Category Archives: Kids Going Green

Top 5 Yoga Poses for Kids

  By Donna DeForbes | May 17, 2013 - 5:30 am | ,
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Yoga Poses for Kids

Kids love to move. Getting them started early with yoga feeds that need and offers a ton of benefits—both physical and mental—including: strength, flexibility, concentration, self-control, balance, expression, confidence and relaxation. Who doesn’t want all that for their child? Below are five poses (four easy, one challenging) that are great for introducing kids to yoga. Tree Pose (Vriksasana) This classic is the first yoga pose my daughter latched onto, and she still loves it. Tree pose teaches self-control and concentration while it improves a child’s balance and lower body strength. Kids “become” a tree by planting their feet into the ground for stability and noticing the sway of their bodies. Many often find they have better balance on one side more than another, which is perfectly normal. Downward-Facing-Dog (Adho Mukha Svanasana) An excellent and invigorating pose for kids and adults alike, Downward Dog is good for relieving tension and energizing the … Continue reading →

4 Tips for Teaching Children to Garden

  By Donna DeForbes | April 23, 2013 - 6:00 am | ,
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Tips for Gardening with Kids | Eco-Mothering.com

This is a guest post from Sara Dawkins. Getting children interested in gardening starts with making it fun. Instead of focusing on the hard work and heavy lifting, start out with some fun stuff to get kids enthusiastic. Here are a few tips. Choose Fast Plants One of the biggest obstacles for kids and gardens is the time it takes to let something grow. That’s why it is a good idea to start out with fast-growing plants like beans, which are often one of children’s favorites. Herbs and sunflowers also grow fast, rewarding children quickly for their hard work. Go Big If a long-term garden is in the works, and you have to room, a great way to encourage children is to pick large varieties of vegetables. Huge pumpkins and watermelons, towering sunflowers, and tomatoes bigger than their heads will wow kids. Big foods and big gardens can impress upon … Continue reading →

Giving Back: How My Daughter is Saving the Chimps One Friend at a Time

  By Donna DeForbes | March 28, 2013 - 8:00 am | ,
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Kids Giving Back | Eco-Mothering.com

My six-year-old made her first charitable donation this year. She decided to save the endangered chimpanzees. She’s an animal lover so the organization did not surprise me. The giving did. I donate regularly to wildlife organizations. She sees the catalogs, the free gifts. One day an appeal from Save The Chimps arrived in the mail. I did not know them, but asked Sofie—who had recently shown an interest in chimps and monkeys—if she wanted to donate. She immediately said yes. I explained this meant giving some of her money. (I offered to split the $25 donation with her.) We also discussed why the chimps needed saving. She wanted in. She opened up her piggy bank. I wrote the check. I thought that was the end of it. A month later, the mother of one of Sofie’s school friends thanked me for my daughter’s activism. “Huh?” I said. “Yes,” she said … Continue reading →

Fight the Dark Arts in the Real World! Kids Create Social Change Through the Harry Potter Alliance

  By Donna DeForbes | November 27, 2012 - 8:30 am | ,
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November reminds me of Harry Potter, as it was often the month to witness another film in theaters. While there are websites like Pottermore to quench my muggle thirst for more magical moments, I want to introduce you to another awesome site— one that engages kids and uses Harry Potter toward social and environmental justice. The HARRY POTTER ALLIANCE (HPA) is a nonprofit whose mission is “to empower [its] members to act like the heroes that they love by acting for a better world.” They do this by partnering with other organizations, raising funds and encouraging everyone to use their magical creativity. I’ve never seen such an awesome idea for connecting pop culture with social change. While adults can also get involved, the Harry Potter angle gears the site toward a younger audience—mainly teens and college kids—opening their eyes to a range of world issues. More importantly, the HPA (a … Continue reading →

Top 5 Reuses for a Cardboard Box

  By Donna DeForbes | November 16, 2012 - 8:30 am | ,
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I’ve been de-cluttering the house—slowly—kickstarted by an autumn clearing group at the beginning of the month. My mistake, in hindsight, was tackling the largest problem area, the basement, first. Our basement is a dwelling area for gardening supplies, tools, tubs of clothing, paper files, art supplies, seasonal items, sports equipment, and a large category of items I’d label as Things That Might Become Useful One Day. I was excited to empty a box of items that had been down there since we moved in three and a half years ago. The large box was immediately confiscated by Sofie, who saw it and yelled, “My boat!” We dragged it upstairs and it kept her entertained for three days before being abandoned…back in the basement, of courses. However, it did inspire this week’s top 5 reuses for a cardboard box. Boat (or car or other vehicle). Large boxes entice kids to climb … Continue reading →

Beyond Recycling: 8 Ways You May Not Have Considered to Go Green With Your Kids

  By Donna DeForbes | February 1, 2012 - 10:02 am |
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Have “power down” days. We humans are addicted to electricity and all its accompanying gadgets. There should be a few days each year (once per season is nice) where the family “powers down.” This means no TV, music, computer, electric lights, etc. (You can still eat, of course, but try using the more natural gas stove instead of microwave radiation.) My husband and I have powered down for many a Winter Solstice. It’s a way of slowing life down for a bit and reconnecting with each other as well as yourself. Last August, we experienced an unintentional powering down during a five-day blackout. Still, once I got past the loss of food, it was quite enjoyable. The three of us spent time in the same room, playing board games, reading, taking walks and actually meeting our neighbors. We lit candles as the sun set and went to bed early, sleeping … Continue reading →

Kids for Climate Change

  By Donna DeForbes | October 26, 2009 - 12:26 pm |
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Last Saturday, my family recognized the International Day of Climate Action by attending a rally at Waterplace Park. Attendance was depressingly sparse, whether from the weather or lack of interest, I do not know. Worldwide on that day, 181 countries participated in over 5,200 events calling for strong leadership on the climate crisis. I hope the other Rhode Island events pulled in more enthusiasm. The point of the whole day was to demand strong action at December’s Climate Change conference in Copenhagen. That’s when a climate treaty (currently being worked on by the United Nations) is supposed to be finalized. The word at present is that the treaty is too weak to be effective. According to scientists, 350 Parts Per Million is the number that leading scientists say is the safe upper limit for carbon dioxide. It’s the number humanity needs to get back to as soon as possible to … Continue reading →

A Princess Birthday Party with Meaning

  By Donna DeForbes | October 19, 2009 - 10:35 am |
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Sofie had her birthday Fairy Princess Tea Party last weekend, which turned out really well. It was my spin on my three-year-old’s current obsession with princesses —I didn’t want to do it Disney style. (Read my previous post on thoughts behind children’s birthday parties.) The best part was how the invited families really got into the donation idea — we asked for donations toward pediatric AIDS in lieu of birthday gifts and in honor of Princess Diana, since the girls were learning about real-life princesses. Everyone donated, with some families saying it inspired them for their kid’s birthday. I’m not sure how much Sofie understood, but she was excited to learn that Diana helped sick children and that her friends could too. This being her first birthday with friends, she didn’t really expect presents. The party favor was a book I made that focused on five real-life princesses, from Queen Victoria … Continue reading →