Year 2025 | Vol XVI | Issue No. 1 (August – November 2025)
Author: Sheuli Ghosh
Abstract
In the earliest years of life lies the greatest opportunity to shape a better world. This article explores how early childhood education can nurture global citizenship by embedding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)through the natural rhythms of play and storytelling. It demonstrates how values like health, gender equality, and environmental stewardship can be seamlessly integrated into everyday classroom experiences. Through imaginative activities, collaborative games, and real-world connections, young learners develop empathy, responsibility, and sustainable habits. Despite challenges, the article reaffirms that sowing these seeds early paves the way for a more compassionate and conscious future.
INTRODUCTION
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” Nelson Mandela.
In a world of ever-accelerating change, the imperative to develop conscious, responsible, and empathetic global citizens from an early age has never been more pressing. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), an international call to action to eradicate poverty, safeguard the planet, and promote peace and prosperity for everyone, offer a compelling set of values and attitudes that can inform the development of our youngest learners. But how do we do this meaningfully in classrooms consisting of three- to five-year-olds of age who learn best by exploring, moving, and imagining?
But how do we make such world goals accessible to Pre-School and make sense and relate to them? How do we take three- to five- year-olds, who are barely beginning to discover where they stand in the world, and offer them concepts like climate action, gender equality, or global partnership?
As a pre-primary educator with more than three decades of experience, I have seen the seeds of responsibility, empathy, and sustainable citizenship sown with great success in the fertile soil of play and story.
The formative years are a sacred window of opportunity in which children form a sense of identity, belongingness and a view of the world around them. Their minds are curious, their hearts are open, and their imagination is limitless. It is during this vulnerable stage that we, as facilitators and educators, have the honour to guide them gently to become considerate caretakers of their communities and the world. When we incorporate Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)-aligned values into their everyday lives through play and narratives, we don’t educate we transform.
Bringing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into the Early Childhood Classroom
How are the Sustainable Development Goals ( SDGs) translated into a pre- primary curriculum? The solution is not in more worksheets or lectures, but in embedding these values in the rhythm of everyday life, through meaningful experience, imaginative play, and storytelling. Learning in early childhood is holistic. Children learn best when values are not separately taught imbibed but practiced, but lived, practiced, and modelled in happy and interactive ways. Let’s look at how certain salient Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can be effectively addressed in early childhood.
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3: Good Health and Well-being
Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.
- Young children perform well on routines, movement, healthy foods, and security in an emotional way. Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3 aligns closely with the developmental needs of pre-primary children and is thus one of the simplest goals to incorporate in the early years.
- Eating Habits Through Role Play: Establish a role-playing “Healthy Café” where kids take orders for fruits, vegetables, and home cooking. This not only stimulates the imagination but also exposes children to healthy foods.
- Yoga and Movement Games: Educate in basic yoga poses through the use of animal names or animal stories (e.g., “Let’s stretch like a cat!”). This promotes physical health and body awareness.
- Hand Washing Rituals with Songs and Stories: Routine hand-washing throughout the day can be complemented by a memorable rhyme like “Wash, wash, wash your hands” or a puppet show of germs and superheroes.
- Emotions: Design a small corner with emotion cards, mirrors, and plush toys. Children can be taught to identify the way they feel and what to do when feeling sad, angry, or excited. This enhances emotional literacy and mental health.
Storytelling Tie-in:
“Stories are a communal currency of humanity.” Tahir Shah.
- Stories like “Germs Are Not for Sharing” and “My Amazing Body” can spark discussions about hygiene and body respect.
- Personal narratives about a child visiting the doctor or feeling better after rest show that health is something we care for, not fear.
By embedding Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3 into daily transitions, snack time, movement sessions, and emotional check-ins, we help children form lifelong habits that promote physical and emotional health.
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Gender Equality
Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
Gender equity has its roots early in life. Children learn about gendered roles at a very early stage through play, conversation, and imitated behaviours. We, as teachers, have a vital role in making sure these messages affirm equality, justice, and opportunity for all.
| Non-Stereotyped Role Play: In the home corner, boys can prepare food and give it to dolls and on the other hand girls can mend toys or drive imaginary trucks. A clinic canhave both male and female doctors and nurses. |
- Inclusive Language: Instead of “girls be sweet, boys be strong,” say “we are brave, we are kind.” reimagining usage of words making them gender neutral (“friends” vs. “boys and girls”) fosters inclusion.
- Puppets and Books with Varied Characters: Select books where girls are builders, astronauts, or scientists, and boys are dancers, artists, or caregivers.
- Equitable Turn-Taking When Working in Groups: During playing leadership games, sports, or storytelling, provide every child, whether a girl or boy, with an equitable chance and voice to become a leader.
Storytelling Tie-in:
- “The Paper Bag Princess” challenges traditional gender roles and shows a brave, independent female lead.
- “I’m a Girl!” by Yasmeen Ismail features a girl who loves speed and action, helping normalize diverse interests.
- Create your own class stories where children imagine themselves as heroes, helpers, inventors, or leaders, regardless of gender.
- Through such simple yet powerful strategies, we affirm every child’s right to dream, explore, and belong, free from the limits of stereotypes.
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6: Clean Water and Sanitation
Ensure the availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all.
Water is a precious resource, and even the youngest children can begin to understand the importance of conserving it. From everyday routines like washing hands to stories about rivers and rain, Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6 can be integrated into early learning in developmentally appropriate ways.
Cater Play with a Purpose: Use water tables to learn about pouring, measurement, and movement. Include pretend “water meters” to demonstrate the amount being utilized and discuss turning off the tap to conserve water.
- Handwashing Stations: Develop a multi- coloured visual schedule with sequence pictures. Give children materials to use to decorate signs with the words “Turn off the tap” or “Use only what you need.”
- Classroom Water Monitors: Designate a student daily to be the “Water Saver” who reminds all the students not to waste water when brushing, cleaning, or washing their hands.
- Mini Experiments: Demonstrate how clean and dirty water appears when seen through magnifying glasses. Demonstrate filtering water through pebbles, sand, and cloth to make it interesting.
Storytelling Tie-in:
“Why Should I Save Water?” by Jen Green introduces the idea of water conservation engagingly.
Folk tales like “Thirsty Crow” or stories from tribal traditions that revere water bodies make strong emotional connections.
Storytime can also include puppet tales about animals searching for clean water, teaching the importance of caring for all living beings, and their access to resources.These practices not only teach hygiene and conservation but also plant the seeds of empathy and global responsibility, understanding that water is not infinite and should be shared fairly by all.
Integrating Values Naturally Through Routine
Rather than training Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as isolated subjects or annual themes, their values must be organically integrated into the school culture:
Morning Assemblies incorporate mindfulness breathing for health ( Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3), appreciation storytelling of diversity (Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5), and nature appreciation through song (Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 6).
- Snack Times are utilized for talking about health food and sanitation.
- Field Visits to lakes, gardens, or local water bodies develop a closer connection with nature in children.
- Parent Partnerships reinforce the message when families also discuss saving water at home or talking about good, strong female role models.
- By repetition every day, modelling, and making sense of these values in play and story, children develop not only knowledge but a sense of ownership of their attitudes and behaviour.
Play-Based Learning: The Foundation of Early Education
“Play is the highest form of research.” Albert Einstein
Play is childhood’s language. It is through play that children discover, come to know and understand their world. When such play is focused, open, and guided with thoughtful facilitation, it also becomes an awesome tool for education in values.
Sustainability Through Play
Such a classroom is one where children learn about sustainability through play, which is modelled before them in fun, active ways. Such as: Recycled Art Corners: Children make puppets, animals, or toys using rejected materials and learn the value of reuse.
- Pretend Play Scenarios: A pretend play space designated as a farmers’ market or an environmental village can introduce notions such as organic farming, avoiding the use of plastics, or saving water.
- Nature Walks and Outdoor Play: Bird-watching, picking fallen leaves, or giving plants water can make children relate emotionally and physically to nature.
Through such experiences, sustainability is no longer a matter of discussion in the experimental process.
Empathy Through Collaborative Play
- Play offers countless opportunities for children to interact, take turns, resolve conflicts, and practice kindness.
- Role Play and Dramatic Play: Taking on roles of a doctor, teacher, or helper allows children to see the world from different perspectives.
- Circle Games and Cooperative Play: Activities like building blocks together or solving puzzles as a team foster cooperation and listening.
- Emotion Puppets or Dolls: Children can express emotions through dolls, helping them understand the feelings of others and build empathy.
- These social-emotional experiences lay the groundwork for Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) values such as peace, inclusion, and equality.
Responsible Citizenship Through Stakeholder Involvement
Children can even be involved in making classroom rules and responsibilities in a pre-primary class.
- Classroom Jobs Chart: Assigning children tasks like ‘plant monitor’ or ‘clean-up helper’ encourages responsibility.
- Voting for Group Decisions: Voting by children on what story to read or game to play instils early democratic and fairness concepts.
- Kindness Coins’ or ‘Star of the Day’ Systems: Praise for acts of responsibility or kindness promotes good social behaviour.
Play allows children to live civic life in small groups and makes them more aware of belonging to a community.
Storytelling: Planting Values, One Tale at a Time
Stories are timeless vessels of wisdom. They speak directly to a child’s heart and imagination, making abstract concepts accessible and memorable. When we tell stories that carry values of sustainability, empathy, and responsibility, we invite children to reflect, question, and care.
Sustainability Stories
- Stories about nature, animals, and the planet help children understand their role in protecting the environment.
- The Tale of the Lonely Tree: A story where a single tree provides shelter to birds and animals can introduce ideas about deforestation and habitat protection.
- The Paper Bag Princess: A twist on traditional tales, encouraging reduced consumption and challenging materialism.
- Local Folk Tales: Many Indian folk stories carry wisdom about respecting rivers, forests, and animals.
- Such narratives help children form emotional connections with the environment, leading to more eco-conscious behaviour.
Empathy Stories
Stories allow children to walk in someone else’s shoes.
- “Have You Filled a Bucket Today?” This book teaches that kindness makes everyone feel good.
- “A Chair for My Mother”: A tale of a family’s perseverance and community support after a disaster, teaching compassion and gratitude.
Personal Anecdotes: Sharing real-life stories like how a friend helped someone or took care of a stray animal. It helps children relate to empathy to their own lives.
By hearing stories of love, loss, hope, and bravery, children build emotional literacy.
Responsible Citizenship Through Story Characters
Characters who make ethical choices inspire children to do the same.
“The Story of Malala or Greta Thunberg” (simplified versions): Children can learn about standing up for what’s right, even at a young age.
“ The Little Hummingbird” : A powerful indigenous tale where a small bird does its part in a forest fire, teaching the value of contribution, no matter how small.
Repeatedly sharing such stories, children internalise the message that they, too, can make a difference.
Integrating Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into the Daily Classroom Routine
Implementing Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)-
Value compliance does not require a single event but is done through day-to-day activities.
- Morning Circle Talks: Start the day by posing the question, “What can we do today for our Earth?” or “Who can we help today?”
- Thematic Celebrations: Earth Day, Peace Day, or Kindness Week can be celebrated by singing songs, doing crafts, and enacting.
- Story and Role Play Corners: An exclusive storytelling corner with puppets, books, and costumes promotes imaginative discovery.
- Eco-friendly Practices: Using cloth towels, planting saplings for school activities, depicts congruence between doing and teaching.
Values are embraced by a child through repetition and role modelling.
“Children learn more from what you are than what you teach.” W.E.B. Du Bois. Family and Community Engagement
Values are best reinforced if children see them being practised all over the place. For example:
- Foster Storytelling at Home or Family Recycling Efforts.
- Community Helpers in School: Bring a gardener, trash worker, or nurse to present their occupation to children.
- Walking Tours in the Neighbourhood: Visits to local parks, farms, or craft fairs introduce c h i l d r e n t o c o m m u n i t y l i v i n g a n d sustainability. By bridging schools to the outside world, we actualize Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) values and make them more tangible.
“It takes a village to raise a child.” African Proverb.
Challenges and the Way Forward
While integrating Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into early childhood is enriching, it is not without challenges:
- Curriculum Pressure: Sometimes, achievements in academics overwhelm value education.
- Poor Resources: All schools may not have eco-materials or diversity storybooks at their disposal.
- Parental Attitudes: Some parents may not be in favour of the use of teaching empathy or sustainability at this age.
But the way ahead is through consistent advocacy, creative resourcefulness, and a profound belief in the potential of early education to change lives. Teacher training, community involvement, and leadership endorsement are essential to making this shift sustainable.
Conclusion: Planting Seeds of Change
As pre-primary teachers, we are not merely getting kids ready for school, we are getting them ready for life. Through every game they play, every story they hear, and every laugh or lesson shared, we have the opportunity to create a more sustainable, just, and kinder world. The Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs) values are not ideals to be set aside for another time; these are seeds to be sown today, in sandpits and circle times, in puppet shows and kitchen plays. As young children learn to look after the planet, after one another, and behave responsibly through the happy rhythms of play and story, they are already building a better world one smile, one step, one tale at a time.
REFERENCES
- UNICEF Uganda. (n.d.). For every child, play: Promote your child’s mental and social development during early childhood. Retrieved July 24, 2025, from UNICEF Uganda website UNICEF Accelerate Learning Staff. (2025, March 26). Why is storytelling important in early childhood education? Accelerate Learning. Retrieved July 24 , 2025 , f rom blog.acceleratelearning.com blog.acceleratelearning.com
- Mukil, M. V., Manikutty, G., Vijayan, D., Rangudu, A., & Rao, B. R. (2022). When elephants nodded and dolls spoke: Bringing together robotics and storytelling for environmental literacy. arXiv preprint arXiv:2212.09313. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2212.09313 arXiv
- Author(s) withheld. (2021). Contributions to sustainability through young children’s nature play: A systematic review. Sustainability, 13(13), 7443. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13137443 littlediamondnursery.aeMDPI
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sheuli Ghosh, Pre-Primary Facilitator at Bal Bharati Public School, Noida, brings 33 years of expertise in early childhood education. A CBSE Resource Person and Master Trainer in storytelling and toy-based learning, she is known for her child-centered approach and creative teaching. Awarded for excellence in storytelling, she inspires educators through impactful training and mentorship.
