Making your house more sustainable and organic is all the rage right now, but what no one tells you is that it can also provide great educational activities for your toddler. I am always on the lookout for opportunities to bring chores, the outdoors, and good life lessons together in hands-on activities for my two year old. Enter composting
Let me begin by saying composting can be as easy or as intricate as you want it to be and can be combined with other toddler friendly activities like gardening.
My first composting endeavor was a big plastic storage bin with holes in it, similar to this one. This was great since we were renting and didn’t want to install a permanent structure nor were we ready for a garden. I kept it away from the house to keep flies and smells away, but I never had a problem with rodents or other creatures breaking in. At this point Amelia was too young to be an active participant in the composting cycle.
My second endeavor all started with an Instagram Ad for a Subpod Mini. Anyone else fall victim to Instagram ads? I realized I wanted composting worms to speed up the decomposing process and more confined to one location in my backyard. I choose to put in an above ground garden so my daughter could access and interact with all the plants.
The reason why I gravitated to the SubPod was because of the simplicity of it. There are so many instructions and dos and don’ts. I wanted to avoid all of that and just make it fun and interactive. There are images and easy to read instructions on the underside of the pod lid to show what foods are compostable, how often to feed your worms, and the process of feeding them. They even have a community on their website with brief 2-3 minute videos that walks you through composting step-by-step that would be great for older children to have more ownership of the composting process.
I ordered the worms online. (Who knew that was an option?!) Worms where my toddler really got enthralled in composting hook, line and sinker (pun intended). Every other day or so we take our food scraps and go ‘feed the worms’ and stir them up (aerate them). She is working up to holding them, but wants to touch them and see them wiggle around. I think its a great opportunity to introduce sustainability but also interaction with nature in our everyday lives.
If you are like me you believe there is a book for everything. I have always loved Bethany Stahl’s books and “Save the Scraps” is no exception. It explains the cycle and the importance of composting and it’s impact on your garden and the earth. I highly recommend anything by her!
If you are looking for tips on how to build your own above ground garden check out this post!
Do you have a garden? How do you get your toddler or child involved?
