Green Options

Encouraging my children’s independence is VERY important to me. Not only is it easier for me to parent two small children who can pour their own milk and put on their own coats and carry their own balance bikes up and down the front porch stairs, but it’s also a priority in my parenting that my girls see themselves as capable individuals who can handle challenges and perform the meaningful work of day-to-day living.

Because of that, carving pumpkins into jack-o-lanterns can be a really frustrating experience. I do permit my children to cut with sharp knives (with supervision), but not to use them on something as thick and unwieldy as a pumpkin. Although there are around-the-house materials that make pumpkin carving an activity more appropriate for small children (subject for a later post), my girls’ favorite jack-o-lantern craft is something that we call pumpkin pounding.

It’s a bit of a random craft, sure–perhaps a little church camp, perhaps a little preschool.

But your church camp and your preschool I’m sure didn’t have the same standards of artistic quality that I do. When I say that you can dye dried pasta, I sure don’t mean that you can dye it some pale color that’s all uneven, anyway, and looks like something a three-year-old should be stringing on elastic cord.

I’m talking about pasta that POPS. I’m talking about bright colors, jewel tones, gorgeous shades of emerald or hot pink that will inspire even you, you jaded crafter you.

Because you know there are some things you totally want to make with this beautiful dried pasta. A mosaic? Some biodegradable jewelry? a chandelier to hang in the kitchen?

Here’s how:

Spending a happy Sunday afternoon digging through the bins at the Goodwill Outlet Store, I happened upon the awesomest huge alphabet blocks.

Nevermind that both my daughters are just a bit too old for alphabet blocks–in my house, we do not turn down such things as vintage blocks, painted on two sides and featuring woodcuts of a letter and something awesome that starts with that letter on the other two sides. No, my girls helped me scavenge through that huge Goodwill bin until we’d found every block we could–no W, alas, and no S, and no J, but still many awesome blocks to be had.

You know those cool illustrations in some books, that look like they’re stamped but might also have painted details, and can take up an entire page in a children’s picture book and be incredible elaborate? Those are woodcuts, and you can print them off of any old alphabet block in which the letters or illustrations are carved into the block, not just painted on, and since you’re recycling, you don’t have to worry about the ethics of crafting with wood. Here’s how:

Whether or not you bought handmade for this holiday, and whether you celebrated Easter or cobbled together a sort of Spring-y pagan festivity (like we did in my house), you’ve probably got some Easter trash.

I know we do. We tried for a low-key, handmade, natural materials little celebration, and we’ve STILL got the packaging for a couple of chocolate bunnies, some marshmallow Peeps that nobody wants to eat (they taste gritty!), and about a gazillion egg cartons and eggshells to deal with.

If you’ve got anything left over, chances are that some other people do, too, and chances are that somebody has thought of SOMETHING awesome to do with all that trash. Here are some tutorials to get you started:

Especially coming on the heels of such a celebrated presidential inauguration, Presidents’ Day is a good day to carry on the festivities. And with many school-going kids also experiencing a school holiday today, Presidents’ Day can also be a fun way to spend a little extra together-time with the kiddos.

We’re having a presidential-themed day at our house today, celebrating with a mixture of the following fun activities and games:

Or newspaper. Or sheet music. Or parchment paper. Or wrapping paper. Or napkins. Or old scrapbook paper. Or crinkled aluminum foil. Or pre-colored coloring book pages.

Anything that you can cut a heart out of or paint a heart on, you can make into a Valentine.

Make your Valentine out of yarn. Or twine. Or twigs. Or hair. Or selvage. Or dried beans. Or dirt. Or ribbon. Or chain.

If your family includes a preschooler and people who aren’t preschoolers (such as yourself!), it can be challenging to find a family art activity that can equally engage the skills and creativity of each family member.

In my family, which includes two people who are preschoolers and two people who aren’t, one of our favorite family art activities is to make more creations for our little girls’ felt board. Felt is easy to cut, holds its shape well and doesn’t ravel, can be drawn on with permanent markers and glued with hot glue, and, if you work with wool felt or an acrylic felt made from recycled plastic bottles, it’s an eco-friendly craft material, as well.

Simple fun.

My girls and I love to celebrate Valentine’s Day–I consider it a holiday centered around honoring our loved ones. I love making and sending special cards to special people, helping my girls make small gifts for their small friends, and planning something thoughtful for my own life partner. What I don’t love, however, is the mass media’s take on Valentine’s Day–all expensive greeting cards and cheap chocolates, in my opinion.

Every winter, my girls and I make cinnamon cut-outs as gifts and decorations for both Christmas and Valentine’s Day–the heavy, decadent, sweet scent seems appropriate for winter holidays, and combined with a dough that you roll out and cut with cookie cutters, it’s a suitable replacement for the tactile pleasure and fun of family togetherness that we might otherwise get from baking two holidays’ worth of sugar cookies.

No, you don’t get to eat these cookies, but you do get to have them, and they’ll smell delicious forever. Here’s our recipe and tutorial:

We are agreed that in our house we do NOT like holiday consumerism, but nevertheless, we do heart ourselves some Valentine’s Day. I’m all for any holiday that encourages us to share a little more love with our loved ones, and between me and my sweet girlies, by February 14, we can share a lot of love.

If you’d like to share some love with your sweet little sweeties, here are some fun, thrifty, and eco-friendly projects that you and your kiddos can do together for Valentine’s Day:

You and your kiddos have some green Obama souvenirs, right? Well, even if you don’t (and even though my four-year-old voted for McCain), there are some fun, educational, and eco-friendly ways to help your kids celebrate our upcoming inauguration–by celebrating this inauguration, in particular, but any inauguration, you help your kids understand the ceremonies that are meaningful to our society and help give them a sense of history and their particular place in it. By making your celebrations thrifty and eco-friendly, you help them learn how to live full and generous lives while honoring your family’s ethical beliefs.

Some of these activities below will require a little prep time and some won’t, but all can be participated in by kids from very young to very old:

The best kinds of Christmas projects really are quick, thrifty, and eco-friendly. When a project is quick–it doesn’t require a lot of prep or clean-up, provides results in a timely manner, and is simple enough that everyone can contribute meaningfully–you can focus your energy on the interaction with your loved ones instead of on the project. When a project is thrifty–it doesn’t require a lot of pricey materials, and ideally utilizes stuff you already possess–the stakes are low enough that everyone can enjoy themselves instead of fussing about appearance. And when a project is eco-friendly–it makes primary use of natural materials and recycling–then you show your kids that being green is a worldview, not a fad.

The projects below are all quick, thrifty, and eco-friendly. And also? They’re fun.