As spring fills the air there are many more activities we can do with our kids, lots of options for being outdoors, Earth active projects to get involved in. Today, rather than give you an activity I’ve enjoyed to try at home, I bring you my pick of ideas for getting out, or even staying home, and getting Earth active with your family, with links to sites for more information. Not by coincidence, these are all green activities.
There are many many projects, maybe too many. To cut things down a bit I’m focusing on upcoming Earth celebrations, calendared events which you can get involved with in various ways, at a level suitable for your family.
National Wildlife Week, March 16-20th, 2009
There is still time to celebrate National Wildlife Week. I took a look at the National Wildlife Week site. My choice of activity is to simply have a Green Hour with your kids – get outside among nature for 1 hour every day. If you like lists Wildlife Watch lets you bring up a list of animals and plants native to your area, with nice photos in a kind of album-style application. You can check off things you’ve seen and submit the information to the National Wildlife Federation. You never know what your kids will discover!
Earth Hour, Saturday, March 28th, 2009, 8:30pm local
You can call it a protest, environmental activism, a way to spread your concern, an educational exercise, or a time for family togetherness, whatever your motivation Earth Hour can be fun and a reminder of just how dependent we’ve all become on electricity.
At it’s simplest level, all you do is switch off all lights in your home for one hour. If you want to get more involved that is an option too. There are a couple of websites to look at for more information and to see what is happening around the globe. They have a neat Google map on the Earth Hour site and a way to search for what is happening in your area. Watch the Earth Hour 2009 video at YouTube or see the Earth Hour Kids site which reports on projects being done by kids. I’d check it out first before showing it to your kids though.
National Environmental Education Week, April 12-18th, 2009
National Environmental Education Week is aimed at kids in grades K-12th. Whether you are an educator, a homeschooler, or an interested parent you can find a way to get involved, if you want. At their site there is a list of green reading suggestions by school level, a nature deficit disorder survey (that’s a new one on me), a page to search for nature centers, and tips on nature journaling.
Earth Day, April 22nd, 2009
With Earth Day following on straight after Environmental Education Week, we’ll either be jazzed up, or burnt out! There are thousands of Earth Day celebrations planned; you can find out more at the Earth Day site. I’m personally not fond of celebrating Earth Day by coloring sheets of paper or making crafts. My vote goes for doing something outdoors like visiting a farm or farmers market, taking part in a sponsored walk, or adopting an outdoor space and picking up litter. A picnic would be nice too 
Arbor Day, April 24th, 2009
National Arbor Day is the last Friday in April. Just to confuse, this may not be the best time for planting trees, depending on your location, so there are actually different dates for Arbor Day from state to state. In Kansas it happens to be the last Friday in April – check out your date here. If you want to get involved in a community event, or even run one, there is plenty of information at the Arbor Day site. You, and your kids, can also send an E-card, read the history of this celebration, and give a gift of trees.
World Water Monitoring Day, September 18th, 2009
It’s a good while until World Water Monitoring Day, so you might wonder why the mention. If you like the idea of getting involved in monitoring the health of a waterway you can start any time after March 22nd, 2009. In 2008 73,000 people in 70 countries got involved. It’s easy to register at their site. You can order a kit and then monitor one or more waterways. Then you just enter your results online before December 31st, 2009. My advice on this one – take a change of clothes with you when you go out to collect and test your water because water can be a magnet for kids who are known to trip over their own feet!
Which Earth celebrations are you planning? Have you taken part in any of these events before?
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Cool. I knew about some of these, but not all (Mom’s birthday is on Earth Day). We’ll write them down and see what we can come up with to celebrate!