Keeping Kids Green and Busy While School’s Out
Jun 30, 2009 Green Parenting, Home and Family
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.
Encourage Your Kids to Watch Green TV Shows
Jun 9, 2009 Green Parenting
TV watching isn’t the best of habits, but most of us do it, and most of us let our kids do it. One of the troubles is that the commercials encourage kids (and adults) to want so much stuff, it’s just insane.
Of course, you can use commercials as teaching moments, and help your kids to learn how to cope with advertising. They’re going to be dealing with it their entire lives, after all. They should know how to be skeptical and how to recognize needs versus wants.
Not an easy lesson for any of us. But very, very important.
On the other hand, you can help your kids pick more than the usual fare. You can avoid the over marketed popular kids shows that sell tons of plastic junk toys of the starring characters.
My kids enjoy a lot of the usual shows, but channels such as The Discovery Channel and Planet Green really get their attention well too.
Dora the Explorer and Go, Diego Go have their good points, as they encourage kids to think about the environment. However, they also sell an awful lot of plastic junk, so it’s a bit of a toss up with shows like that. I’m much more fond of PBS shows for my kids, such as Curious George, Arthur and It’s a Big, Big World for them. Fewer commercials, even between shows, and it always seems like far fewer toys available for them.
It really is amazing just how much kids pick up from television. Some of it’s good, but other parts not so much. Help them pick great shows when they do watch TV.
Tags: green tv shows, kids, parenting, television
Planning for a Green Summer Break
Jun 8, 2009 Green Parenting
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?
Tags: children, kids, parenting, summer, summer break
Do Cloth Diapers Stink?
Jun 2, 2009 Going Green, Green Parenting
A concern I know some people have about cloth diapers is the smell. No one likes their home to smell like dirty diapers.
On the whole, they don’t stink up a house any worse than disposable diapers. That is, if you take care of washing them regularly (3 days apart is about my maximum), they won’t stink up the whole house. Leave them sitting around too long, and of course they’re going to stink!
Wash them properly and you’ll control the odor most of the time. I use Country Save HE Laundry Detergent
But eventually they do tend to build up an odor. Considering what goes into them, it’s hardly a surprise.
But all you have to do is a special wash called stripping, and the smell should go away.
Start out with freshly washed diapers. They need to be clean for this process.
Wash the diapers again in hot water, with a teaspoon of original Dawn dish detergent (not the newer varieties and not other brands) for a HE machine, a tablespoon for a top loading machine.
Run through the wash two more times with just water. This will get out the rest of the soap and should take care of the smell. If suds continue to appear by the rinse cycle of the second wash, you may need to do another cycle.
Dry as usual. I really do recommend line drying if at all possible.
This is also supposed to help if your cloth diapers are starting to leak.
The long and short of it is, if your cloth diapers stink either you’re letting them sit too long before washing or it’s time to strip them. You should not be getting a worse stink than what you get from disposables.
Tags: cloth diapers, smell, stripping diapers
Eco-Friendly Sites Your Kids May Enjoy
May 27, 2009 Green Parenting
Summer is coming right up, and with it is the potential for bored children. While it’s great to get the kids outside in the sunshine, sometimes it’s too hot or they’ve already spent plenty of time playing outside and want computer time. Here are some sites they may enjoy.
Green Games
PBS’s EekoWorld - Designed for kids ages 6-9 and can be used as an educational tool in grades K-4. Kids can design their own EekoCreature while learning about the environment. You can even print out a card game called Loco Cheeko that features your EekoCreature.
Kids R Green - Green games and activities you can do at home.
Kids Planet - Games and information for kids on how to help the environment.
WebRangers - The National Park Service’s site for kids. Games to play, activities to do, webcams and more.
Dizzywood - Geared at kids ages 8-12. Play games, dress up your avatar, meet friends and defeat the evil Emperor Withering.
Green Tips for Kids
Environmental Kids Club - A website created by the EPA, it has games and information for kids and teens.
Kids Saving Energy - An informational site by the U.S. Department of Energy to help kids learn how to save energy.
Tags: eco-friendly websites, green websites, internet, kids, parenting
