[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)
Onion dyeing
Let’s try dyeing with onion skins using the skins from onions served in school lunches.
This also aims to learn about SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production.
Have the children peel the onions, put the skins into a bag, and then simmer them in hot water.
While they are boiling, wrap marbles in handkerchiefs and secure them with rubber bands to prepare the patterns.
Soak the handkerchiefs in the onion-colored water, then dip them in an alum solution, and the handkerchiefs transform into a bright yellow! By playing with onion skins that would normally be thrown away, children can naturally learn the ideas behind the SDGs.
Colored water play
Let’s play with colored water made from flowers and berries.
By incorporating nature into play, it can spark interest in SDG 15: Life on Land.
After collecting flowers and berries from the garden or park, put them in a plastic bag with water and knead them to extract the color.
You can also pretend the colored water is juice and pour it into PET bottles or cups to play.
Children’s creativity is limitless! Let’s prepare the environment so we can support their “I want to try this!” moments.
swallow
As part of its efforts to promote the SDGs, NHK has released the song and dance “Tsubame.” The catchy tune, familiar to children, was written and composed by Ayase from YOASOBI.
There are two dance versions—one for little swallows (children) and one for parent swallows—so you can tailor the approach to children’s ages and developmental stages.
On days or at times when you can’t play outside, why not enjoy dancing together? The adorable sight of children pretending to be swallows will surely soothe the teachers as well!
[Early Childhood Education] Ideas to Learn about the SDGs through Play (11–20)
[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.
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.
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.