Reuse: For Earth Day!

With Earth Day only a couple days away, let's focus on Green Kids and how to help your children learn to preserve the Earth. Kids can learn the values you teach them at a very young age and they never forget. This weekend my family was spending some time outside in our front yard. My 5 year old freaked out about a piece of trash blowing by and picked it up. She is obsessed about trash and litter. I asked here what the big deal was and she said, "We don't litter!". I am so proud of her and am proud to think of the kind of citizen she will grow into.

So what is something you can do today to promote The 3 R's?

Reuse...
Take your kids to the library to pick out some new books. Libraries are awesome for reusing books so many people can get use out of one copy. Teach your children about how a library works and that when you are done with it another kid will get to reuse the same book.

Go through all of your children clothes and toys and see if there is anything that they have grown out of. Ask your kids to help pick out things that they don't need anymore and donate them to others who can use them. An easy way to do this is www.freecycle.com. My daughter actually loves sorting through toys. She loves to give things away when she knows someone else can use them and they don't just end up in the landfill.

5 Things to do on Earth Day With Your Children

We all know how wonderful Earth Day is and how important it is to teach our kids about preserving our natural resources and honoring Planet Earth. But what can you do to help celebrate nature with your children?

The top 5 things to do with your child for Earth Day.

1. Plant a Tree. They say there are 2 good times to plant a tree. The first is 20 years ago and the second is now.

2. Participate in a waterway cleanup or city sponsored event in your area. Check with your local Parks and Rec department for volunteer opportunities.

3. Take your load of recyclable materials to the recycling center. And talk to your kids about recycling on the way.

4. Take a hike. Enjoy the natural spaces around you whether it is a river, lake, desert, or mountains. Talk to your kids about the natural spaces and the animals that live there. Discuss the importance of the water, trees, and plants to the survival of those animals.

5. Go for a ride. Take a bike ride to the library, store, or park. Just make sure to give your car a rest. Be sure to talk to your kids about ways to limit the families dependency on driving everywhere.

Whatever you do, make sure and get your kids involved and talk to them about it. They will remember the things you teach them and that will be what makes the biggest difference for our planet.

Keeping Nature Outside

Spring is here! All the little critters are coming back out and trying to find ways into your house. How do you teach your children to deal with Nature in your house? Do you teach them that all of these creepy crawlers are important to the natural world around us? Or do you smash them and use harmful chemicals to put them out of their misery?

I understand that many people are scared of spiders. Arachnophobia is a serious condition for many Americans. But spiders actually play an important role for the ecosystem around your home. Learn more about spiders from the Animal Planet site located here.

This is a great opportunity to teach your children about the world around them. Children can learn that everything even these little bugs are important in the greater cycle of life. Teach your children that Spiders are actually the original insecticide. They help reduce the number of other pests including flies and mosquitoes. Then they become food for birds, wasps, and other animals.

Catching the bugs and spiders and releasing them outside is an opportunity for your child to see these creatures up close and learn about them. Your child doesn't learn anything productive from smashing bugs. And the use of hazardous chemicals is very dangerous to your child. Research shows that conventional bug sprays contain toxic chemicals that harm your child's brain and nervous system. These important organs are still developing in your child and can be very harmful for exposure to all kids under the age of 12.

So do the right thing and be the fun mom who catches bugs and lets the kids check them out and learn about all the different parts of this exciting world we live in.