Supporting Children to Understand Sustainability

 

Definition (EYLF v2.0)

Sustainability is about meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. In early childhood education, this involves developing children's understanding of their interconnectedness with others and the environment.

  • Environmental sustainability centers on protecting, preserving, and enhancing the natural world, ensuring that ecosystems remain healthy and capable of supporting life.

  • Social sustainability involves fostering inclusive, respectful, and equitable communities that promote peace, resilience, and fairness at both local and global levels.

  • Economic sustainability relates to practices that encourage growth and development while ensuring they do not compromise environmental or social sustainability.

Teaching sustainability to young children involves fostering their natural curiosity about the world around them while developing their sense of responsibility as environmental stewards. Children are naturally drawn to exploring nature and understanding how things work, making this an ideal time to introduce sustainable practices and environmental awareness.

 

Play Based Experience 1

Garden to Table Experience

Create a small vegetable garden where children can plant seeds, water plants, and harvest vegetables. This hands-on experience teaches children about food cycles, reduces food waste, and connects them to natural processes. Children can then use the harvested vegetables in cooking activities, understanding the journey from seed to plate.

Play Based Experience 2

 Recycling Sorting Game

Set up different colored bins with clear picture labels for various recyclable materials. Children can sort clean recyclable items while learning about waste reduction. This can be extended into art projects using recycled materials, demonstrating how items can be repurposed rather than discarded.

"The plain fact is that the planet does not need more successful people. But it does desperately need more peacemakers, healers, restorers, storytellers, and lovers of every kind. It needs people who live well in their places. It needs people of moral courage willing to join the fight to make the world habitable and humane. And these qualities have little to do with success as we have defined it.”

David W. Orr (Ecological Literacy: Educating Our Children for a Sustainable World (The Bioneers Series))

Page References:

Australian Government Department of Education. (2022). Belonging, Being & Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia V2.0. Australian Government Department of Education.

Davis, J. M. (2015). Young children and the environment: Early education for sustainability (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.

Sustainability and the EYLF - Environmental Education in Early Childhood. (2023, May 21). Environmental Education in Early Childhood. https://www.eeec.org.au/sustainability-and-the-eylf/

100 Sustainable Education Quotes — Niche Quotes 💬. (2025). Nichequotes.com. https://nichequotes.com/sustainable-education-quotes

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