While reading Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv I decided to start “Nature Days” and invite others to come along. Some of my fondest memories growing up were unstructured “play times” in nature.
When I need to calm down, take a breath or need to get out of a “funk” I find myself thinking of times spent in nature as a child. These events included exploring the woods behind our home in Maryland, walking along the Chesapeake Bay, exploring the tide pools in Maine, hiking the mountains in Utah and impromptu excursions on the side of the road to play in fields of wildflowers. I hope I can teach my children the strength they can take from nature, to allow them to be able to have their own memories involving the outdoors and learn how beautiful everything around them really is.
The Nature Days we host with the local community are quite simple and low key. We meet together to explore nature without set activities; we just let the kids play and explore nature. It is a wonderful monthly experience for the children in my local community. Recent studies show that children are smarter, more cooperative, happier and healthier when they have frequent opportunities for free and unstructured play in nature. It gives them the chance to explore, dream, pretend, experiment and come to their own conclusions all at their own pace.
Start a Nature Days with your friends in your community! It will be a great opportunity to let your children enjoy nature along with other children. No playground, no toys, no itinerary. You can meet from anywhere to a fishing hole to a dry patch of desert.
You can simply and easily reduce your carbon footprint, save money on your power bill and teach your kids through example how to help the earth just by tweaking your cooking techniques a bit!
Did you know:
Choose the right size pan for cooking and keep the lid on for most of the cooking process to reduce energy use by up to 90%.
Cook in batches! Plan out your family’s meals and prepare enough for several meals. Just freeze, refrigerate or dehydrate the remaining portions. It will use up less energy and make preparing meals for your family quite a bit easier!
Cook several items on top of each other in a stacked steamer to get the most out of the energy you use.
Try one-dish meals; they are easier for you but also use about a third of the energy than cooking a meal using tons of different pans. This means you can feel good about cooking a pot of diry rice, casserole, paella, etc. and also have less cleanup!
Stop checking! You waste heat and energy every time you open up the stove or crockpot to take a peek.
Don’t preheat the oven when it’s not required. For some recipes it is critical you do this but for manyyou don’t need to.
Stay away from prepackaged meals. Most of the time they aren’t terribly tasty and lack nutrients and fresh ingredients. Instead have a short list of go-to meals you know you have the ingredients for and are easy to cook.
For example, in my home we like to roast a large amount of butternut squash and use some of it that day, refrigerate some for the rest of the week and freeze the rest for the remaining month. We make butternut squash ravioli, lasagna, pancakes and even layer it in a sandwich in place of cheese. This makes putting together my family’s meals so much easier and also saves a lot of energy!
Have a tally card for each member of the family to keep score during this competition. The family member with the highest points wins! If you were at my house and you won you would get to pick what is for dessert that night!
Touch:Blindfold each player and have them touch different substances in bowls that are covered with cloth (that way the other players can’t see). You can put anything in the bowls from flour to lunch meat!
Hearing:Blindfold each player and have them try to identify different common noises. You can have these prerecorded or do them as you go. You can do anything from crumpled newspaper to a baby blowing raspberries.
Sight: Have a tray full of different items. Let everyone look at them for 30 seconds and then take the tray away. Have them write down as many items as they can remember.
Smelling: Blindfold each player and have them sniff different bottles full of substances. You could fill the bottles with vinegar, lemonade or chocolate milk!
Taste: Blindfold each player and have them taste a wide range of foods. Don’t get too Fear Factor with your family during this one!
Quick Version of this Game: Name an object you see while driving, for example, a tree, a cow, a tire, etc. Have your child describe it using the 5 senses: what does the object look like, does it make a sound, what would it taste like, etc. This is a perfect quick game to play during a long car ride or when stuck in line at the store.
For almost two years we’ve been eating vegetarian or vegan twice a week and seafood twice a week. I guess you could consider us part-time vegetarians. Eating this way keeps us from overloading our diets with too much meat or dairy and cuts down on our grocery bill. It forces us to eat more fresh produce and to shop locally so the produce actually has flavor.
It is extremely eco-friendly to eat vegetarian twice a week; eating meat takes a toll on the environment big time. The beef, poultry and pork industrial farms notoriously contribute to water pollution, use large amounts of fossil fuels and generate prodigious amounts of greenhouse gases. The United Nations has actually issued a call for citizens of the world to go vegetarian one day a week to curb global warming.
My girls love fresh veggies and fruit on their own, but I also like to puree it and add it to other meals. I’m not trying to hide it but it’s another great way to add more essential vitamins to their diet. When my girls were babies I made their baby food and always used organic ingredients. Their teeth came in quickly and they moved onto solids sooner than later, so both times I ended up with extra bags of frozen cubed baby food. I started adding the pureed butternut squash into their grilled cheese for lunch and whole grain pancakes for breakfast. During that time two cookbooks were released dedicated to adding pureed fruits and veggies to favorite recipes!
We’ve slowly been going more with our meals every month to the point that I can honestly say more than 75% of our meals are completely organic. A big turning point for me in making this decision was something Sara Snow wrote in her Fresh Living book. The importance of “factoring in the kids when deciding to go organic” reaffirmed my decision. Sara puts it in such great way:
All of this becomes particularly important when you recognize that kids eat, per pound of body weight, more food than adults every day. Plus their variety is limited. So when a child eats a food that contains residues, the dose they receive is much higher than the dose you or I might get from the same food. Couple that with the fact that children’s bodies don’t have the ability to metabolize chemicals as quickly or as completely as adults do, so the chemicals remain in kids longer, posing greater risks.
It has been a learning experience to teach myself to cook this way but it has been worth the work. These wonderful cookbooks have served as manuals to me and I highly recommend them to everyone!
The River Cottage Family Cookbook by Huge Fearnley-Whittingstall & Fizz Carr might be one of our favorite cookbooks. The book itself is a work of art–everything about it is beautiful. They take the time to explain in plain terms why to prepare your food a certain way, why you should make the choice to go organic…there was a lot of love put into this book and you can tell.
SliceofOrganic Life by Alice Waters & Sheherazade Goldsmith goes over everything from growing your own food organically, cooking home-grown produce, keeping selected livestock and leading a more sustainable lifestyle.
But most importantly, above all, you must have a cute apron to cook in which is why I give you…Cottage Road Designs and a link to her gorgeous aprons.
Looking for new board book additions to add to your infant’s book collection? I was thrilled to come across these three new (to me) authors and series.
Meet Little Panda and his friend Little Monkey as they spend their day eating their favorite foods and playing together. Your little ones will enjoy cuddling with this book made out of super soft fleece. The book is machine washable and made from 50% recycled material. It will help you as you start teaching your children about being eco-friendly and covers subjects such as improving the environment, learning about endangered animals, recycling and much more.
Is your baby a Country Baby, Winter Baby, Urban Baby, Beach Baby, Foodie Baby or Jet Baby? You will find the perfect book to fit your baby’s lifestyle and personality. The illustrations are bright and colorful and the text is so clever. These are my favorite books to give as baby shower presents.
My Friends follows a little girl who thanks all her friends around her: the rooster who taught her to march, the ant who taught her to explore the earth and the teachers who taught her to study.
I recently moved into a new home and decided to take the opportunity to “start fresh.” Now I really think about every single thing that comes into my home: its ingredients, origins…everything. I was having a hard time finding home decor that fit my family’s style and from a company I wanted to support. I received a catalog in the mail from At West End and got on the phone to learn more about their company. The products were simply stunning, unique, eclectic, inspired by nature and made from recycled products. But I wanted to know more. The owner Doug Williams took the time to help me out and I am now their biggest supporter.
For over twenty years they have offered a well rounded selection of handmade products from around the world. They have searched all over so each piece in their line has a very artisan feel. Everything you buy helps the world locally and globally. The owners Doug and Susan have a “Kids Foundation” where they support, give service and are very involved in four different charities. The fund they raise help provide medical care, education, food and shelter for children in Haiti, Colombia and Honduras.
I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I was to learn this part of their company, which they don’t push in your face. It took a bit of digging to understand how awesome they really are. For Father’s Day I bought my husband a recycled fire pit that he promptly announced was the best present he ever received from me. My office is full of furniture, magazine racks, mirrors, driftwood balls and coat racks from their catalog.
My home is now FULL of decor items from At West End, all high quality and which represent a mission I truly support and believe in.
Making correct decisions to help the environment and to be green is a lifetime learning process that can start at a very young age. Setting a good example for your children is the most important step to take in teaching them to reduce their carbon footprint and to love the Earth. The following are some other tips to help you start to teach your young children in their every day lives to be more eco-friendly.
Arts & Crafts—Take the time to brainstorm together, check out a book from the library or browse the web to find activities that you can reuse supplies to have fun. Teach them to be careful with the amount of paper they use and to always recycle when possible.
Errands—When possible, walk, not only is it helpful to the environment but it encourages a healthy lifestyle and gets their wiggles out! Arrange errands with neighbors and carpool, explain to your children why you are going on errands together.
Family/Friend Outings—Plan activities, playgroups, vacations that can give you the opportunity to help the environment, support a charity or visit a place that can teach your children more about being eco-friendly.
Snacks—Cut down on packaging by reusing bags, drink containers, etc. Get your children in the kitchen to help you make snacks to use throughout the week together!
Chores—Involve them in the preparation of homemade safe cleaning products, explain to them why you choose to stay away from harmful chemicals. Give them a large part of the recycling job in your home by involving them in collecting, sorting and disbursing recycled goods.
Nature—Start young by your example in teaching them how to love the Earth. Make sure they understand how beautiful everything is so you can help develop their care and concern for taking care of their surroundings.
I am a huge fan of eeBoo toys! I was at a little boutique this past week and saw their new flashcard sets. The girls and I have been enjoying playing with them and I highly recommend them to everyone.
Respect the Earth Flashcards will teach your children how to recycle, promote conservation, shop at farmers markets and how to take care of our earth!
Good Manners Flashcards will give you a fun way to teach your children good behavior in family situations.
Good Citizenship Flash Cards include tips on how we can all make a difference with little acts of kindness and caring–from recycling and offering to help someone to helping set the table and giving thirsty dogs water.
I recently moved into a new home and decided to take the opportunity to “start fresh.” Now I really think about every single thing that comes into my home: its ingredients, origins…everything. I was having a hard time finding home decor that fit my family’s style and from a company I wanted to support. I received a catalog in the mail from 
For over twenty years they have offered a well rounded selection of handmade products from around the world. They have searched all over so each piece in their line has a very artisan feel. Everything you buy helps the world locally and globally. The owners Doug and Susan have a “Kids Foundation” where they support, give service and are very involved in four different charities. The fund they raise help provide medical care, education, food and shelter for children in Haiti, Colombia and Honduras.
I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I was to learn this part of their company, which they don’t push in your face. It took a bit of digging to understand how awesome they really are. For Father’s Day I bought my husband a recycled fire pit that he promptly announced was the best present he ever received from me. My office is full of furniture, magazine racks, mirrors, driftwood balls and coat racks from their catalog.
