New Year Fun + Green Party Ideas

Eco Kids magazine

EcoKids 1

Eco Kids Magazine

Don't let the children be idle over the holidays: help celebrate the New Year. Parties are a time to have fun.

First you'll need to select a party theme. Then ask your child what they would like to play or create at their party. Consider the following ideas which are either eco healthy or socially responsible...

Recycled Crayons

Create uniquely shaped, multi-coloured crayons by recycling bees wax crayon stubs!

Place them in a non-stick muffin pan, filling to ½ inch from the top of the muffin moulds.
Put the muffin tin in 250 degree oven. Turn off the heat when crayons have melted, but do not remove the tin! Allow the oven to cool completely before removing crayons. For the best rainbow effect, do not move the muffin tray until crayons have cooled completely. If colours mix while hot they become one muddy colour instead. Tap the bottom of the tin to make the crayons pop out.

For solid colour crayons, then place only 1 colour in each muffin cup.

Juice Box Boat

Why not make a bath time or outdoor toy out of that empty juice box? Its easy and fun!
Just lie the juice box on its side and cut a small "x" in what is now the top. Insert the straw. Now cut a triangle sail out of recycled cardboard from found objects around the home. Punch a hole at the top and bottom of one side of the triangle.
Now decorate with markers or stickers etc and thread the sail onto the straw.

Cardboard Box Fun

Don't throw away those cardboard boxes! There are so many things you can make with them!
Here's just one idea- Make your own recycled box village! Use assorted cereal boxes and empty cartons. An adult should use a craft knife to cut off the bottom of the boxes. Then, make siding for each "building" by tracing around the sides onto a sheet of construction paper/ or old cardboard.
Cut out the individual pieces and glue onto the cartons. For the roof, cut a paper triangle from a contrasting colour. Fold the roof over the top of the carton and glue it in place.
Draw on windows and doors with markers and cut out the openings with a craft knife. Finally, decorate the buildings by gluing on paper or fabric scraps or colouring with markers.
Arrange your village!

Great on a rainy day, with the help of some cardboard boxes, a favourite toy, and a friend, make a town, or a farm or perhaps a moonscape, anything you can imagine. Cardboard strips can be used for roads, runways, gang planks etc.
A rug or silk cloth could be a lake, or the sea, and add any treasures you have made for play.

For a present, make a simple treasure box and decorate it anyway you like.
There are many different ways to make a simple cardboard gift basket, however, plaiting different coloured strips of cardboard is another method, or using a small cardboard box, adding a handle and decorating it is also fun.
How many different red things are there or how many windows? Is there a mouse? Make up another game for someone in your family.

Puppet Show

Make a crocodile from two socks and then try and think of other simple puppets you can make from a sock ... a worm or a hen etc… simple features can be added to get the right affect, ready for a puppet play, a cardboard box makes a good theatre.

Talking Earth Puppet

If our earth could talk, what do you think it would tell us?

· Heavy paper plate, or 3 thin ones glued together or old cardboard found from around the home
· White, brown and black construction paper or reuse cardboard
· Paper towel tube
· Large Rubber Band
· Blue Yarn
· 2 paper fasteners (the metal kind like in binders)
· Blue eco friendly paint
· Glue, scissors

- Paint the bottom of the plate blue and let it dry.
- Cut "landforms" from the brown paper and glue them on to make the Earth. Cut eyes from the white and black paper and glue them in place.
- Poke the fasteners through the bottom of the plate, far enough apart so that the rubber band will hook over each fastener to form the mouth of the puppet.
- Tie a long piece of blue yarn to the bottom of the rubber band. Cut two slits in the top of the paper towel tube and slide the bottom of the Earth puppet into the slits so that you have a holder for the puppet.
- Drop the mouth string through the tube so that it hangs out the other end. TO move the puppet's mouth pull gently on the end of the yarn.
- Let your puppet tell others how to love and care for our Earth.

Make a Plant Person!

You can make a funny "person" with a head of gorgeous green "hair!" Your plant person can sit in a small lid or plate in your kitchen and you can watch his hair grow each day!

You'll need an old nylon stocking, some soil, 2 tablespoons of grass / wheat seed, thumbtacks and a twist tie.
First, cut the foot from the stocking and pour the grass seed into the toe. Add soil until the foot is full. Now tie the stocking tightly at the opening using the twist tie, and place it on the plate with the twist-tie side down.
Push in thumbtacks or cloves to make eyes, nose and mouth- or you can use fabric scraps or ink markers. Soak your plant person with water and place in a sunny spot. Moisten it every day. When the "hair" grows, you can cut it in funny haircuts with scissors!

Create a Living Window Box Garden

A simple living garden for flowers and vegetables can be made in a large pot or a window box.
Add a little water each day, and small tomatoes, parsley,radishes, poppies or geraniums etc. will grow.
Add fairies and toadstools etc for your own fairy garden.

Grow an Orange, Avocado or Gumnut Tree

Grow your very own orange tree with the seeds from that organic orange you just ate for lunch! Save those seeds and let them dry for a few days.

Fill a small pot with rich, moist soil and plant your seeds in it. Now put a few craft or Popsicle sticks around the edge of the pot and cover with wrap to create a "greenhouse!" Make sure to put your pot in the sun and to keep the soil moist.
Soon, you'll see a stem poke through and eventually leaves will sprout! When your plant has leaves, remove the plastic wrap and your tree will continue to grow! Maybe someday, it will actually grow its own oranges!

Want to recycle the organic avocado seed? You can grow a beautiful houseplant or even your own tree following these simple steps.

Wash the seed. Using three toothpicks, suspend it broad end down over a water-filled glass to cover about an inch of the seed.
Put it in a warm place out of direct sunlight and replenish water as needed. You should see roots and stem sprout in about two to six weeks.
When the stem is six to seven inches long, cut it back to about three inches.
When the roots are thick and the stem has leafed out again, plant it in a rich humus soil in a 10-1/2" diameter pot, leaving the seed half exposed.
Give it frequent, light waterings with an occasional deep soak. Generally, the soil should be moist but not saturated. Yellowing leaves are a sign of over-watering; let the plant dry out for a few days.
The more sunlight, the better.
If leaves turn brown and fry at the tips, too much salt has accumulated in the soil. Let water run freely into the pot and drain for several minutes.
When the stem is 12 inches high, cut it back to 6 inches to encourage the growth of new shoots.
Don't expect your house plant to bear fruit. Although this does occur occasionally, it usually requires grafting. A plant grown from seed will take anywhere from five to 13 years to flower and bear fruit. Fruit on trees grown from seeds are seldom good to eat.

When gumnuts are turning brown, collect a few and put them in a paper bag. Let the bag sit in a sunny place for a few days, then sift the seeds from the gumnuts and sprinkle them over some potting mix. Lightly cover and water. In 7-10 days, seedlings emerge. Transplant these to pots or tubes. Plant out when 10 cm tall. Use gum trees native to your area and create a little native forest.

Jump Start Garden

You'll need to select a container to start your garden in- how about an egg carton or a milk carton?
You'll have a great garden container- and you'll be recycling!
Put potting soil in your container, and plant seeds in each. Place container in a sunny spot, and keep soil moist. Once the baby plant sprouts and grows two sets of leaves, it is officially a seedling. When it gets warm, you can start putting your seedlings outside for an hour or two, so they get used to it. Finally, you can transplant your new plants into your outdoor garden!

Veggie Flower Snack!

Now that you've grown a real flower, here's a fun flower to make that you can actually eat! Just take a clean celery stalk, trim the ends and cut in half. Spread organic peanut butter in the inside of the celery stalk. This is your stem.
Now cut a thick slice of cucumber, and about 8 carrot rounds. The cucumber will be the flower's centre, and the carrots will be the petals. Arrange the "flower" on a plate, and position the "stem." Finally, take 2 lettuce leaves to use for your leaves. A beautiful, healthy snack!

Butterfly Garden

Butterflies appear in gardens where there are lots of good plants that they can live and feed on. Many of these are wild plants and flowers that are easy to grow!

To plant your butterfly garden select seeds and plants that are known to attract butterflies, keeping in mind what you would like to see in your garden. One plant that is a known butterfly attractant is the Butterfly Weed! In fact, they are so well-loved by butterflies that they were named for them! Butterfly Weed is a relative of milkweed that has bright orange flowers in the summer.
Some other flowers to plant: zinnias, day lilies, phlox, lavender, and thistle. Once your garden had bloomed, and is full of butterflies, you can make a net to catch your new friends in!

Out in the Field: Take a tour of an organic farm, a dairy farm or an orchard.(all ages)
Plant a Tree: At a nursery, purchase a tree native to your area that will provide habitat for a range of animals. Ask for planting instructions. Plant the tree in your yard or arrange with the park district to plant the tree in a local park.

How Their Garden Grows: Provide seeds, pots and soil, and have children plant their own flowers, herbs or veggies. For treats, make fruit flowers and healthy “dirt pots” (deep bowls or pots filled with layers of yoghurt, fruit and organic cookie crumbs).

Butterfly Net

Examine beautiful butterflies and other small creatures with help from this easy to make net!

You'll need a plastic mesh bag (like the kind you buy onions in!), pipe cleaners, a cardboard long tube (like the one from a roll of wrapping paper), scissors, tape and markers.

First, cut the clamp off the end of your mesh bag. (leave 1 end clamped) Next, make a rim for your net by twisting together the ends of 2 pipe cleaners. Thread the pipe cleaners in and out along the top edge of the mesh bag. When you're finished, secure the ends of the rim with a piece of tape.

For a handle, use your cardboard tube and cut a slit on each side. Then insert the rim of the net into the slits and tape in place. Decorate your handle with markers, crayons or stickers! Now you're ready to go out and explore!

When you find a butterfly, examine it quickly, and then draw it. After you let the butterfly go, you can look it up in a book, or on the internet, to see what kind it was. You can even make your own butterfly book!

Invent an Insect

What does a doodlebug look like? Its all in your imagination when you create your own crazy critters! This is a great craft for kids of all ages, and you probably have everything you need in your house right now!

You'll need an empty egg carton, scissors, glue, and decorations.

Cut 3 linked sections out of the egg carton to make an insect body. Then glue on the insect's other parts using miscellaneous items you find around the house! Use traditional items like pipe cleaners, pom-poms, googly eyes and yarn. You can also use some more unusual items such as toothpicks, pasta shapes, straws, packing peanuts, buttons, ribbon, found items from nature etc. Be creative!

Lunch Bag Kite

Make your own paper bag kite with your recycled lunch bag and some string! Kites were invented 3,000 years ago in China, and they spread around the world from there. Today, kites and kite festivals are a part of the traditions in many countries and are a wonderful outdoor activity!

To make your lunch bag kite, cut 5 approx. 1 metre long pieces of yarn or string. Take 4 of the pieces and tape or staple each one to a corner of the open side of the bag. Tie the loose ends of the 4 pieces together. Tie the 5th piece (for holding the kite) to the end of the 4 knotted strings.

Decorate your bag with crayons or markers and glue ribbon, used wrapping paper etc .Attach a streamer to the bag's bottom and run with it!

Turn Trash To Treasure

Reusing recyclable materials has never been as much fun as now, because its true- one person's trash is another person's treasure! Collect a variety of items such as egg cartons, plastic containers, styrofoam packing pieces, six-pack rings, etc. Now get some of your standard craft materials, like glue, scissors, yarn, paint, pom-poms and wiggle eyes. See how many "treasures" you can create out of "trash!" Use your imagination and have fun!

Recycled Wind Sock

Here is a fun way to utilize "trash" to make a festive craft that also reminds us to appreciate the clean, fresh air that we breathe.

Plastic tub with lid
Old party streamers / scraps of paper
Old Ribbon
Used, clean recycled plastic bags

Cut the bottom of the plastic tub out, and cut the centre out of the lid, leaving the outer ring.
- Cut 3-foot streamers from the paper, ribbon and plastic bags. Arrange them around the rim of the tub so that they hang down over the edge. (You can also attach bells or metal washers to the ends of the ribbon for sound effects!)
- Snap the lid over the rim of the tub to hold the streamers in place.
- Tuck the 2 ends of a piece of ribbon under the lid, so that it forms a hanger.
- Hang your wind sock in the breeze!

Visit the Aquarium: Have the children bring along dive log fish stickers, and a piece of sturdy paper. Challenge them to find live examples of the fish on the stickers. Invite them to place on the paper each sticker of the fish they see and record other observations.

Clean the Beach: Make arrangements to have a beach cleaning party at a nearby beach. Provide children with plastic bags and gloves. Give prizes to the kids who collect the most garbage. You can arrange a scavenger hunt at the same time. While kids are cleaning, they can look for items (moon clam shell,crab print, etc.) listed on a card and check them off when they see them. (1 - 2 hours;older eco kids)

S.O.S.: Save Our Seas: Compile an action list of things to do to help the oceans. Get children to work in small groups. Each group can choose one of the ideas on the list to illustrate in a poster. Provide large poster board, coloured pencils, coloured paper, scissors, and glue. Have kids share their posters and talk about what steps they can take to help ocean life. You might arrange to exhibit the posters at a local eco business. (1 hour; older eco kids)

Ocean Adventure: Live near the coast? Take the children to the ocean and explain about the ocean life and tides.

Visit an Art Museum: Find out in advance about kid-friendly exhibits to see and interactive art projects. (1-2 hours; all ages)

Colour Their World: Tie-dye organic cotton T-shirts with natural vegetable dyes.

Make a Mood Mural: A mood mural is a large piece of art showing different kinds of feelings or moods. Make a list of different moods (silly, happy, angry, excited, etc.), and then have them work individually or in pairs, each choosing a mood to draw together on large mural paper. Provide markers, paints and brushes, or collage materials like construction paper, old magazines, and stickers. Take digital photos of the finished mural for each child to take home. (1 hour; all ages)

Finger Paintin’ Fun: Use eco friendly paints (or try organic beetroot juice with sponges and press the hand for a print or make shapes with potato and stamp away!) and recycled paper to let the children create their own masterpieces.

Move to the Music: Different kinds of music make us feel like moving in different ways. Play a range of music (fast and slow, soft and loud, dramatic and playful, sad and happy, etc.) and ask children to use their bodies to match the mood of the music. Encourage experimentation and innovation. (0.5 hour; younger kids)

Musical Masters: Teach the kids how to play the cowbell, triangle, among other more simple instruments. Play along to some of the kids’ favourite songs.

Kids Got Talent Quest: Have kids create a talent—whether it’s singing, dancing, yodelling, etc. Have them make their own awards out of recyclable materials.

Take a Hike: Go for a hike in the woods at a forest preserve or park. Find out in advance about trails and choose one appropriate for children. Provide children with a park service list of flora and fauna to look for and have them check off species as they go. Explain that good hikers walk quietly, never disturb wildlife, and leave nothing behind. (all ages)

Make Like a Tree: Together create a forest ecosystem skit. Each child can play a different member of the forest (tree, bird,fern,and so on). Have children act out what happens when a tree is cut down, when there is a fire or drought, and when new trees are planted. (0.5 hour; younger kids)

Follow the Track: Provide children with animal track images as models for making tracks out of construction paper and also pens and scissors. Each child should then use his or her paper tracks to make an animal trail and leave written clues about the type of animal that made the tracks. Children can take turns following each other's trails and trying to identify each type of animal. (1 hour; older eco kids)

Trail Party: Organize a trail upkeep party with your local park service or park district. Alternatively, host an ivy pull. Provide childrfen with tools and together work on a section of forest. Make sure Eco Kids understand what effects their work will have. When they're done have a picnic in one of the park's picnic areas. (1-2 hours; older eco kids)

Eco-Adventure: Create a rainforest scene, have everyone dress up as their favourite African animal (you can even make masks at the party) and watch Tarzan. Adopt an animal from the National Zoo (about $50) and look through the adoption photos and materials with the children.

Backyard Eco-camping: Start the party at dusk. Set up tents in the backyard, tell spooky stories, gaze at the stars and identify constellations. For treats, have children make their own organic trail mix. Older children can have a sleepover in the tents.

Go Bird Watching: Contact a local birding organization to arrange for a guided bird watching outing. Ask for a checklist of the birds you are likely to see and give each Eco Kid a copy. Have children check off the birds they see. (1-2 hours; older eco kids)

Be a Bird Sleuth: Take a walk in your neighbourhood or local park. Tell the children to be bird sleuths and use their bird brains to look for evidence of birdlife (sightings, calls, sounds of movement, nests, etc.). Have them walk quietly in small groups and take notes to share later. (0.5 hour; all ages)

Kids in the Kitchen: teach children how to prepare a healthy dish that they can eat.
If you or a friend have a dog, bake dog biscuits with organic peanut butter.(all ages)

Japanese Tea Party: Hold a Japanese tea ceremony and teach children how to roll fruit and veggie sushi.

Spa Divas: Girls can get makeovers with natural organic makeup, then top off their looks with manicures and pedicures using nontoxic nail polish. (older eco-girls)

“Come As You Are” Party: Surprise your guests with an early-morning pickup while they are still in the pyjamas (only their parents will know the start time). Serve a healthy breakfast.

Bookworms: Have each child bring a new or gently used book for a book exchange. Then have everyone sit in a circle and contribute to making up a story. Write their tale down on recycled paper, and let the children decorate it with green paints, soy crayons and markers.

Support the Community: Call your local fire or police station and ask for a tour. Perhaps, the families could donate money or may be they have a wish-list for supplies for the station. Visit the local animal shelters and help, deliver parcels collected from your neighbourhood, check their wish-lists.

New Year Olympics: Set up a series of fun activities including relay races, jump rope and kickball. For treats, hand out organic cookie “medals” or organic fruit bars for kids.

Around the World: Make the party internationally themed. Each child could represent a different country.

Calling all Super Kids: Let each child create their own Eco Super Hero. Let them make pieces of their costumes with old clothes.
The Big Dipper: Heat up a range of bees or soy waxes and have kids dip their own candles. (much older eco kids)

Take old clothing apart and create new ones; works especially well with t-shirts.

The Mystery Escapade: Stage a scavenger hunt at a local park.

Shining Star: Let the kids dress up as their favourite eco conscience celeb. Check out www.ecorazzi.co for the greenest Hollywood stars. Perhaps have the kids write emails (cut down on paper!) to their celebrity and attach their dress-up photos. (older eco kids)

Bowling for Dollars: Take kids bowling, set up teams and the winning teams get money to donate to a favourite local kids charity or children’s hospital. (older eco kids)

Who-Dun-it: Set up a mystery party (Clue-like)...only the theme is to find the person who didn’t recycle or who wasn’t eating healthy. Provide hints and costumes for the characters. (older eco-kids)

Eco-crafting: show children how to make eco-crafts out of things lying around the house. As part of the invitation ask them to bring some things that you need for the crafts. They’ll be surprised to see what you make of them!

Muscular Dystrophy Carnival: Have a carnival for the neighbourhood and raise money for muscular dystrophy. Get your friends involved in the planning and celebrate with a fun carnival that helps others! For more details, visit www.mdacarnivals.com.

Scrapbooking: Share memories and make new ones. Create scrapbooks from supermarket brown bags. Hole punch the bags and tie with ribbon. In the invitation ask children to bring some of their favourite photos. As a favour, give each child a box camera to take photos throughout the party for their scrapbook.

Mexican Fiesta: Have children make their own burritos with healthy beans, salsa, brown rice / millet/ quinoa / buckwheat, guacamole and cheese. In advance, make a pull string piñata. It’s a great way to reuse old newspaper. Fill the piñata with healthy snacks.

Picnic Power: Take children on a picnic. Have them make their own organic sandwiches and help pack the picnic basket. Take a few blankets and spread them out in your backyard or at a park. Talk about nature, go on a scavenger hunt and collect items from nature. Tell stories and sing songs.

If none of these ideas spring out at you, brainstorm with your child. Their ideas may surprise you.

Happy, healthy, Green New Year!