The Non-Toxic Kids Blog has a great article about green and non-toxic ways to keep your kids busy this summer. Some of the suggestions include old standbys like camping and hiking, but there are also some new twists suggested to the old favorites.
I’d also add some more new ones:
- Taking a camera or camera phone out on that walk with the kids makes them see the world with different eyes, especially if you create a theme for each walk, ie “things we want to change or fix” or “insect friends” or “seeing faces in weird places.” A rainy day activity might include some computer time making photo montages of each themed walk, something that can be shared with friends and family.
- Noisemaking, whether it be with made-up instruments like pots and pans and wooden spoons, or you go all-out and get some acoustic instruments in kid sizes like guitars and fiddles, kids love to make music. This can also be combined with camping, since there are many camping events that include music making all around the country.
- A Garden Patch- Give the kids their own, and let them decide what they want to plant and make them responsible for its care.
- Berry Picking and Jam Making. It’s one of my favorite activities in the summer, and one of my earliest memories is of helping the grownups pick the berries and make the jam. Wineberries and raspberries are going to be ripe here soon, I can’t wait!
- Bird Watching and identifying all the different types of birds is a great way to involve kids in nature and make them aware of different species and issues such as pesticide use, pollution, and endangered habitat.
Getting kids outside and active is the key to an enjoyable summer, as the post on Non-Toxic Kids points out. What are you going to do with your kids or grand-kids this summer?
