I have a saying I often tell parents, "Babies are born organic. Parents mess them up." Kids have that innate love of nature and all things natural. Every so often Lil One gets cranky and can't be soothed. We'll take him outside for a walk and he'll quiet down immediately. While he was sick I took him on quite a few strolls outside and he quickly perked up. It was amazing. The same goes with Lil Man. He has a fascination with the outdoors. Give him a stick, a rock, some creepie crawlies and plot of land the size of a sand box and he is in heaven. It doesn't take much to please him - just as long as he can be outside.

Raising kids to think environmentally is simple. Since our family began "going green" Lil Man has been the easiest to educate. A few months back I was cleaning his toy area and found a piece of cardboard with RECYCLE written on it in big bold caps. I asked Lil Man what the cardboard was for. In a somewhat panicky voice he told me to make sure I didn't throw away the cardboard since he keeps all the papers he wants to recycle under it. He said he want to make his own paper. Shamefully, I had to inform him I had already thrown away all the scraps of paper under the cardboard. BAD MAMA, I know. He was very disappointed, needless to say. However, now that I am wiser of his doings I have begun helping him with his collection.

I've never thought about making paper. However, since Lil Man has an interest in making paper I decided to research the net for a recipe. Luckily I found a wonderful instructional on The Green Parent on how to make your own recycled paper. Lil Man was thrilled with this find and we plan to have fun doing this very soon. I'll post pictures of our paper making adventure once we've done it.

It's important to nurture that love of nature and caring for the environment from very young. There really isn't an age in my opinion to beginning teaching children to appreciate Mama Earth. Showing good stewardship of our earth really should be apart of our everyday practices and happening in our home. Many of the actions we require out of our children to make them more financially responsible are also benefiting our environment. Use these actions to dually teach them to be frugal and conservative. Here are some great examples:

*Teach your children to turn off the water when they are scrubbing their hands.
*Teach your children to turn off the water when they are washing their bodies.
*Remind them to turn off the lights when they aren't in a room.
*Explain to them the importance of turning off the t.v., dvds, playstations and other devices when they are not using them.
*Help them remember to put away clean clothes they've worn that aren't dirty instead of putting them in the laundry basket.
*Encourage them to eat all their food at dinnertime by not overloading their plates
*Talk to them about passing on toys, clothes, shoes, school supplies, etc they don't need to other kids that can use them.
*Have your kids help sort items for the recycle bins. If you have more than one children then delegate duties. You can put one child in charge of the paper bin; another in charge of the plastic bin etc.

Reinforcing these positive habits (and so many more) will not only raise them to be money conscious, but also these habits will raise them to be earth friendly. Reuse. Recycle. Reduce.


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