Water sustains life. As children grow and comprehend the world around them, it is important they learn just how vital water is to their bodies and our environment. Children are our future, and they should be given a full understanding of water, why it is important, and how they can protect it.
A good starting point when teaching children about water is showing them how it affects their bodies. Below are some great teaching tools to help your child begin to understand water’s importance.
- Conduct an experiment. For visual learners especially, seeing the effects of water on a living thing can be very powerful. Talk to your child about how water hydrates the body to keep it healthy, then show your child through an experiment. Place two houseplants in a well-lit window. Water just one, and keep just that one well-watered. Ask your child to observe each plant over the next several days and note the difference between the plants. Explain to your child how what they see taking place in the un-watered plant would happen in their body if they didn’t consume enough water.
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Visit the library. Your local library is an excellent resource for educational materials that communicate well with children. Browse the children’s section for books that discuss water’s importance to the body. Some book suggestions appropriate for kids include:
- Drinking Water by Mari. C. Schuh
- Not a Drop to Drink: Water for a Thirsty World by Michael Burgan
- Water Boy by David McPhail
Start with lessons on why water is important to the body. As children comprehend water’s importance in their own lives, they can begin to grasp why it is important to keep it clean and prevent water waste.
Hoosiers young and old need to know just how vital water is to their everyday lives. Indiana American Water is committed to the education of Hoosiers when it comes to water protection. We’re doing our part every day to keep Indiana’s water sources as clean as possible by investing in infrastructure improvements around the state and supporting local organizations that are working to improve, restore or protect the watersheds, surface water and groundwater supplies in our local communities through our Environmental Grant Program.
