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Making your life greener - one bite at a time.

The following are easy tips to transform the home into an ecological classroom and building green habits that can be fun. Plus nature-themed activities for Eco Kids who love to mingle with nature and be relaxed in their surrounds - with plants, animals and the great outdoors, in the kitchen, or with technology.

Discuss the World  Find out all you can about what is happening to the environment and talk about it. Talk to children about birds, plants, gas-guzzling vehicles and energy use. Just asking Eco Kids to switch off the lights and reuse plastic bags is not enough - they must understand why we’re doing these things and what impact they have.

Plant a tree with a child Take a walk in the woods, or plant trees which store CO2. Teaching our children to love and care for the planet is the most important thing we can do to insure the future of humankind.

Get Dirty Take the Eco Kids to the local GARBAGE DUMP.Get down and dirty and teach the kids where all the rubbish goes and all about landfill and the many problems.

Nifty Thrifty Teach your children the value of being thrifty. Do you really need it? Not everyone lives in a consumer society - think of people in poorer countries who don't have much and who reuse or recycle nearly everything.

Shop at and hold garage sales - this is a great way to show Eco Kids to reuse products.

Swap It  Set up a swap club. Join the local library or video store so you can borrow rather than buy. Share CDs and computer games. Apart from saving money, you'll help the environment because making, packaging and transporting everything you buy involves energy, water and waste.

New American Dream offers tips for protecting your children from intrusive and harmful advertising that promotes mindless consumption.
http://www.newdream.org/kids/index.php

Catch a Bus +  Pedal Power

Fuel prices, carbon tax and congestion problems are likely to drive more people on to buses and trains, or looking for alternative modes of transport.
 
But there are still a lot of Eco Kids who have never stepped on a bus or taken a ride on a train and see bikes for entertainment, rather than for getting places.
 
Picking a few easier journeys on public transport, or using the bike once in a while, will help them to be less reliant on the car and more open to different methods.
 
Recycle  Recycle Bins: Create designated holding "bins" for each type of recycled product (get the children to decorate or paint) and place in convenient locations in your home/garage.

Reuse Activities Don't forget to teach Eco Kids the importance of preserving our resources.  Even little things -- like making and using a colorful cloth bag, or tossing potato peels and eggshells into the compost heap -- can help the environment. And if your child develops good habits now, they’ll endure as he grows.

Arts + Crafts  Help them with arts-and-crafts projects, such as making new paper out of old shredded paper. Making candles by melting down old bees wax crayons, and reusing paper bags as puppets and canvases for artwork.

Create A Green Habit Chart  Get your family involved by asking for specific changes in everyone's habits e.g -- tape signs to light switches reminding family members to turn out lights when they leave a room, tape a sign to your car dashboard reminding the driver to check tire pressure during the first week of each month, assign Eco Kids to turn out all lights and cut power to unused appliances (to reduce standby power usage) each night.

Once a month, add the new usage information to the charts and make adjustments as needed to reach your goals.

Use the money saved to do something fun and healthy with your family like a trip to a pick-your-own-organic-farm.

Household Activities  The Eco child enjoys entering the adult world. He wants to help in the kitchen and the garden, to repair and make things in the workshop. He derives great satisfaction from seeing his work being used in real life, rather than just making things for amusement. Allow your Eco child to help and praise his work, then watch your child blossom! Household activities also provide opportunities for simple lessons in math and identifying shapes and colors. So, starting at an early age, engage your children in everyday household activities, such as doing laundry, cooking and cleaning with homemade green products.

Spend Time in Nature ... If  parents can help Eco Kids to get a sense of awe from nature, then they will quickly pick up on that.BRITISH children's knowledge of wildlife comes a poor second to their ability to identify science fiction creatures such as Star Wars characters, according to a survey.
 
The National Trust (NT) poll revealed that while only just over half of children knew what an oak leaf looked like, nine out of 10 were able to identify Jedi Grand Master Yoda.
 
Despite a three-fold increase in the nation's magpie population over the last 30 years, only 29 per cent of children were able to recognise the black and white bird, while half could not tell the difference between a bee and a wasp.
 
"It's a sad modern phenomenon that's left many of us, and in particular the younger generations, disconnected from the natural world,'' said TV naturalist Nick Baker as the NT launched a campaign to encourage families to spend more time outdoors.
 
"In an age where Nintendos and PlayStations compete with tree-climbing and pond-dipping, the virtual world is winning.
 
"With more kids better able to identify a fictitious alien than our national tree, the oak, something needs to be done." 

The Garden is a very exciting place. Lots of new and wonderful things happen in it all through the year. Gardeners think about plants they grow and creatures that share the garden.

Make a Nature Book Take your children on a nature walk with a magnifying glass to observe flower parts. You should return to this place at the change of season for your children to note the changes in the plants and trees.

Check out  the Neighborhood Take your children out for neighborhood walks. They're a great way to get exercise and offer opportunities for learning. As you're walking talk about the colors you see such as green grass, a blue sky or a yellow bird.  Collect feathers and fallen leaves for craft.

Seeds for Free Collect as many seed pods and seeds around. Classify them by color, size and shape. Make charts from cardboard and display.

Growing Seeds Indoors Some seeds can be grown indoors. Try growing cress seeds. They will grow very easily and very quickly. Try gowing cress on kitchen paper or cotton wool. You could grow some other seeds - mustard, flowers, bird seeds, apple and melons. After about a week, cress will be ready to eat. Cut the cress off near the bottom of its stalks and use to make some cress sandwiches for a fairy tea party.

Grow beans by reusing a yogurt pot upside down in a jar. Roll blotting paper around like a tube and push it down into the jar round the yogurt pot. The pot will keep the paper in place. plant 3 or 4 bean seeds between the paper and the wall of the jar,. Don't let them fall to the bottom. Pour in water to 1/4 way up the jar. Stand in a warm sunny place. Look at the beans every day and watch the shoots grow. Make a grow chart and tape it to the window near your growing beans.

Flowers to Keep Collect and press flowers, classify and chart. Or make simple crafts and gifts, do bark and leaf rubbing. Give a bunch of dried flowers to someone you love, or make pretty greeting cards with pictures made from flowers you have pressed.

Get Fishy A visit to the aquarium to see some different fish. Play a fishing game with a magnet attached to a stick and string to catch fish drawn by the child with paper clips on.
 
Birds & the Bees Make a bird tray or table. Put it in a visible spot. Put varying food out each morning and note which birds come to visit.

Buy a bird poster for your area and watch for new visitors to the garden. Buy a nesting log and put it in your tree for a nesting pair.
 
Welcome the Birds Make a peanut butter and seed bird feeder. First smear organic peanut butter all over an empty toilet roll or pine-cone, roll it in the birdseed or millet, punch two holes in the one end of empty toilet roll, thread a pipe cleaner through or tie yarn / string from pine-cone and hang it in a tree. Put it near a window so you can watch the visiting birds.

Birds From backyards and city streets to remote forests, anyone who counts birds can contribute to the Lab's research. Data from the projects are used to monitor bird populations and outline conservation efforts. It's easy and fun.  http://www.birds.cornell.edu/LabPrograms/CitSci/

Build a Habitat

A backyard wildlife habitat or "naturescape" can be created in your own backyard. http://www.wildlifehc.org/managementtools/backyard.cfm

A miniature version can even be created on your patio or deck. Basic elements include fresh water (i.e., a bird bath and, if in a yard, water low to the ground); plants and feeders that provide nourishment for birds, insects, etc.; and rocks, trees, bushes and/or bird houses for shelter and nesting. Purchase plants that are native to your area. The National Wildlife Federation has an excellent program: The Backyard Wildlife Habitat Program which provides some helpful, detailed examples.Your habitat may attract beautiful songbirds, butterflies, frogs, and other interesting wildlife for viewing from your very own window.http://www.nwf.org/backyard/

Once your habitat is certified by NWF, you can order and display an attractive Certified Wildlife Habitat sign to convey your commitment to wildlife conservation and the environment, and help you spread the word to your neighbors.

Insects Make an insect collage from old magazines. Laminate and use as place mats.

Go on a spiders web hunt. When you find it dust it with fine corn starch or arrowroot and lift it off onto black cardboard that is pre glued.

Visit the Museum Find out if your museum has an invertebrates section for you to visit.

Make Butterfly Wings  Fold paper in half, reopen. Using 3 primary colors make blobs on one side of the fold. Refold and rub paper together. Reopen. When the painting is dry cut out shape and stick on cardboard, or toilet roll add antenna etc for the butterfly. Use pipecleaners and wool and make caterpillars and butterflies.
 
Collect Rocks and make a display. Young children love to have a baking dish to wash rocks with a nail brush and dry with a soft cloth. Save the water in a watering can. Children of all ages love playing with water, and letting them water the garden encourages a water activity that has a useful purpose. By giving Eco Kids simple tasks, we are building their self-esteem and independence skills.

Build a Rock Garden There are plants that don't need much soil to grow in. They can be grown in a rock garden, a garden made from rocks and stones where the plants and flowers grow over rocks. Try making a little indoor rock garden.

Follow the Sun through the house during the day to see rising and setting position. Help your children build their knowledge of weather and weather patterns by making a weather chart.

Community / Volunteer

Adopt a Piece of the Earth  like a park, beach, local stream or a street corner, or even a  bus stop and keep it clean.

Plant Trees Form a tree-planting group with family and /or friends: commit to planting and maintaining an agreed-upon number of trees over your life times. Plan regular gatherings for tree-planting and watering.

Frogs In the USA, help to track frog and toad populations through Frogwatch USA. http://www.nwf.org/frogwatchUSA/

Volunteer Teach children to be kind to all animals, volunteer at a local animal shelter.

Stargazing  Stargazing schedule - provides current information about stargazing events. http://www.mvas-ny.org/PublicStarGazing.htm

Even though the Earth is a big place, every little bit you do to take care of it is important. Never release balloons outdoors. They frequently find their way to open water (even from 100's of miles away) and can harm or kill turtles, whales, and other marine mammals.

Remember when you are out walking or hiking, pick up trash along the way.

More Eco Activities + Great Interactive Eco Links for Eco kids....

http://ecobites.com/eco-news-articles/arts-crafts-a-activities/808-go-green-earth-day-activities