Category Archives: Eco Friendly Parenting

Wonderful Breastfeeding Poem Video By Hollie McNish

I’ve been done with breastfeeding for a while, but I still wanted to share this video about breastfeeding. It’s been making the rounds because it makes a really great point. I was fortunate enough to be mostly supported by family and friends when I breastfed my kids, and even the ones who didn’t like it at first got used to the idea and even became supportive in time.

If you can’t see the video for any reason, there’s a transcript in its description.

I can’t imagine how awful it wold be to have to run home or to a bathroom stall to breastfeed a baby rather than just find a comfortable spot and take care of things. That never made any sense. Babies need food, and that’s the simplest and most appropriate way to handle that at the time. I’ll admit to liking it when I knew there was a women’s lounge available, but that has more to do with the more comfortable chairs than the privacy. If a bench or plastic chair was all that was available, that’s what I used, and considered myself fortunate if my baby didn’t try to overexpose me, as babies may try to do whether or not you use a cover or otherwise try to be discreet.

I wish more moms could know that kind of support when they breastfeed their children. It would really help. There are so many advantages for mother and baby to breastfeeding, why give it up unless that’s really the best path for either. Giving it up for embarrassment is my least favorite reason to give it up, but much more so the fault of the society surrounding the mother than the mother herself. We shouldn’t shame or embarrass a breastfeeding mother; we should give her the space she needs to care for her child.

25 Eco Friendly Summer Activities For Kids

25 Eco Friendly Summer Activities For Kids

Keeping the kids busy for the summer isn’t easy. They get bored and want ideas from you. Make sure you have some ready so they don’t spend the entire summer in front of one screen or another. Here are some fairly eco friendly ideas your kids may enjoy.

1. Outdoor Play

Get the kids to play outside. Tag, riding bikes, skating, you know the drill from your own childhood. Yes, it’s hot outside. Have them put on a safe sunscreen and go play anyhow. Isn’t that what you did as a kid?

2. Treasure Hunt

There are a couple ways you can do a treasure hunt with your kids. You can bury “treasure” in the sandbox that the kids can dig up, or make a treasure map for the kids to follow.

We did treasure hunt bags for my son’s and daughter’s birthdays this year and they were a big hit. Tumbled gemstones, fossil shark teeth and foreign coins made great treasure, and the kids had something to talk about later. The leftovers will probably be hunted at various times this summer.

3. Water Play

Kids love to play with water, whether you just turn on a sprinkler or pull out the water guns. If you’re in a drought area, take any restrictions into mind before you start things up, of course.

4. Homemade Paints

Many kids love to paint. Here’s a simple recipe for finger paints you can make at home:

1 cup corn starch
1 cup cold water
3 cups boiling water
food coloring

Mix corn starch and cold water. Add boiling water a cup (carefully!) at a time until you like the consistency. If it doesn’t get thick, pour into a pan and heat while stirring until it does.

Add food coloring as desired. You can make your own by boiling blueberries, spinach, etc, then straining, but this version will go bad more quickly than if you use commercial food colorings.

5. Recycled Crafts

Old boxes, toilet paper tubes, bottles and paper make great craft supplies for your kids. Large boxes can make a great playhouse, while smaller ones can make homes for toys or fairies. They can also be used to make trains and other fun things. Give your kids the supplies and see what they come up with.

6. Visit Nature

What natural areas are near you? Family hikes are a great way to explore the natural world, and you may not have to go all that far to do it. You could also visit a botanical garden in your area.

7. Garden

For my family, there are two parts to having a garden. Not only is it good for the kids to learn how plants grow, the results make great snacks. We always plant a few plants that the kids can snack freely from. They also learn responsibility when they have to help keep the weeds down. A butterfly garden is another good idea.

8. Volunteer

My kids and I are volunteering this summer at a local animal shelter. They love it since we don’t have any furry pets of our own, but they also have to deal with some of the responsibilities of having animals while we volunteer. It’s not all petting the cats and dogs to keep them socialized – it’s cleaning up after them.

Check around your area and see which volunteer opportunities might allow your kids to work with them. Many have age restrictions, but you can usually find something if you look around hard enough.

9. Go To the Library

Libraries often have great activities for kids during the summer, not to mention all the books. Walk there if you can, consider public transportation if you can’t, drive if you must.

10. Birdwatching

What kind of birds are in your area? We have two swallow nests on our house, and the kids had a lot of fun watching them fly about.

You can bring more birds into your yard for the kids to see by making birdfeeders. There are plenty you can make with recycled materials.

11. Go To the Farmers’ Market

My kids love visiting the farmers’ market. The one here isn’t great, but they’re trying to do better. It’s a wonderful way to find local produce, honey and more.

12. Make Your Own Play Dough

Play dough is so easy to make. I mix a quarter cup of salt, a cup of flour and slowly add a quarter cup of warm water to make the basic dough, then add color. Some people use unsweetened Kool Aid mix, which looks good and smells good, but you can also use natural dyes by heating a colorful food such as berries or turmeric in water, simmering until the water goes down by about half, then straining and using in place of plain water in your play dough mix. Some cooking oil in your play dough can make a smoother mix.

13. Identify Natural Found Items

Whether your kids go out and collect leaves or seashells, encourage them to find out what they’ve got. This one may actually give them some screen time on the computer, but it’s a pretty good cause.

14. Homemade Paper

My kids love making homemade paper. We use an old blender and a paper making kit my husband has had for ages. Get some old paper, tear it up and put into the blender with water. Mix it into a nice slush, and spread smoothly into the screen of the kit. Follow the directions of your paper making kit and your kids can make some paper all their own. You can even add in flower petals or leaves for interesting touches.

15. Climb Trees

Teach your kids to pick out good climbing trees. You don’t want them getting hurt on the wrong ones, or damaging them, but climbing a tree is good for coordination and lots of fun.

16. Go Camping

Don’t stay home all summer. Take the family and go camping. Odds are there’s a campground near you if you can’t spare the time to go farther, although I do love going to national parks when we can. Camping out in the backyard works too.

17. Stargazing

Summer nights are often great for stargazing. You have good chances of clear nights, and it just feels good to get outside as the day’s heat ebbs.

18. Pretend

Pretend what? I don’t know. Leave that part up to your kids.

19. Make a Fort

Whether it’s made from couch cushions or kitchen chairs, kids love a good fort. Pick out a nice large sheet or three that you don’t mind them having for the roof.

20. Visit a U-Pick

Kids love picking their own produce right from the plant. Around here the big thing is apples, so it’s more of a fall thing, but you may be able to find strawberries or other fruit available to pick in your area.

21. Give the Kids Their Own Space In the Yard

Kids love having a space in the yard where they can do their own thing. Mine mostly dig, as that’s what their area is good for, but you can give them their own garden or include toys in their space.

22. Make Music

Whether you make musical instruments from stuff around the house or you have real ones for the kids to play, encourage them to make music. I suggest music lessons when they’re old enough too. Let them have fun with it too.

23. Cook Together

Teach your kids to cook over the summer, whether it’s how to make dinner or something more fun.

24. Visit Museums

Kids can learn a lot from a good museum, and have fun doing it. Check for free days or look into the cost for annual passes, depending on how often you think you’ll come back.

25. Play Board Games

What board games do you have sitting on the shelf? Pull them out and have some fun as a family.

How Can You Improve Environmental Awareness in Your Family?

Most people these days know that we ought to take better care of our environment. That doesn’t mean it happens. If you want your family to be more environmentally aware, you have to make the effort to help them. Here are some ideas that may help you get things moving.

Read About ItHow Can You Improve Environmental Awareness in Your Family?

Start when the kids are young with books such as The Lorax. Encourage them to read other books and read with them as they get older. Talk about what they learn from their reading.

Visit Environmental Websites

There are plenty of environmental websites designed for children. Check some of these out with your kids.

Eeko World
NASA’s For Kids Only Earth Science
EPA’s Environmental Kids Club
Recycle City
BBC Nature Online
Maggie’s Earth Adventures
Kids Planet

Conserve

Teach your children how to conserve things like water, electricity, and other resources. Children can learn about as soon as they can reach the light switch that they should turn off the lights when leaving the room.

Reuse

Don’t just dispose of things because you’re done with their original purpose. Think of new ways to use them, or consider if they’re still good for more use. Water bottles can be cleaned and refilled, although I prefer stainless steel bottles to disposable ones. Toilet paper tubes can be used in a variety of craft projects for kids. Egg cartons are great also.

Recycle

Sort trash as appropriate into the recycle bin with your children. Kids don’t have to be very old to understand that most kinds of paper can be recycled, and you can work from there.

Garden

Whether you want to grow fruits and vegetables or some other sort of garden, it’s good for kids to learn to care for growing plants. Consider native plants and avoid invasive species as much as possible. Do what you can to avoid harsh pesticides and fertilizers, focusing on organic methods instead.

Compost

Teach your children that certain types of food waste don’t have to be thrown out – they can be composted instead, along with appropriate yard waste. They may be impressed when they understand that these scraps become something good for your garden.

Get Outside

You can’t appreciate the environment if you never get out into it. Go camping and hiking as a family. You don’t have to totally rough it, just go and experience nature for yourself.

Volunteer

As your children get older, get them involved in volunteering on projects to help the environment. There’s a wilderness area near me, for example, that has monthly cleanups that children 12 and older can participate in, so long as there’s an adult with them.

Set the Example

If you aren’t being environmentally aware in your own life, it’s not likely the kids will pick it up from you, no matter how you preach it. Be their example, so they know it as a way of life, not just something that gets preached and ignored.

The Preschool Water Pollution Experiment vs. the Zero Waste Snack

recycleWe’ve been having a lot of fun this week celebrating Earth Day in my daughter’s preschool class. The class has always done a lot of recycled art projects, but there has been some extra emphasis on it this week. But one project took a bit of extra effort for us – the water pollution experiment.

You see, the teacher asked each child to save a piece of trash from their snack. This took some deliberate effort for us, as I use entirely reusable containers for my daughter’s snack. Her water bottle is a Klean Kanteen that is older than she is. She always asks for vegetables, especially bell peppers, but that day it was a carrot. There just isn’t anything left most days.

Fortunately, she was willing to leave some carrot to throw in the container. Pretty much everything else was the horror of plastic you’re probably assuming already, the usual fare so many kids eat as school snacks now.The teacher was glad to see that we saved something, and said she had realized that there was a chance this project would be a problem for us, knowing our habits.

Believe me, I am constantly grateful that my kids prefer healthier options. I’ve been asked several times by other parents if we’re vegetarians, which we’re not. And my kids will eat the same stuff the other kids do given a chance; it’s just that I don’t usually offer it, and they know that real foods taste better.

Of course, the carrot is playing its part just fine in the experiment. The water in the container looks awful, and I pity the teacher when it comes time to pour it out, although I suppose she could just throw the whole thing out and save herself a lot of stink. Overall it has been a good experiment for the kids, who are quite grossed out by all the stuff floating in the water and the talk about how you wouldn’t want to swim in water that looked that bad, so don’t litter. It’s preschool, so of course the discussion keeps things about that basic. I just found it amusing we had to deliberately waste something for this project.

5 Ways You May Not Have Considered to Green Your Easter

5 Ways You May Not Have Considered to Green Your Easter

I’ve written in the past about having a more environmentally friendly Easter. The basics are pretty simple – reuse baskets and other supplies where possible, buy less stuff, don’t buy plastic if you can help it. Here are some more ideas you may not have considered.

1. Activity Coupons

Rather than give more stuff, print up coupons for activities you will do with your kids, such as a picnic outside, a trip to the park, playing a game together, things like that.

2. Handmade Toys

Are you creative? Make a toy for your child. Sewing, knitting, woodworking, if you have the skill to make something, why not?

3. Molded Crayons

Got a bunch of old, broken crayons around the house. Many families do. Rather than toss them, put them into molds and make new crayons for your kids’ Easter baskets.

4. Outdoor Toys

With all the candy most of us cannot resist giving, add in some outdoor toys and sports equipment to encourage the kids to get out and play.

Overall, the biggest challenge to having an eco friendly Easter is our own habits. I always have trouble resisting the Easter candy aisle at the store this time of year… some of my favorites are only in stores this time of year. While I don’t resist them entirely, I use ideas such as the above to cut down on the bad stuff while still giving really fun Easter baskets to my kids.

5. Hunt For More Than Just Eggs

Egg hunts are fun for the kids (and often the parents), but why limit yourself to just eggs?  You can hide money or clues for the kids to seek out also. You can even hide silly activities for the kids to do, such as walk backwards to the next clue, hop on one foot, pet the dog, and so forth. Have fun with it all.