Nature Walks for Kids 101

Photo by J Boles

I thought I would share a comment that I received from Craig at The Green Tenant.  He asks some great questions and I have a large enough answer to warrant its own posting:

I just got into teaching and leading walking tours this year. We did a successful one on the Don River last weekend. Not exactly a beautiful stretch of it, but the focus was on brownfield redevelopment, so a bit of ugly is to be expected.

Perhaps more relevant, I also put together some suggestions for people who want to start leading their own walking tours.

Why am I telling you all this? Because I haven’t done one for kids yet. We’ll probably do one on a more scenic section later this summer, and it might be nice to make it more family friendly. Any tips for making it fun for kids? I’ve got some ideas, but would welcome yours.

That job sounds absolutely wonderful!

Craig Saunders

I think Craig is already on the ‘right path’ by choosing a more scenic stretch for the walk with the kids. Our jobs as parents or educators is to motivate children to have a relationship with the natural world. Think of your walk as an introduction to a new friendship that the children will hopefully follow through with. The goal is to make them fall in love. Make this introduction as beautiful as possible.

I have been so surprised at how many kids I have led through the woods who have said they have never been in a forest before. And these are rural children who live in towns of less than 5,000 people! Now there may be some selective memory or exaggeration occuring, but there are kids as old as Grade 6 who feel complete indifference or even disdain for the natural world. The good news is that usually by the end of a walk they have a new sense of wonder and an eagerness to discover more (even the ones who start out rolling their eyes).

Here are some tips to make your next walking tour successful with kids:

1. Do your homework. Walk the path ahead of time and make note of places to stop and talk about something of interest; whether it is a specific animal or habitat. These stops should be short and sweet (5-10 minutes).

2. Have some visual aids to help with your talk. Pull out a picture of a beaver if you have a beaver dam or lodge at your stop. Younger kids can talk about beaver teeth and wood chewing. Older kids can discuss what makes a mammal different from a fish or bird. They can discuss adapations that help animals survive.

3. Stops don’t have to be as exciting as beaver lodges. Pausing at a point in the woods where a variety of birds can be heard is the perfect place to talk about where different birds live and what they eat. Some of the favourites are herons, woodpeckers, kingfishers or canada geese).

4. Keep the species local. Kids are bombarded at school with information about polar bears, whales or elephants. They think their local animals are boring in comparison. Help show them what is exciting in their own backyards.

5. Make the walk interactive. Almost to a kid, the favourite part of a 2-hour hike for second-graders is the time we spend with small yogourt cups and magnifying glasses.  Pick a stopping point that is shady and has fallen logs. Give the kids 10-15 minutes to see what they can find. Have a insect book handy for identifying but only if that is of interest. Kids care about the bugs themselves, and not as much about the label. Spend a couple of minutes talking about where they found their critters (under fallen logs or beneath rotting bark). Talk about why you wouldn’t pull bark from a living tree (it protects the tree like skin and protects the tree from bugs and disease).

6. A similar activity can be done with dip nets and shallow water. Make sure you have a couple of containers along that can be filled with water and viewing as a viewing spot. Crayfish, dragonfly naiads, leeches and frogs are often caught. Kids (and parents) that start out squeamish are usually enthralled by the end of this 20 - 30 minute activity. A good insect book from the library will help you identify the benthic species that are being caught.

7. Remind everyone (including parents!) that they are visiting animals’ homes when they are in the woods. The best analogy I have come up with is to ask kids how irritated they get when their rooms and toys get ‘messed with’ by siblings or friends. Why do they get mad??  Because it is disrespectful to have their personal space invaded. Remind them that when they are out in nature, animals and their habitats deserve the same respect.

8. Throw in a fun game for good measure. Nothing fancy. Just give them some running space and let them play a game of tag as ‘frogs’ and ‘great-blue herons’. Or give them a small patch of woods and allow them to camoflauge themselves like a small animal. The person who is ‘it’ stays in the same spot and the player who is the closest to them without being seen wins. Afterwards, talk about camoflauge strategies that animals use.

Like I said, keep your stops short and sweet and don’t hesistate to move along if you find attention flagging. The goal isn’t to bombard them with facts. Focus on the cool ‘nature nuggets’ and keep it light and fun. Even the youngest can handle a 2-hour walk if you break it up. Parents enjoy the enthusiam that their kids will show and will probably learn something new themselves. I guarantee the children will be asking their parents to bring them back the following weekend. They may even ask for their own dip net for their next birthday!

Trail Guide

Photo by J. Schaus

Holy cow! My last post was in May! Time has just been tripping along and I realize that I have been neglectful, especially in light of all of your thoughtful comments and support.

My new job at the Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority is going splendidly! I am assisting with their education programs and spent most of May shadowing the other two fantastic educators as they led class field trips and adult nature walks. The info I have learned this past month has helped me broaden my schooling in wildlife biology. I’m now beginning to be able to identify a variety of fossils, plants and bugs. Most importantly, I’m learning how to communicate a sense of excitement about the natural world around us to the young and the old.

I now feel confident enough to lead my own classes, which is really exciting. I had the pleasure of leading my daughter’s second-grade class last week. Equipped with rubber boots, dip nets and plastic containers, we explored the world along the shores and beneath the water of our local Ausable River. I was impressed that 7-year-olds could readily dredge up words like ‘metamorphosis’ and ‘nocturnal’ when discussing frogs or raccoons. Some even knew the name of the jack-in-the-pulpit growing along the side of the trail and seemed interested to learn whether it was a male or female. I loved that they soon became just as excited about the dragonfly larva that they caught as they were about the larger crayfish in their nets.

I’m not sure how much information they retained in the end. But I’m also learning that it doesn’t really matter. What matters is that I can help make them aware of the nature that exists just beyond their own backyards (sometimes even within their backyards). I want to stir up their excitement and awe of the natural world. Reading ‘Last Child in the Woods” by Richard Louv has helped me understand the importance of that. The attitude and exposure is so much more important than the naming and memorizing which can always come later. People need to care about something if they are ever going to care for it.

So forgive me if some of my energy has transferred from here to there. My new job and schedule are still relatively new and I’m feeling a touch scattered (putting it really mildly). Although I’m currently a bit consumed with this new venture in my life, the thing is I feel just as passionate about this blog. I feel that this little world that I have created is a fantastic medium in which I can be another type of educator; this time about environmental topics relating to our homes and families. I don’t claim to be an expert. Neither am I an expert at the conservation authority. I can’t pretend to know something that I do not. I often have to look up information or just let someone know that I simply don’t know. I guess I would rather think of myself as a guide. I do the best I can and can hopefully get some people heading in the right direction.

I’ll try to make sure that I’m around a bit more often to make sure that you can follow the trail. I’d hate for anybody (least of all myself) to get lost.

The Green Smell of Clean

Over the years I have discovered that there really isn’t a smell to clean, despite what advertisers want you to believe.  If you have laundry that is free from bacteria it will have a fresh non-smell rather than an artificial detergent fragrance. You should be able to stick your head down into the toilet bowl (no swirlies please!) and smell nothing but porcelain and water. Same goes for most surfaces in our homes- we should smell the wood, the wool or the scents of nature that are breezing through our windows on a warm, spring day. As I write this at my bedroom desk, my room is filled with sunshine and the subtle smell of lilac that is drifting in through the balcony door.

Now I have to admit – I sometimes find the true smell of clean to be quite boring. Maybe it is all those years of jolting my senses with scented candles. Even though I often had headaches, I loved having a kitchen filled with the smell of apple pie or vanilla. The problem is, I too often used candles to disguise an odor rather than address it. Similar to a quick band-aid fix, masking smells with overwhelming fragrances doesn’t tackle the root of the problem. Track down the source of bad smells first and deal with them using green household cleaners such as vinegar. The pickley smell will evaporate and you will be left with a clean slate so to speak. 

When your home truly is clean and green, there are some fantastic ways to add fresh, subtle scents. Clean and  green really doesn’t need to be boring.

Candles. I am not talking about petroleum-based candles heavily scented with artificial fragrance. Beeswax or soy candles burn more cleanly (one of the biggest sources of toxins in a home) and can be naturally scented with essential oil. I actually prefer the light, honey scent of beeswax and will sometimes add a drop or two of my own oil into the wax puddle a few minutes after the candle is lit.

Essential Oils. I use these in so many ways and will often change them up depending on the season. Make sure that the oils you buy are 100% pure and preferably from an organic source. Although these little vials may seem costly, a little goes a long way and they will last you for quite awhile if stored in a cool, dark place. I usually buy a new bottle once or twice a year to add to my collection. My favourites are tea tree oil, peppermint, cinnamon, clove, orange, rosemary, lavender, pine and rosewater.

o       Use them in your homemade cleaning spray

o       Add scent to natural candles

o       Add a couple of drops to freshen a toilet

o       Put two drops on a cotton ball and put in your vacuum cleaner bag. The scent will distribute through the room as you vacuum.

o       Put some drops on a dry washcloth to throw in with your clothes in the dryer to subtly scent them.

o       I love adding some rosewater to my dusting. The whole house is filled with the light scent of roses as I dust and I stay motivated just because I love the smell so much!

Lemons. I love the smell of lemons after I clean. A mixture of lemons and olive oil are a wonderful way to make your wood shine and will leave a fantastic smell in its wake.

Peppermint castile soap and Murphy’s Oil Soap. These are my go-tos for floor cleaning. They both smell fantastic!  My favourite peppermint soap is Dr. Bronner’s.

Bake. Remember how I mentioned that I loved the smell of apple pie or vanilla in my kitchen? Why create that smell artificially with candles rather than just spending some quality time with the kids and baking? If you really don’t have the time to bake but want the same smell, add some apple or orange peels to a small pan of water. Add cinammon, cloves, nutmeg (whatever your heart desires) and simmer it on the stove. Periodically add water as it evaporates.

Fresh Flowers. Sometimes we just need to go back to basics. Freshly cut flowers in a vase are probably the most delightful way to add a sweet fragrance in your home. You can also fling open a window and let the smells of Spring enter.

Cleaning green doesn’t have to be boring. Our noses can tell us when something isn’t clean but they can also be given the special treat of beautiful, natural scents.

What are your favourite green ways to make your home smell beautiful?

Out of the Ditch

I have to admit that I am feeling a little smug right now. The kids are in bed. Steve is in Toronto working to plug our new website, Kuzuka.com. I have a kettle heating up some water for tea and there is a piece of biscotti with my name on it. Most importantly, my dishes are done, the counters are wiped, laundry is folded, and I am officially BACK ON THE WAGON!!!!! Woohooooo!

It is times like this that I wonder, ‘Why did I ever fall off in the first place??????‘

Why does it seem to be hardwired in the human psyche that we sabotage our best efforts? All of us have bad habits that we attempt to overcome. Whether it is weight, procrastination, alcohol, overspending, or in my case- clutter, everyone I know has made an attempt to improve their lives by doing what they know is best for them. We all have experienced the high of accomplishment. Of having life run so smoothly we just know this is how it is supposed to be. We’ve all thought ‘This is easy’ and wondered what kept us from doing that in the first place…And we have all fallen off the wagon and struggled to get ourselves back on it.  Then we hop on only to do it all over again.

Why do we put ourselves on this crazy cycle over and over and over again? Since it seems to be such a universal phenonmenon (at least according to my informal observational research), I guess it is part of how we were made. Maybe life would be too boring if we were always on top. Maybe we need depths to sink to in order to have the motivation to rise up even higher.

Who knows?

And who knows how long my home will remain clean and organized? I sure don’t (although I will give it my best effort). What I do know as I sit here and take a sip of my tea is that I should relax and enjoy it while it lasts.

Trust me, I am.

Changes…

Oh-so much has been happening since I’ve last written, and I’m almost too tired to think (let alone write) but I feel that I should post some sort of update before you all give up on me.

First the most obvious- my blog. Despite the wonders of technology (or maybe because of them), my blog went down last week. None of my posts or comments were lost, but some other things were. I am going to take some time to do a bit of  ’spring cleaning’ on the site as I’m rebuilding so hopefully it will be better than ever! Thank you to those of you who have written to comment about the site looking a bit different and why I wasn’t posting. It is reassuring to know that there are people out there who are regular readers and notice when things are amiss!

Probably my most exciting news is my NEW JOB!!! It is fun, extremely rewarding and oh-so eco-friendly! I am now an Environmental Educator at our local conservation authority. I won’t go into too many details now but just hit on the highlights. For the past two weeks I have been learning the ropes about leading educational programs for school children, high-schoolers and adults at a variety of conservation areas within our watershed. I can tell that the job will be challenging (imagine 21 hyped-up first-graders wielding dip nets) but incredibly rewarding. Here are some of the perks:

I’m able to share my ethusiasm of nature to others and hopefully help to influence a whole new generation of treehuggers.

I work with some really inspiring, enthusiastic people.

I am close enough to bike to work via a forested trail along a river.

Between the biking, the hiking, and my uber-healthy packed lunches, I will be lean and mean by the end of summer!

I feel like I am being an inspiration to my own kids as well. I am proud of my new position and my daughter is excited that I will be leading her second-grade field trip in a couple of weeks.

Does it get any better than that?

There are other changes going on as well - the official launch of KUZUKA and the greening of our church are a couple of them. I want to go into these important topics in more detail and my work schedule is light this week. I will definitely be posting more then. Right now if I don’t go to bed I will doze off and I’d hate to start drooling on the computer!

Thanks for your patience!!!

Change is in the Bag

This past week our local grocery store, as part of the larger franchise,  began a full-force campaign to promote reuseable grocery bags. I read in our newspaper that they would begin charging 5 cents for each plastic bag used. I have to admit that I was a bit skeptical that this was a strong enough incentive for people to ditch a habit that had probably begun decades ago. Is 5 cents really enough to make a difference?

I have to admit that today as I headed off to the store, I completely forgot about the new campaign. Thankfully, I have gotten into the habit of keeping my bags and bins in my trunk. As I pulled into my parking space and grabbed my bags, I was delighted to see large signs with bold words asking people to ‘BRING IT’ along with photos of canvas bags and plastic bins. Everywhere I looked I could see one of these signs. This could certainly help cure anyone who had a tendency to leave their bags in the car!

As I walked through the store checking items off of my grocery list I noticed that everyone, I mean everyone, had bags with them. Young, old, slightly creepy- it didn’t matter. They had their bags. As I was at the checkout I only saw a couple of plastic bags going out, and these were only purchased because the customer just didn’t have quite enough canvas bags and needed a couple of extra.

I thought about what my friend recently told me about her latest trip to Myrtle Beach. She was shocked and horrified when a small grocery trip resulted in 17 plastic bags being used. Even the bananas were bagged individually. She was able to condense all 17 bags into 3 in order to save extra trips from her car to condo.  She was absolutely stunned that our small town seemed more environmentally aware than a large mecca like Myrtle Beach.

This new campaign to charge for bags takes it one step further. It is really quite exciting because I feel like I am witnessing change occuring. I know that resusable bags aren’t going to solve all the problems on our planet, but they are a step in the right direction.

Apparently 5 cents is worth more than I thought.

Making My Home a Haven: An Update

I have to admit that I have fallen off the wagon these past couple of weeks when it comes to following Tammy’s Making Home a Haven series. To be more accurate, I fell off wagon, got dragged behind it for a stretch, bounced on the pavement a few times and landed in a ditch.

That is how messy my house is right now.

I won’t bore you with the how and why right now. It would sound much too whiny. I will just say that it has happened and I am still reeling in a state of shock at how quickly it happened.

Why am I confessing my dirty secrets? Because part of the reason I blog is because I wanted a place for truthful accountablility. Sure I’m full of lots of green tips and tidbits. I know how a home should be run, and the steps that can be taken to live a consciously sustainable lifestyle. But I also want people to know that I am human. And humans fail. I also have three small children that seem to conspire against me no matter what my plans are.

Here’s the deal- I’m not going to beat myself up for my failings. I’m going to pick myself up out of the ditch and start at the basics. After all, things really were going smoothly until life bumped me off of that wagon.

Morning Routine

1. Make the bed.
2. Breakfast, coffee and vitamins.
3. Put away clean dishes.
4. Start a load of laundry.
5. Chekc the dinner plan and start any necessary thawing/marinating/slowcooking

Bedtime Routine

1. Do not leave dirty dishes in the sink before going to bed.
2. Make sure to fold and put away any laundry that was done that day.

That’s it. I start a new eco-friendly job tomorrow. I’ll provide the details about that soon. In the meantime, the house is still standing. The kids are still fed. The husband is exasperated but he’ll live.

Maybe I’ll just limp slowly along the side of the road for awhile before I hop up on that wagon again.

National Healthy Schools Day: What you can do to make sure no child’s health is left behind

I am so excited to have my first guest blogger on My Web of Life!  Janelle Sorensen is the Senior Writer and Health Consultant for Healthy Child Healthy World (www.healthychild.org). You can also find her on Twitter as @greenandhealthy.

When my husband and I first toured schools to find the one we wanted to enroll our daughter in, I’m sure I was silently voted one of the strangest parents ever. Why do I feel I was secretly endowed with this title? Because every room and hallway we were taken through, I sniffed. A lot. And, according to my husband, I wasn’t terribly discreet. 

I didn’t have a cold or postnasal drip. And, I’m not part bloodhound. I was simply concerned about the indoor air quality. My daughter was (and still is) prone to respiratory illnesses and I wanted to be sure the school she would be attending would support and protect her growing lungs (in addition to her brain). For many air quality issues, your nose knows, so I was using the easiest tool I had to gauge how healthy the environment was.

While air quality is a significant issue in schools (the EPA estimates that at least half of our nation’s 120,000 schools have problems), parents are also increasingly concerned about other school health issues like nutrition and the use of toxic pesticides. Many schools are making the switch to healthier and more sustainable practices like green cleaning, least toxic pest management, and even school gardening. What they’re finding is that greening their school improves the health and performance of students and personnel, saves money (from using less energy, buying fewer products, and having fewer worker injuries among other things), and also helps protect the planet. It’s truly win, win, win.

To highlight the issue, the Healthy Schools Network  coordinates National Healthy Schools Day.  This year, over three dozen events will be held across the country (and more in Canada) on April 27th to promote and celebrate healthy school environments.

What can you do? Healthy Schools Network recommends simple activities such as:

• Adopting Guiding Principles of School Environmental Quality  as a policy for your School;

• Distributing information related to Green Cleaning  or Indoor Air Quality (IAQ);

• Writing a letter or visiting your Principal or Facility Director to ask about cleaning products or pest control products;

• Walking around your school: looking for water stains, cracks in outside walls, broken windows or steps, and overflowing dumpsters that are health & safety problems that need attention. Use this checklist.

• Writing a Letter to the Editor of your local paper on the importance of a healthy school to all children and personnel.

You can also help support the efforts of states trying to pass policies requiring schools to use safer cleaners. (Or, initiate your own effort!) There are good bills pending in Connecticut, Minnesota, California, Massachusetts, and Oregon. According to Claire Barnett, Executive Director of the Healthy Schools Network, the key pieces to promote on green cleaning in schools are: 

• Not being fooled by ‘green washing’ claims—commercial products must be third-party certified as green (to verify claims);

• Understanding that green products are cost-neutral and they work; and,

• Learning that “Clean doesn’t have an odor.”

 She encourages parents and personnel to tune into one of the archived webinars on green cleaning (like the first module for general audiences) at www.cleaningforhealthyschools.org.

The fact of the matter is that whether you’re concerned about the quality of food, cleaning chemicals, recycling, or energy use – schools need our help and support.  Instead of complaining about what’s wrong, it’s time to help do what’s right – for our children, our schools, and our planet.

What are you going to do? There are so many ideas and resources. Find your passion and get active on April 27th – National Healthy Schools Day.

 Additional Resources:

Creating Healthy Environments for Children (DVD): A short video with easy tips for schools and a variety of handouts to download and print. 

Getting Your Child’s School to Clean Green: A blog I wrote last year with advice based on my experience working with schools.

Healthy Community Toolkit: Healthy Child Healthy World’s tips and tools for being a successful community advocate and some of our favorite organizations working on improving child care and school environments and beyond. 

The Everything Green Classroom Book: The ultimate guide to teaching and living green and healthy.

Out of the Mouths of Babes…

Yesterday, my 7-year-old daughter and I were relaxing on the couch with my son who was recovering from surgery. Because he was still wallowing in the shock of what had occurred the day before (how do you prepare a 4-year-old for testicular surgery?), he got to choose what we watched. Of course he selected his favourite commercial-free preschool station and between shows, they mentioned that they had a fantastic Earth Day lineup of all of his favourite cartoons. My daughter turned to me with a dumbfounded expression…

“Why would television promote Earth Day? That’s kinda dumb. There isn’t anything Earth Day about TV!”

It is nice to see that even a 7-year-old would pick up on that concept! I realize that TV can be a great medium to spread the news of a cause as important as Earth Day. But promoting an all-day lineup of cartoons talking about nature?

Just send the kids outside.

I am now going offline for the rest of the day.

HAPPY EARTH DAY!

A Bedtime Routine

I already have hinted in my last post that I had begun a brief 2-step evening routine. This is in addition to the 5-step morning routine that I have been doing for the past few weeks as well as my attempt to be more cheerful with my family (easier said than done!) All of these routines are a result of the fantastic Making Your Home a Haven series on Tammy’s Recipes. I did make a change to my original morning routine. The final product has been working quite well for me (and the whole family):

1. Make bed.
2. Breakfast, coffee and vitamins.
3. Put away clean dishes.
4. Start a load of laundry.
5. Check the dinner plan and start any necessary thawing/marinating/slowcooking.

Now that I have all of my other routines down pat (okay, maybe not the cheerful part), I am feeling confident enough to add a few more steps to my bedtime routine:

1. Make sure the dishes are cleaned up and my kitchen counters are clean.
2. Fold and put away all laundry that was done that day.
3. Do a 5-minute quick tidy of living room and hallways.
4. Check calendar and jot down tomorrow’s schedule (I really like Simple Mom’s daily docket for this).
5. Lay out clothes for the next day.

All of these things are pretty simple but go a long way toward keeping the chaos at bay. I will continue to say that a home that is simplified, running well and clean is a home that has the best chance of being green. Personally, I find it nearly impossible to make solid, green choices when I feel buried in chaos. It is just too easy to toss recyclables and compostables in the garbage when you are already feeling overwhelmed with dirty dishes, piles of laundry and clutter.  These routines are helping me to keep the chaos at bay and should help me to be a better citizen of this earth as well.

What bedtime routines are you thinking of tackling?