Happy 2009! What better way to kick off the new year than by putting some resolutions into action? While we hope that our children won’t have to experience another economic recession like the one we’re riding out now, there’s no better time than the present to turn over a new leaf and start teaching the next generation the value of saving money. These eco-friendly piggy banks will help them save a penny, prettily, in a stylish, responsible fashion.
OBAMA KIDS WILL FINALLY GET PUPPY: Americans elected the first mixed-race President on November 4, 2008. And those with hopes of a ‘greener’ America made a collective sigh of relief (remember “Drill baby, drill?”) But more importantly, the victory came with a promise that the President-elect’s kids would get a puppy for the White House. The only question… What to name it?
GREENING KIDS IS BIG! There were various lists, books and even mainstream media videos launched in 2008 that advocated for a greener child.
Merry Christmas! Now that Santa has come and gone, and your kids have torn into their gifts and are delighting in their toys, it’s time to reuse and recycle all of that wrapping paper and packaging!
Here are some resources to get you all the info you need with regard to recycling wrapping paper, and some very creative uses for reusing wrapping paper:
Still feeling crafty? Make this inventive ornament suggested at Kaboose for next year’s tree, with your used wrapping paper and holiday cards.
Get the facts and stats behind holiday recycling and find out exactly how, why, and what you can and should recycle, as well as ways to go even ‘greener’ in your wrapping endeavors for your next celebration.
Inhabitat has written a lot about the One Laptop Per Child Project over the past few years, and now we’re excited to see the OLPC back and better than ever in cahoots with Amazon.com. Big box retailers are generally seen as the scourge of the Earth by environmentally minded folk. Their carbon menace ranks high, (right up there with SUV manufacturing and coal mining), yet sometimes there’s a tiny heart hidden in that tough, boxy, cardboard exterior, and Amazon’s XO program is one such example.
Wondering how to recycle your tree once Christmas has come and gone? Rest assured, “O Tannenbaum” has plenty of life left in those lovely branches once he’s finished sprucing up your home. The National Christmas Tree Association is a great resource for all of us eco-minded types who want to make sure our trees stay green after the ornaments come off.
Here’s a gift to bestow on a child this holiday season that will last him a lifetime: the knowledge of how to live sustainably. The Idbids Eco-Friendly Starter Kit is filled with fun tools which teach children to be environmentally aware, and ten doable “iddy biddy” steps he can take to keep the planet green. Led by a 100% organic Egyptian cotton plush toy bursting at the seams with personality: a cloud named Scout, a flower named Lola, or a water drop named Waverly, playtime meets getting down to business making the world a better place with this award winning kit.
Thanksgiving traditions vary among families, but the tie that binds us is the indulgent, gastronomic feast set on dinner tables across America on this holiday. We collectively pull up our chairs to gobble up pounds of savory food, and then unfasten the button of our pants to make room for sweet pumpkin pie. Photographer Matthew Carden’s “Small World” photographs are a poignant, artistic reminder to cherish every tiny morsel of food this Thanksgiving. Finding bounty in each bite will help preserve the planet and foster a healthy, mindful approach to consumption.
The eco-friendly WoodPecker Walker from Plan Toys carved a niche in my heart with its precious features, and quickly became our baby’s favorite companion. Crafted entirely of sustainable wood, this walker is as beautiful as it is functional. Two playful little woodpeckers perched at the front cheerfully peck away, making a charming clacking sound as the walker is pushed. The sound they make is lively and frolicsome, encouraging babies to ‘walk on’ down the path to a green lifestyle.
It’s one thing to have your little ones master new vocabulary with ABC’s and budding language skills, but what about encouraging the weirder (aka more fun) side of science mastery? Enter Young Mad Scientist’s First Alphabet Blocks by Xylocopa, featured at this year’s Maker Faire in Austin, TX. These laser-carved cubes of A-B-C alchemy, are just the sort of thing that will get your tot primed for creative storytelling, spelling bee championships, and mad science for engaged young minds.
After scaring my newly-pregnant wife with the dangers of toxoplasmosis (I swear I thought there was something to it), we permanently shipped her cats off to her parents’ house, and I settled in to what I thought would forever be our comfortable pet-free home. And then came my son. My son wanted a dog. Really that should read, ‘My wife wanted a dog to replace her cats, and suggested the idea to our son figuring that his incessant querying would break me.’ Well, it didn’t. My winning question to him was, ‘Who’s going to pick-up the poop?’ Disgusted, his only response was, ‘Not me!’
The mind of a child is a busy place. Children are swarmed on a daily basis with a cacophony of songs, characters, shapes, sounds, colors, letters and endless input. As parents, we’re right to constantly engage our blossoming little geniuses, but ushering them into some Zen downtime on a regular basis is just as important as teaching them their ABC’s.
If you’re a fan of modern prefab architecture and you’re raising little ones, you’ll probably love the Mini Modern Play Shed. Part Case-Study home, part play-house, the Mini Modern Prefab proves that kid’s design doesn’t need to be garish or overly cutesy. Architect Ryan Grey Smith, known for his adult-sized Modern-Shed is bringing prefab to preschoolers with his Modern Play Shed, a smaller but no-less awesome version of his original design. Better than any treehouse or dollhouse we’ve seen, it comes fully loaded with a sloped shed roof, dutch doors, 12 windows, and more.
When it comes to kids’ trick or treating bounty, it’s all about fairness. Every parent has stared at a kitchen table covered in chocolate treats only to hear from their caped crusader, “It’s not fair, he got more candy than me,” or “I was fair and only took one, but she grabbed five!” This Halloween, why not teach our trick or treating fiends about the true meaning of Fair Trade?
I recently read a NYTimes article about a tiny extension house on Long Island with a grand mission: to lengthen the life of humans through jarring aesthetics that engage the body, and in turn facilitate the stimulation of the immune system. The Bioscleave House is based on a novel concept; one that takes an inverted look at sustainable living by focusing first on the immediate environment which we inhabit, and thereby sharpening our attitude toward the world at large.
Babywearing is more popular than ever, due to an ever-increasing interest in natural parenting. Wearing your baby in a sling, wrap or carrier is a wonderful way to keep him close and still have your hands free to take care of necessary day to day tasks. Like any other child care product, however, baby carriers should be used with common sense and security in mind. The following guidelines will help ensure that you are wearing your baby safely.
Our recent visit to the newly re-opened Brooklyn Children’s Museum in Crown Heights, had us giddy and delighted as we explored the sprawling, environmentally friendly space. The Brooklyn Children’s Museum is New York’s first ‘green’ museum. It is slated for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification, boasting several environmentally conscious features, and it is a fun, educational excursion for the entire family!
The PedoBike will seem familiar to most readers because, let’s face it, it looks a lot like a LIKEaBIKE - that other popular wooden push bike. The PedoBike is also a likable bike. It’s slightly less expensive than its competitor, and it boasts modular craftsmanship, varied accessories, and a sustainable manufacturing process. Besides, according to the distributor’s website, PedoBike is actually the “original of all wooden walking bikes for children”.
Chances are, your toddler has already left his “artistic” mark somewhere in your home. Whether he draws swirls in his oatmeal, or left an original on your wall, compliments of his red crayon, kids love to express themselves via art. There are many eco-savvy tools available which encourage your child’s instinctual desire to unleash his designs on the world. Here are some that will enable him to keep the planet “green,” while painting it with rainbows.
Books: the scourge of every environmentally conscious parent. It takes about 6% of a tree to make a ream of non-recycled paper. That doesn’t seem like much, but consider the fact that each year in the US, over 2 billion books are published (not to mention magazines and newspapers), and that equates to a whole lot of trees. But you can’t not read to your kids. Thankfully, Simon & Schuster’s Little Green Books are coming soon to a bookstore near you.
We reap what we sow…so if we plant the seeds of eco-awareness in our little ones, there is a good chance that future generations will blossom into green-minded thinkers and doers. L.A.’s fabulously curated eco-boutique, The Little Seed, is a welcome patch of green and a breath of fresh air amidst the urban chaos of Los Angeles. It features all of the necessities and whimsy for our offspring to “grow up” amidst environmentally friendly wares, cool organic threads, and earth-loving philosophies.
One of my son’s absolute favorite toys is a adorable green alligator pull-toy that ‘clackety-clacks’ when in motion. It was a gift from a dear friend, and when I did some research on Plan Toys, the company that produces this darling toy, I was elated to see that they have an extremely active eco-agenda. If you have been searching for a truly green toy-maker and a fun new friend to tag along behind your little one, Plan Toys is great company to invite into your household.
As the proud mama of a nightowl newborn, I’ve suddenly found myself spending more time awake during the night than the day. Nightlights weren’t on my baby gear list, but they should have been. Not only do new moms need a guiding light for all those late-night feedings, but older toddlers and older children like to sleep with nightlights as well to keep the boogeyman at bay.
So what’s an eco-minded mom to do? Seek out solar power and energy-efficient LED lamps of course! Fortunately the two green technologies go hand-in-hand in one cute little package in this Moon Jar solar powered LED lamp.
It may be a while before hydrogen cars are a common sight on the freeway, but the development of sophisticated hydrogen technology is in full swing, and you can see it in action with the tiny H-Racer toy car. The H-Racer, by Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies is the 21st century update on the retro remote-controlled car, but it requires no batteries.
We love DIY, open source design, especially when it’s great, green design made available to us and our families for FREE! Swiss architect Nicola Enrico Stäubli’s FoldSchool furniture does just this, bringing downloadable cardboard plans to your computer, so that you and your tots can build your own eco chairs! The downloadable FREE patterns from his website are the embodiment of great green design- all you need is a printer, some cardboard, a pair of scissors, and some childlike creativity, and you’re on your way to sitting pretty. Patterns come in three options- a stool, rocker, or chair.
We’ve all had our wooden toys when we were kids: wooden blocks, wooden animals and even wooden cars. All of these classic toys were great, but none of them were powered by the sun. And that is why we love this low-fi take on a high-tech concept: solar powered toy helicopters. These charming Scandinavian style wooden helicopters come with plastic rotor blades with compact solar panels on their tops. This allows the helicopter to collect solar energy as they sit on the windowsill, and charge up for later playtime.
Give your kids a creative outlet on a surface they’re already hankering to make their mark on — by turning your walls into their next art project. Wallpaper-By-Numbers takes a much beloved hobby of coloring by numbers to an entirely new scale, running floor to ceiling. Rolls of 20.5″ x 33′ start at $95.00 and come in a variety of bold prints with brightly pre-colored backgrounds, the adults will have just as much fun as the kids with this project.
Here’s a fun board game that provides a great eco-design twist.Play Rethink: The Eco-Design Game encourages children to rethink existing everyday projects with the environment in mind.Perhaps you can redesign a chair using locally sourced materials or come up with new functions for an out of use shopping cart — the game challenges players to think environmentally friendly and stretch their eco-design creativity! READ MORE >
If you’re like us, and never really outgrew your love of treehouses, here’s a chance to live vicariously through your children’s toys. This recycled wood model treehouse from TreeBlocks is made from recycled cherry and elder wood and stands a kid’s sized 22″ tall. A perfect home for dolls, Transformers, or other favorite playthings, it’s easy to assemble and comes fully-equipped with retractable stairs, rope ladder, bucket and pulley, and three platforms.
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