Earth Day in the Kitchen—Celebrate our Planet

Here are some ideas to celebrate the Earth and get your kids thinking about how to better take care of themselves and our planet!
 Go to the Farmer’s Market. There are wonderful things to be found there: new fruits and vegetables that your kids may never have seen, locally produced honey, breads, chocolate, and locally grown nuts. Talk with your kids about why it’s so important to buy locally. Encourage them to try something new.

 Scavenger hunt at the grocery store. Have them find a certain number of different colored fruits and vegetables. Discuss the differences between organic, transitional and conventional.

 Make an Earth Dinner: have your kids pick fruits and vegetables that represent the colors of our planet—you’ll be surprised how creative they can be! Talk with them about how food grows, where it comes from and why it’s important to try to buy locally and organic.
 Think like a pioneer. Have a candlelit dinner that you cook without electricity, go without the dishwasher for a night, read to one another while you eat popcorn made the old fashioned way! Lie on your lawn and look up at the stars. Talk to your kids about the importance of energy conservation.
 Save the water that you let run while waiting for it to heat up for a week. Show your kids how much water is wasted and talk with them about why it’s important to conserve water. Use your saved water in your garden.
 Plant your family’s favorite fruit tree in your yard.

 Start a compost

Most of all have fun learning!

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