A guest post by Sam Peters

Conserving electricity is a necessity for parents who want to save money. As a mom, you may be interested in finding a unique and innovative approach to getting your kids involved with helping you conserve electricity for the home. It is always a good idea to teach children the importance of saving electricity from a young age so that it is something they learn, understand, and continue to do even when they become adults.

Turning Lights Off

Turning the lights off in rooms when there is no one inside of it is one sure way to save electricity. It makes no sense to leave lights on a room if no one is using the room at the time. Why waste electricity? You can teach your children with helpful reminders to always shut off the light in their room, the bathroom, or any other room inside of the home. Explain to your children that cutting the lights off when they are not being used helps to save money, which means more money that can be used towards family vacations and fun filled activities.

Powering Off Games and Televisions

Many children have at least one type of video game console. When the video game console is plugged in but is not being used, it is simply sitting there and wasting electricity. And, the same thing goes for leaving the television on when no one is watching it. You can talk to your children about powering off the television and games when they are not being used and how it can also help to save money in the long run. As a family you can also decide on a decent time for games and television to be turned off at night.

Going Green with the Family

You and your children can take the initiative to go green by changing certain things in the home with energy saving products. Traditional light bulbs in the home can waste a lot of energy and also tend to wear out faster than the compact fluorescent light bulbs. The compact fluorescent light bulbs conserve energy and reduce costs, but they also last for a long period of time. Getting kids of all ages to interact with the responsibility of conserving energy is a sure way to educate your children while saving money at the same time.

Create Competitive Contests

You can create competitive contests for the entire family. For example, you can set a plan for saving electricity. After setting the plan, you would come up with an idea on how much the electricity bill should cost for the month. If the entire family is able to save electricity and lower the cost of the bill, you all will have won the contest for the month, which means a special prize can be rewarded to everyone. The prize could include a trip to the zoo, museum, or even a pizza party.

Make the learning experience fun and your child will love helping your save money on electricity. Whether it’s something as simple as encouraging the kids to turn off the lights when they leave the room or something as complex as implementing an entire green initiative in the home, you can get everyone in the family involved and excited about the changes.