Composting for Kids - One of the most valuable lessons you can teach your child

Composting is a great way to encourage your children to learn about gardening and nature. Getting yourself and your children involved in composting will be a great activity to do, and will be so beneficial to the environment and to your garden as well.

Check out our video to find out the basics of composting, and how it can be beneficial to you, your family, and Mother Earth.

Composting is definitely one of the most valuable lessons you can teach your child.

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Explaining Composting To Your Child

Composting is a relatively simple process to explain.

It is the breakdown (decomposition) of natural waste, such as leaves, vegetables, and old fruit into valuable nutrients called fertilizer.

Composting is usually done in a bin or in a heap, where organic and natural waste is allowed to mix together, and over time it forms a crumbly fertilizer which is good food for plants when mixed into the soil.

A lot of children are familiar with the term ‘Circle of Life’ (thanks Lion King!) and so we find it helpful to refer to the Composting Cycle where the nutrients go around and around in the environment.

Benefits Of Composting For Your Child

Teaching kids to compost is a great way to introduce them to the wonders of nature and the environment.

It is a way to remove screen time, and encourage your child to spend more time outdoors.

Here are a few benefits of composting for your child:

Composting teaches your child how the environment works, and how to reduce their own waste.

It helps to further understand the three environmental R’s – reduce, reuse, and recycle.

By sorting waste for composting, your children will learn the difference between biodegradable products and what can and can’t be turned into compost.

They can either help collect leaves from the garden or help in the kitchen to find food scraps to use.

You will be introducing your child to the environment and the way it works by showing them how to convert waste into nutrient-rich soil.

It is a great way to demonstrate the cycle of life, and how different materials break down.

Depending on their age, there are some great biology, chemistry, and physics lessons to be taught through composting.

Composting teaches kids the importance of insects, worms and slugs, and how they add value to the eco-system.

It also pushes the importance of microorganisms, and how the smallest animals can have huge roles in the ecosystem.

It teaches them an appreciation for the environment, and gives them the satisfaction of doing their bit as a friend of the environment!

Benefits Of Composting For The Environment

Composting has some great benefits for your children, and some amazing environmental benefits as well.

Compost enriches the soil, retains moisture, and suppresses plant diseases, keeping away pests.

Making compost reduces the need for chemical fertilizers.

Compost encourages the production of beneficial fungi and bacteria
which break down organic matter to create humus, a rich nutrient-filled material.

Composting reduces methane emissions from landfills and it lowers your family’s carbon footprint.

More organic waste used for composting is less waste sent to the landfill.

What You Can And Can’t Compost

In order to compost successfully, you need to know what you can or can’t compost.

Some items compost beautifully, breaking down well in the right conditions, while other items just don’t work at all.

The compost your kids make will only be as good as the ingredients they use.

Make sure you help your children learn what they can and can’t compost.

Items that can be composted include:

Fruit and vegetable scraps
Coffee grinds
Eggshells
Leaves
Twigs
Branches
Grass clipping
Coffee filters
Newspapers (nowadays newspaper ink is mostly non-toxic)

Knowing what not to compost is just as important as knowing what to compost.

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Has your family tried out composting yet? If you haven’t, are you willing to give it a try?

We’d love to hear from you!

Let us know in the comments below.

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Please visit our website for more interesting articles and resources on parenting and family life:

Composting for Kids: One of the most valuable lessons you can teach your child
https://www.stuff4tots.com/composting-for-kids/

Activities for Kids at Home
https://www.stuff4tots.com/activities-for-kids-at-home/