Please help me plan our Earth day...

[zeldamomma]

We're going to attempt not to use any electricity all day (except the fridge, and probably the garage door). My goals are both to help my kids appreciate our modern conveniences a bit more, and to help us see just how much we use electricity. Turning off the lights is easy, but I'd like to plan a few other activities too. We'll wash our dishes by hand that day, and maybe some clothes. We'll walk to our activities. If it were a little closer to summer, I'd attempt a solar oven, but I'm not sure it would work here this time of year.

My kids are 7,5 and 2, so I don't want to do anything too complicated or start talking about the scarier parts of global warming, just talk about the fact that there are a lot of people in the world who live differently from the typical American.

Any other ideas for talking about conservation with little kids?

Thanks!

ZM

[daisymommy]

How fun! I would also add:

Do some nature art/crafts/projects from books such as:
*Earthways
*Nature's Art Box
*Organic Crafts

My library has all 3 of those, and I live in a small town.

Read some earth/nature appreciation books

Maybe go somewhere that you can get food from a garden or farm if you don't have one yourself. Perhaps some berries, fruit or vegetables for lunch or dinner?

Have fun!

[ALittleBitCrunchy]

Earlier this year, we did a load of the kids' laundry by hand in the bathtub and hung it up to dry. The kids absolutely loved it and still talk about it. We talked about how it isn't just electricity, but also water and distance, so we figured out how far we would need to walk to get water, how often, how we could carry it, how often we would need to...and tied it back into conservation, so you could add something like that. We also counted how many things we owned that used electricity and how many places there were in our house that could provide us with electricity, as well as those piped for water. I was amazed at the water options when I stopped to think about them - the utility sink, the dishwasher, etc.

If you have any, the books like "Children Like Us" or "Material World" are fantastic for demonstrating how different life is around the world.

Have fun

[Lovenest]

What a wonderful idea.
I found this craft I want to do with my son, you could do it the day before so you can use the oven.

[simple living mama]

Originally Posted by zeldamomma

We're going to attempt not to use any electricity all day (except the fridge, and probably the garage door). My goals are both to help my kids appreciate our modern conveniences a bit more, and to help us see just how much we use electricity. Turning off the lights is easy, but I'd like to plan a few other activities too. We'll wash our dishes by hand that day, and maybe some clothes. We'll walk to our activities. If it were a little closer to summer, I'd attempt a solar oven, but I'm not sure it would work here this time of year.

My kids are 7,5 and 2, so I don't want to do anything too complicated or start talking about the scarier parts of global warming, just talk about the fact that there are a lot of people in the world who live differently from the typical American.

Any other ideas for talking about conservation with little kids?

Thanks!

ZM

Do you have a camp stove? Maybe you can heat up water with the camp stove to wash those dishes and clothes with.

Do you live in a place where you can build a fire? My husband and I used to build a fire the night before and throw some rocks in. We would get a piece of meat and veggies and wrap them in tin foil with some some good herbs and spices. We would put those in the hole with the hot rocks and bury it with dirt. The next day we would unbury it and find a most delicious meal!

If you don't do this already you can make a commitment to never buying paper napkins again. Get some old towels and cut them up for your napkins. At first I felt a little embarrassed bringing them out when we had guests but now I have nicer ones for when we have visitors.

You can check out that book "Material World" from the library and have a nice cuddle with your kids and have a look through the book. You can see what an average family in Morocco or Fiji has for belongings compared to an average western family from America.
http://www.amazon.com/Material-World.../dp/0871564300

Another is Hungry Planet http://www.amazon.com/Hungry-Planet-.../dp/1580086810 which is what the different parts of the world eats.