Green Options

In part I we talked about rock painting and water play.  For a fun afternoon of baking bread, visit my recipe at Eat.Drink.Better and get those kids cooking!

In our world (meaning the small space our family occupies, not the greater World as it is), we believe everyday is an outside day unless weather is at a dangerous extreme or the rain is coming down in buckets.  However, here in Oregon, we do still have plenty of “Rain Days” which keep us inside for part of the day.  Nearly every day finds us outside exploring, riding bikes, climbing trees, digging, and nature walking.

I’ve already mentioned that we enjoy collecting things on our walks… twigs, moss, leaves, pebbles, bark chips, pine cones, hazelnuts, whatever is laying about.  We don’t ever take something off a living tree or plant because that could cause harm.

Today was the day that our televisions were supposed to make the big switch from analog to digital broadcasting. Actually, some cities are still going forward with the change to “avoid the headache” waiting will cause.

I gotta tell you, I haven’t sweated the digital switch at all.  Honestly, I forgot it was coming up! I’ve decided to completely avoid worrying about digital cable dishes or antennae, vouchers and the like.

Fellow Earth Mama and good friend, Meg sent me Last Child in the Woods as a birthday gift. I’m left to ponder, “has there ever been a better gift?”.

I believe in limiting my children’s access to technology, in turning the television off (and I say THE because we have only one tv in our house), in putting on the wellies and getting outside. Unfortunately many children spend far to much time indoors. Schools are limiting P.E. and recess. Kids wile away the afternoons playing video games and hanging out in virtual rooms online. We are seeing rising rates of childhood obesity, diabetes, ADD & ADHD, lethargy and depression. That’s not the future I want for my children.

Looking back on my childhood, we were seldom inside. We spent hour upon hour outside making dirt tracks under the big oak tree, riding bicycles, playing red rover, gardening and making many a mud pie. Heck, I remember dissecting dragonflies, slicing a worm between its hearts to make several worms and allowing potato bugs to crawl on my hands.

This summer I was a guest on a local public radio program discussing Nature Deficit Disorder. Based on the number of calls and emails into the show, we were told afterwards it was one of their more successful programs. For many reasons, the topic appealed — and continues to appeal — with many.

One story, in particular, seemed to resonate with parents: It was the story of my two sons’ getting lost in 200 acres of woods on their grandparents expansive farm property. Clearly, that story could have had a terrible ending, but it didn’t. Instead, my boys used their brains and their senses to find their way back onto the property and into their mom’s worried and waiting arms.

With the holidays — or is it the holidaze!?! — all around us, plenty of parents are looking for excuses to get their kids out of the house. Why not take a family hike? While many associate hiking with summer or early fall, the winter can be a terrific time to hit the trails. Cooler months often mean far fewer crowds and present different viewing opportunities for young eyes. So with that in mind, here are seven tips for a more enjoyable hike (these work, of course, regardless of season). I won’t add it to the list, but clearly, if your climate calls for it, dress in layers — ideally non-cotton layers — appropriate for where you live. Now, the list:

Kids are fatter than ever, watch more TV than ever before, and play and use their imagination increasingly less.

This does not bode well for them or our planet.

As Senegalese poet and naturalist Baba Dioum said,

We will protect only what we love, we will love only what we understand, we will understand only what we are taught.

If today’s children do not get outside to play in nature, with nature, they will have little reason or desire to protect the environment when they are adults.

Parents have the power to change this! Inspire play. Make active choices. Make TV the dessert of your child’s at home time, not the main dish.

Children will fight this (especially if they are use to spending the majority of the day in front of the TV).

Fight back!

Fight with patience. Fight with opportunity. Fight with love, knowing that what you are doing is for the good of your child and the planet.

TURN OFF THE TV!

As The US House of Representatives votes on No Child Left Inside this week, this is your last chance to let your legislator know you want MORE funding for training teachers in outdoor education, MORE funding to expand environmental education programs and MORE programs to ensure that US graduates are environmentally

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My mother taught me not to do spring planting until the oak leaves were as big as a squirrel’s ear. (Unless you want to tempt the fates of frost, that is!) I was blessed to grow up on a farm and be taught the signals of seasonal change. Early immersion in the cycles of nature underpins the values held by many of us “greenies.”

Today, many children know that the rainforest is being destroyed. They can tell you that polar bears are being threatened by climate change. They may even be able to talk about their own carbon footprint. However, sadly, many may find it difficult to name five trees in their own neighborhood or point to definitive signs of spring in their own backyard.

Richard Louv and David Sobel use to the terms “Nature Deficit Disorder” and “Ecophobia,” to describe this growing disassociation with the living world. If you haven’t yet checked out their work…do so!