This year I’ve been working on a series about healthy food and other food issues, exercise and activity, the pressing childhood obesity epidemic and more.

Image by Flickr User Bruce Tuten

All of the posts in this series relate to healthy kids, with a focus on these main topics:

• How to be more involved in what and how your kids are eating.
• How to recognize and deal with food and activity problems in your home.
• How to deal with any food and exercise issues that may be holding you back as a good parent.

The overall goal of this series is for parents to gain the tools to raise kids who are allowed to and able to make healthy and green choices for a lifetime. Following, I’ve broken this series down into more manageable chunks…

If you like, bookmark this page, as I’ll be updating it as the series continues.

Start Here

• Childhood obesity and food issues in America SHOULD NOT be taboo
• Encourage healthy lifestyle habits with the bare minimum

Image by Flickr User guy schmidt

Understanding Food & Activity Issues in America

• Child portions are excessive in the United States
• How body weight and calories work
• Signs your child may be overweight

Parents in Denial

• Majority of parents underestimate severity of childhood weight problems
• Why U.S. parents are in denial about childhood weight issues
• Happy Meals are not responsible for your child’s health

Health Consequences of an Overweight or Obese Childhood

• Is it really that dangerous for kids to be overweight?
• Weight problems affect teens differently than younger kids

Healthy Meal Tools

• 10 Basic Principles for Greener and Healthier Family Meals
• Healthy & green packed lunch ideas
• Green & healthy cookbooks
• Green and healthy cooking with kids

Affordable Healthy Meals

• Excuses about healthy meals costing more time & money are bunk
• 70+ tips about how to buy organic food on a budget
• Easy and low-cost organic breakfast

Healthy Activity Tools

• How to cut screen time and get your kids outside
• Move childhood back outside
• Grow a nature loving family

Get Over Your Fear of Kids Being Kids – so they can be more active

• Is it safe to let your kids play outside alone?
• 50 things I did outside as a kid that didn’t kill me
• Do you let your five-year-old go to the park alone?

Parenting Food Fails + How to Solve Them

• Fail tactics when trying to raise healthy kids
• Healthy Kid Meal Fail – Excess Toppings and Sauces

Image by Flickr User woodleywonderworks

Legal and Public Issues Surrounding Food and Activity

• Many pediatricians fail to discuss childhood weight issues with parents
• Is childhood obesity child abuse?
• The (not so) Awesome Happy Meal Lawsuit
• New USDA school lunch guidelines may be healthier
• Is the obesity epidemic an environmental issue?

Extras

• Confessions of a chubster – a fresh first-hand take on weight issues in America
• My son disqualifies me from mentioning childhood obesity

Here at Growing a Green Family we’re looking at how to save $50,000 by going green. In case you’re curious, so far we’ve managed to save $13,761.00, just by taking some basic green actions. That does leave us $36,239 left to go, but cloth diapers should cut a nice big chunk off of this figure.

Image by Flickr User simplyla

How many disposable diapers will you need?

The average newborn baby can speed through 12 diapers in a single day. Older babies and toddlers use less, but still average around 6 to 10 diaper changes a day. That’s a whopping total of 7,500-8,000 disposable diapers over 2.5 years. However, many babies are in diapers longer. Still, for the purpose of this post, we’ll assume you toilet train one of your children super fast.

How much will all these disposable diapers cost you?

It sort of depends on which diapers you use. This being a green blog, I suggest you use the least toxic disposable diapers possible. I’ll be using Seventh Generation Free and Clear Baby Diapers because they’re probably the most popular less toxic disposable diaper around.

Seventh Generation Free and Clear Baby Diapers

Below are typical diaper prices, if you buy in bulk, along with the sizes you’ll need for various baby ages – although note, the sizes are only average estimates. Some babies run bigger or smaller of course.

• Newborn diapers – up to 10 lbs – 25 cent per diaper (1 mos to 1.5 mos) – 12 diapers a day – 540 diapers = $135
• Stage 1 diapers – 8-14 lbs – 20 cent per diaper (1.5 mos to 4 mos) – 10 diapers a day – 750 diapers = $150
• Stage 2 diapers – 12-18 lbs – 25 cent per diaper (5 mos to 7 mos) – 8 diapers a day – 480 diapers = $120
• Stage 3 diapers – 16-28 lbs – 18 cent per diaper (8 mos to 23 mos) – 8 diapers a day – 3,600 diapers = $648
• Stage 4 diapers – 22-37 lbs – 32 cent per diaper (2 years+) or Stage 5 diapers – 27+ lbs – 37 cent per diaper (2 years+) depending on your kid – 5 diapers a day – 750 diapers = $255

Total diapers needed – 6,120 for one kid, 12,240 for two kids.

Total cost = $1,308 for one kid, $2,616 for two kids.

You’ll also need some Seventh Generation Chlorine Free Training Pants (55 cent per pant). We’ll assume one of your kids potty trains fast, by age 2.5 and the other not until 4. For the first child you’ll need about 5 months of training pants, along with regular diapers, or about $247 worth of training pants. For the second child, you’ll need about $1,133 worth of training pants. That’s a total of $1,380.

Total diapers + training pants for two kids = 14,749

Total costs for two kids = $3,996

Keep in mind that research shows that the average family, with two kids will go through 16,000 diapers, so there’s a good chance I underestimated price.

How many cloth diapers will you need?

Again it depends on what sort of cloth diaper you use. In this case, I’m going with ease of use, which for me, means you use all-in-one-cloth diapers or a hybrid, which are a little more expensive, but also easier than traditional pre-fold cloth diapers. Some choices include:

• GroVia
• gDiapers
• Kushies
• FuzziBunz
• Charlie Banana

Once you choose a brand, you’ll need to choose sizes and amounts. I suggest going with real sizes, not one-size-fits-all, mainly because fit can be iffy. To read more about how to choose the best cloth diapers, I suggest reading Eco-nomical Baby Guide, which has an excellent cloth diaper section, or you can simply read Cloth Diapering Myths to get started.

gBaby Bundle

Overall, say you use gDiapers with reusable inserts. You’ll need about 6-8 little gPants per size (small, medium and large). You can get the gBaby Bundle which comes with 12 tiny gPants, 6 small gPants, 80 gRefills and a swishstick for just $125. Then you’ll also need 8 gDiapers Little gPant Diaper Covers Medium ($136), gDiapers Little gPant Diaper Covers Large ($79) and 3 or so packs of reusable gDiapers Cloth Diaper Inserts ($79). Plus probably an extra 6 or so diapers along the way ($79). Total cost for the gDiaper system = $498.00.

Now, if you go with another brand, like FuzziBunz Perfect Size Diaper, you’ll need about 12 small, 12 medium and 12 large diapers. That’s a total cost of $577.

If you don’t want to work too hard, you could also go with a mega set, such as the GroVia Live Package ($349), which pretty much allows you to cloth diaper your baby for his entire childhood so long as you add 24 extra shells ($196). Charlie Banana is also easy, as they offer quick sets with 6 reusable diapers + 12 reusable inserts. Once you buy all the sets you need, it’ll be about $600.

You won’t need training pants, as larger size cloth diapers double up as both diapers and trainers.

Charlie Banana cloth diapers

Other supplies you’ll need for cloth diapering:

• A few wet bags, which hold wet cloth diapers and inserts on the go, such as Itzy Ritzy Zippered Wet Bag – $36 for two.
• A bin for wet and icky diapers – same cost as the garbage can you’re using for disposables.
• Disposable inserts some of the time (maybe) when out and about or on a trip. $34+ depending on how often you use them.
• A book about how to use and care for cloth diapers. Again, I suggest Eco-nomical Baby Guide – $14.
• Water for washing and laundry soap. You can use basic, natural laundry soap and cold water. You’ll wash maybe every two days or so. I’m not figuring in this cost because you’ll also spend money on gas to go and get disposables, plus extra garbage fees to toss those disposables, so I’m guessing it all evens out.

Total diapers needed for cloth diapering – about 36, although most people collect a few more. Plus you’ll need reusable inserts – about 24 to 30. If you use disposable inserts, you’ll need more and it’ll cost more, but I suggest reusable inserts on most occasions.

Total cost of cloth diapers – it varies depending on brand, but on average about $556 plus supplies = $636.

Note that this is a high estimate in my opinion. You can easily pick up gently used all-in-ones at your local thrift store or baby consignment shop. Seriously, we’re talking $1 to $2 diapers, which would bring your costs down considerably. You can also register for cloth diapers for your baby shower.

Plus, don’t forget, cloth diapers will last through both kids. Assuming you need to replace some diapers and inserts, which you will, your total cloth diaper costs should only be around $700-$800 if you splurge and $120 – $300 if you really shop around at consignment stores. If you use basic pre-fold diapers, you’ll save too.

Here are some more cost comparisons of cloth diapers – what real parents spend, cost of cloth diapers and cost savings of cloth diapers.

Comparing costs

Overall, if you have two children, you’ll spend $3,996+ on disposable diapers. If you go with cloth you’ll spend about $300 to $636 for both kids that’s a savings of $3,360 for two kids. Even if you totally go nuts and splurge on all sorts of adorable reusable cloth diapers, plus buy brand new for both kids you’ll still save around $2,724.

Image by Flickr User IngaMun

PLUS…

Beyond cost benefits you’ll be helping the planet. Most research suggest that 250 to 500 years is a conservative guess as to how long disposable diapers will sit in the landfill after you toss them and most conventional disposable diapers are 100% gross. They’re stuffed with icky SAP, pesticides, perfume, latex, chemicals and plastic (made with non-renewable oil) and other junk.

Where we’re at right now…

• Save $3,360 by using cloth diapers
• Save $835 per kid by using to reusable baby wipes
• Save $1,612 by using homemade green cleaners
• Save $2,960 by having a less consumer Christmas
• Save $1,000 by ditching paper towels
• Save $1,354 by using cloth napkins
• Save $6,000 by switching to reusable water bottles

TOTAL SAVINGS SO FAR: $17,121.00

$ left to save: $32,879

In the last post we looked at how to choose the best, safest and most eco-friendly store-bought cleaners. With this in mind, I thought I’d share my top picks for store-bought green cleaners.

I like homemade green cleaners best, but as I noted in the previous post, it’s hard to get everyone in my house on board with homemade. There’s a slight learning curve. You have to know stuff, like what baking soda is good for, how to use salt to clean and how to mix up the proper amount of natural soap vs. H2O. If we only kept homemade cleaning supplies in the house, it would be hard for me to get help cleaning. Basically, until I can get everyone else up to speed, we do buy some green cleaners.

Following are my favorite green cleaners…

BATHROOM

Seventh Generation Toilet Bowl Cleaner, Emerald Cypress & Fir Scent – this toilet bowl cleaner works great (read my review). In fact, I think it’s better than homemade toilet bowl cleaner – which is rare for me. It smells nice and leaves the toilet very clean.

Sometimes, if it’s on sale, we’ve bought Mrs Meyers Clean Day Toilet Bowl Cleaner (Basil) too. I like the scent of this cleaner, but I don’t think it works as well as 7th gen. It’s a decent second place choice though.

GENERAL CLEANING – by general I mean everything; counters, walls, mirrors, etc. 

For general, every-day cleaning my favorite product is Earth Friendly Products Parsley Plus Cleaner. This smells AMAZING and works like a charm. Plus, I really like Earth Friendly Products in general. It’s a little pricey, but smells so great, it’s worth it.

When I don’t want to splurge I’ll buy Earth Friendly Products Orange Plus Concentrated All Purpose Household Cleaner, which costs less and makes TONS of bottles. In fact, I think the last time I bought this we got ten or so bottles of cleaner out of it. It’s concentrated, so you have to mix it yourself, but it gets everything clean, from sinks to counters to cupboards to grease stains and even glass. It’s one of my new favorite store-bought green cleaners.

I also will use plain old soap for cleaning. For instance, you can buy a huge bulk container of Dr. Bronner’s, add some to a spray bottle with water and use it to clean. Plus, you can refill reusable hand soap pumps with it, wash dishes and even, in a pinch, use it for laundry.

LAUNDRY

For laundry, Biokleen Citrus Laundry Powder is pretty much the only stuff I buy. It’s super inexpensive and works great. I only buy the powder though, as the liquid costs more. If you’re looking for a good liquid laundry soap try Vaska Laundry Detergent. Vaska works really, really well. The downside is it’s more expensive and hard to find. None of my local grocers carry it.

I never buy dryer sheets. I think they’re a waste of materials. My boyfriend likes them though, but he is willing to make do with either fabric softener or dryer sheets, not both, so I talked him into Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day Fabric Softener, Lavender. This works well I guess if you like fabric softener – although honestly, I could do without. Still it does make your sheets smell excellent.

DISHES

Washing dishes is relaxing for me, but the price of eco-friendly dish soap and dishwasher detergent is anything but. Most of the time it’s really expensive, and often greener dishwasher detergent works terrible. That said, you may have to shell out more cash for one that actually works. So far, the two best dishwasher detergents we’ve used are Seventh Generation Auto Dish Pacs (Free and Clear) and Ecover Automatic Dishwashing Tablets.

We’ve tried tons of dishwasher liquid detergents and had little luck – i.e. they seem to leave stuff dirty. Both of these choices above cost more, but aren’t toxic and do work, so although I think they’re a little over-packaged, they’re what I’d recommend.

As for hand washing dishes, I’m not too particular. Soap is soap in this case. I tend to buy the least expensive natural, non-toxic soap I can find for when we hand wash. Sometimes that’s Dr Bronners Magic Pure-Castile Soap Organic (bulk) in almond, because I like the almond scent and sometimes it’s Seventh Generation Dish Liquid. It all works fine.

HAND SOAP

I like to buy plain soap in bulk and refill reusable hand soap containers. That’s your greenest option. That said, if you’re looking for a store-bought version, we’ve tested and like the following:

• Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day Liquid Hand Soap – in lavender or basil.
• Earth Friendly Products Hand Soap
• Seventh Generation Hand Wash

EXTRAS

I don’t buy silver cleaner, because I don’t clean silver. However, if you need a good silver cleaner I’ve tested out Earth Friendly Products Silver Polish and it works very well.

Because I have kids in the house, I sometimes like to use fabric refresher on the couch and chairs. Most conventional fabric refreshers are icky though and I haven’t found a homemade one (yet) that doesn’t stain fabric. The best green choice I’ve found is Earth Friendly Products Stain & Odor Remover – this smells nice and doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. Biokleen Bac-out Fresh Lemon-thyme works well, but costs more and you don’t get as much.

I NEVER BUY…

Oven cleaner, wood cleaner, floor-specific cleaner or glass cleaner. I’ve tried some natural store-bought versions of these products, when companies have sent them to me, but overall, you don’t need them. I use baking soda, salt or soap and water to clean the oven. I use that orange cleaner above to clean glass and wood.

As for floors I just use steamy hot water because I have a Shark 2-in-1 Vac-then-Steam. We don’t use carpet cleaner, we just vacuum regularly and use soap for spot treating, plus have the carpets cleaned annually.

BRANDS TO WATCH FOR

If you just want to check out brands, and see their product line, here’s some help…

• Earth Friendly Products  - My favorite green brand for household cleaners. Fairly inexpensive in my opinion, but harder to find at local grocers.

• Seventh Generation – Has pros and cons along with a decent line of cleaners. Plus, you can find them everywhere and usually on sale. Read my company review.

• Biokleen – Best company for greener, inexpensive laundry products. I like their household cleaners too, but rarely buy them as most come with more expensive price tags.

• Ecover – This company is super hit or miss at my local stores. You may find their products, but you’re just as likely not to. They’re comparable price-wise, but I tend to go with other companies first.

• Mrs. Meyers – I like their products, and they’re easy to find at almost all stores, but they’re very expensive. Plus, to be honest, while I’ve reviewed individual products, I haven’t done a full review of their company, so I can’t say how green they are.

• Method – This is another company I need to do a full review of. I’m not sure how green (or not) they are. I do know that they seem to be only at select store and only select products are available. I don’t shop at places that carry much of them, so I don’t use them, but I have heard decent things about them. They may be worth checking out.

What are your favorite store-bought cleaners?

Although I advocate homemade green cleaners, I do get that many people still won’t use them. There are time constraints for sure. Also, in some households, people refuse to take the time to learn how to mix and use homemade cleaners.

That’s okay. For years, my son and I lived alone. We made almost all our own green cleaners. Now I live with other people and homemade cleaners are more problematic, because everyone in the house needs to know how to mix and use them. I can’t force people to use homemade cleaners correctly. This is a longer story, for another time, but to cut to the chase, since I started living with others, we do buy more store-bought green cleaners. I’m not crazy about it, but I’m also not nuts about a filthy house.

In any case, there will always be folks who want to buy, not make household cleaners, so we should take a look at how to actually buy green and safe cleaners.

Image © Flickr User Zepfanman.com

The number one rule!

Ignore pretty packaging – Pretty waterfalls, little green leaf and flower designs or green colored bottles mean NOTHING. Companies will try to trick you into buying their “green” cleaner by using super awesome green looking packaging, but don’t fall for it.  You must read labels to be sure a product is green and safe.

Terms you DO want to see on cleaning product packaging include:

• Ammonia free
• Chlorine free
• Plant based
• Biodegradable
• Certified organic
• Solvent free
• Phosphate free
• Chemical free
• Fragrance free
• Dye and artificial color free

Obviously, read the entire label. Often, a cleaner will contain one certified organic ingredient or state that it’s fragrance free on the front, but one or two good claims does not a green product make. You need to look at the whole picture.

Image by greschoj via sxc.

Terms you DO NOT want to see on cleaning product packaging include:

• “Poison” or “Danger.” Federal law mandates that when a product displays these terms the product has the highest possible level of hazard.

• “Caution” or “Warning” according to law, means the product carries a moderate hazard.

• “Wear gloves when using” or “Only use in a well ventilated area” and other likewise terms are big bads. Honestly, this is common sense. If you must wear gloves to handle a cleaner, obviously there’s a big safety problem.

• No terms at all. If you can’t find ingredients listed on a package, skip it.

• Terms you can’t pronounce or easily understand. “Essential orange oil” or “Vinegar” or “Lemon juice” or “Baking soda” are things you know are mostly safe when used correctly. However, I’d be willing to bet you don’t know what terms like diethylene glycol monobutyl ether, isopropanol or triethanolamine mean and you sure don’t know if they’re safe or not.

Look at the packging

Go a step further

• The Household Product Database
• Look at Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) for products

Image © Franny-Anne

Consider homemade green cleaners

You can easily make homemade green cleaner. Bonus, making homemade cleaners can save you $1,600 in five years. If you need help getting started, check out the following:

• Homemade Green Cleaner Safety
• Homemade Green Kitchen Cleaners
• Homemade All-Purpose Cleaners & Safer Mold Cleaners
• Easy Homemade Organic Liquid Hand Soap
• Green and safe kitchen pantry homemade cleaners

I know, it’s cold and wet and the last thing you’re thinking about is sunshine and summer-minded stuff like sunscreen. Still, did you know that sunscreen is a year-round issue? It’s true.

During the winter you are far less likely to get an actual sunburn, because the sun sits at a different angle. That said, the sun is still present as are radiating ultraviolet light. Ultraviolet exposure does occur even during the winter months and even when it’s cloudy. When you cut your exposure to these rays you in turn cut your risks for developing skin cancer.

Be sure to apply a safe non-toxic sunscreen to the most exposed areas of your body and your child’s body each day. Usually in winter this means the neck, face and ears.

• Best non-toxic sunscreen for 2011
• Less expensive and still mostly safe sunscreen choices
• What the…! Less toxic sunscreen can cost more than an eco-friendly car

Image by shuallyo via sxc.

We’ve been discussing healthy food and lifestyle choices this year and now it’s time to put some of this knowledge into action. If you need (or want) to make your meals greener and healthier for the long haul, here are some easy ways your entire family can make it happen.

Image by Flickr User eyeliam

1. Know your strengths and weaknesses

Sit down and make a list of your family’s general food and meal strengths, weaknesses and wishes. It doesn’t have to be a long list. Focus on the biggies. For example, my list would say “I have a picky eater in the house (my son), but he does eat veggies like a champ. I’m a good baker but not so great when it comes to cooking. Plus, I hate grocery shopping and want to cook stuff that’s fast, but still healthy.”

What I might gather from this list is that I need to plan fast meals, do all my shopping once a week, not every night and I should probably look into a good cookbook or two so I can become a better cook. Oh, and I need to consider meals that my overly picky son will like. This list isn’t meant to be major goals you have to work on. The list is just there to get you thinking about food and how it affects your household. For instance, if you tend to cook in the microwave only, and aren’t willing to budge, it’s fine to try and plan healthy meals that can go in the microwave.

In general, a basic list like this means you acknowledge and maybe even embrace your food strengths and weaknesses, so that your attempts to remake your meals is with you, not against you.

• Basic healthy actions you should take as a parent

2. Get some quick portion-size education

If you suspect that portion sizes are out of control at your house, it’ll require a bit of education. See the following for some basic food portion primers:

• Food smarts for kids
• Guidelines for kid portion sizes
• Proper adult-sized food portions

Next, if you don’t have any, get some basic measuring cups and keep them handy. Until you can eyeball proper portions, measuring cups are some of the best friends you can have and may mean the difference between a proper 120 calorie bowl of cereal and a 300 calorie bowl. Use those measuring cups to measure out serving sizes that are recommended in the links above. One more tip – use smaller dishes, as it will help you naturally serve up smaller, more appropriate sizes.

Image by Dor Sela

3. Get lovable with veggies and fruits

In many households, families focus on the main dish the most, which, in America, tends to be some sort of meat or often pasta. Paying more attention to how you cook and serve vegetables and fruits, means your family is more likely to eat them up. If you’re not sure how much love to give veggies and fruits, consider that experts say at least half your plate at meals should be made up of veggies and fruits. I’d say that’s a decent amount of love required.

To improve veggies and fruits, serve the freshest produce you can or on busy days go with frozen, not canned (ick). Frozen are best after fresh and have just as many nutrients. Steam, don’t boil. You can even serve raw veggies, which is super fast – plain or with a low-fat dip. Lastly get a great veggie cookbook and see what looks awesome – in fact, put kids in charge of choosing the veggies and fruits and if necessary cooking them. My son always eats his own cooking more than mine. Oh, and don’t forget, you can serve fruit as dessert.

4. Go organic

You might think I’m nuts to say, “Hey remake your meals” AND “Go organic too!” Doesn’t that sound like a lot of work?

Here’s the catch, going organic can help you eat healthier naturally. Organic food tends to be more expensive, thus requiring you to think about each purchase. Really thinking about the food you buy is a key step to healthier eating. Plus, with organic food costing what it does, you’ll be more inclined to spend the money you have on whole, fresh foods rather than junk.

• Go organic without going insane
• How to afford organic food

As you go organic, work on discussing organics with the kids too. This is a great way to work green eating conversations into your family’s life.

• One healthy organic meal that’s under $2 per person

5. Eat less meat

Eating less meat lowers your carbon footprint and in many cases is healthier, allowing you to cut fat and calories easily. Going meatless more often isn’t as painful as you might think and bonus, you’ll save tons of money. Meat is expensive! Start with meatless Monday and work up to more meatless meals from there.

• How to Cook Everything Vegetarian: Simple Meatless Recipes for Great Food
• 8 Meatless Dishes for Meat-n-Taters Lovers

6. Institute recipe hour

Once a week, sit down with the family and look through cookbooks, cooking magazines, the web, what have you, and make a semi-solid list of healthy meals and recipes you’d like to try during the week. Do this before you go grocery shopping. If you already have a stocked pantry, head to All Recipes and do an ingredient search, which can show you various ideas for what you have on hand.

Knowing ahead of time what you’ll be eating during the week can cut down on your mealtime stress level, save you money and stops you from eating fast food or junk just because it’s quicker.

Image by BlueOrange Studio

7. Shop less

Daily shopping for groceries encourages impulse buys, overspending and can make you so insane that you buy the first quick (and maybe not healthy) thing you see. I personally HATE shopping, even grocery shopping, so I make it a goal to go only on big shopping trips twice a month, where I stock up on dry goods and such, plus once a week to restock stuff like fresh veggies. Four shopping trips a month is a heck of a lot better than daily trips to the store.

Also this requires I plan healthy meals in advance, to a point. I’m not crazed about it, but we do plan a general menu for the week.

8. Cook together

Some kids really like to help out in the kitchen, and others don’t, but no matter what, your child should be involved, at least somewhat in meal planning, prep and cooking. Even little kids can shred spinach or lettuce, mix batter or scrub potatoes. With all kids, this gives you a chance to talk about why you cook how you do – i.e. why olive oil is a better choice than butter or how come you’re steaming, not boiling veggies.

Cooking is a skill your child will need as an adult, so it’s smart to start getting your child involved early. My own son isn’t that into cooking. I still keep him involved though. He helps to plan meals, sets the table or I’ll have him sit and talk to me while I cook. Once in a while he’ll even brave his way into the kitchen and cook something.

Image by Flickr User tiarescott

9. Eat together at the table

Research shows that eating together, as a family not only makes for more well adjusted kids but encourages healthy eating habits. Kids get enough screen time as it is, they don’t need to watch TV while eating. Plus screen time mixed with eating means you’re less likely to pay attention to normal hunger cues, meaning you may keep eating once you’re full.

Eating at the table helps you pay better attention to your child’s eating habits too. Such as you’ll notice if he’s loading up on unhealthy food toppings, taking three servings or skipping his veggies nightly. In turn, this gives you a chance to discuss healthy eating habits, along with the not so healthy ones. Eating at the table is also fun. If you’re not sure how to talk to your kids, start with high-low. We do it every night. Everyone says the best part and worst part of their day, which usually results in more conversation.

On top of eating together, ban phones, books, electronics and other distractions at mealtime.

10. Be honest about food issues

The biggest focus of my childhood obesity and healthy living series is that families need to talk. Without open and honest conversations about food, calories, weight and so on, kids will never learn to make healthy choices.

As noted before, talking about food is very hard for many parents, with most parents claiming it’s easier to discuss drugs and sex than food with a child. If you’ve got issues with food topics, get over it. You need to use mealtime to set a good example. If your child is loading up on 1,000 calories of tarter sauce, and you just ignore it, or sit and say, “That’s okay” you’re not helping your child. You need to speak up when you see unhealthy habits. Not in a mean way, but in a, “There’s a healthier way to eat” way.

Encourage even picky eaters to try a little of everything. Talk about foods your child likes and doesn’t. Mention why you made the healthier low-calorie fish over the fatty hamburger. These are issues kids can handle, and they should be allowed to handle them too, so they can grow up and make healthy choices for a lifetime.

• Common pitfalls parents fall into with kids and food

We’re in the middle of our Artterro Eco Arts & Crafts Giveaway so I wanted to fill you in on one of the great prizes, the Artterro Art Journal Kit.

Use:

Crafty free-form fun that allows imaginative kids (or adults) to explore their artistic creativity through art journaling. Available in many different colors as shown above.

Cost:

A super affordable $12.95 at the Artterro online shop.

Eco-perks:

For general information on the eco-perks of these art kits, please read my Artterro company review, which discusses materials, eco-benefits and other stuff about the company. With only very minor cons, I gave this company 5 out of 5 trees, a perfect score. These art journals are made with eco-friendly materials. You can see a run-down of the sorts of eco-materials used by Artterro at their website.

• Art Journal Kit

   

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• Unique artist quality custom paper

   

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• Custom paper choices

   

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• Beautiful paper designs

   

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• Easy and free-form instructions to inspire kids

   

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• Art journal in the making

   

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• Various directions included

   

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• Tons of supplies and handy folder included for one low price

   

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What’s this art journal all about?

The Arttrro Art Journal is a wonderful, cost-friendly craft idea. Artterro has teamed up with Strathmore Artist Papers to create a these unique art journals. Kids may learn and experiment with fun doodling, drawing and collage techniques with the help of some inspiring materials.

Each Art Journal Kit Includes the following: Spiral-bound 6.5 x 8 journal with solid book board cover to personalize, 14 inspiring project pages, 5 pages of beautiful handmade decorative papers, 6 solid colored papers, artist-quality drawing paper, and a handy pocket folder to store pictures, scraps and found images.

Your family provide: Pens, pencils, markers, scissors, glue and any other art materials you choose.

Best perks of this art journal

When this journal first arrived both my 10-year-old son and my partner’s 13-year-old daughter thought it was a very cool idea. My son is already a fan of blank drawing books, doodling books and creative journals, such as Wreck This Journal so it didn’t really shock me that he felt this journal was an excellent idea, but he commented specifically about how he liked the prompts and unique paper choices.

I liked how the paper was high quality and gorgeous and I love the idea that no two kits are alike, meaning siblings or best friends will get different choices to experiment with. Or, if your child goes thorough one journal, you could always get him or her another without fear of the exact same paper.

Best of all, the affordable price was well below what most eco-art journals cost too, which was an excellent perk. In fact, I haven’t seen a free-form eco-art journal under $20 ever, so this is fun every family can afford to enjoy.

I couldn’t find any cons associated with this journal and neither could my kids. We all thought this would make a great green gift for just about anyone.

Beyond art journals, Artterro offers a huge wonderful selection of other eco-art kits. Read two of my reviews below:

• Read my review of the Artterro Wool Felt Bug Kit
• Read my review of more Artterro craft kits

Overall Score

Five out of five little trees! This is a great journal if you’d like to encourage your child to think up creative art projects on his own but while using eco-materials. The beautiful papers will entice anyone’s imagination and you can’t beat the low price. I highly recommend this for schools or as a gift for any child.

• Buy the Artterro Art Journal Kit 
• Artterro website
• Follow Arterro on Twitter
• Join Artterro on Facebook
• Read their blog

See my green product rating system and green product rating criteria or read more green product reviews.

I recently wrote, 50 things I did outside as a kid that didn’t kill me, a post that got me thinking about how come I did all this cool stuff outside, but kids today don’t. I think it’s due to two major issues – screens and parent comfort with the outside world.

Photo © Flickr user N8tr0n

Kids are glued, almost literally, to screens nowadays from television to computers to Kindle to cell phones and other screens. Research backs this up and also shows that screen addiction results in some health and social consequences.

Anyhow, I’ve been pondering the situation and I’ve tried to come up with some ideas that will get your kids outside and active vs. constantly sedentary. Later I’ll be posting a challenge about this, since screen time and activity is something we need to work on in my own house. But first, some tips…

Photo © Flickr user KellBailey

Admit that the world is safe to explore

As I noted in that 50 things I did outside as a kid that didn’t kill me post, many parents are scared about letting their kids roam outside on their own.  As a kid, I wandered around all the time on my own, as did my peers, and statistically, there was more crime in the 70s and early 80s than now. We survived.

I think about what life would have been like had my mom (or some other adult) shadowed my every movement as a kid and the first thing that pops into my mind is yikes! What a downer. Life would have been considerably less fun had I never gotten any free kid time. I imagine that kids today maybe don’t mind as much, because they’re not used to exploring on their own. Still, I bet many would give their teeth to be allowed some awesome wandering time outside or at a mall or in a big city.

Admit to yourself and your kids that there are bad people and bad times, but for the most part, people are okay. Bad things don’t always happen. Life should be an adventure. If you’re brave enough to accept that being outside is safe and fun, maybe your kids will too.

For help coming to terms with the fact that the world is mostly safe, read the following:

• Is it safe to let your kids play outside alone?
• Do you let your five-year-old go to the park alone?
• Free-Range Kids, How to Raise Safe, Self-Reliant Children (Without Going Nuts with Worry)

Engaging young children in crafty projects is a great way to grow your child’s imagination and it can help them develop lifelong skills such as creativity, hand-eye coordination, critical thinking and so much more. Plus, if you go with green-art supplies and kits, crafts can teach your child about green living.

Artterro makes eco-friendly arts and crafts easy and affordable for all green families, and this is your chance to try one of their amazing art kits for FREE!

WHAT YOU CAN WIN!

Two Growing a Green Family readers will win a nice eco-friendly kid prize package. Each winner will receive their choice of either an Artterro Wire & Bead Kit or an Artterro Wool Felt Bug Kit. Plus, both winners will score an awesome kid-friendly Artterro Art Journal Kit. That’s enough crafty fun for many a rainy day!

• Read my review of the Artterro Wool Felt Bug Kit
• Learn more about eco-friendly Artterro
• Read my review of more Artterro craft kits

GIVEAWAY DURATION

This giveaway starts today, January 24, 2012 and ends on Wednesday, February 1, 2012. Midnight – my time (west coast time).

HOW TO ENTER

Leave a comment on this post, telling me a little bit about what sort of arts and crafts projects your child enjoys doing. For example, if it was me entering, I’d say, “My son loves playing with clay, drawing comics and doodling.” Also let me know which kit your child would want if he or she wins – the Artterro Wire & Bead Kit or an Artterro Wool Felt Bug Kit.

IMPORTANT RULES

• U.S. residents only please. Although Artterro (and Growing a Green Family) love our worldwide pals, shipping is only possible in the U.S. for this giveaway.
• One entry per household please.
• On February 2, 2012 I’ll draw two random winner from all eligible entries, post the winning names here and also email the winners.
• If you win, you’ll need to email me back within a week with your contact info. If you don’t email back, I’ll assume that you’ve changed your mind and I’ll choose an alternate winner.
• To get your prize to you, I’ll need your full name, U.S. mailing address, valid email, and phone number. I don’t share this info with anyone but Artterro. However, if you’re not comfortable giving this info to me, please do not enter.

GOOD LUCK!

As I noted in that 50 things I did outside as a kid that didn’t kill me post, plenty of parents today are too scared to allow their kids any freedom when it comes to outside play. In fact, the Kids Fighting Chance website notes that a recent study of parents’ worries by pediatricians at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, showed that nearly 3/4 of parents said they feared their children might be abducted and 1/3 of parents said this was a frequent worry, greater than that held for any other concern, including car accidents, sports injuries or drug addiction.

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

As a parent, you need to get the facts and pass them on to your kids, because it’s not just parents who are scared of this world, but kids too. You don’t need to dwell on and relate the super scary facts you see on cop shows and the news, but the real hard core facts about safety in today’s world.

But kids are kidnapped!

This is true. Some kids are victims of horrid crimes. But very few.

The U.S. Justice Department released a huge report on U.S. child abduction (pdf) in 1999, and noted that during their study year, there were an estimated 115 stereotypical kidnappings, i.e. what we’d call stranger kidnappings. In 40% of such kidnappings the child was killed. In another 4% the child was never recovered. That leaves 56% of kids recovered, meaning, about 50 children are kidnapped never to be seen alive again. Teens, not young children were most frequently abducted.

Of course, those statistics are from 1999. Are more kids being kidnapped now? Some news reports state crazy stuff like 800,000 children disappear every year, but dig deeper into statistics and you’ll find that still very few (still only about 115) kids fall into that stranger-danger kidnapping category. Most child-minded organizations admit readily that cases of stranger-based kidnappings are extremely rare.

Obviously, even one child kidnapped is terrible. Plus, as Free Range Kids points out, it doesn’t much matter that just 50 kids are kidnapped, never to be returned each year, the bigger concern is that most parents think along the lines of, “My kid could be one of those 50.”

However, if you’re so worried about stranger danger that you keep your kids near you and inside at all times, you’d also better be aware of all the other dangers out there in the world.

Your child is more likely to be the victim of…

Fact: Your child is far more likely to be killed by a car crash, a pool, a parent-caused birth defect or your own home than kidnapped and killed by a raving maniac while playing outside.

• Injuries suffered in a motor vehicle traffic crashes, not murder, is the leading cause of death among children in the United States. In fact, the CDC states that each day eight teens die in a crash. U.S. National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) statistics show that every single day in the United States, an average of 4 children age 14 and younger are killed and 529 are injured in motor vehicle crashes.

• Deaths from fires and burns are the fifth most common cause of unintentional injury deaths in the United States (CDC 2006) and the third leading cause of fatal home injury (Runyan 2004). Four out of five U.S. fire deaths occur in homes, not outside, and kids are in a high risk group.

• The CPSC estimates that about 300 children under the age of 5 years drown each year in home swimming pools. Additionally, CPSC points out that almost all child victims “Were being supervised by one or both parents when the swimming pool accident occurred.“

• Radon gas affects 8 million homes a year and kills 20,000 in the USA alone annually.

• The CDC notes that currently about 1 in 8 pregnant women in the United States reports alcohol use and because of that the March of Dimes notes that up to 40,000 babies are born with FASDs annually.

• American Association of Poison Control Centers notes that 1.25 million kids younger than six years of age are unintentionally poisoned in the home each year by common household products.

• Last year, a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found more than 1.7 million children live in homes with loaded and unlocked guns and it’s also been reported that there are about 500 child deaths per year due to accidental gun shootings.

• According to The Consumer Products and Safety Commission reports over 230,000 toy-related injuries are treated at U.S. emergency rooms annually.

Year after year unintentional injury is the leading cause of death among children in the U.S. NOT kidnapping.

If you’re really hell-bent on protecting your child, then seriously, don’t ever take your child out in your car. Don’t take him to a swimming pool. Don’t give him toys. Don’t allow him to be inside too long, because he might die in a house fire or eat poison.

What happens when kids aren’t allowed outside freedom

• Kids miss out on basic rights, such as forming fun childhood memories and making mistakes.
• Kids don’t learn how to be brave.
• Kids face health consequences such as obesity and other illnesses.
• Kids loose out on all the major benefits of free play.
• Kids can’t figure out how to entertain themselves or figure out what to do when a screen isn’t available.
• Kids miss out on “nature buffers” which have been shown to protect children against the effect of stressful life events.

If you really can’t drop the kidnapping issue, consider that research shows that street-smart kids are less likely to be abducted. Kids cannot, no matter what you think, develop street smarts while sitting safely inside.

Sure, teach your kids basic safety rules. Wear a helmet. Look before crossing the street. Don’t go places with people you don’t know. However, don’t teach your kids that the world will kill them if they step into it. That’s not only a lie but it’s created a society of kids who don’t value outside fun and who have no clue what to do with themselves when they’re on their own.

It is safe and beneficial for your child to play outside alone.

If you’re looking for a good video about “strangers” check out The Safe Side. It encourages safety but not fear and discusses “People we know well” and “People we don’t” vs. “Terrifying strangers.” I thought this video was great and especially liked that it encourages kids to be smart and safe, but not freaked out. If you can’t chill out, read Free-Range Kids, How to Raise Safe, Self-Reliant Children (Without Going Nuts with Worry) – it’ll help I promise.