! i have tested my kids before and asked them to pick up their toys…to no response. i asked them who wants chocolate and they all turned around and said ME, ME!. LOL CHEEKY BUTTS!

    Reply

  • Great thanks! Since having kids and being home more my bills have gone up!!

    Reply

  • fun and enjoy with save

    Reply

  • great article thanks for sharing :)

    Reply

  • A really good article that makes sense!

    Reply

  • Great tips. Thanks for sharing! Very interesting!

    Reply

  • Thank you for the great article

    Reply

  • So very true Leanne. We invested in solar energy and taught our children from a young age about saving energy and water. My teenage daughter had a conversation with me recently about how one of her friends use the drier, lights, appliances, etc so readily, and it was a shock to her. Valuable life long lessons.

    • Thank you for reading and for taking the time to comment! That’s great to hear – making the switch to solar can make a really positive difference in energy consumption and bills. Starting from an early age seems to have had a great effect on your daughter – they really are brilliant and valuable life lessons :)
      Thanks, Leanne

    Reply

  • kids should make it fun for the electricty to save on

    Reply

  • Lke it

    Reply
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