Kids need and deserve paint!!! The only problem is, even when they are older, children are not very neat artists. Recently, I was surprised at how much paint my daughter had all over her hands, and she is ten-years-old!

Since our skin absorbs toxins, it is very important children use quality, natural art supplies, as you know they will be wearing them!

Even though paints designed for children come with “non-toxic” assurances, that certainly does not mean they are natural. Likewise, “all natural” does not mean non-toxic.

Originally paint was made from pure pigment found on Earth. In fact, there are still windmills in Holland used for grinding paint pigments. This traditional process is behind Earth Paint.

We were sent a petite version of Earth Paints for Children:

Earth Paints for Children – Petite is an organic, eco-friendly paint kit made from primarily natural earth pigments (pure clay). The naturally colored clay was collected from the ground, dried, crushed and sifted into pure pigment. Mix water with these six powdered colors to create a creamy paint similar to tempera or add more water to create watercolor like effects. It is different from other children’s paint in that it is a high quality, rich, vibrant paint that is free of fillers and preservatives. It is perfect for adults as well to create quality works of art on paper, stones, fabric, wood and more.

My kids really like mixing their own colors from the powders, and I think it really helps kids understand the origins of paint to work with powdered pigments. It helps us connect to our cave dwelling artistic roots!  In fact, for older students, Earth Paints can be included in history lessons.

Natural Earth pigments were among the earliest recorded materials used by our ancestors to make paint, and their use pre-dates recorded history. Starting at least 100,000 years ago, ancient people from all over the world, including Egyptians, Native Americans, ancient Buddhists, Medieval monks, and Renaissance masters used earthen pigments to make their paints. Humans on almost every continent ground up earthen clays and minerals and mixed them with a binder such as honey, urine, blood, sap, grease, or oil. This basic technique, with numerous variations, became the prevailing method of oil painting until the Nineteenth century’s introduction of synthetic pigments and petroleum-based paints.

Such a lesson in ancient art history would be perfect for homeschool, as well as the classroom!  Earth Paints would also be a great source for lessons in geology learning about the natural sources for the pigments.

I would love to try the Earth Oil Paint Kit myself!

disclosure: The products described above were sent to us as free samples. Prior assurances as to the nature of the reviews, whether positive or negative, were not given. No financial payments were accepted in exchange for the reviews. The reviews reflect our honest, authentic opinions.

Earth Paint: Eco-Friendly, Natural Paint Kit Made in the USA is a post from: Eco Child's Play

I have long advocated that high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) is bad for our health and has no place in school lunches.  It is banned from our home. I personally banned it from the preschool program I taught for eight years.

Now, there is evidence it is not just the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes, but HFCS actually affects memory and thus learning.

Mother Jones reports:

 A team of UCLA researchers has observed that high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) makes rats more forgetful, while omega-3 fatty acids—chemical compounds that research has shown can protect the brain’s synapses—seem to have the opposite effect.

The researchers, whose paper will be published this week in the peer-reviewed Journal of Physiology, trained a group of rats to navigate a maze. Then, they randomly divided the rats into four groups, and for six weeks they fed each group a slightly different diet in addition to the usual rat chow: One group received HFCS in its water; another received omega-3 fatty acids. A third received both HFCS and omega-3s, and the fourth, a control group, received plain old rat chow.

At the end of the six weeks, the group that had been given omega-3 fatty acids but no HFCS was the speediest at remembering how to get out of the maze. The control group (no HFCS or omega-3s) was the second fastest, and the group that had received omega-3 fatty acids and HFCS came in third. The slowpokes of the lot were the group that had only received HFCS. The takeaway: HFCS seemed to impair rats’ memory, while omega-3 fatty acids seemed to help it.

I can’t help but think of Ralph S. Mouse running on top of the maze.  Apparently, he didn’t find any HFCS in the Irwin J. Sneed Elementary School cafeteria to be able to outsmart the maze.

Actually, the UCLA study has been corrected, as the researchers did not study HFCS soley, but fructose ”generally”.  Even so, the research is still important:

While earlier research has revealed how fructose harms the body through its role in diabetes, obesity and fatty liver, this study is the first to uncover how the sweetener influences the brain.

Sources of fructose in the Western diet include cane sugar (sucrose) and high-fructose corn syrup, an inexpensive liquid sweetener. The syrup is widely added to processed foods, including soft drinks, condiments, applesauce and baby food. The average American consumes roughly 47 pounds of cane sugar and 35 pounds of high-fructose corn syrup per year, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“We’re less concerned about naturally occurring fructose in fruits, which also contain important antioxidants,” explained Gomez-Pinilla, who is also a member of UCLA’s Brain Research Institute and Brain Injury Research Center. “We’re more concerned about the fructose in high-fructose corn syrup, which is added to manufactured food products as a sweetener and preservative.”

High sugar consumption impaired cognitive abilities and disrupted insulin signalling by engaging molecules associated with energy metabolism and synaptic plasticity; in turn, the presence of docosahexaenoic acid, an n-3 fatty acid, restored metabolic homeostasis.

Image:  License Some rights reserved by disrupsean

High Sugar Consumption Makes Kids Dumb is a post from: Eco Child's Play

If you have kids, you most likely have some Crayola markers in your home.  If you don’t, I can almost guarantee your child’s school has them.

Unfortunately, markers do not last forever.  In fact, one reason I try to avoid them is they dry up long before I think they should. If you can’t rehydrate them, which I try, they get tossed into the garbage. That is a lot of plastic for a little coloring.

Children at Sun Valley School in San Rafael, California have created an online petition asking Crayola to recycle markers.  Unfortunately, the company did not respond enthusiastically.

Dear Crayola,

I love Crayola products and I am a Crayola fan. I join with children’s author, Mr. Land and his “Kids That Care” from Sun Valley School in asking you to establish a convenient take-back program for your plastic markers that kids can easily partake in. Specifically, we want used Crayola plastic markers to be recycled into new Crayola products that can be purchased again and again.

We are looking for your leadership to empower kids to be “green.” Will you take the lead and show the world that you care about keeping plastics out of landfills, incinerators and oceans? When plastics are sent to landfill, or burned for electricity, or washed into oceans, they pollute Earth.

Kids care deeply about protecting earth and they need your help. Crayola, will you please “make your mark” and show us how much you care about our kids and their future?

These kids have already over 61,000 signatures and caught the attention of the mainstream media.  MSNBC reports:

“The idea evolved from conversations with kids about plastic waste and they immediately identified with how many Crayola plastic markers they had thrown away,” Land Wilson, the adult volunteer who facilitates the efforts, told msnbc.com. “Forty students eagerly stepped up and wanted to do something about the problem.”

“We simply want Crayola to establish an easy take back program that kids can partake in  – i.e. prepaid return envelopes with their products or dropoff locations at retail outlets and schools,” he added…

Crayola acknowledged the good intentions but said that, for now at least, there’s no practical way to take back and recycle entire markers.

“We value and encourage children to share their ideas and appreciate the suggestion that the students of Sun Valley brought to our attention,” Crayola spokeswoman Stacy Gabrielle told msnbc.com. “At this time, we do not have the facilities or a process that will enable us to offer a take back program.”

Needless to say, Crayola’s response is lame!!!

Perhaps the company could team up with Terracycle or change their packaging so that what you buy the markers in turns into a return envelope.  Even Elmer’s Glue has teamed up with Terracycle, why not Crayola?

I honestly don’t feel Crayola took the children’s petition seriously and truly looked into alternatives. Welcome to the world of activism kids…Don’t give up!

Image:  License Some rights reserved by stevendepolo

Activist Kids That Care: San Rafael Elementary Asks Crayola to Recycle; Crayola Says NO! is a post from: Eco Child's Play

When I was a preschool teacher, we wanted to improve our school play yard to be more developmentally appropriate and natural.  The only equipment that was allowed to be purchased and installed had to first be approved by the school’s insurance company and installed by a million dollar bonded contractor. Needless to say, our $30,000 amounted to to very little that was natural, and the commercial play structure was small and disappointing.

The risk of being sued for injuries has caused many schools and playgrounds to remove the element of nature in exchange for plastic and metal structures with eight inches of cushioning below.  Fortunately in Canada, there is a movement afoot to bring back nature and its inherent risks to play.

The National Post reports:

At first, parents fretted about the rocky hillside.

It screamed danger to some who gathered at a town hall about Lord Selkirk School’s new playground plans three and a half years ago. What if the children were running over the hill, didn’t see the rocks and tumbled down, scraping their knees and elbows or worse?

Stormie Duchnycz, principal of the Winnipeg school, and the landscape designer who was working on the plans carefully explained its hidden virtues: The rocky hill would help expose their children to nature, it would be physically challenging and engage the whole of their little bodies. Kids would be aware of their surroundings, but their imaginations would also run wild as they incorporate the rocks into their play.

I love this idea of a “nature-oriented playground featuring rough materials” such as logs and rocks!  It is much cheaper than commercial playground equipment and inspires children to play. Their imagination, even for older children, is not bound by a structure that dictates the kind of play or how it is to be used.  No one is telling a child what to pretend to be when standing on a log, besides it is a pleasant place to hang out and socialize.

No matter what caring adults do, children will get hurt on playgrounds.  Removing apparent risk will not prevent this, and risk is good for child development.  We cannot protect our children from everything.  The National Post continues:

Last week, advocates lobbying for a more natural, challenging schoolyard announced the formation of the International School Grounds Alliance, a global voice to address the “increasingly sedentary and risk-averse generation of children disconnected from nature.” Its members hail from Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States — all countries hoping to trade ideas and become an influential force that will help schools see the learning opportunities that can come from peering under rocks and maybe even skinning a knee during recess…

The international alliance has introduced lots of ideas for how to re-introduce risk, many of the more tangible ones from parks and schoolyards in Berlin, Germany: a rough hewn bridge that introduces kids to natural textures, a tensioned, spider web-like play structure that helps them problem solve and develop a sense of balance, a boulder wall made of natural stone that kids can climb and jump off of.

Logs, stumps, rocks, sand, mud, water, etc.  These are all things that are good for kids!

Image:   The National Post

Canadian Playgrounds and Schools Bring Back Risk of Nature is a post from: Eco Child's Play

Dates (Photo credit: DBduo Photography)

We have incorporated cooking into our homeschool curriculum.  Cooking is great for teaching fractions, life skills, healthy eating, etc.  On our first day of homeschool last week, my daughter made organic oat date bars, a recipe I have not made for almost a decade.  I forgot how delicious they are!

This recipe is easily made vegan, sugar-free, or gluten-free (options below in parentheses).

Naturally Sweet Organic Oat & Spelt Date Bars

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare filling. Cook until very soft and water evaporated, stirring often:

• 3 cups organic dates (date pieces work well but if gluten-free, be sure they are not dusted with flour)
• 2 cups water
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Let cool.

To prepare crust, combine:

• 3 cups rolled oats (certified gluten-free)
• 1/2 cup organic spelt flour (if sugar-free, increase to one cup; if gluten-free, use quinoa flour)
• 1/2 cup organic sucanat or other sugar (omit if sugar-free and substitute with flour)
• 1/2 cup melted butter (oil if vegan)
• 1 teaspoon organic vanilla (be sure gluten-free)
• 3 Tablespoons soymilk, nutmilk, or water

Press half of the oat mixture into the bottom of a large glass pan (about 9″ x 13″).  Place date mixture filling on top, then press the other half the oat mixture on top.  Bake 35 minutes.  Let cool before serving.

This recipe was adapted from Ecological Cooking

Homeschool Recipes: Naturally Sweet Organic Oat & Spelt Date Bars is a post from: Eco Child's Play

by Rachel Lincoln Sarnoff
Executive Director & C.E.O
Healthy Child Healthy World

www.healthychild.org

Potential Autism Causes Identified

What causes autism? Dr. Phil Landrigan, professor and chair of preventive medicine at Mount Sinai Medical School in New York and Honorary Board member of Healthy Child Healthy World, recently released a comprehensive list of environmental triggers, published in Environmental Health Perspectives and concisely presented in a slideshow on Rodale News. This powerful research looks at environmental factors—including lead, mercury and pesticides—and connects the dots on early exposures to problems in childhood, with the goal of informing the medical community and changing chemical regulation to better protect kids.

Approval Sought for GE Corn

According to the Just Label It! campaign, of which Healthy Child is a member, the USDA may approve corn that is genetically engineered to withstand 2,4-D, a potent herbicide that may be linked to major health problems including reproductive abnormalities, birth defects, and several forms of cancer. The FDA is currently considering approval of genetically engineered salmon, which is engineered to produce growth hormones year-round to make the fish grow at twice its natural rate, and would be the first genetically engineered animal on supermarket shelves in the United States. If these “foods” are approved, we won’t know they’re on our shelves because GE foods are not required to be labeled in the U.S.—as they are in 40 other countries. 90% of Americans are against unlabeled GE foods. Healthy Child is, too!

House Hearing on Cancer

Information from the House assessment of the “Report on Carcinogens” continues to trickle down. The report, which recently classified formaldehyde as a “known carcinogen” and styrene as a “reasonably anticipated” human carcinogen, was under attack, most notably by Dow Chemical, for being “bad for business,” according to Andy Igrejas of the Safer Chemicals Healthy Families coalition in the Huffington Post.

Honorary Board Kudos

Last week, we told you about the study published in Pedriatrics about Dr. Harvey Karp’s “Happiest Baby” methods to soothe infants experiencing pain.  This week, Scholastic named the doctor the second most important person in American family life —after moms and before Steve Jobs.

Also this week, fellow Healthy Child Healthy World Honorary Board member Olivia Newton-John’s new “Livwise” book shot to the top of the bestseller list.

Congratulations to these amazing visionaries; we are so grateful for their support and thankful as they continue to expand the healthy parenting movement!

May is Pregnancy Awareness Month!

Pregnancy Awareness Month (P.A.M.) is an organization dedicated to inspiring women during pregnancy with educational initiatives spotlighting nutrition, wellness, and all around nurturing.  If you’re in Los Angeles on Sunday May 6, be sure to join P.A.M.’s annual flagship free event at the Skirball Center that features features a variety of brands, specialists and experts in the field of pregnancy, motherhood and kids.  Click here for more information.

P.A.M. was established in 2008 by Healthy Child Healthy World Board Member, author & holistic lifestyle expert Anna Getty and producer & mompreneur Alisa Donner.

Autism and Chemicals, Cancer Report Under Fire, and Kudos! is a post from: Eco Child's Play

Last week, we started homeschooling out ten-year-old daughter.  Our reasons are social and emotional, not necessarily academic.  Her school environment is no longer healthy.  We had tried to support and work with the school (of which I am a part-time teacher), but things were only escalating and getting worse.  Thus, it was time to make a change.

I have always wanted to try homeschool.  It fits with my Little House on the Prairie homesteading life.  Homeschooling is trendy amongst the green, natural parenting crowd, but as a teacher and product of public schooling, as well as the fact that my children attend a one-room schoolhouse in a small community, I felt going to school was a rite of passage..

There are benefits to school; there are  benefits to homeschool.  In the upscale suburb I grew up in, homeschooling was not trendy.  I remember one boy that entered public high school after homeschooling his whole life.  Even at that young age, I was impressed with his confidence and self-esteem which contrasted my own insecurities.  He lacked that constant worry that plagued me about what others thought.

I saw my daughter’s social confidence slipping away.  This is somewhat normal in our culture as our children enter the tweens, but does it have to be that way?  Why can’t preteen/teen girls and boys treat each other with kindness, compassion, and respect?

There isn’t much schools can do with the cultural phenomena of the American teen, or is there?  Respect for ourselves, for our community, for our earth, for our elders, for our peers, for our educators…these are strong values that need fostering both with positive modeling, shaping, and compassion, yet there must be consequences for those who violate these agreements.

I often equate going to school as being a child’s job.  Would you remain in a job where your coworkers were disrespectful to you, your boss, and each other?  If your social and emotional health was deteriorating as a result, wouldn’t you seek new employment?  Why do we feel our children are any different and must tough it out?

We are blessed we can educate our daughter at home in order to foster positive emotions about herself and others.  It is not a sacrifice of my time at all; it just takes a little adjustment.  I look forward to our projects and lessons that are only possible at home.

I will protect my daughter from the harm of social cliques and egos as much as possible at this age.  I don’t want her to suffer as I did from false friendships and cruel behavior that left permanent scars of self-doubt on my psyche.  I believed we saved her from the perils public education just in time

She will return to public school at some point (not this year), and it should be noted that her brother has remained.  What is good for one child is not always good for the other.

Love and light!

I am a Homeschool Parent is a post from: Eco Child's Play

by Rachel Sarnoff, Executive Director & CEO

Healthy Child Healthy World
www.healthychild.org

Happiest Babies Are Soothed by 5 S’s

Can simple soothing take the place of sugar? That was the takeaway from a new study published this week in the journal Pediatrics. In a study involving more than 200 infants, researchers found the “5 S’s” baby-calming tactics worked better than the sugar-water supplements traditionally given to infants after experiencing pain, according to ABC News. The 5 S’s tactics were developed by Dr. Harvey Karp, a founding board member of Healthy Child Healthy World and author of “The Happiest Baby on the Block” book and video series. Yet another reason to “shh-shh-shh”!

Carcinogens in the House

On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives will hold an investigative hearing on the Report on Carcinogens of the National Toxicology Program, a government program that identifies cancer-causing chemicals. The Subcommittee on Science, Space & Technology will meet to assess the impact of the Report on small business jobs. Healthy Child has signed on to a group letter urging the Committee to continue funding the Report; we’ll share more information as it emerges.

The Story’s Not Over on BPA

The FDA’s recent decision not to ban BPA has been criticized by scientists who are concerned that low-dose exposures may be linked to health problems, according to the Washington Post.

Earth Week is for Mothers

Earth Week started Sunday and there’s nothing more powerful than moms doing their part for the Earth. In addition to the awe-inspiring “Mom on a Mission” finalists and all the incredible hosts teeing up for Healthy Child Party Week, we wanted to take a moment to recognize…

Lori Popkewitz Alper of Groovy Green Livin’, who took on P & G with a petition that’s racked up nearly 75,000 signatures encouraging the company to strip carcinogenic 1,4 dioxane from its Free & Gentle detergent.

Jenna Elfman, Kelly Preston and Laila Ali, who kicked off the Healthy Child Party campaign with a bang and showed the world ALL moms fight for children’s health.

And green living leader Sara Snow, who recently launched a petition to get cancer-causing flame retardants out of Graco baby products—for her baby daughter’s health and the health of children everywhere.

Go team!

Earth Week is for Mothers is a post from: Eco Child's Play

This ad from my childhood made me feel very nostalgic this morning. It probably had some influence on who I am today. What happened to such public service announcements? Why are they no longer televised?
Via: Moveon.org

Retro Earth Day: Remember this Pollution Ad? is a post from: Eco Child's Play

When I was a full time elementary school teacher, I remember receiving curriculum from companies.  Bic lighters would send writing workbooks. PG&E would send power safety coloring books.  I would always toss this marketing propaganda into the recycling bin.  Although some of the content was not bad, the company logos all over the curriculum screamed of commercial advertising in education.

The Council for Biotechnology Information (CBI) has joined this “educational” marketing strategy attempting to brainwash our kids in favor of their genetically modified organisms (GMO).

Look Closer at Biotechnology is a coloring book that let’s our kids know how wonderful GMOs are!

Hi Kids,

Welcome to the Biotechnology Basics Activity Book. This is an activity book for young people like you about biotechnology — a really neat topic. Why is it such a neat topic? Because biotech- nology is helping to improve the health of the Earth and the people who call it home. In this book, you will take a closer look at biotechnology. You will see that biotechnology is being used to figure out how to: 1) grow more food; 2) help the environment; and 3) grow more nutritious food that improves our health. As you work through the puzzles in this book, you will learn more about biotechnology and all of the wonderful ways it can help people live better lives in a healthier world.

Have fun!

The Council for Biotechnology Information is a non-profit 501c6 organization that communicates science-based information about the benefits and safety of agricultural biotechnology and its contributions to sustainable development…

CBI members are the leading agricultural biotechnology companies.

The Council for Biotechnology’s GMO Coloring Book for Kids is a post from: Eco Child's Play