Fun eco-friendly things to do with your children these holidays….Reader submitted

Here are some fun things to do with your children these holidays….

http://www.ecodeals.co.nz/eco-info/fun-things-to-do-these-holidays/

We have scoured the internet for a bunch of fun things to make and do these holidays....

Here is a fantastic website with some pretty cool ecologically inspired learning games

http://www.ecokids.ca/pub/games_activities/index.cfm

Make your own paint

What you will need

• 3 tablespoons organic sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup organic corn starch
• 2 cups water
• organic food colorants

Pick your colours

Add a couple of drops of natural food colorants to a muffin tin or other container. Muffin tins are great as they are easy to transport & clean but old food or drink containers work too.

Mix your paint

Add all of the other ingredients to a small saucepan and continually stir over low heat until the mixture thickens to paint consistency.

Pour the paints

Pour equal amounts of the paint mixture into each container.

Mix it up

Mix each of the paints up until the colour is evenly distributed.

Get painting

Source: http://www.inhabitots.com/how-to-make-non-toxic-finger-paint-for-creative-kids/fingerpaints-3/?extend=1

Make your own facepaint

What you will need

• organic lotion
• organic pigments
• paintbrush or cosmetic brush

Mix your ingredients

Using nothing more than organic lotion and natural pigments [I used organic eye shadows], you can make all different colours of face paint. We were going for an Avatar look so we stuck to blues, purples and golds.

Create a colour palette

Place all of your colours on a plate so you have easy access to all of them while you paint.

Get painting

Using your finger, a sponge or a paint brush you can start painting your child’s face. Once the face paint dries, it stays in place well, but it’s also easy to remove with water and a wash cloth.

Make an Earth Day Commitment list

Get together as a family and make a list of goals that you all want to accomplish that relate to the environment. Kids can be in charge of decorating the list and then choosing where to place it for all to see. The refrigerator or family room or anywhere your family ends up congregating is a good option. Check in every few weeks or months to see if you have been able to keep up the changes.

Celebrate with a meatless meal

The production of meat requires a lot of water and land use, not to mention all the greenhouse gases it produces. Do Mother Earth (and your family) a favour and serve a delicious veggie meal, and consider making it a more often occurrence (such as Meatless Monday). With older kids, you can even bring up other environmental food issues such as the organic versus local debate and talk about how shopping at the farmer’s market and other local stores effects the local and global economy.

Volunteer

A great way to start the holidays is by finding a way that your family can volunteer for a great cause together. Whether you sign up for a beach cleanup, collect items for a local food bank or clothing drive, or donate your time to helping someone in need or to clean up your community – you and your children will feel a sense of happiness knowing that you helped out in your community

Make your own papier mache

What you will need

Flour, water, paper (or you can use the glue recipe below)

1. Stir three parts water into one part flour until the mixture is smooth and creamy. To make the paste last longer, add a few drops of oil of Wintergreen (available from chemists and health stores) but this is optional.
2. Stir well and the paste is ready to use.
3. Now you need paper- newspaper works really well. Rip the paper into long strips and then rip the strips into shorter pieces.
4. Dip each piece of paper in the liquid mixture and apply it one piece at a time to form your shapes.

You can make your own piñata by covering a balloon and then popping it when it is fully dry and filling it with home made goodies.

How to make handmade paper

This paper making recipe will help you recycle some of that wasted paper around your house such as: newsprint, envelopes, writing paper, left over gift wrap or other types of paper. Note: Sort the paper by colour, because the final paper it will come out that tone.

What you will need

• A large bowl
• Waste paper (about 5 sheets)
• Water
• A mixer or food processor
• Two wooden frames 8"-12" (you can buy a standard frame or make one)
• A screen (nylon works well and you can buy it at a hardware store)
• A stapler
• A large tub or pot
• Cloth
• An iron
• Optional bits, dryer Lint, thread, glitter, flowers, thin leaves, pine needles, potato or carrot peel...be creative here.

Soak it

To begin, shred the paper into small squares about 1 inch and put them into the bowl with hot water. Let soak for half an hour.

Make a mould

While the paper is soaking, make the mould. Attach the screen to each frame using staples. Leave the other frame blank. (You can also make moulds from screens, or other objects (see below).

Turn it into pulp

Place the soaked paper in the mixer bowl or food processor half filled with water. Mix at half speed until smooth.

At this point, you can also add small quantities of vegetables or plants to the pulp. In this case, mix until the mixture is uniform. (Only a small amount should be used or you will end up with mush.)

To add colour to the paper, add non-toxic fabric dye or food colouring to the mixture.

Swish it in a tub

Pour warm water into the tub until it is half full. Then, pour the pulp into the tub until the mixture resembles thick soup. The thicker the mixture, the thicker your paper will be. Place the frame in and Shake it from side to side to distribute the pulp evenly until it makes a sheet of paper.

Drain, place it in a mould

Take the paper pulp and frame out of the tub place the other border frame on top. Hold both frames and turn the paper 180 degrees on to the clean frame.

Let it dry

Place the frames horizontally and let it drip dry, or turn it over onto a cloth to dry

Iron it

Place another cloth on top. Dry the paper by ironing firmly or remove the cloth and let it dry naturally

Using other kinds of moulds

You can try other ideas like using baking moulds, plastic, plaster or chocolate moulds. This can be fun for ornaments, small gift tags, or wall ornaments. Spray the mould lightly with cooking oil. Place the damp paper into the mould and let it dry - it should lift out easily when dry. If you want to make a hanging ornament simply add a string while it is wet.

Leftovers

When you are done, you can throw away the screened pulp or keep the drained, leftover pulp in the freezer, in a plastic bag, for later use.

NOTE: Do not pour the pulp into the sink or toilet because the pulp could block the drain. :(

Source: http://www.planetpals.com/papermaking.html

Make your own play dough

What you will need

• 1 cup flour
• 1/2 cup salt
• 2 tablespoons cream of tartar
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 cup boiling water
• Natural food colouring

Directions

Mix the flour, salt, and cream of tartar in a bowl. Add the water, oil, and food colouring and mix. When the mixture forms a ball in the centre of the bowl let it cool. When it is cool tip it out of the bowl and knead it several times. Store in an airtight container.

Make non-toxic craft paste

What you will need

• saucepan
• spoon
• 1/4 c salt
• 1 c flour
• 4 cups water
• jar to put the mixture in

Directions

• Boil one 4 cups (1 litre) of water in a saucepan.
• Remove from heat and stir in 1/4 cup of salt.
• Gradually add 1 cup of flour, stirring the whole time to prevent lumping.
• Continue stirring until the mixture is the consistency of a very thick gravy.
• Allow the mixture to cool before using.
• You can use the paste immediately or store it in the fridge for up to five days.

Notes

• This craft paste works well for paper crafts and papier-mache projects.
• You may need to add a little more flour or water to achieve the desired result.

Source: http://www.planetpals.com/craft-non-toxic-craft-supply-recipes.html

Make non-toxic flubber silly putty

What you will need

• Bowl
• Plastic cup
• Box of Borax Soap
• 2 cups of Glue (500ml) see recipe above.
• Natural Liquid Food Colouring
• Water

Directions

• Empty the 500ml of glue into a mixing bowl.
• Fill the empty container with warm water and mix well
• Pour the glue-water mixture into the mixing bowl and use the spoon to mix well.
• Add a couple of drops of natural food colouring to obtain desired colour.
• While stirring the glue in the mixing bowl, slowly add a little of the Borax soap.

Notes

• Use separate containers for making individual colours
• As it gets thick, Use your hands to mix.
• Place in a plastic locked bag to keep it fresh

Source: http://www.planetpals.com/craft-non-toxic-craft-supply-recipes.html

Make non-toxic chalk sticks

This chalk washes off with water. You can use it on your footpath, too.

What you will need

• 1 cup plaster of Paris
• 1/2 cup cold water
• Powdered tempera paint or food colouring
• Iceblock moulds or other (see below)

Directions

Combine all ingredients, keeping in mind that the amount of paint used will determine intensity of the chalk colour. Pour the mixture into iceblock moulds.

Time required: 15 mins plus drying.

Have fun!

Tips

• If you line moulds with waxed paper will make removal of the chalk easier.
• The chalk works best just after it has dried and is removed from the moulds.
• Toilet paper tubes may be used as moulds.

Make your own water wall

This is easy and a heap of fun!

What you will need

• A support, Pegboard is great but permeable so won’t stand up to too much water, maybe a frame with some mesh attached to it could be a more permanent solution.
• A selection of old bottles with the bottoms cut out or holes poked through.
• Hoses, pipes and anything you can think of
• Removable ties

Attach all the bottles and containers to the wall to form water pathways, chop and change to find the best effects

It’s fun, fun, fun!

Source: http://shareandremember.blogspot.co.nz/2011/06/our-water-wall.html