Greening Sam and Avery

camping/backpacking with little ones

We are planning our first ever BIG camping trip with the girls this summer. Actually, we are taking them backpacking for the first time. 

During July we will head to Denver to hit up the foothill areas and then some higher elevation areas for two seperate backpacking trips; a two day trip and then a three day trip. 

We are super excited for this because Uncle Craig, Aunt Lori, Uncle Carl and cousin Chester will all be joining us! Family, hiking, camping and the great outdoors what could be better. 

But today while I was just starting to look at our gear and what we might need to pick up for the trip I realized that besides the books I have been reading it would be great to read up on what other bloggers have done with their little ones. I would really appreciate any advice, tips, tricks, games, supply must-haves, things to not bring, etc. about camping and backpacking with little kids. 

SO please link up any backpacking or camping related posts that you have to share! Or leave your advice in the comments section!

Thanks everyone. 

outdoor play link up - nature discoveries

If you want your little ones to have an appreciation for the outdoors simply make some nature discoveries. In your own backyard just start looking around for the little things that are amazing. Creating a child that has a love of nature, the backyard kind of nature to the big beautiful mountains kind of nature, starts with showing them the nature that they walk past everyday. 

So head out and try a few of these...

look inside a nest, 

 lift up a rock, 

find a treasure, 

watch a bird catch a worm, (the birds were much closer to us, and we got to see one pull up a worm, but then they quickly flew away as we grew close)

create a natural restuarant, 

catch something in a creek, 

float something on a quick current, 

or simply dig a hole to bury something!

 

Feature of the Week!

I just couldn't pick. There were two mommas that rocked my world this week with their awesome play and inspiring ideas. Growing Play: One Step Further had an awesome competition going on at her house...who can stay outside the longest! Genius!!

  

And Frog, Goose and Bear had the most amazing camping trip! I would love to be a kid in this family. Who wouldn't love to have a sculpter in the family that can just whip up some great works of art on a camping trip? 

Go and check out these great posts if you haven't seen them already! Thanks ladies for linking up. You are going to have some outdoor loving kids that will turn into outdoor loving grown-ups! 

 

Now on to the party!

A few guidelines for the party...

- Any kind of children's outdoor play-related posts are welcome!

- If you'd like us to further share your post (e.g., on Facebook/ Twitter/ Pinterest), please just include a link back to this post (either in your post or sidebar) to help us spread the word about the importance (and fun!) of outdoor play!

- Please feel free to grab the Outdoor Play Party button from the sidebar and/or include a text link back.

- Each time we will feature an activity from the previous party. 

- By contributing you are giving permission for an image and link to your post to be republished. 

Share your ideas for outdoor play activities with us every other week! The linky goes live every second Friday at 12:01 GMT+1

 

 

Happy Earth Day!

What a great, busy day we had today!

If you haven't entered the Earth Day Celebrations blog hop yet you should head HERE and check out all the awesome ideas that have been shared. 

 

earth day celebrations - read an earthy book

Just a reminder that the Earth Day Celebrations Blog Hop is going on! Be sure to scroll down and check out some of the great ideas that are being shared. 

Here are a few of my favorites that have been shared so far!

Eat Your Dandelions - from Laura Grace Weldon

Upcycle Egg Cartons to Building Blocks - from Kindergarten & Preschool for Parents & Teachers

Toddler Bird Book - from Growing Together

Teaching Children about Earth Day - from Inspiration Laboraties

Check these out, leave them a comment to let them know Greening Sam and Avery sent you, and then come back and link up a post of your own!

So, now onto another great way you could celebrate Earth Day! 

It isn't tree planting time yet in our area, still too many days of frost and no leaves on the trees. But we are gearing up for planting season with some tree planting books. 

 

Sid the Science Kid is a great science based show that my kids love and last year after Earth Day I found this book. There is a ton of great information about dirt in there, presented in a way that little ones can understand. Plus the activities that the kids do in school, in the book, are really neat and ones that I would like to try when the girls are a bit older! 

The Mangrove Tree by Susan L. Roth and Cindy Trumbore is a style of book that I just love! They have bigger text at the top of each page that is rhyming, tells the story and presents the story in a way that is appropriate for young kids. But then along the sides of the pages there is more information about the trees, the people and the real story. I love that a parent could get this book and read have it work for both a younger child and an older child! 

If you need more ideas for nature related books to read on Earth Day head over to Must See Children's Books for LOTS of great ideas. 

earth day celebrations - blog hop

Let's get this celebration started!!  Earth Day is just 12 days away and I want to pack in as much play, learning, crafting and celebrating the Earth as I can! 

We got started today with a craft project with our friends. It was a super simple project today and just filled a few minutes of our outdoor play time and then a few minutes inside while the moms made dinner but there is a ton of variations, expansions, etc. that could be done with this basic idea. 

The kids started with some bare trees drawn on a piece of paper. I asked the kids what was missing and then we headed out to collect some items they could use to create the branches, flowers, seeds and leaves that the trees needed. 

For the two 2 year olds I did the gluing for them. 

And then they just added whatever materials they wanted. 

For the three 4 year olds I let them do all the work themselves. 

They turned out pretty cute and if the kids were not excited to move onto other playing and activities they probably would have spent a lot more time on this. 

You could take this idea and create any kind of natural image or animal and then have your child decorate it with natural items they found. Outside time collecting small items from nature and then using them for a craft project that your child can keep are great ways to celebrate Earth day! It gets your kids close to nature, noticing small fun items and the creating something to help them remember their time outside. Do this activity with a group of friends and it can become a real party! 

Ready to share some of your ideas for how to celebrate Earth Day? I am super excited to hear what you all will be up to with your little ones this month. If you are in need of ideas you can check out my first earth day celebrations post or head over to my co-host's blog, Mommy Labs. 

On to the Blog Hop!

Be sure to link up posts that relate to Earth Day! We want to hear about your crafts, books, outdoor play or learning, service projects or anything else that you have cooked up to help your kids connect to the Earth on April 22nd. 

If you grab the button or share the link for the blog hop I will help spread the word about your post via Facebook, Twitter and/or Pinterest! 

 

 

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Earth Day Celebrations

It is April! Did that surprise anyone else? I cannot believe we are in April already! 

April is a fun month because of EARTH DAY! There are lots of great events, activities and promotions that will pop up this month. And I have decided to join in on all the fun. Actually I am honored to be joining Mommy Labs in a 20 day long Earth Day blog hop to share all of our great ideas of how to celebrate Earth day with our kids.

So on April 10th we will begin this blog hop and hope that you will come back to join us with a post to share!

To kick off an April of celebrating the Earth I thought I would share some of our past ideas. 

• Go to a public program.
• Help out an animal at the zoo.  
• Clean up a pond or park
• make a recycled craft - lots of ideas listed here!
• Go for a bug safari - gets you super close to the Earth!
• a nature reading day - enjoy the whole day with books about the Earth. 
• Make a birdfeeder for your backyard - lots of great birding with kids ideas. 

Okay, that is enough links of past ideas for now! I am excited to share some of our new ideas for how to celebrate Earth Day with all of you over the next few weeks. Mommy Labs and I will be posting ideas every Thursday and on April 10th the big Earth Day Celebrations blog hop will begin!

I just wanted to say for a minute how thrilled I am to be working with Rashmie from Mommy Labs. She has some of the most amazing ideas and activities that she shares on her blog. 

I cannot wait to nature journal like this with my girls. Her creative way to make a journal for her daughter is AWESOME!  And I love the effort that she put into a simple leaf rubbing activity and it totally shows in the amazing end product. Plus, she shares some information that I am super passionate about and just love that we think the same on so many of these topics! Her blog is truly inspirational and a great place to find awesome learning and play ideas for your little ones. Please head over and check out Mommy Labs! 

I spent the whole day in the car today going to pick up my nieces and nephew. They are spending the weekend with us. It was a long exhausting day and I have nothing earth shattering to share so I am going to pass the torch to some great bloggers that do have something great to share!

Jada Roo Can Do - laundry basket boat fishing;

I can totally see this set up in our backyard with two laundry baskets and two very focused little girls working hard on catching a fish!

Life In The Unknown - Urban Nature Scavenger Hunt

We are for sure going to do this in downtown Madison the next time we head down there. So fun to find little bits of nature in unexpected places!

Relentlessly Fun, Deceptively Educational - Nature Scavenger Hunt

I have made plenty of scavenger hunt pages for my girls before but this one looks so professional! Love how there are so many links and tips on how to make a nice one like this.

Tutus & Tea Parties - Sponge Balls

I am SO making these for all the little ones that I have at my house this weekend. They are going to love them. A great tutorial for anyone that is interested in making their own.

Okay, go check out these great ideas and then share your own!

How did you spend your week outdoors? 

Share your outdoor play with us. Here’s just a few guidelines for sharing.

> Any kind of outdoor play is welcome. If it happened outside, then please link it up

> Please do not share any competitions or promotions

> Please link back to this post

> Each week we will feature an activity from the previous week. By contributing you are giving permission for an image and link from your post to be republished.

Thanks for sharing.

get the InLinkz code <

>Share this link-up on your site

 

bug week - outdoor play link up

There is not much better than some good old puddle jumping and bug hunting!

 
We were looking for butterflies today.

 
We only saw one little one but it was a big hit.

 
And then the puddle jumping began! 

Some serious outdoor fun was had and then we followed it up by some quiet reading time inside learning more about butterflies.

 

 
 

How did you spend your week outdoors? 

Share your outdoor play with us. Here’s just a few guidelines for sharing.

> Any kind of outdoor play is welcome. If it happened outside, then please link it up

> Please do not share any competitions or promotions

> Please link back to this post

> Each week we will feature an activity from the previous week. By contributing you are giving permission for an image and link from your post to be republished.

Thanks for sharing.

>Share this link-up on your site

bug week - green mama blog hop

So since it is bug week and our garden is full of both the helpful and not-so-helpful types of bugs I thought I would share a resource for how to deal with the not-so-helpful garden bugs, the GREEN way!

This is a great site if you like homemade products and aren't afraid of trying things out to see what works best for you. There are lots of homemade recipes for pest control methods that are safe for the family and the environment. This is also just a really cool site, so go check it out here!

Luckily the pests have not been that bad for us yet this year so I have not had to use anything! Woohoo. But I am sure they will find the garden soon enough.

 

Welcome to the Green Mama Blog Hop!

Please only join this hop if you deem your blog as 'green'. It doesn't matter if you are a beginner or if you're a pro.. this Green Mama Blog Hop is for you!

My goal is to have more and more people join each week! But that can't happen without your help. If you could please post the button on your blog, as well as in a post, that would be great! Thanks so much for your involvement! I want us 'Green Mamas' to befriend each other and be there for questions or support.

<a href="http://www.giveawaysandlife.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://i457.photobucket.com/albums/qq300/sashica13/green-house-2-1.jpg" /></a>

~Lovely Hostesses~

And Then There Were 4...

Greening Sam and Avery

The Little Hedgehog

~Featured Blog~

Untrained Hair Mom

Each week, there will be a fourth, Featured Blog to be followed as well. To qualify to be the Featured Blog, you will need to participate in all of the guidelines. I will pick one at random from all qualifiers. I will email you the Monday before the Hop, if you are chosen.

Hopping Guidelines:

MANDATORY:

* Add your blog's home page to the Linky list! I will be monitoring the blogs to make sure we only have 'green', family-friendly blogs involved.  

* Follow the 3 hosts, Featured Blog and the blog ahead of yours. Make sure to leave comments on each of the blog so they can follow you back! The more you follow, the more will follow you back!

OPTIONAL:

(You don't have to do these to enter the hop, but you must do both to qualify for the Featured Blog position)

* Grab the new Green Mama Blog Hop button and place it on your home page.

* Put the button into a post on your blog. Then leave a comment on this Hop post with the link.

This hop will open each Tuesday night and will be open all week. It will start over each week, so keep coming back each week to enter!

Welcome to the Green Mama Blog Hop! Enjoy!

green mama blog hop

Just wanted to share some green mamas with you all that I hope you are stopping by to visit.

Frugally Green Mom has a great insect repellent giveaway going on right now. This blog is a great resource if you are interested in being green on a budget! Great tips, great product reviews and you should absolutely check out her recipes!

Green's Going Green is a great family blog that I can really relate to. They are further along on their sustainable living journey than we are so I love getting new ideas of what we can be doing. It is also really fun hearing about their desert life because it is so very different from our WI green adventures. And they have chickens!

So stop by these blogs and the other green mamas on the hop!!

Welcome to the 18th week of the Green Mama Blog Hop!

Please only join this hop if you deem your blog as 'green'. It doesn't matter if you are a beginner or if you're a pro.. this Green Mama Blog Hop is for you!

My goal is to have more and more people join each week! But that can't happen without your help. If you could please post the button on your blog, as well as in a post, that would be great! Thanks so much for your involvement! I want us 'Green Mamas' to befriend each other and be there for questions or support.

<a href="http://www.giveawaysandlife.blogspot.com/"><img src="http://i457.photobucket.com/albums/qq300/sashica13/green-house-2-1.jpg" /></a>

~Lovely Hostesses~

And Then There Were 4...

Mommy Made Green

Greening Sam and Avery

The Little Hedgehog

Hopping Guidelines:

MANDATORY:

* Add your blog's home page to the Linky list! I will be monitoring the blogs to make sure we only have 'green', family-friendly blogs involved.  

* Follow the 4 hosts and the blog ahead of yours. Make sure to leave comments on each of the blog so they can follow you back! The more you follow, the more will follow you back!

OPTIONAL:

(You don't have to do these to enter the hop, but you must do both to qualify for the Featured Blog position)

* Grab the new Green Mama Blog Hop button and place it on your home page.

* Put the button into a post on your blog. Then leave a comment on this Hop post with the link.

This hop will be open all week but it will start over each week, so keep coming back each week to enter!

Welcome to the Green Mama Blog Hop! Enjoy!