Earth Day Fun!

A few tips and tricks for sharing Earth Day with your charges
By Tara Lindsay, with help from April Krause and members of MPNA


It's Earth Day! How are you and your charges celebrating?

April 22, 2010 is the 40th anniversary of Earth Day and an excellent opportunity to focus on our planet and environmental issues with our charges. At a recent MPNA coffee chat for nannies, several of our awesome nanny members shared some of their favorite ideas on things to do for Earth Day. We've added a few extra goodies, as well.


GET OUTSIDE! It's Earth Day, experience the Earth!

*Take a nature walk with reusable bags in which to collect fun items of interest: rocks, leaves, twigs, you name it! Check out local walking trails and nature centers, too.
*Take an extra bag on your walk to collect trash and garbage. Latex gloves are a good idea for this, and be sure to closely supervise children so that they don't pick up something sharp or dangerous
*Lay on the ground and watch the clouds go by. What can YOU see in the clouds? Do a little research first and be prepared to answer curious questions about how clouds are formed!
*Have a picnic, even if it is just in the backyard. Challenge the children to help you pack a lunch that has NO future trash in it (ie, using all reusable containers for food and snacks!)
*Visit the zoo, and focus on reading about endangered animals, threats to animal habitats, and what the zoo does to help.
*Try letterboxing...check out the recent letterboxing article by our cofounder, Tara Lindsay and featured on Regarding Nannies!
*Weather too nasty to be outside? Check out the local library for books about the environment and weather, visit a planetarium show, or even head to the local movie theater to check out Oceans, which opens on Earth Day!


DO A PROJECT!

*Plant something! It can be as simple as a small potted plant kit (better yet, use a cleaned out tin can and buy your own seeds) or as elaborate as having your charges plan and plant a full garden. Have an old plastic sandbox that isn't going to be used this year? Ask your employers if you can use it as a kids garden (and thus prevent the need to dig up the yard!). Be sure to drill holes in the bottom of it before adding the dirt so that excess rainwater has somewhere to go! Interested in composting? Watch this online slide show, Composting for Kids
*Build an indoor terrarium using a pop bottle to help teach about the water cycle. Want to make it an experiment? Build several...build one properly, and leave one thing different out of each of the others to demonstrate what can happen!
*Visit a recycling center
*Recycle/repurpose household items into crafts and usable items...check out this message center or this recycled tote.
*Try some earth or plant related art, like this watercolor earth.
*Did you go on that nature walk earlier? Use your found treasures to create a collage, or even to build your own creature creations.

BOOKS TO READ
There are many books to read to children that help them appreciate our planet. Here are a few of our favorites:

The Giving Tree, by Shel Silverstein

The Lorax, by Dr. Seuss

The Garbage Monster, by Joni Sensel

The Great Paper Caper, by Oliver Jeffers

The Adventures of a Plastic Bottle, by Alison Inches

The Three R's: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, by Nuria Roca

There are limitless things that we can do to help foster an appreciation and respect for the planet. We know you have other great ideas...please share them with us!!