Green Parenting for Non-toxic, Healthy Homes
Posts tagged as:
There were times in my childhood after my parents’ divorce that the television seemed to always be on to fill the empty space. It’s not that uncommon in many homes for the TV to be on when no one is actually watching it. This background TV noise has previously been shown to interrupt play and negatively affect children’s attention and focus, but a new study has found it also reduces “both the quantity and the quality of interactions between parents and children”.
{ 7 comments }
We’ve been getting a lot of wonderful feed back from the comments on our Green Toy Giveaway: Classic Wooden Rocking Boat and Stairs by Natural Pod. Many readers have shared they like to learn about eco-friendly products, such as natural cleaning products and toys. Honest, authentic product reviews have always been part of Eco Child’s Play; however, my own personal interests lie with reporting newsworthy information about how changes in our environment affect our kids and what we can do to mitigate it.
{ 6 comments }
Ugh. Kid music. Who wants to listen to faa-laa-laas and cheeriness worthy of Disney 24/7?
Sorry. I gotta be honest with you: Not me. If you fancy yourself a sassy and hip parent, sometime the Raffi can be a little hard on the ears. And right about now, you may be planning the big family trips: what to listen to on the way to the campsite?
But I found the perfect sound, dubbed a “postmodern jug band” and “Hee-Haw for hipsters,”in Asylum Street Spankers,
You only love me for my lunchbox, baby.
You only love me ’cause it rules.
You only love me for my lunchbox, baby.
‘Cause it’s the coolest one in school!
Now all the other kids are standing in line
‘Cause they ain’t never seen a lunchbox so fine
And everything inside it tastes so divine!
{ 0 comments }
I think one of the nicest gifts you can give a child is a musical instrument. Music is good for the soul, and if you chose the right instrument, your child will make beautiful sounds instead of irritating noise.
The Suling Flute from Down to Earth Toys, a site featuring great natural toys, is beautiful and easy to play. Made from bamboo with a clever reed design, this flute plays all the notes on the scale. My family’s experience with the flute match Down to Earth’s product description (only we had two sets of hands vying for a turn):
When we pulled this flute out of the box, we were amazed at the beautiful rich sound it produced (not like the sound of the recorders we used to play in grade school). My husband could not put it down, and our son reached up to try to pull it out of our hands (of course he got a turn too).
{ 0 comments }
After finding myself seeking out organic musical instruments for my child, I had one of those open-palm-to-the-forehead-moments and realized the old stand-by of spoons on pots, dry beans in Tupperware and whisks around a metal bowl were classics for a reason. Simple. Easy. And I don’t have to buy anything.
BUT, for the really adventurous out there – I did find this wonderfully endearing YouTube clip of a man (the language barrier won’t matter) delighting in showing the world how he fashions apples, carrots and even asparagus into musical instruments. It is music so good you can eat it! (Sorry … couldn’t resist).
It is a little weird – but what a fantastic way to take the fear out of vegetables. I don’t know that I can pull off this trick with my paring knife, but I might give it a try. If nothing else, this will provide at least 10 minutes worth of hysterical laughter from my son.
Enjoy the clip after the jump.
{ 0 comments }
I am a harsh critic of children’s music. I don’t like most of the crap that is out there, and I don’t understand why children should be subjected to poor musical compositions just because they are children. Based on my strong musical opinions, it was with hesitancy that I listened to Hayes Greenfield’s Music for a Green Planet. I was pleasantly surprised by the jazzy melodies and amused by the lyrics of this cd, although I have to admit, I am a sucker for the upright bass.
Music for a Green Planet takes many traditional children’s songs, as well as other popular classics, and changes the lyrics to reflect a green message. I have probably listened to this cd a dozen times in one day, as my children absolutely adore it, and I do too. The first track is a version of “She’ll be Comin’ Round the Mountain” only she’s driving a hybrid and using biodiesel.
We’ll be driving biodiesel when she comes
We’ll be getting cleaner mileage when she comes
We’ll be a part of the solution
Cause we’re making less pollution
We’ll be driving biodiesel when she comes [read the full article...]
{ 0 comments }
While reading one of my favorite parenting blogs Z Recommends, I noticed an advertisement for Swaptree. Swaptree provides an online service where you can trade books, music, dvds, and video games for free with other users. This is a great idea for children’s books, especially as children outgrow pictures books and are ready for chapter books.
Swaptree was started because the founders noticed:
- their mothers were frequently trading books with their network of friends
- their nephews played a new $55 dollar video game for a week or so, and then never again
- their shelves (and everyone else’s shelves that they knew) were filled with hundreds of CDs and DVDs that weren’t going to see the inside of a CD or DVD player anytime soon
- the price of college textbooks had gotten out of hand [read the full article...]
{ 9 comments }
Only 5 days left to leave a comment and enter our monthly drawing for a hemp Eco Child’s Play bag.
{ 0 comments }
