Last month, we shared with you a shocking UK report that claimed disposable diapers were better for the environment than cloth nappies, even though we couldn’t believe it and found the report did not consider all things enviro.
“It’s very open-ended, all-natural, the perfect price - there aren’t any rules or instructions for its use,” said Christopher Bensch, the museum’s curator of collections. “It can be a Wild West horse, a medieval knight’s sword, a boat on a stream or a slingshot with a rubber band. … No snowman is complete without a couple of stick arms, and every campfire needs a stick for toasting marshmallows.”
Generation Green: The Ultimate Teen Guide to Living an Eco-Friendly Life
Recently on our sister site Feel Good Style, we talked about creating happiness for us and everyone around…In reading it, did you discover the free creative lesson plans and questions for awakening kids minds? They are so fun! 
For example, lesson plan idea number one for getting off to a great start with a new team (both in the classroom and out) is: Read the rest of this entry »
Editor’s note: The following post was written by Professor Elkind, chief scientific advisor for Just Ask Baby. David Elkind is currently Professor Emeritus of Child Development at Tufts University. He was formerly Professor of Psychology, Psychiatry and Education at the University of Rochester. Just Ask Baby is a site devoted to:
providing our community of members with all the information, resources and support they need to help their children develop socially, emotionally and intellectually – and at their own pace – during the critical early years of their life…The information we provide is 100% based on decades of scientific research by some of the leading child development experts. We are also 100% un-sponsored by manufacturers and 100% un-influenced by advertisers.
They dug holes in the sand and enjoyed simply flinging the sand with their shovels; they filled pails with sand and built a sand castle, then filled the pails with water and washed it away. Stella Blue wanted me to bury her in the sand, and seemed delighted as I poured buckets of sand on her feet. She kept urging me to cover her toes as well. These two young children happily occupied themselves for hours on the warm beach sand. This kind of play is easy to understand but has a larger lesson as well. Read the rest of this entry »
Oh gosh readers, this is quite the contest, and I’m only telling you about it because my kids are too dang old for it. The prizes are good but the opportunity to have your baby on a book cover? That is amazing. A Dr. Sears Book cover no less.
From now until December 30, 2008 HAPPYFAMILY and HarperCollins are offering 4 babies the chance to be on the cover of Dr. Sears’ book plus each Grand Prize Winner will also receive over $1000 in prizes:
With so many choices in the grocery store, it is often difficult to pick out the healthiest foods for your family. Recently, a system was introduced to help consumers make this decision. It is called the NuVal system and it was developed by a team of healthcare professionals led by Dr. David Katz, a nationally recognized authority on nutrition and funded by Yale University School of Medicine
With the NuVal scoring system, foods receive a simple numeric score between 1 and 100. This score summarizes the overall nutritional value of the food. The score considers many factors, including the presence of nutrients and the quality of protein, fat and carbohydrates. With this system, you can compare items across food groups. For example, you can compare veggie burgers to actual veggies, or cheese to chicken.
There is a lot of discussion revolving around diapers. Cloth, disposable, hybrid or diaper free? What is the best choice?
For the Earth, a diaper free baby (Elimination Communication or EC) is the absolute best choice. This method requires complete dedication for the parents (as the parents must watch for cues and put baby on the elimination pot when needed). It works wonderfully for many families and there is no “potty learning”, the children make a natural transition to being able to recognize cues and go to the potty.
If going diaper free isn’t for you, then cloth diapers are the way to go. In order to keep this as environmentally sound as possible, some precautions need to be taken. Read the rest of this entry »
Halloween may be over, but that doesn’t mean the face paint is put away. Most children LOVE having their faces painted and will use any activity as an excuse to do so.
Make sure you are reading all the packaging and choosing safe products to put on your child’s skin. This Halloween, Wal-Mart sold a package of six make-up crayons for $1.00. There are two warnings on the package. One proclaims, “This product contains LEAD”, the other proclaims that they may be a choking hazard for children under 3.
Do they get bonus points for telling us there is lead in the face paint? The bigger question is who in the world would knowingly include a toxic substance in an item marketed toward children? And what kind of corporate responsibility allows their buyers to order such an item and stock it on the shelves? Just one more reason to NOT shop at Wal-Mart.
For an option you know is safe, use the following face paint recipe. Read the rest of this entry »
As the daughter of a dentists and a proponent of healthy eating, I have a reputation. I’m the mom who doesn’t buy her kid candy.
Nope.
I
Don’t
OK. So you don’t think I’m absolutely draconian, He does get candy in his Easter basket, I do let him eat a piece or two at birthday parties and yes, grandma, grandpa and even my DH buy him candy.
But I don’t.
You see, I grew up that way. We didn’t have candy in the house. Candy was something for holidays, other people’s houses and, of course, Halloween (though we gave out apples instead of candy to the disappointed trick-or-treaters that appeared at our door).
So Halloween’s a tough holiday for me. I cringe when I see the shear amount of candy he ends up consuming between Halloween parties, school events and even the candy bowl that magically appears at many of the stores we frequent around this time of year.
This time of year finds me furiously brushing his teeth and hoping for the best. Over time though, I’ve found a few tricks that seem to help reduce the amount of unrefined sugar he ingests.
1. Good Deeds Begin at Home – This year, instead of buying a bag of commercial candy treats consider giving out small toys instead. The dollar store often has trinkets that won’t upset your green soul too much – like chalk, crayons and notepads. If you tend not to get too many trick-or-treaters at your door, consider spending a bit more and buying little wooden toys or if you really must give out candy, make it organic.
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