Saving the Earth, Staying Screen-Free, and Embracing What We Have During the COVID 19 Pandemic
”Yes, kids love technology, but they also love Legos, scented markers, handstands, books, and mud puddles. It’s all about balance.”
K.G. / first grade teacher
Last Wednesday I sat down with ten of my favorite ‘Earth Day’ themed children’s books, published this blog post about why each and every one was a must-have read aloud, and then shared the books and blog post with my son, William.
William is in the fourth grade, and I am planning to use the books with my second grade class soon, although I don’t really know how soon, since we found out on Friday that schools in Rhode Island are currently closed, until further notice, due to the Coronavirus ( COVID 19) pandemic.
So now, we ( me, my husband and kids) are all home and we have been discussing the many family things we will be able to do, now that none of us has to be rushing around, taking care of various school-related responsibilities.
William opened up my book, Educate the Heart, and choose an activity from the Homework Chapter. We all love playing board games so he decided we should do the activity called “Game Creation,” which suggests children choose a topic and create a new game based on important facts or concepts about the topic.
He thought about the Earth Day books from the blog post and said he wanted to make a game that would teach kids what they could do to save the earth.
Although we’ve always been diligent about recycling and reusing, mindful about the products we use, and have always encouraged healthy earth-friendly habits, William was really fascinated by the information in the books about exactly HOW much difference HE could make by making simple good choices.
He choose his ten favorite “Save The Earth” tips and wrote them on the game board. The spaces are various shades of green to go along with the “Earth” theme and the cards are “Candy Land” style.
I love the Lego people he created for each player to move around the board and I love how the ‘start’ is a sad Earth and the end is a happy Earth with happy children.
We actually haven’t played William’s “Let’s Save The Earth” game yet because after all his hard work he played outside for quite a while. Luckily everyone here is healthy so even though we can’t actually go out we are definitely going to take advantage of the spring like weather and our backyard as often as possible.
I’m sure we will play soon, if not tonight, then definitely tomorrow!
Coincidentally, while my son was researching earth friendly, going green facts and tips, I had the pleasure of checking out a new brand of cleaning products I had never heard of before. It’s called Norwex and it’s mission is to improve the quality of life by radically reducing chemicals in homes.
I’ve been amazed by what I’ve seen from the consultant, Kayla, who is also a respected educator in my school. She has shared videos and facts about the difference the ‘clean’ is with Norwex products than basically all other cleaning products.
The products I’m most excited about are the sustainable products, specifically the on the go items. Norwex has stainless steel straws with these features:
made of Earth-friendly, polished stainless steel
free of BPA, a known endocrine disruptor
a modern sleek, curved design that makes them easier to use
large enough in diameter to make drinking shakes and smoothies easy
fits most cups and bottles
available in a set of two so you can share or keep handy at home, in the car and at work
dishwasher-safe.
I also love the design and style of the reusable grocery bags! Check them out on the website under the sustainable/ on the go category! I ordered the “Believe There is Green in the World” design and the Retro” style.
Although my family is making the most of our time home, and we are grateful to be healthy and have this time together, we are concerned about other people who are more susceptible to COVID 19 and praying that everyone gets through this stressful time as peacefully as possible.
I saw this on Facebook or Twitter and it’s been EVERYWHERE and I love it:
We will always have hope and it’s always best to embrace and be grateful for what we have.
Thank you so much for visiting the blog today. I hope you found this post worthwhile.
If you would like to connect further, feel free to leave a comment, email, message, or even a link if you have something to share on any of my social media platforms. I will be sure to get back to you in a timely fashion.
Yours truly,
Jennifer
