[Childcare] Ideas for learning about the SDGs through play
Many teachers may be thinking about incorporating the SDGs into early childhood education.
In nurseries and kindergartens, it’s important that learning is fun, so it can be challenging to decide how to approach it.
With that in mind, we’ve gathered ideas that let even infants and toddlers enjoy experiencing and thinking about the SDGs’ goals.
If teachers join in and have fun together, the SDGs will become familiar and natural for children.
Let’s enjoy working on them together with the children who will shape the future.
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[Childcare] Ideas for Learning about the SDGs through Play (1–10)
Garbage collector
How about working together with children on trash collection and sorting? Normally we just throw trash into a bin, but by learning about the effort involved in collecting and separating it, they can naturally become interested in waste.
It also connects to SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production.
Plus, sorting trash can spark curiosity about recycling.
Because “trash” is something so familiar to children, it’s important for them to take an interest from a young age.
They might even put into practice at home what they learned at the preschool, helping with taking out the trash and sorting it.
Panel theater
How about introducing a panel theater to help children enjoy learning about the SDGs? By using easy-to-understand characters, the SDGs become a familiar theme for kids.
It will go smoothly if you first decide which SDG themes you want to convey to the children before starting production.
Panel theater can be a versatile teaching tool that can be used in everyday childcare or as part of special events.
One of its charms is that even non-living subjects—like the Earth or garbage—can be turned into characters.
Newspaper play
Let’s incorporate newspapers—which we’d normally throw away after reading—into playtime.
Newspaper play can take many forms, from activities that use the whole body to ones that spark imagination.
All adults need to prepare are the bare essentials like newspapers, glue, or tape.
Then, simply watch over the children so their ideas can flourish.
If they create something wonderful, it’s great to take it home, too.
Use it for active play and indoor time will be completely transformed! It’ll become an activity kids will say, “I want to do it again!”
[Early Childhood Education] Ideas to Learn about the SDGs through Play (11–20)
Sea Dance
How about incorporating the “Umi Dance,” created for The Nippon Foundation’s Sea and Japan Project, into your childcare activities? Its easy-to-understand lyrics and dance help children learn what is good and what is not for the ocean environment.
Whether you live in a coastal area or far from the sea, a clean ocean is an essential part of our lives.
We hope it will spark children’s interest in how to protect the ocean.
Let’s have fun dancing the “Umi Dance” together with the kids.
[Food Education] Learning to grow and eat vegetables
![[Food Education] Learning to grow and eat vegetables](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/WxjSi3yIO8c/sddefault.jpg)
As part of the SDGs, how about considering an initiative to recycle cafeteria food scraps into fertilizer and use it to grow vegetables? Introducing composting would enable environmentally conscious food education.
Even simply showing how food scraps can be turned into fertilizer and effectively utilized would be a profound learning experience for children.
They can also experience the challenges of caring for vegetables and the joy of seeing them grow.
If you serve the vegetables they’ve grown in the school lunch, even children who usually dislike vegetables might give them a try.
It would be wonderful if this nurtured a mindset that values living things and food.
Making toys from scrap materials
Let’s make toys using items that were going to be thrown away, like clear folders and paper cups.
If the teachers bring things from home, you might discover some unexpected materials.
Draw pictures on a clear folder with a permanent marker and it transforms into a material that sticks to walls like in the bath! It would be great to make them at the daycare and have the children play with them at home.
By making crafts that incorporate the children’s ideas, you’ll likely create lovely toys they feel attached to.
Another nice point is that crafting with recycled materials can be done indoors anytime!
Making medals using scrap materials
Let’s try making medals using scrap materials.
Paper is fine, but depending on your region, you might be able to use distinctive waste materials such as thinned wood.
Doing crafts with materials that would otherwise be thrown away can prompt children to think about the environment.
Make sure the environment allows them to freely draw pictures and letters on the medals.
Medals are originally used for recognition, so it’s also nice to have children reflect on what they worked hard on.
If they show their finished medals to each other, it will help them appreciate the strengths of their own medals and understand their friends’ ideas.