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Tuesday, 16 September 2008 |
 Green Kids: Autumn Activities
This fall, why not embark on some of these planet-friendly activities with your kids? You’ll foster in them a love for the environment and sustainable action, and have fun at the same time.
- Green is the new black. When your kids pester you for the latest fashions, discuss ways that you can be creative with their old clothes or personalise ones that you buy secondhand at a local thrift shop. Recycle them into new creations by choosing a saying or picture and printing it onto t-shirt transfer paper to iron onto their t-shirts. Add some personality to clothes by using fabric paint to stencil or free-style a design. Sew patches, sequins, trim, ribbons or buttons onto clothes or bags. Or throw a clothes and toys swap with other families that have kids the same age: ask each family to bring cds, dvds, books, video games, clothes and toys they no longer use to swap for “new to you” items.
- Handmade gifts are from the heart. Making handmade soap is good clean
fun for everyone. There are a multitude of recipes online for soap,
face-cleansing masks and other spa essentials.
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Wrap it up. Have your children wrap gifts with homemade wrapping paper
made from old calendars, newspaper comics, paper bags, unwanted
magazines, cereal boxes, reusable tins, baskets or old posters. Skip
the ribbons and bows and go on a nature hunt for greenery that dries
well.
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Turn off the TV and plan a naturally fun family trip. Go for a bike ride, nature walk or beach day, or play in the park.
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Carpool with other families whose children go to the same school as yours.
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Recycle and compost as a family. But most importantly, teach them how
to REDUCE. Remember, recycling and composting is great, but reducing
the amount you buy really takes the stress off the planet.
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Volunteer as a family. Join one of the many volunteer programmes with
an established local organisation or come up with your own family
programme, for example, by planning your own marine or land clean-up
day.
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Plant a family garden. Space restriction is not an excuse! Container
gardening is ideal for Bermuda and there are free courses at local
nurseries to help get you started.
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Pack waste-free lunches for the entire family. Get your kids in on the
fun by having them chop fruit and veggies for lunch and come up with
ways to make fun meals and snacks with you rather than relying on
processed, individually wrapped sizes. Have kids decorate their
reusable containers with stickers or draw on their Tupperware with
permanent markers to personalise them.
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Add environmentally conscious chores to your rewards chart or allowance
plan, such as putting the compost in the compost bin, putting
recyclables out, checking that the lights are off when not in use, and
unplugging appliances when not in use so that they don’t draw idle
current.
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