2011 April | Inhabitots

7 Ways to Get your Child Excited about Photography

by Jennie Lyon, 04/15/11

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Eco-Eggs Easter Egg Coloring Kit Features Fruit & Vegetable Dyes

by Beth Shea, 04/14/11

If you don’t have time to get all Martha Stewart-y when it comes to whipping up your own natural egg dyes this Easter, rest assured there’s a happy green medium between boiling beets and dropping neon pellets containing toxic food dyes into a vinegar-doused plastic cup. Eco-Eggs Easter Egg Coloring Kit enables you to color eggs using natural plant, fruit and vegetable extracts via three natural dyes in hues of orange, blue and purple. Kids will also enjoy creating six other color combos per the included instruction chart. Sweet creature cut-outs will also lend character to the finished product.

+ Eco Eggs Easter Egg Coloring Kit $16

+ Eco Kids

DIY Treehouse Bed Takes Dreaming to New Heights

by Julie Seguss, 04/14/11

Treehouses of any kind infuse a sense of wonder into kid’s and adults alike, so when Juli, the blogger mom behind The Slow Life, saw pictures of a treehouse built indoors, it inspired her to build her daughter’s first bed — and the treehouse bed was born. She drafted treehouse plans, let her two-year-old Tula Mirth pick paint colors (an orange exterior and eggshell blue interior), borrowed power tools from a friend, and built the whimsical bed.

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7 Eco-Friendly Play Kitchen Sets

by Jennie Lyon, 04/14/11

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Recycle Your Old Flip Flops Into Playgrounds

Image © theogeo

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TerraCycle is launching a new campaign with Old Navy next week called the Flip Flop Replay just in time for Earth Day. From April 22 through May 21 you can drop off used flip flops at any Old Navy store in the U.S. Then TerraCycle will recycle the flip flops into four public playgrounds at different …

Eco-Friendly Etsy Easter Basket Finds

As your kids await the Easter Bunny, you can start filling their Easter basket with sweet handmade presents, leaving the plastic eggs and sugar-filled sweets at the drugstore. From silly laugh-getting trinkets to toys they'll play with all year long, our favorite Easter basket finds are sure to make your tot smile, and they're easy on the planet. Read on to find six special, eco-friendly Easter basket finds from Etsy.

2011 Kids Undercover Cubby House Challenge Showcases Creative Playhouse Designs

At Inhabitots we love innovative playhouse designs, and when they are built to raise money for a great cause as they were in the Kids Undercover Cubby House Challenge at the 2011 Melbourne International Flower and Garden Show, it doubles our delight. Earlier this month, leading Australian builders and architects were invited to design, build and donate a children’s cubby house (the Aussie’s term for playhouse) to raise money for a local program called Kids Undercover, which supports homeless and at risk children.

NEW: Oeuf Perch Bunk Bed is Eco-Friendly and Versatile

Ouef is known for their eco-friendly, modern children’s furniture and their new Perch Bunk Bed offers versatility and elegance all wrapped up with an eco-friendly bow. The Perch Bunk bed is the perfect centerpiece for your child’s bedroom, offering multiply configuration options with a sleek design. It’s low profile makes it the perfect height for smaller children, while it’s elegance and compact size make it functional and pleasing to the eye, while leaving plenty of floor space for stretching out or playing. It comes in your choice of light birch or dark walnut, allowing it to seamlessly fit into the current decor of your child’s bedroom. Read on to learn more about this beautiful, sustainable bunk bed.

Join The Great Cloth Diaper Change April 23, 2011

If you have a tot in diapers, get ready to help set the Guinness World Record for the most cloth diapers changed simultaneously! On April 23, 2011, dirty diapers around the world will be changed in unison at 12pm EST in The Great Cloth Diaper Change. Whether your baby starts in a disposable diaper, Charlie Banana green diaper, or a gDiaper, it doesn’t matter, but she must be changed into a cloth diaper to count. The event taking place the day after Earth Day was created in conjunction with the Real Diaper Association to raise awareness about cloth diapering.

7 Ways to Raise a Healthy, Adventurous Eater

Getting your kids to eat healthy, nutrient-rich foods is a struggle you'll probably go through at some point if you haven't already. Between the barrage of advertisements starring junk foods to the many phases of childhood eating (only peas one day and then no peas for weeks!), guiding your child on the lifelong path to nutritious eating can be confusing and frustrating. Here are seven tips to help your entire family choose nourishing foods and to eat them in a stress-free, fun environment.

5 Kid-Friendly Recycled Milk Jug Projects

If empty plastic milk jugs stack up in quickly in your recycling bin, there are plenty of great ways to reuse them. From a Lego scoop to a seed starter, here are a handful of fun, kid-friendly projects that make it easy to transform ordinary milk jugs into items that you and your family can enjoy all year long. Read on to learn how to make these five simple projects.

NEW! Wishbone’s ‘Flip’ 2-in-1 Ride-On Toy & Rocker

Wishbone wowed us with their gorgeously designed balance bikes, which we have previously featured here and here; and we’ve ‘flipped’ for their newest offering for tinier tots, the aptly named: ‘Flip.’ Tots ages 1-5 may rock and roll on Flip, by maneuvering an ingenious mechanism that transforms the toy in seconds. Little ones who like to roll with an entourage will also appreciate the under-the-seat storage for their precious cargo when Flip is in ride mode….

7 Ways to Create an Eco-Friendly Easter Basket

Instead of filling your child's Easter basket with plastic eggs, sweets filled with artificial colors and flavors, and plastic Easter basket grass that's impossible to recycle, choose eco-friendly goodies this year. Mr. Easter Bunny can bring your child a fun bucketful of spring celebration that's eco-friendly -- not artificial -- and there will be nothing to toss in the trash once your child is done! Read on to learn my favorite seven ways to brighten your child's day with eco-friendly Easter basket.

HOW TO: Make an Easy Recycled Orange Carton Wallet

Juice cartons tend to pile up in the recycling bin quickly, and one easy way to reuse a juice carton is by making a recycled orange carton wallet together with your child. It only takes a few minutes to make and gives your little one a fun carrying case for trading cards, dollar bills and coins. You don't even need any supplies beyond a juice carton and a couple of cutting tools. Read on to learn how to make one in a few short steps.

Chabuki Upcycled Onesies are One of a Kind

Chabuki has taken the standard baby staple — the onesie — to a whole new green level. Made in the USA from recycled, reused, discontinued and/or broken materials, Chabuki’s upcycled baby onesies possess a unique individual style. Old suit shirts, vintage fabrics and discarded buttons are creatively transformed into artistic appliqués, and adorned with cute flowers. And when your bubs start to grow up, Chabuki also designs …

Ferm Living Organic Owl Nursery Decor for Green Babies

The woodland nursery decor trend is still growing strong, and Ferm Living‘s owl collection offers a cute addition to any nature themed baby room. The little wise owl is featured in an over-sized cushion meets teddy bear hybrid, a musical mobile playing Brahm’s Lullaby, and …

Smiling Tree Toys’ Fantabulous Natural Playground Set

Your kids playtime will step up another level, with this interactive and natural timber Fantabulous Playground Set by Smiling Tree Toys. A great toy for one child, and even better for a few – watch your kids enter an imaginative wonderland playground as they use 12 little wooden people to pretend they are riding merry-go-rounds, bobbing up and down on see saws, slipping down slides and flying through the air on the tire swing.

Grow Your Own Easter Grass with Plum Party’s Kit

There are several things that are synonymous with Easter: Mr. Easter Bunny, colorful eggs, and strands of that fake plastic grass strewn throughout your home. But thanks to Plum Party’s grow your own grass kit, you can forget about purchasing that un-recyclable, plastic, faux greenery by growing your own all-natural, …

Green Playground Concept Teaches Kids Clean Energy

We've shown you designs in the past that harness the power of play, but this new concept playground, the Natural Energy Park, brings many kid-powered movements into one fabulous experiential playground to help kids learn about renewable energy first hand. The Natural Energy Park was dreamed up by Hyundai Engineers and Construction designers You Song Young, Jin Soo Yeon, Ahn Ho Sang, and Lee Sung Jae, and it is a Red Dot Design Award winner. Read on to learn more about this kid-powered playground.

HOW TO: Make a Recycled Paper Kite

Now that it is officially springtime, gather your children and head outdoors -- but not before you make your own recycled paper kite. Spring is the perfect time of year to spend a warm afternoon at the park or at the beach flying a kite. Children love to watch a kite soar and dip high up in the sky - especially knowing that they had something to do with it getting up there! The best part about this recycled paper kite how to is that it's made using things that you can find in your home recycling bin and craft closet, read on to learn how.