Celebrating Earth Day with the Kids
We’re celebrating Earth Day this week so we’ll be sharing ideas on how to get the kids involved in respecting and preserving our planet, as well as simple things we can do as families to protect our environment.
Here are some ideas on how to talk and act upon the meaning of Earth Day.
Play: First and foremost, go outside and just enjoy the day. I just discovered the Go Explore Nature blog, which is a new favorite, and I love their idea and checklist for a Spring Nature Scavenger Hunt.
Another way to play and help is to purchase eco-friendly toys and support the manufacturers who are doing their part to save the environment. Some of our favorite eco-friendly toys, that we we love enough to sell at ChocolateCakeClub.com, are the Green Toys Tea Set, Green Toys Recycling Truck, and the Totem Boys and Girls Recycled Construction Sets.
We sell quite a few organic and eco-friendly toys that kids love and you’ll feel good about giving.
Plant: Head over to your local nursery and buy a perennial flower that you love. Plant it with your kids to help beautify your yard and the neighborhood. Read How to Teach Your Kids a Love of Gardening. Get your kids their very own Gardening Set so they get excited about spending time in the garden with Mom or Grandma. Teach your kids about locally grown produce with the Playful Chef’s Farmers Market Set. Here’s how to have fun with the kids on a Trip to the Farmers Market.
Talk & Teach: Give your kids an introdcution in respecting the Earth with the Respect the Earth Flash Cards we sell at www.ChocolateCakeClub.com. Don’t just use them on Earth Day. Pick a card every night at dinner and talk about the tips on how to take care of our planet.
Read: My favorite Dr. Seuss book – The Lorax. How could you not want to save the Truffula Trees? Head over to the Lorax Project site where there are plenty of ideas on how kids can help save animals and the environment. I love this site!
I also love the Lost in the Woods Book and DVD to teach kids about the wonders of Spring and give them a love of nature. Both the book and the DVD come with a plush fawn the kids will love to snuggle with during bedtime stories. We’ll have more book recommendations later this week.
Watch: Some of our favorite kids movies with a conservationist theme are Happy Feet, Fern Gully, and Wall-E. There are plenty more but we like these the best. (We love Robin Williams as the bat in Fern Gully. He also makes a darn cute penguin in Happy Feet.)
Help: Take a walk around your neighborhood and pick up any trash that you see. We all have a responsibility to make our planet healthy. Spend the afternoon at the local park and pick up trash. Plant some flowers in the field in your neighborhood for everyone to enjoy. Put out birdseed for the local wildlife.
How do you teach your kids to be responsible in conserving our planet?
3 Comments - Leave a comment
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL
Starting them up young with environmentally minded messages will most definitely help in the long run. Being told through media of the repercussions that come with neglect towards the environment is a great motivator in children. Also, having them participate in positive green experiences, as you’ve explained with plants and play, will have a very positive effect on their growth. Excellent article, you covered the topic well! Thanks for having posted it!
Environment911
4/18/11
Thank you for stopping by and leaving a comment. I appreciate the feedback on my posts.
Sue
Sue Kirchner
4/18/11
Great post – thanks for the shout out! It’s nice to meet you!
Debi
4/19/11