Assign labels to smaller kids: Normally labeling kids is lame, but assigning them to be on light patrol, recycling king duty, or giving them another cool eco-label is fun and makes their job of keeping it green more important. Tell them it’s their job to make sure lights aren’t left on or that paper makes it into the right recycling bin. Little ones might like a button they can wear that proclaims their title for everyone to see.

Recruit older kids to teach the little ones: Note what an awesome job your older child does with recycling or turning the water off, then let him teach a younger sibling how.

Put the power in their hands: A book like The New 50 Simple Things Kids Can Do to Save the Earth gives kids specific kid-friendly tools they need to become eco-friendly.

When greening get them involved: Kids can help you sort toxic plastics out of the kitchen, they can learn to compost or cook organic dishes, and they can help choose products to donate to charities. It can take a little longer with kids helping, but that’s how they learn.

Help them with green issues that matter to them: It’s all good and fine to discuss solar power or hybrids, but the issues that affect kids more are things like green toys, organic clothing, eco schools, and organic cooking projects. Make sure the green issues you’re discussing with the kids matter to them and affect their lives.

Don’t put them down, even if they’re wrong: My son has some pretty funky ideas about green topics. He’s only eight and while he gets the basics he’s also been known to give some fairly odd lectures about green living to his pals or staff at his school. BUT he means well, so I try to be patient, sometimes correct him nicely, and remind myself that he’s little, he might get some facts wrong. Little kids don’t need lectures about the fine details of green living, they’ll learn in time, and if you come down on them, they might drop it all together.

Hook them up with online tools: There are some online resources that are better than others for kids. Sites that are less fluff, more action oriented include:

• Act Green
• The Greens
• Recycle City
• Green Squad

Walk the walk: Kids are some of the best mimics on earth. You being green, talking green, and acting green is one of the biggest ways to empower kids because it sets a priority that green means something to your family. My son is way proud when he catches something I miss – i.e. lights left on or recyclable items in the trash. He fixes the problem without any coaching. He wasn’t born this way. He’s been included in the green conversation for years and has heard me talk about why it matters to us and the planet. Look at your own actions, see what you could be doing greener and then tell your kids about your plans to change.

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What’s noteworthy at the site:

Rainforest Heros is packed with tools for adults that make teaching kids about rainforests easier. For example at the Teacher’s Lounge, you can download an awesome Kids Action Toolkit that’s designed to answer your students’/kids questions about rainforests, climate change, Indigenous land rights, animal and plant species, and the latest causes of deforestation. There’s also a neat FREE movie you can watch with your kids, Forest Family Forever!, that tells the story of a thousand year old grandfather tree who teaches his sapling grandson about the wonders of the rainforests and what kids can do to save them. Lastly are lesson plans, ideas, fact sheets and more – all created to help you pass on rainforest knowledge to the kiddos.

The kids corner is made just for the littles and has activities, action steps, news about what other kids are doing and more.

The Jungle Gym section of the site is made for fun and learning with a Kids’ Art Gallery, Crafts and Recipes, Games, Coloring Books and more.

Best of all is a heroes area that highlights what kids all over are doing to save the rainforests. Kids learn best by example, in my opinion, and when they learn from other kids it drives the point even further home.

Visit Rainforest Heroes today and get the whole family involved in rainforest action.

[image via Rainforest Action Network]

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That said (again) below are some surefire ways to get the kids outside and keep them outside.

1. Get artistic: The best thing about outside art time is that your inside stays tidy! Set up easels or an art table with a tie on tablecloth (so they don’t blow away). Set out paper (place a rock on top for blow away days), wooden boxes with paints and crayons, and other artsy goodies. If you have no clue about how to get started with outdoor art projects read the following…

• Great Summer Projects, Crafts, & Nature Activities for Kids…
• Homemade Organic Paint Soap for Kids
• Homemade Non-Toxic Finger Paints
• Make Your Own Natural, Colorful Dyes

2. Pitch a tent: I never had a tent growing up (not my mom’s bag) but I REALLY wanted one. Kids and tents go together like peanut butter and jelly – but you know possibly less sticky. In any case kids can use an outdoor tent for a clubhouse, as a nice retreat for snacks and books (without the wind), for shadow puppets at night (grab a flashlight), or for the good ol’ all night camp out. See some eco friendly camping gear options.

3. Greet some critters: Set up a birdbath, build a birdhouse from recycled wood scraps and metal, dig a shallow pond for frogs, install an eco-friendly swimming hole and add some fish, plant a butterfly garden (or another eco-friendly kid style garden), and more. There are plenty of ways to encourage wildlife to come for a visit. Your kids will adore the critters, and the critters will adore the habitat.

BONUS: By the way, now is the perfect time to start researching summer camp for your child. This year why not go green with your choice? Read Green Summer Camps for ideas.

You tell me: What are you doing to get your kids outside this spring?

PS – this is almost the last day to enter to win FREE Tickets to the Seattle Green Festival!

[image via stock.xchng]

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First – a round-up for the kiddos…

This first video is hands down my most favorite recycling video for kids, by kids (ok older teens) of all time. These kids are so flipping funny and so on target with the music and how the video was cut. I laugh every single time I watch it.

What tofu does when you walk away… I love this video – it’s pretty silly. My son liked it, but then he’s a strange kiddo. If you’ve got a wacky kid they might like this too. Or you can simply read more about kids and tofu.

Last up, a video for little ones that explains recycling in terms they can totally understand.

Grab your kids and enjoy – later I’ll post a round up of some of the more adult-minded green videos from THF’s past.

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I just got a heads up about a cool new club for earth-loving kids. The Clean Air Club, is an interactive website that helps to teach kids about the importance of protecting their environment. The club (and website) are appropriate for kiddos 14 and under.

The club was started by Cook-Illinois Corporation, the nation’s largest independently owned and operated school bus company. Recently, Cook-Illinois Corporation made some eco-changes to their company; they switched most of their fleet of 1,700 schools buses to bio-diesel fuel. This switch reduces around 1000 tons of toxic emissions in Chicago.

About the club – perks for kids:

• Any kid under 14 can join nationwide, not just Chicago youth.
• All members receive a free gift for joining plus a quarterly newsletter.
• Kids who join up can enter to win prizes for writing essays.
• There are lots of cool kid-friendly learning materials at the site about bio-diesel plus games and activities.

About that killer bus above:

The Clean Air Club Bus, is a recycled school bus, created by Cook-Illinois Corporation. It travels to local Chicago area schools to share hands-on, interactive exhibits with kids.

Get your littles online, and head over to the new Clean Air Club to learn more.

[bus image via Clean Air Club]

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You could play around here for a good long while before running out of activities or ideas. Gather your kids and pay them a visit.

Click here to learn about all the current contests, themes, and green challenges going on at Tree Hugging Family in June 2008

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Here’s the game description:

“You are Dumptown’s new City Manager! When you start to play, you’ll see Dumptown at its worst — it’s littered, polluted, and nothing is being recycled or reused. There are many trash cans and dumpsters, but no recycling bins. That means all of the trash is going right into the landfill just outside town, where it isn’t doing anyone any good.

In your new position, you can start programs that encourage Dumptown’s citizens and businesses to recycle and reduce waste.

You have 10 programs to work with. Each time you try out a new one, you can see immediately how the Dumptown landscape changes. You also see how much waste you are saving from going into the landfill.

Oh, and because the people of Dumptown are paying for these programs, we’ve given you a way to keep track of how much money you’re spending on their behalf. (That way, you won’t lose your job by going too far over budget.)”

Play with your kids now.

Click here to learn about all the current contests, themes, and green challenges going on at Tree Hugging Family in May 2008

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There are a lot of green websites and blogs out there but not as many slanted toward college and late high school youth. This blog completely runs that demographic, in a fresh way too.

The idea behind Green Student U, “It’s important for college students to know how they can become involved in the green movement. That’s why Green Student University was created. We offer valuable green information and stay up-to-date with the latest green topics to teach college students about sustainable living practices and worldwide green events.”

They have some excellent posts up already such as…

• Stop Junk Mail and Plant Trees at the Same Time!
• Eco-Friendly Laptop Bags
• Reduce Your PC’s Power Consumption for FREE
• Chevy Malibu Hybrid: A Green Star with OnStar
• And more great posts and tools that can help all students to be more eco-friendly.

One of the best thing is the blog design. (I’m such a sucker for pretty blogs). Of course the topics are excellent and very college-based, but the design is just one more great reason to stick around. The blog is easy to navigate, clear of clutter, and so well organized I’m feeling a little guilty about some of my own blogs. Honestly, this is my favorite blog design lately.

So, if you’re a high school student or college student dreaming of a cleaner, healthier campus and planet, or maybe you just see your future in green then check out Green Student U – you’ll be very glad you did.

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What F.A.C.E is:

Kids (F)or (A) (C)lean (E)nvironment (F.A.C.E) has one main goal – to protect and preserve the environment. At the F.A.C.E homepage you can learn about various missions you can undertake, such as recycling, tree planting, and smart green building. The site is updated with news of what other kids are doing and the organization makes it easy to join, or even start your own brand new chapter.

After joining, F.A.C.E will provide membership packets, membership certificates program material, ideas, brochures, and more to help you get started with saving the planet.

Members have done some amazing things. Over 1 million trees have been member planted, they created the world’s largest environmental flag (which was unveiled on the 25th Earth Day), and the organization has received national awards for it’s work, among other things.

To join or learn more visit Kids F.A.C.E. or their Earth Odyssey page to start learning about the eco-missions.

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What we’ll be looking at this week will include:

• How schools can protect resources such as paper, water, and electricity.
• What’s scary and not so green about the school cafeteria.
• Schools supplies and how they affect sustainability.
• The school grounds; including cleaning and maintenance.
• School-based traffic and transportation.

We’ll also take a look at some very green schools, and a few other random issues that affect school greenness. I’ll offer some easy checklist formats this week, so that the kids in your family can participate easily in learning about the impact their school has on the environment.

For youth – how to get started with your green school audit:

Not all schools have environmental guidelines. Many don’t have complete guidelines. Some kids have tomorrow off for President’s Day; however, when you return to school, ask your teacher if he or she is aware of the environmental guidelines for your school. Ask at the main office. Try to find out, who, if anyone knows what the exact eco-guidelines for your school and district are.

Don’t be surprised if you get some blank looks. Like I said, not all schools have eco-sense. Not yet anyway. The point of this green school audit will be for you and your school friends to start a process of change. Your audit can help to remind people that the earth’s resources are important. If people, if you, don’t question what your school is doing to save the environment, maybe no one will.

Your one voice can change everything. Think about it. Tomorrow, we’ll get going on our green school checklists.

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