Published on June 18th, 2008
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It’s bug season in New England. Blackflies, mosquitos, deer flies, no-see-ums, and even the ticks are moving northward to invade us.
Being a child playing all day outside can be a feast for these crawly creatures. Right now both my girls have big blackfly bites on their scalps, where it is hard to apply insect repellents.
Over the years, I’ve tried many natural bug repellents, some combination SPF and insect repellents. Most of them have relatively good safety ratings of 3 or under on the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep database. This is a good place to check out to see if your favorite brand has troublesome chemicals, or is one of the safer products.
Here are a few of my favorites:
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Published on June 11th, 2008
Today I swam for the first time this summer. Ah, a crisp cool Vermont river swept away the dirt and grime and I finally felt alive again after feeling wilted most of the day. We don’t get heat like this often in good ole’ Vermont, and I’m not used to it.
All that fresh water, the frogs calling and the warm night air got me thinking about how to have a less of an impact on the planet with my family this summer, and how to keep the kids safe and healthy, while enjoying this fleeting and beautiful season.
1. Use chemical free sunscreen for the whole family. There are many toxic chemicals in conventional sunscreens. Look for sunscreens that have Titanium Oxide (which stays on the surface of skin) and not much else. There are some safe brands and more information here.
2. Garden, and compost your food waste. Or, if you don’t have a green thumb or access to garden space, you can support local growers by visiting farm stands, farmer’s markets, or participating in CSAs.
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Published on June 4th, 2008
A new report,Vitamin D Deficiency Puts 40% of U.S. Infants and Toddlers At Risk, just came out today with surprising, perhaps shocking news.
At least 40 percent of American infants and toddlers aren’t getting enough vitamin D, according to researchers from Children’s Hospital in Boston.
The study made particular note of the fact that breast feed children may be at a higher risk and recommends both mother and child take vitamin D supplements.
Breast-feeding is a known risk factor for low vitamin D levels in infants, which is why many pediatricians routinely recommend vitamin D supplementation for breast-fed infants. Other factors that may contribute to low levels of vitamin D include not drinking enough vitamin D-fortified milk (for toddlers), staying out of the sun or using sunscreen.
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Published on May 28th, 2008
Finally, the warmer season is here, and thoughts turn to outside play for the whole family. For many of us this includes watching our kids of playing on a play set, swinging happily in the June sun, or scooping up sand in a sand box.
But there are a few potential environmental health problems with this scene. The play set, if bought before 2004, could be treated with chromated copper arsenate (CCA), which according to the Green Guide, “the basis of which is arsenic, a carcinogenic chemical that can leach out of CCA-treated wood onto children’s hands and into soil and groundwater. Although CCA has been banned in residential uses since 2004, millions of CCA-treated play sets still exist.” Read the rest of this entry »
Published on May 14th, 2008
It is gardening season across the Northern Hemisphere. My children’s interests wax and wane in the garden, but they’ve enjoyed the recent abundance of asparagus and seed planting. My daughter likes to harvest the asparagus, probably because we let her use a knife under close supervision, and my son loves to plant the seeds and dig holes. We are all anxiously awaiting the arrival of the strawberries!
Over the years of organic gardening with children, I have learned to relinquish some control to perfect rows, perfect spacing, etc. Now, I have added seed and plant selection to the list of gardening enjoyments I now share with my children. It all started when the seed catalogs started arriving at the end of winter. Both of my children took an active interest in the pictures, so I suggested they start circling varieties they wanted to grow. Now that we are planting, they have a vested interest in our efforts, and I believe this will carry over to trying new foods and healthy eating from our organic garden. Read the rest of this entry »
Published on May 12th, 2008
Anyone who’s a parent or going to be parents know the utmost importance of a stroller. When parents are willing to shell out a thousand dollar for a Bugaboo or even a couple hundred to tote their precious cargo; it’s just a lucrative and booming business. So it’s like breath of fresh air when a company decides to start a brand of Eco-friendly strollers that offers to recycle their old strollers and even partners up with Wildlife Conservation Society to help save endangered animals.
Baby Planet is a company that cares not only about the environment for the children but also considers the needs of the parents. Ergonomically designed, these strollers are not only Eco-conscious but well thought out with “cutting edge technology along with an innovative spirit to shape a new line of products that are safe, durable, convenient and stylish”. These strollers have been featured on many parenting magazines and won 2007 JPMA INNOVATION for design. Read the rest of this entry »
Published on April 25th, 2008
Today is Arbor Day. Founded by J. Sterling Morton in 1872, National Arbor Day is celebrated to encourage tree planting and care. Here are five ideas for celebrating Arbor Day with your children:
Plant a Tree and Give it a Name
This is the classic Arbor Day activity. Whether you plant a native tree or an ornamental in your yard, children love to plant trees and monitor the tree’s growth in comparison to their own. In our family, we name our trees, such as Maggie the Magnolia. This little bit of personification causes children to become attached to the their tree and provide it with lots of loving care.
Make Your Own Field Guide
Take your children for a nature hike or just a walk around the neighborhood. Collect a few leaves from the trees you see, then take them home. Identify the trees, attach the leaves to pages, and create your own field guide. We did this my first year teaching for all of the different oaks that grow in our valley. If you don’t have a book that can help you identify the tree species, you can also look it up on the internet. Read the rest of this entry »
Published on April 24th, 2008
My children are fortunate to grow up surrounded by nature, thus they have a natural attachment to the environment around them. As an avid hiker, I have always found spots in the woods that felt sacred to me and somehow spoke to my soul. My children have inherited my affinity for these sacred spots.
At six weeks postpartum, I was cleared by my midwives to resume hiking. Strapping my young babe in the Baby Bjorn, we visited our sacred grove of yew trees. Yew trees are not common here in northern CA, and they only grow in moist creek beds. The bark is an amazing shed of red, and we are blessed with the biggest yew tree we have ever seen on our property. The yew bark is used in cancer drugs, and this is my favorite tree to hug and whisper my prayers into its bark. It is my guardian, and now it is my children’s protector too. This grove is a special place, with ancient grapevines dangling from douglas fir trees and mature oaks, with two seasonal streams meeting in the grove. My daughter has suggested placing a Buddha statue in our sacred spot or hanging prayer flags, but in the end, we decided that our sacred spot is perfect the way it is. Read the rest of this entry »
Published on April 22nd, 2008
The other day, my daughter asked me what time it was. I gazed up at the sun and told her it was 3:30 pm. She checked her watch, and then in astonishment asked me how I knew the time. She had no idea that you could tell time from the sun, even after we had just visited the Sundial Bridge and read the time from its cast shadows. I was reminded of a project I used to do as part of a unit on solar energy when I was teaching K-8: Human sundials.
To help children learn how the sun moves across the sky and how shadows are formed, the human sundial project takes a whole day. First thing in the morning when the sun is up, go outside with your child and trace their shadow with some chalk. Mark an X where your child is standing so they can return to the same spot. Switch roles and have your child trace your shadow in a different spot. Then, return every hour and repeat tracing your shadows and recording the time on each shadow. By the end of the day, your child will see how their shadow moves in accordance with the sun’s path, as well as changes shape. Read the rest of this entry »
Published on April 21st, 2008
One of the ways Impressionism revolutionized the art world was by taking the creation of art from the studio to the outdoors. In fact, Impressionists have been called “open air” painters, because they took advantage of the mobility offered by the invention of tubes of paint and went outside for inspiration. Following this art movement’s love of the outdoors, I was inspired to paint with my children outside in honor of Earth Day. Since Earth Day falls on a school day, we began our project over the weekend.
Due to the fact that it snowed here this weekend, my six-year-old daughter, three-year-old son, and I picked some flowers to inspire our painting rather than draw them in their natural location. We did set up our paints on the covered deck and worked quickly due to the cold temperatures. Using chalk to sketch out our ideas, we then covered the canvas in “crazy” colors for the under painting. Read the rest of this entry »
