Open any pregnancy or baby book, and you’ll find that list: the baby essentials, the things you absolutely cannot live without. While many accessories are easily recognized as frivolous, certain items are truly indispensable: the basic necessities for life with a baby.
Or are they?
In this weekly series, we’ll be looking at several baby essentials that really aren’t. They may be useful in certain situations, but if money or space is tight, or if you’re just looking to simplify and reduce consumerism and waste, here’s how to get along just fine without these so-called “essentials.“
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!”
Using nature to help children understand the environment and the world around them, it’s fun and crucial. Children learn through experimentation. Doing, feeling, smelling and experiencing the world around them is the best way for them to make connections and learn. This spring when the green grass begins to show itself I plan to use this fun activity that I’ve used dozens of times as a preschool teacher. I will make paint from green grass.
I teach preschool and elementary school. If you have ever worked with small children, you know these places are germ factories! The school year seems made up of one cold or flu virus after another, no matter how many times you wash your hands.
My daughter just asked me what her father and I were talking about. I told her we were talking about a new study that says kids like vegetables over candy. She said, “No, they don’t!”. A new study released by First 5 California claims just that!
Contrary to popular belief, a new study released by First 5 California found that parents don’t need to sneak fruits and vegetables into their children’s meals – kids say they actually like them!
Interviews with more than 100 preschoolers across California revealed that kids not only know it’s important to eat fruits and vegetables, they frequently prefer them to candy.
I was inspired by Jessica’s banana. The most eco-friendly choices are so simple, aren’t they? Though a picture says a thousand words, Jamie said it best this week in her post on fun activities for young children: ”The first step in becoming more Earth Friendly is to consume less.”
This is why I love Jackie Silberg’s book 500 Five Minute Games. Quick and Easy Activities For 3-6 Year Olds. Silberg’s book is great for preschool teachers, but also for moms and dads who tire easily of young children’s games and toys. Before getting this book I often felt tempted to pick up the phone or put on a movie when my preschooler’s games got repetitive. There’s only so many times in a day you can sincerely answer yes to ”Wanna play hippos?”.
The eco-friendly aspect of Silberg’s book is simple; the activities in it require almost no stuff. Apart from a few experiments that call for simple household items like a bowl or a flashlight, the majority of games and activities in the book require only the world’s most precious resource: children. (Some games require a few kids, but I have been able to adapt most of them to 2 player by either becoming a participant or inviting a stuffed hippo or pony into the circle.) You can also scan each page in a matter of seconds and get the game going before any attention is lost. My daughter’s favourite game from Silberg’s book is called “An Interesting Story” and is from the Language Game section. It goes like this:
I have opted out of traditional preschools for my three year old, instead choosing to bring preschool to her at home. Our plan for the year includes one letter a week (D’Nealian, as that is what our grade school teaches), plenty of outdoor activities, music, and environmentally sound crafts.
The first step in becoming more Earth Friendly is to consume less. In an attempt to do this, we will make supplies such as fingerpaints & playdough (if you don’t want to make your own, look for eco-friendly fingerpaints). We will reuse household items such as cardboard rolls & scrap paper. We will go on scavenger hunts to find rocks, leaves & bugs. We will make music with water in glass jars and drawing journals out of cereal boxes and recycled paper. The apples will be picked from the tree in our yard and flavored applesauce will be created and enjoyed for snack time.
I am the mother of two children, ages six and three, as well as a preschool teacher in a small, mountainous community in Northern California. Our family lives off-the-grid producing our own electricity from a micro hydro turbine in our creek. One of our family values is to live a green life, leaving behind the smallest carbon footprint as possible. Sharing our eco-values with our children is a big part of what we feel is our social responsibility as parents. For over a year now, I have been blogging about our experiences and the green products we use. Here are a few ideas I have learned over the years that have helped my kids critically view the mass marketing of goods directed at them, as well as inspire them to think critically of our daily actions in terms of how they affect the planet.
Walk the Green Talk!
Lev Vygotsky was a Russian pyschologist who believed that knowledge is socially constructed and culturally transmitted. For toddlers and preschoolers, this means that modeling green choices, as well as using language to interact with children around eco ideals, is the most effective way to inspire them. For example, my children are delighted to have their own reusable shopping bags. Inspired by the book My Bag and Me!, I got my children their own bags, which they proudly carry into the store. My three-year-0ld son puts his favorite foods in his bag at the health food store. Children will imitate what they see the adults around them doing, and given the proper tools, they can assimilate this knowledge into their own lives. On more than one occasion I’ve been accused of “walking the talk”, and it definitely pays off when my children evaluate their own lives and choices using our green family values.
Young children are especially susceptible to the negative effects of modern life, including indoor air quality and heavy metal exposure, such as lead. Many eco-living families feel like they have to sacrifice some of their green morals when placing their children in daycare or preschool. These families do the best they can by packing their children organic snacks, but there is little they can do about other aspects of the program. Now, parents in Atlanta, Georgia will have a choice to enroll their children in the first completely eco-friendly child care center FIO360.
What makes a child care facility eco-friendly? According to FIO360,
Solar tubing to conserve energy and provide natural daylight throughout the facility;
Radiant, heated floors in all classrooms-proven to reduce energy costs, enhance air quality and improve circulation, which contributes to a stronger immune system, a healthier heart and better sleep;
Activclassroom whiteboard technology and software informed by teachers to foster an interactive learning environment that keeps students engaged, focused and enthusiastic;
Streaming video capabilities in each classroom for parents who want to periodically join in on their children’s learning and play experiences throughout the day;
Waterless urinals and sensor-activated faucets in all lavatories to preserve water;’
If you are a true localvore, does that mean you read local tales to your children? I try to chose local goods as much as possible, and I have always had an affinity for Native American stories, so Fire Race fits into my localvore ideals by providing a locally based story to share with my children. In California Native American tales, Coyote is often the trickster. Click to Continue Reading
Melissa and Doug See and Spell is a wooden puzzle in which children select letters that fit into recessed spots to spell the word that matches the picture on each wooden “card”. When evaluating my preschool learning environment, one thing that was required but missing were puzzles that spell words. Melissa and Doug See and Spell filled this [...]
Any toy that can encourage a child to help with household chores is a good toy in my opinion. Add quality wooden construction, and I am sold! Magic Cabin offers a Child’s Cleaning Set that contains real cleaning tools. The set includes a metal dustpan and broom, string mop, and a broom; all child-sized!
We have had the Child’s Cleaning Set in my preschool classroom for four years now, and it [...]
Open any pregnancy or baby book, and you’ll find that list: the baby essentials, the things you absolutely cannot live without. While many accessories are easily recognized as frivolous, certain items are truly indispensable: the basic necessities for life with a baby.
I have opted out of traditional preschools for my three year old, instead choosing to bring preschool to her at home. Our plan for the year includes one letter a week (D’Nealian, as that is what our grade school teaches), plenty of outdoor activities, music, and environmentally sound crafts.
I am the mother of two children, ages six and three, as well as a preschool teacher in a small, mountainous community in Northern California. Our family lives off-the-grid producing our own electricity from a micro hydro turbine in our creek. One of our family values is to live a green life, leaving behind the smallest carbon footprint as possible. Sharing our eco-values with our children is a big part of what we feel is our social responsibility as parents. For over a year now, I have been blogging about our experiences and the green products we use. Here are a few ideas I have learned over the years that have helped my kids critically view the mass marketing of goods directed at them, as well as inspire them to think critically of our daily actions in terms of how they affect the planet.
fits into my localvore ideals by providing a locally based story to share with my children. In California Native American tales, Coyote is often the trickster. 
