Eco Child’s Play

Editor’s note: The following piece is guest post by Dalit Holzman from Natural Pod, one of our favorite eco-friendly toy companies.  Dalit is part of the Natural Pod team (www.naturalpod.com) and raises her two daughters as open-endedly as possible…with the help of some boxes.

We’ve all heard it. In fact we’ve all said it: “the best toy in the house is the cardboard box!” As parents we are constantly reminded that the active imaginations of children really don’t need much stimulation to get going…and going, and going, and going!

Just the other day my very own living room was transformed from, well, a living room into a series of caves and burrows, an enclave for ambushing mini- pirates!

Kids constantly mimic and replay the world around them, and though I am no pirate (lol), my daughters do seem to have many of my mannerisms and modes of communication down to a science (arrr me hearties!) They listen to learn to repeat. Read the rest of this entry »

Last week, while volunteering at my daughter’s classroom Halloween party, I flinched a little as I saw one of the other parents dutifully strolling around dispensing the requisite waterless, chem-filled hand sanitizers. Aside from my skepticism that anti-bacterial soaps will actually do much to kill a virus, I also suspected the ingredients in the sanitizer weren’t much better than the germs they were designed to kill. So when the teacher instructed two of my daughter’s peers that they were supposed to wash their hands with soap and warm water instead (apparently per parental instruction), I quickly chimed in that I wanted Eliana to do the same. Still, I couldn’t help but wonder what other chemicals were being sprayed around the room when the cleaning staff arrived. Read the rest of this entry »

I knew going into having a baby that the mountains of diapers would horrify me from both a personal hygiene and environmental perspective. I also knew that I wasn’t game for potty-training-at-birth philosophies. Sure enough, if I calculate how many diapers I’ve changed for my now 15 month old, I’m horrified.

Two months before I gave birth to my baby girl I did some research on which diapers would have the least amount of environmental impact. Traditional, “non-eco” disposables were never even an option…I was interested only in comparing “eco” choices.

Read the rest of this entry »

Practically Green: Your Guide to Ecofriendly Decision-Making by Micaela Preston is exactly what it says, a practical guide to going green.

This is one of the best green books I have read, probably because it isn’t all preachy and because I am a big DIY girl I just love the 30+ DIY projects included in this book. Read the rest of this entry »

Clementine Art offers safe and natural art supplies for kids: soy crayons, soy crayon rocks, markers, paint, modeling dough and glue. all made with safe, natural, non-toxic ingredients. Perfect for little budding green artists. Read the rest of this entry »

I am not a fan of electronic gizmos for kids, but I am a Mac fan.  When offered an opportunity to review a new app for iPhones and iPod touch by Parents Magazine, I decided to approach it with an open mind.  Previously, I’d bashed such applications, but this one is different.

My own personal experience involves my five-year-old son, who has verbal apraxia.  The tracing activities are wonderful in providing him with a unique way to practice fine motor skills while engaging with letters, shapes, and numbers.  I am also thrilled to have him using the iPod touch, as soon he will be using it as an AAC device to help him communicate.

The green factor in this app may be a stretch, and for that dear reader, I apologize; however, if your are looking for an app to entertain your child on the car, airplane, waiting room, iPlay n’ Learn may be for you. Heck, you can’t beat the price. Read the rest of this entry »

Tough economic times have caused one school in Ireland to ask students to bring their own toilet paper. Parents received the following request last week from principal Catherine O’Neill:

Dear parent, from time to time we will request your daughter to bring in a toilet roll to her class teacher. These rolls will be specifically for your daughter’s class and will be dispensed by the class teacher. We would also request that your daughter has tissues in her sack at all times.

Read the rest of this entry »

Recently Nestle invited several high profile bloggers to their headquarters in Glendale, California. From their site:

Nestlé understands the importance of listening directly to parents. That’s why on September 30 and October 1, we’ve invited 20 Mom and Dad bloggers to our U.S. headquarters to learn firsthand the things that are important to them and their families, and to share a little about us and our brands. Check out what they are saying by following the conversation below from Twitter. Visit this page daily from September 23 through October 7, to learn more about them, their families, their busy lives, and to hear about their experiences at Nestlé. Check out their blogs, too

What’s interesting is that they picked a group of bloggers who would clearly support their mission, and they forgot about the others.

The others include women who believe that Nestle has a history of undermining breastfeeding in many countries. I’m not familiar with the controversy because breastfeeding was never a discussion in my home. For one child it worked for a good long time, and for another child medical reasons kept us from breastfeeding. Read the rest of this entry »

Ask the average kid where milk comes from and he might very well say a jug. Bread? The grocery store. According to research by Kingston University in London, kids need more farm visits to dispel the ignorance and misconceptions about farming and where food comes from. Scientist Frances Harris, the author of the report, wants schools to take action to organize these visits.

Even if your child knows that milk comes from a cow, does she know that there is more than one variety of cow? A hands on approach at the farm could also help kids understand which foods are real and which ones are processed. They won’t see any Pop Tarts or red, blue and green grains that could make up their Fruit Loops on the farm. Showing your kids where food comes from could set them up for a lifelong, healthier lifestyle. And actually being able to reach out and touch a cow is invaluable compared to watching a farm DVD or playing a video game.

Read the rest of this entry »

A friend has a daughter with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Vijay and her husband are so honest and open about their challenges with their younger daughter, and their intelligent perspectives have helped me understand a bit more about these families. She recently posted a note about acceptance and autism, and I thought it was important to share with you.

Vijay: I was asked by a friend,

Are you telling me that you would NOT be interested in a cure for autism?

And here is my answer:

Certainly dealing with Violet has been harder than dealing with a “regular” kid, but sometimes challenges are good for people to kind of push us to open our minds. It’s humbling to be faced with someone who is difficult to figure out. But that there is a lot to be learned from the experience. There’s no way to find out if Violet understands that she’s different, or if she would change that if she could. Yet.

These kids are different. So what should change? The kids? Or society? Read the rest of this entry »