Green Options

Labor Day will soon be upon us, and with it, the unofficial end of summer. Back to school time. Summer is the season for camping, getting out of the city and getting a little dirty in the woods. Some folks like to tent it. Some folks like a travel trailer, with their own bathroom (my wife included).

But one problem with campers is how much they weigh, the large vehicles needed to tow them and frequent trips to the gas station. Travel trailers are getting lighter and lighter, however, and easier and more affordable to pull. Take a look at the latest entry, from EverGreen (like the tree) in Middlebury, Indiana.

In just a few days,  I will be enjoying the great outdoors again! It’s only been 2 1/2 weeks since we’ve been back from our first trip. Were going to Mammoth and staying in a condo. Our last trip we camped for the remaining four day. Which was a bit hairy at times with a 2 yr. old and 3 mos. old but we managed. I’m so glad we did it too! It was fun to watch Tristan connect with nature. After reading Wild Animal Baby and other wildlife related books Tristan was able to put things into perspective.

During this trip we cloth diapered and had a potty trainer on our hands! The condo at Bass Lake had a washer and dryer and while camping in Yosemite we used the laundry mat at Curry Village. I only did the washing at Curry Village and let the diapers & undies air dry in the sunshine on a tree branch at our site. We were prepared to use a bucket and gloves if we did not have access to a washer! It worked out nicely though. My 2 yr. old loved being in nature and really enjoyed boat rides on the lake. He saw tons of wildlife including a BEAR! While driving back to our campsite, our first day in Yosemite, we watched a bear eating in a meadow through the car window. It was neat. Tristan also saw a “Big ole Buck” on a bike ride first thing in the morning around the campground.

It was so amazing to see nature through his eyes. He chased the squirrels to their holes and around the campsite and collected specimens to put into his bug kit. Our hike to Vernal Falls was quite a journey and I think he understood it’s significance. My husband and I consider ourselves experienced campers. We’ve done a lot of camping. Every time I walk away from a campsite, I have a new perspective on life. Unplugging for the few days and recharging your soul with Mother Nature is a must! Getting away from all the stimulus and “roughing -it” for a few days makes you appreciate the things we have in life.

One of the gifts my son received for his 2nd birthday was a subscription to Wild Animal Baby published by the National Wildlife Federation. The magazine is printed on FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified paper. Wild Animal Baby is a children’s magazine for the age range 12 months to 4 yrs.

Wild Animal Baby is a wonderful way to get your toddler involved in reading at an early age. The magazine encourages children to get outdoors and appreciate nature. My son loves to get the mail and often asks to check the mailbox for his monthly copy of Wild Animal Baby.

Wild Animal Baby is just the right size for toddler hands. The pictures are bright and engaging and it is filled with several interactive activities for your child. Including I spy, letter/color/shape recognition, songs with illustration motions, captivating stories, child participation and much more.

My son loves to look for Sammy Skunk! I enjoy reading Wild Animal Baby to him because it is  educational and entertaining. We burn up some good time going through the pages and doing the activities.

It is with pleasure that I write this review of special children’s book written by our Green Options colleague and Eco Child’s Play contributing writer Joe Mohr, aka Mean Joe Green!  Not only is Joe a great political cartoonist, he’s a children’s author too.  His new book Go Out!  Go Out! is unique not only because it comes from Joe, but it is also a short book (14 “pages”) designed for your iPhone using istorytime.

From kite-flying to corndog buying, Go Out! Go Out! is a rhyming story that shares a small sample of the wonderful experiences that are waiting for us just outside our own front door.

Joe believes it is important kids get outside, no matter where they live!  I couldn’t agree more, and my family spends most of their days in the great outdoors.

Editor’s note: The following post was originally published on Green and Clean Mom. “Green & Clean Mom can inspire you to try a little harder, be a catalyst for change and to offer you some new tips and news on how to be the green, sexy and sassy mom…I know you are!”

In my local community something is happening that makes me want to jump up, clap for joy and say, “thank goodness”! Children are being encouraged to get outside. Turn off the television and discover green grass, bugs, bond with the trees, smell the fresh air, run and get dirty. It’s an initiative that really shouldn’t have to take place but with television, computers, working parents and technology more children are inside verses exploring the great outdoors. Find out how to locally get involved or start an initiative near you by visiting Getting Kids Outdoors.

The idea is to leave no child inside. I found many helpful tips for parents on a handout given to me at our local health fair and hopefully you can use some of these tips and join in the effort to get our kids off the couch and outside where the rain won’t hurt them and some mud could be fun for everyone!

Limit Screen Time. Designate how often the television can be turned on and stick to it. Avoid using it just for noise. I’m guilty at this. My children love to just have the television on but they’re not watching it. It wastes energy and it’s just noise.

Now that the weather is warm there is opportunity to shake off the winter doldrums and get the kids some fresh air and sunlight. Hopefully getting your kids to want to spend time outdoors will not be an issue for you but if it is you may just have to get creative.

Indoor entertainment certainly has its place but when they get outside to play or just enjoy a sunny day they get exercise and they connect with nature. Richard’s Louv’s book Nature Deficit Disorder is just full of reasons why we need to make a conscious effort to get our kids out of doors.

One simple way to do this is to take story time or homework outdoors.

Are you finding it challenging to choose a summer camp for your child?

Choice Camps, a Boston-based summer camp and youth travel referral service, has just launched a great resource for parents - ChoiceCamps.com.  It’s a website designed to improve the way families find summer camps and teen travel programs online.

Says Nick Riotto, co-founder of Choice Camps:

“Until now, there has been no comprehensive, trusted resource for families to find safe, reliable, and top-rated summer camp and teen travel programs online. Through our online and phone components, it is our goal to inspire families to send their kids to camp, help them make informed decisions, and guide them in selecting an appropriate summer experience.”

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.

The current slow economy can actually bring children and their parents closer to nature, says REAL School Gardens. It suggests parents slow down, take a deep breath, and step into the backyard or a local park with their child.

“Connecting with nature calms and soothes both children and adults, and it is something that both children and adults can do for a wealth of benefits, for free”, says REAL School Gardens.

Temperatures in Jackson, Wyoming, ranged from -6 to 30 during my visit over the weekend. And yet folks were much more likely to be found outside than in. Perhaps that is because the “outside” of Jackson, Wyoming, is so beautiful and offers so much in the way of wonderful outdoor activities, from skiing (alpine, nordic and telemark) to snowboarding to snowshoeing through the magnificent Grand Teton National Park, to name the most obvious. I think the beauty of the scenery and the thrill of the activity keeps us warmer than the temps suggest. This notion occurred to me when I overheard a seemingly non-sensical statement during my trip. As we waitied for a shuttle on one particularly chilly morning, it was -4 at the time, a woman waiting beside me told her friend,

You know, with these temperatures back home, it’d be freezing!

For the past couple of weeks I’ve been interviewing wilderness/outdoors educators on their best practices for bringing teenagers into natural environments. In fact, I’m leaving today for a wild Wyoming weekend and another round of interviews.

As I was preparing for the upcoming trip, I’ve been reviewing footage of the previous interviews and reflecting on what I’ve heard. One quote in particular continues to circle back to the front of my mind. It goes something like this:

When you’re talking about experiential learning, .. the nature of experience is that it’s a kind of a trial, a testing, an experiment, in a sense. So you are experimenting with things. You are attempting things, and the whole concept of an experiment is that you’re not quite sure of the outcome. You can’t guarantee it, or it wouldn’t be an experience you are having.