Green Family Activities

-- Green and Educational Family Activities -- 

Plan now to find ways of creating educational and green living activities with your children and youth this summer. 

Over the summer, kids often forget how to learn, their minds become more sluggish and they become bored easily. A lot of parents are concerned with the increased use of the TV and online games. Adults are concerned too about finding ways to instill conscious living skills in the youth, while finding activities that increase physical ability and help create stronger bonds within the family.

We have some great ideas to help you with this. Perhaps you can involve other family members, neighbors, coworkers or other parents who are adept at wood working for some of the projects listed below.

Discuss with the youth what they'd like to get involved in to make the world a better place. The best place to start is in your own back yard or on your own balcony, but you can also get involved with parks, wildlife reserves, trails and other places in your own community. The wonderful thing about  making your own yard into a green habitat for birds, butterflies, bees and bats is that it has a long-term affect for the environment, while inspiring neighbors and visitors as well. Reserves and many wildlife charities are often looking for people to build and install bird houses or bat houses.

You can get more involved in the projects by having the youth  keep a log of what they planted and how the plants grew, what they built and where they placed the items...

they can keep a journal on the insects they identified, the changes they saw as a result of their efforts, and can learn to be responsible for food containers (i.e. bird or squirrel feeders) or water sources.

As for keeping costs down - you can often find smaller pieces of wood through contractors and builders in your community, just give them a call and tell them about your project and ask for the scraps from their building projects that they were going to throw away anyway.  Alternatively builder supply stores often have a bin beside their outdoor warehouse where they place pieces of boards and such - usually people scavange the bin for camping fire wood or for heating their homes, but you can find all kinds of stuff there too for your projects - for free. There are also businesses in your area that build things like cabinets or shelves, etc. you might be able to get their scrap wood.

Start planning the projects now though so you can find the plans and information online or purchase the seed you need ahead of time. 

Find Dave and Lillian Brummet, excerpts from their books, their radio program, blog, and more at: http://brummet.ca * Support the Brummets by telling your friends, clicking those social networking buttons, or visiting the Brummet's Store - and help raise funds for charity as well!