Earth Day can be everyday with kids

At our house, we try to do "earth day" things as part of our usual routine. We try hard to encourage environmental stewardship within our children from the get go.

As children are provided opportunities to care for their environments (e.g. gardening, cleaning, recycling, water conservation, etc.) they will develop an understanding of how their own actions may affect nature and the planet. Talk to your child about different ways they can take care of the planet.

I thought I would share a couple SUPER easy things to do with your kids that will encourage respect and love for our earth.

1. Go for neighbourhood nature walks; take turns pointing out interesting things to
each other such as birds, cloud formations, trees, and green spaces.

2. Kids love to collect things. Bring along a container when you go outdoors
so your child can collect treasures along the way – seeds, leaves, rocks – and bring
them home to examine.

3. At the grocery store, help your child point out items that can be recycled (like cans
or cardboard boxes) and show items that are made of recycled materials (like paper
products).  Help them make artwork and crafts using recycled materials. Actively
recycle at home.

4. Encourage help with household chores if your child is interested. Tearing lettuce,
folding clothes, making beds and setting the table may be work for you, but these
tasks can be fun for your preschooler — and will set patterns for responsible behaviour as they grow up.

5. Help your children understand where food comes from.  Show them food being
grown in neighbourhood gardens or at local farms, orchards, or greenhouses. Plant a small garden - even a single beanpole in a pot on the windowsill is educational and fun for kids!

Are there things that you do as a family that helps promote environmental stewardship?

for my daughter too.

This is an excerpt from Tina Fey's new book.
Pretty much sums up my hopes and dreams for my daughter too....

Tina Fey's Prayer For Her Daughter

First, Lord: No tattoos. May neither Chinese symbol for truth nor Winnie-the-Pooh holding the FSU logo stain her tender haunches.

May she be Beautiful but not Damaged, for it’s the Damage that draws the creepy soccer coach’s eye, not the Beauty.

When the Crystal Meth is offered, May she remember the parents who cut her grapes in half And stick with Beer.

Guide her, protect her
When crossing the street, stepping onto boats, swimming in the ocean, swimming in pools, walking near pools, standing on the subway platform, crossing 86th Street, stepping off of boats, using mall restrooms, getting on and off escalators, driving on country roads while arguing, leaning on large windows, walking in parking lots, riding Ferris wheels, roller-coasters, log flumes, or anything called “Hell Drop,” “Tower of Torture,” or “The Death Spiral Rock ‘N Zero G Roll featuring Aerosmith,” and standing on any kind of balcony ever, anywhere, at any age.

Lead her away from Acting but not all the way to Finance. Something where she can make her own hours but still feel intellectually fulfilled and get outside sometimes And not have to wear high heels.

What would that be, Lord? Architecture? Midwifery? Golf course design? I’m asking You, because if I knew, I’d be doing it, Youdammit.

May she play the Drums to the fiery rhythm of her Own Heart with the sinewy strength of her Own Arms, so she need Not Lie With Drummers.

Grant her a Rough Patch from twelve to seventeen. Let her draw horses and be interested in Barbies for much too long, For childhood is short - a Tiger Flower blooming Magenta for one day - And adulthood is long and dry-humping in cars will wait.

O Lord, break the Internet forever, That she may be spared the misspelled invective of her peers And the online marketing campaign for Rape Hostel V: Girls Just Wanna Get Stabbed.

And when she one day turns on me and calls me a Bitch in front of Hollister, Give me the strength, Lord, to yank her directly into a cab in front of her friends, For I will not have that Shit. I will not have it.

And should she choose to be a Mother one day, be my eyes, Lord, that I may see her, lying on a blanket on the floor at 4:50 A.M., all-at-once exhausted, bored, and in love with the little creature whose poop is leaking up its back.

“My mother did this for me once,” she will realize as she cleans feces off her baby’s neck. “My mother did this for me.” And the delayed gratitude will wash over her as it does each generation and she will make a Mental Note to call me. And she will forget. But I’ll know, because I peeped it with Your God eyes.

Amen.

-An excerpt from Tina Fey's new book -Bossypants, 2011

giveaway psa

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Here is the link to enter! http://babyhalfoff.com/blog/?p=3131&cpage=18#comment-50925
Good luck!