Summer vacation is here at last! As your kids embark on their three months of freedom, you can keep their minds, bodies and souls engaged by taking them to visit a wildlife refuge. Across the country, tucked away in Bayous and canyons, estuaries and marshes, hundreds of wildlife refuges are open to the public. These pristine sanctuaries are living and breathing classrooms of ecology and are a rare opportunity to see ecosystems in there unadulterated state.
I recently ventured to the southern Maine coast and visited the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge is scattered along 50 miles of coastline, but accessible in the town of Wells. A well maintained trail guides visitors through woods and along the periphery of estuaries and salt marshes. Young visitors can observe migratory birds species nesting and listen to the reeds rustle along the banks of the salt marshes. This is a great opportunity to write and draw in a nature journal, play “I Spy” with native flora and fauna or learn about the local ecosystem.
To find a wildlife refuge in your area, visit the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services website, and be sure to check out their ideas for visiting with kids.
Creating homemade decorations was my favorite holiday activity growing up. Coming up with new ways to make gift wrap, gift tags and ornaments from things found around the house and around the neighborhood was part of the challenge and the fun. With being green on all our minds this holiday season, we have an even greater reason to be resourceful and to look to nature for inspiration. Here are some of my favorite projects you and your children can do together:
Green your gift wrap:
Save money on all that gift wrap that ordinarily gets ripped to shreds and thrown away. Make your own gift wrap by sprucing up paper grocery bags or recycled brown paper. Create nature stamps by coating leaves and flowers with non-toxic paint and stamping them on the paper. You can also find treasures from outside and glue them right onto the paper, or simply color and paint your own designs. For gift wrap that is reusable year after year, try wrapping your gifts in fabric Japanese style using a furoshiki. Click here to learn how to wrap virtually any gift shape in a furoshiki. If all that tying and twisting has gotten your mind in a knot, simply secure the fabric with a bow.
Green your labels:
Gather holiday cards you have received and let you child cut gift labels and name cards for the dinner table. He or she can simply cut off the written message and keep the cover image or cut the image into sections to make little tags. You can cut fun shapes like stars, hearts and trees to give the image new life. Or attach a ribbon and viola! You have an ornament!
Green your decorations:
Bring nature in from the cold to add life to your holiday decor. Evergreens, pine cones and berries make beautiful garlands, centerpieces and accessories to gift wrap. Gather dead vines to make a wreath that will last for years. Pine cones can be placed in a bowl and splashed with cinnamon and clove to add a nice aroma, or used to hold those homemade place cards previously mentioned at the dinner table. Remember to return these items outdoors when you are done so that they can biodegrade back into the soil and become part of next year’s evergreen boughs and berries.
Nothing says Christmas like a beautiful tree covered in chemicals, right? Wrong! Sadly, many trees, that timeless symbol of Christmas, are dangerous to your child’s health. Some farmers use 40 different pesticides, as well as chemical colorants, when growing christmas trees. The good news is that there are now a number of tree-farms that sell pesticide-free trees, so ask your local Christmas tree seller, or search for an organic tree farm near you.
If you want to go the extra mile and ensure lasting memories, you can purchase a tree with roots still intact. Once the holidays are over, you can plant the tree in your backyard or donate it to a local organization and watch it grow for years to come. To learn more about trees with their roots intact, click here.
Butterflies can be deceiving. Their beautiful patterns and delicate wings make them seem like they are all for show, but they are actually very important to the health of gardens. When they visit a flower to drink its nectar, they help to pollinate it by spreading pollen from one part of the flower to another. Insects who do this are known as pollinators, and ensure that our plants continue to grow month after month and year after year.
Did you know that you can observe beautiful butterflies right from your own backyard? Here’s what you do…
– Butterflies love nectar! Talk to your local nursery to find out which nectar flowers are native to your community. Plant a variety in your yard or in in pots on your window sill.
– Slurp, slurp. If you look very carefully, you’ll see that butterflies drink nectar through their proboscis, a long straw-like snout.
– There are over 700 species of butterflies in North America, how many can you find in your neighborhood?
You can also observe butterflies at public museums and gardens all over the country. To find an exhibit in your area, click here.
Did you know that last week was Arbor Day? On Arbor Day, people all around the country plant trees in their communities. If you haven’t planted a tree, it’s not too late! Trees do many wonderful things for the planet, like filtering carbon dioxide from the air and giving us oxygen to breath. When planted near a house, trees provide shade that cools the home in the summer, helping to save energy. Planting trees native to your area is a good idea. They require little maintenance and provide homes and food for the creatures in their ecosystem. To learn more about how you can get started planting trees visit the Arbor Day Foundation.
Today we have great suggestion from “Sam’s Mom” about raising chickens with kids. Thanks for sharing!
When my child’s Montessori school teacher brought an incubator and chicken eggs to the classroom, we were not aware of the profound impact it would have on our daughter and the important life lessons we want for our children. She patiently watched the eggs in anticipation of the day the shell would give forth to the little fuzzy bits of life. She picked out her favorites, and helped with feeding and caring for the chicks in the classroom. We were asked to adopt some of the chickens, and couldn’t resist. Sam cared for her chicks under a heat lamp in the utility room, and once they were old enough to leave the heat of them lamp, we moved them outside to the chicken coop. Sam soon found the chickens to be less friendly with their newfound independence, and her relationship with the chickens evolved. She helped with watering and feeding the chickens and watched them mature into egg laying hens. She was proud to have a rewarding relationship with the hens she raised from chicks, and told everyone she knew about the hens she fed, who fed her in return. Wow! At three years old, our daughter learned the importance of caring for animals, and learned acceptance of how relationships with animals and nature evolve with new meaning. But, one of my personal favorite lessons, was that of sustainable living. Our chickens eat feed, and a lot of very delicious leftover bits of organic and whole foods, they live on our land, and the eggs they lay for us, are healthy, local, and appreciated. The hens are part of our daily ritual, an extension of our family, and the springboard for other green topics in our household, including recycling, composting (both table scraps and chicken poop), growing our own fruits and vegetables and water conservation. The rewards, low cost and ease of raising chickens is one every family should consider. Go green with chickens for children!
At long last, Spring has sprung! How do we know that spring is here for good? Yes, the weather may feel warmer, but as we all know, good weather is no sure bet in March. We know that spring is here at the first sight of buds poking through the ground and from the branches of trees.
Fun Springtime Activity:
Find a bud that has just begun to grow. Tie a colorful string loosely below it so that you can be sure to find it again.
Every day draw a picture or take a photography of your little bud. If you can, draw or photograph the bud so it is the same size in each picture.
Once the bud has fully bloomed, stack all your drawings or photographs together. Flip through your stack and watch your little buddy grow all over again!
It’s wintertime, and in many parts or the country, animals are hibernating, the branches are bare and the ground is covered in snow and ice. It’s much quieter outside in the winter, but there is still much to see, hear and smell. How many of these things you can find on a scavenger hunt?
While some animals hibernate or migrate south, many stay and can be spotted all year round. What animals can you find?
Can you spot a bird with it’s feathers fluffed to keep it warm?
Can you spot a rabbit hopping to it’s burrow?
Sometimes animals are hard to spot, but if you listen carefully, you can hear them going about their business. How many animal sounds can you hear?
Can you hear birds chirping, squirrels chattering or coyotes howling?
Can you hear animals chomping on food?
Animals need a home just like we do. Can you spot these places where animals might live?
Burrows in the ground
Nests in bare branches
Piles of sticks and leaves with nesting insects
Food is much harder to find in the winter. If you were an animal, where would you look for food?
Can you find a place where animals might go to eat?
Can you find a place where animals might go to drink?
Can you find a place where an animal has stored some food?
Can you find chew marks from where an animal has nibbled on bark?
Snow, dirt and mud are great places to spot animal tracks.
