Tag Archives: summer

Eco Friendly Water Play for Kids in the Summer

The weather is heating up, kids all around the country are out of school or soon will be. Now is the time that they’ll start asking about going swimming or otherwise going to play in the water. What’s the best way to let them have their fun without wasting valuable water?

Combine Regular Watering with Play

While the best time to water in terms of limiting evaporation is during the cool parts of the day, the best time for kids to play in the water is when it’s hot. If you’re going to let your kids play in the sprinklers, on a slip n’ slide or otherwise have fun with the water, make sure to combine that with the needs your plants have for water.

This includes moving the kids and their water fun around as a given area gets enough water. Don’t let them play too long in any one area. Move them, and you can get much of your yard watered while the kids have fun getting soaked.

Do note that most waterslides and kiddie pools really are not eco friendly. They’re often made of vinyl and only last a season or two before starting to leak or otherwise break down. I much prefer to set the kids up with plain old sprinklers.

Go to the Local River, Lake, etc.

Not all water play has to be done at home. Local rivers, lakes and so forth are a lot of fun for kids. Just be sure they’ve had swimming lessons for safety.

Don’t use motor powered craft on the water. If you want to get out in a boat, try a kayak or rowboat. They’re not as fast, but they’re good exercise and you can really appreciate the view. In some areas you may even be able to fish from a rowboat.

Visit the Community Swimming Pool

Unfortunately, most community swimming pools have a lot of chlorine and other chemicals in them. That never seems to stop kids from having fun in them!

Using a community pool makes more eco sense than having one of your own. More people use it.

Most importantly, many community pools offer swimming lessons. I strongly suggest finding a way to pay for swimming lessons each summer until your kids are as advanced as possible. It doesn’t completely drownproof them, but anything you can do to make them safer around water is a good thing, particularly if they’re ever at the home of someone else who has a swimming pool.

Making Summer Plans

Now that school’s out for my kids, it’s time to figure out what we’re doing this year. The homeschooling part I already know, and with the unused parts of the textbooks sent home with my daughter, I won’t even need a lot of supplies. It’s going to be great practice.

Obviously, there’s more to summer break than just homeschooling a little.

My husband wants to do some camping, at least with the two older kids, maybe the whole family. Depends on how much sleep deprivation he can talk me into, what with our youngest not being terribly cooperative about sleeping in unfamiliar conditions. She will insist on cosleeping if I take her camping, I have no doubt of that.

I don’t mind too much, except the last time I tried that on an air mattress I hardly got any sleep at all. Just not firm enough to relax with a baby.

No doubt the kids will be playing outside a lot. That means lots of sunscreen use. I suspect playtimes will move to mornings and evenings rather than afternoons as the season heats up.

We have plans to go visit old friends during the break too. They’re near where family lives, so the driving for visiting combines nicely, really limiting how much I spend on gas for the car.

A big focus is on teaching everyone to keep comfortable without cooling the house too much. I don’t say keep cool, because that’s not the precise goal, and tends to lead to too much air conditioner use.

I’m thinking a solar oven may be a good science project this summer. If we do a good job, it might get into some pretty regular rotation for cooking. I hate heating the house up by cooking at this time of year.

Most important, we just want to have fun!

How to Limit Your Use of the Air Conditioner During the Summer

Summer’s coming. It’s not too warm where I live yet, just mid-80s at the hottest part of the day, but I’m hearing my neighbor’s air conditioner running in the evenings already. That kind of amazes me. Our own home hasn’t gotten over the mid-70s yet, so I know they can’t be that hot, and opening the windows to let the air flow through is still really effective.

I know that’s not how many people think. But it’s a good idea to really think about how much you use your air conditioner. You can save a lot off your energy bill, and it’s better for the environment as well.

1. Set the thermostat high and program it.

I know a lot of people like a really cool house. They always make me wonder how warm they try to keep their homes in winter, since a lot of people try to keep their homes cooler in the summer than they tried to heat their homes to in winter. It makes little sense.

Most people can easily stand keeping their homes at around 80 F. It’s not that bad. You will get used to it if you give yourself the chance.

Put in a programmable thermostat and program it for appropriate temperatures throughout the day and night. If you regularly aren’t home for a part of the day, you really don’t need to cool your home that much. If you know evenings are cool enough to turn the AC off, take that into consideration as well.

2. Use fans.

You’ll feel cooler while still using less electricity than the air conditioner uses if you use fans in your home. Ceiling fans are best, but standing fans help also. They all blow hot air away from your body, helping you to feel cooler.

3. Use a damp cloth.

A damp cloth or shirt feels wonderful if you’re feeling too hot. The water evaporation helps to cool your body.

4. Open windows as the day cools.

This doesn’t work in all areas or all the time, but if your evenings are pleasant enough, open up your windows and let the breeze flow through. It’s a wonderful natural cooling that only costs you a little bit of time.

5. Plant shade trees.

I like these to be fruit trees also when possible, for a touch of hyperlocal produce. But even if your tree doesn’t grow food, it can shade your home, helping to keep it from heating up so much during the day.

6. Cover windows.

It’s not attractive, but a flattened cardboard box in the window keeps out an amazing amount of heat. You can also drape blankets over curtain rods if you want something that looks a little better. Mylar film is another good alternative. The kind used for emergency blankets is very cheap. You can find them for as little as $1 each if you look around a little.

Keeping Kids Green and Busy While School’s Out

With the kids at home more, summer is a time that can be a little bit challenging for green parenting. Somehow you have to combat all the boredom that comes from having more free time, while facing the fact that the weather is warmer. Here are some of the things I do:

1. Try to get the kids outside early and late in the day.

I have a lot of sympathy for them wanting to be inside during the hottest parts of the hottest days. Who wouldn’t prefer that?

But even on the days that it breaks 100 degrees F around here there are times that they’ll willingly play outside. Rather than let them turn on the TV first thing in the morning, as they would love to do, I boot the kids outside to play. They can come inside when it really starts to warm up. Then I do it again when the day cools off sufficiently.

This also has the advantage of limiting the need for sunscreen. My kids generally aren’t out in the most powerful of the sun’s rays, so I don’t have to apply sunscreen to them so often.

2. Make homemade popsicles.

Sure the store has cheap ones, but they’re often little more than sugar water.

I prefer to make my popsicles from smoothies, but you could use regular juice or pudding if you prefer.

3. Hit the library.

Hot days are great for spending at the library. Get some new books for your kids to read while not having to run the air conditioning in your own home. The library’s there, after all!

4. Combine lawn watering with running through the sprinklers.

We have water restrictions starting up in our area, which means watering only on certain days and only after 6 p.m. and before 10 a.m. and only for 10 minutes per section on timed sprinklers.

On hot enough days, 6 p.m. is still plenty hot enough for running through sprinklers!

And of course there are always local swimming pools, beaches and so forth if you want to cool off during other parts of the day.

5. Crafts!

Within certain age ranges, it’s easy to come up with kids’ craft ideas. My kids love saving magazines and other things that might otherwise go into the recycle bin for a path through their crafting table first. Saves me a lot not having to buy everything they craft with, and the reuse is a great habit.

As kid get older, they may have particular ideas about what they will be willing to do, but if you find something they really enjoy making, try to encourage it.

6. Have friends over.

It won’t necessarily help to keep the kids cool, but having friends over certainly helps with the boredom factor. I always tell mine no TV or computer time with friends over.

7. Know when to give in on TV and computer time.

Really, it’s not the end of the world if kids watch a bit more TV or spend more time playing on the computer during the summer. What matters is that they get enough activity overall.

Planning for a Green Summer Break

This is it. The last Monday of the school year in my area. Oh my.

We have most a of week left of school, as this Thursday is the last day of school. But it’s definitely time to be sure that I’m ready to have the kids home all day, every day.

An important step is to be sure that we always have a good supply of safe sunscreen on hand. They tan about as easily as I burn, but I want to have their skin protected. It’s a good habit for life, although I do let them play outside without sunscreen on. There’s that little matter of vitamin D production to be considered, although that doesn’t take long on really sunny days.

I try to avoid a lot of the running around to various activities that a lot of people find to be so necessary. There’s swimming lessons, but that’s a safety issue.

Most of what we do is right in our area. Playing with the kids next door or other friends within walking distance. Taking family walks in the nearby fields or to the playground in the evenings when it has cooled off enough for everyone to really enjoy it.

We have hopes of managing at least a short, local camping trip. My husband dreams of going to Yosemite again one of these days, but the time for it just isn’t there right now, not to mention it’s extra hard to do with a baby.

And of course there’s gardening. My kids are already picking cherry tomatoes for quick snacks.

We have a serious water shortage, which means running through the sprinklers is limited to late evenings on the days we are to be allowed to water. But then it’s dual purpose, letting the kids have fun and keeping our lawn from dying all the way off.

Really, there’s not much to planning a green summer break. It can be almost completely unplanned. Just figure out what you can do in your area without driving, without buying more junk, without electricity, etc. and you have a great start.

What are you planning for your summer break?