From the category archives:

Grow Green Kids

Help Your Child Explore His World

July 16, 2010

I very rarely buy books that aren’t specifically eco-friendly. But a few months ago I became a wee bit mesmerized with a book I saw at Powell’s and bought it – How to Be an Explorer of the World: Portable Life Museum by Keri Smith. Since this is not a green book in particular, I’m [...]

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The World’s Cheapest Eco-Craft – Organic Craft Dough

July 14, 2010

Sometimes we get so hung up on new cool stuff we forget the simple things; like dough crafts. Dough crafting is hands down one of the least expensive eco-crafts you can try with the kids, and best of all, you probably have everything you need for this craft in your kitchen right now! MAKE SOME [...]

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Commercialism Makes Growing Green Kids Harder

July 12, 2010

One of the hardest things about raising green kids is that we live in an increasingly commercial culture. Some problems related to eco-friendly living and our current culture include: Excess stuff is not eco-friendly but excess stuff is pushed in our culture. It’s very hard to impress eco-friendly living skills upon kids when all they [...]

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Amazing Eco-Friendly Felt Food Fun for Kids

July 5, 2010

Felt food pretty much rocks. It’s safe for little ones, easy to handle and play with and a lot of felt is eco-friendly to boot. Felt food makes a great addition to your child’s play kitchen. Below are some great places to pick up eco-friendly felt food. Twinkle Kids handcrafts all products from the finest [...]

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Totoro: eco-friendly & family centered

July 1, 2010

Today I’ll be off and about – I actually have to interview an organic farmer for a piece I’m working on for a client. With that in mind I don’t have time to post anything brand spanking new BUT I posted a super in-depth piece today at Inhabitots that’s a must read if you have [...]

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My son: the tree hugging anti-hippie

June 24, 2010

Cedar’s saying o’ the day, “Mom, do you have to be a hippie if you’re eco-friendly?” My response, “Um, no.” Cedar: “WHEW! I really like being eco-friendly but I sure don’t want to be a hippie!” Lord. Where on earth do these misconceptions come from? Is there even such a thing as a hippie anymore? [...]

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Do you let your five-year-old go to the park alone?

June 24, 2010

In PDX we have a monthly parenting magazine; Metro Parent. It usually has good articles but one piece in particular captured and has held my attention since April – Free-Range Parenting: Letting Go So Kids Can Grow – read it here (flip to page 24). The gist of the piece was that kids can go [...]

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Make recycling easier for your kids & reluctant adults

June 21, 2010

Recycling should be a family affair but often recycling can seem very complicated to little kids. Take it from me; at age five Cedar “recycled” some of our silicone homemade popsicle molds claiming, “They looked recyclable!“ Reluctant adults in your home may actually not get recycling or they may be using their lack of know-how [...]

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Grow a nature loving family

June 18, 2010

This summer and for the rest of the year I hope one major goal you have is to get your family outside. Kids especially spend a depressingly large amount of time indoors nowadays and that’s unacceptable. Granted, it’s easy to keep on doing what you’re doing. Inside is easy. You’ve got books, video games, less [...]

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Move childhood back outside this summer

June 17, 2010

When I was a kid it was hard to get me inside. Rain or shine or even snow; it didn’t matter I was usually outside. Nowadays it’s different. Kids are inside way more than they’re outside. If you think the obesity statistics are scary how about these statistics about kids and nature from David Mizejewski, [...]