Eco team at after school club
Sometimes things your children do just make you smile. N isn’t a writer, he’s not a leader (although he can get a bit bossy sometimes), he’s not a really confident outgoing child. And he doesn’t like to put himself forward for things. But sometimes he’ll surprise me and shows that given the right opportunity, he can take something on and get excited about standing for something.
Of course I have seen the enthusiasm before – with colouring competitions, with trying to create something to apply for a Blue Peter badge. He starts keen, then it takes longer than he expects, so he drifts off and it gets forgotten about. So we’ll see how long this lasts.
I arrived to pick him up at after school club at the nursery, to find him writing lists across several pieces of paper. It turns out they’re forming an Eco committee to put themselves forward for some eco standards. And N had been voted in as the Chair of the Committee along with a school friend as Treasurer and a couple of the toddlers representing the nursery age rather than after school club.
We’ve obviously been through the stress of the school council rep elections and speech writing before. No speech was needed, but N was very surprised that he was voted as chair. What made me laugh was how he was really keen but then didn’t know what the chair’s role was.
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N is already pretty clued up on green things, with school and after school club recycling. And me at home getting him to recycle and always moaning at the lodgers and the OH either putting plastic bags in the recycling bin or not recycling at all. I work in sustainability as well, so maybe being on the Eco team is a good link for N to learn more. Let’s hope he can help persuade the OH that he should be recycling.
Apart from writing lists of all the plastic they have (that’s a lot of toys to include!), N’s biggest priority was making badges for the Eco Team. I had to get online and design a badge image for him. Transferring it over to custom badge makers wasn’t working because of size differences so I ended up ordering an easy badge kit and he ended up copying the design by hand to make a few badges.
It’s been so sweet to see him so focused on his task, although I’m not sure how long it will last. Most things he decides he wants to do to achieve something, get forgotten about because they take too long (colouring competitions, or creating and writing up a game invention to send it for a Blue Peter badge). So we’ll see how long he seems keen for.
He does love a badge though so maybe having one will keep him on track, the same way getting his first choir badge has.
Are your children keen on helping eco causes and doing recycling? What committees have they taken part in?