How We Teach Our Kids To Love and Respect the Earth

I think this year, on Earth Day, we're all appreciating our planet just a bit more! With nowhere to go, many of us are relying on the great outdoors to keep us busy. Sometimes I feel like this was Earth's way of saying, "I need a break!!!"

As a mom, I want my children to succeed and do big things. More importantly, I want them to be kind and respectful, to love equally, and realize they CAN make a difference. Kindness is not just for our fellow human beings. It also should be directed at the world we live in!

It's our job to teach our kids to love and respect our planet. We started teaching our kids early, but there is always work to do. As adults, WE are still learning, so we're in this together!

Dirt Dessert Cups for Kids

Happy Earth Day! It's not really a holiday, but I like to do something fun to acknowledge the day. My kids are all about desserts, so I decided to whip up an easy batch of Dirt Dessert Cups to celebrate! (I even made a gluten free alternative for Liam!)

Flower Gardens for Kids: Plant & Craft {A Year Of Color Pastels}

Now that Spring is in full swing, my entire family wants to stay outdoors 24/7! Outdoor projects are being planned, gardens are being planted, and we're preparing our yard for the months of warm weather ahead of us. The countdown to Summer has officially begun!

Earth Day is on Saturday, so Lily and I have been talking about all the ways we can make our world more beautiful, and brainstorming ideas on how to help save the Earth. She was full of questions and had some great ideas to share. I told her she could pick something to do in honor of Earth Day, and she said she wanted to plant a little flower garden to put in front of her playhouse.

Yesterday afternoon, we headed to Lowe's and her eyes widened at the sight of the rows and rows of beautiful flowers and plants. She excitedly chose the prettiest flowers, then we added a bunch of supplies for a fun DIY play area that I will be sharing next week.

She said she loved shopping at that place...that is, until she had an encounter with a cactus. She spotted the bright flowers on the blooming cacti, and asked to take one home. I let her choose her favorite one, but after a jab on the hand, she declared that she HATES mean cacti and promptly put it back on the shelf.  Although this incident caused Lily's lifelong hatred of cacti, our trip was mostly a success!

After we got home, and the drama of the cactus incident subsided, we gathered our supplies so Lily could plant a little flower garden. We then continued the fun indoors while it rained, by creating a puffy paint flower garden!

Our simple Earth Day activities were well timed! It just so happens that today is our monthly A Year of Color link party, hosted by me, Little Dove, Macke Monologues, and Work It Mommy. Each month focuses on one color and you can link up any post that revolves around that particular color: Fashion, Recipes, Activities for Kids, Crafts...ANYTHING is welcome! The link will be open for a month, so you can link up any time. We hope you will join us!

This month's theme is:

I had originally planned to share my favorite PASTEL items for today's post, but a pastel flower garden for kids and a pastel puffy paint flower garden craft seemed more fun!

Mini Flower Garden For Kids

Supplies:

• Small container for planting 
• Potting soil
• Flowers
• Shovel 
• Watering Can

Procedure:

1. Fill the container 3/4 of the way full with soil. 
2. Have your child arrange the flowers in the container. 
3. Help your child fill in the holes between the flowers with potting soil. 
4. Let your child choose the perfect spot for their mini flower garden, then give it a good watering.
5. Add some worms for good measure. (Lexie did this and it disgusted me. Did I ever mention that I despise worms?)
6. Have your child water their mini flower garden on the days it doesn't rain!

Lily and Lexie loved making their own mini flower gardens! We used our plastic Easter basket containers left over from our Lollipop Gardens and they worked perfectly!

Puffy Paint Flower Garden Craft

Supplies:

• Construction Paper
• Green Marker
• 1 large bottle of white school glue
• 1 can of white shaving cream
• Food coloring
• 1 Bowl for each color of puffy paint
• Large paintbrushes

Make The Paint:

1. Fill each bowl with a mixture of an equal amount of white school glue and shaving cream. (We used 1/4 cup of each.)
2. Add 1-2 drops of food coloring to each bowl and stir. Add more if necessary. (We prefer neon food coloring!)

Craft:

1. Draw stems and leaves on the construction paper.
2. Paint a flower onto each stem.
3. Allow to dry for 12 hours before touching the puffy paint.
4. Bonus: Add grass, trees, bugs, clouds and animals to your picture, too!

Lily and Lexie love painting with puffy paint. It's truly their favorite craft! If you haven't tried it with your kids, you need to. The texture after it dries is awesome!

What activities do you have planned to celebrate Earth Day?

Link up your "pastel" posts below and start planning your A Year of Color posts for the next few months!

May 19th

June 16th

An InLinkz Link-up

An Earth Day Adventure

The craziest things always happen to us, but at least we have great stories to tell!

Yesterday, Grant, Lily, Liam, and I headed to a nearby park to go for a walk.  It was warm and sunny, so we thought getting outside for Earth Day was a good idea!

We noticed some dark clouds in the distance, but figured we had plenty of time to complete the 1.3 mile loop.  WRONG.  As we reached the top of a big hill, the wind began blowing so hard that it took our breath away.  Our clothes and hair were blowing around like crazy, and the ominous clouds were rapidly approaching.



At the bottom of the hill, we heard the first sounds of thunder. We knew we had to get to shelter, and our only option was to sprint across a huge field, toward a pavilion far off in the distance.  I wrapped my hoodie around Liam, who was in the Baby Bjorn, and took off through the field, in an attempt to beat the storm. Grant popped a wheelie with Lily's jogging stroller and took off next to me. 

It truly felt like a race against time.  The storm was directly over us, and all I could picture was lightning striking!

Fortunately, we were only a few feet away from the pavilion when the hail came down.  We sat down at the picnic tables inside, completely out of breath, and completely relieved that we made it just in time!  See those trees in the distance?  That's where we were!



Lily thought the entire ordeal was hilarious and Liam didn't care one bit!





We huddled together and watched as the rain poured down.



The storm passed in less than 5 minutes and the sun came back out.  We continued on our way...to the car, because we didn't want to get stuck in another storm!

Nothing says Happy Earth Day like getting caught in a Spring storm in the middle of the woods!