World Earth Day Activities

World Earth Day will be celebrating its 45th birthday this year, on April 22nd. Now, more than ever, is the time to get our children involved in taking measures to protect our planet. Children are aware of the importance of recycling and energy saving, but the more we educate children on exactly how we impact our planet, the greater chance of creating a sustainable future. Earth Day Network shows you ways that you and your children can take action and make a difference. There are also very simple things that you can do on Earth Day itself, as pointed out in the latest Barefoot Books blog.

The Barefoot Book of Earth Tales is the perfect book to read in the run up to World Earth Day. Each of the seven folk tales, featured in the collection, show how different cultures around the world embrace the natural world and strive to live in harmony. 

The short stories are great for snatching a short period of family time together, in the midst of a busy day. You can simply read aloud together or, if you have more time on your hands, you can have a go at the hands-on activity attached to the end of each story. Activities include ' Everything Goes Soup' and homemade bird feeders, and all promote green living and eco messages. 

The first story in the collection is The Sun Mother, a story from Australia. After an introduction to the country itself, the story goes on to spread the message that if we all look after the little patch of earth where we belong, between us we can care for the whole earth. The activity at the end of this story is to make an aboriginal song-line painting. Song-line paintings are traditional pieces of art that depict areas that are social to the painter. The activity encourages children to think of their favourite place, a garden or park for example, and to paint with whatever materials they have at hand. You could use sand, chalk, charcoal or whatever natural pigments you can find or, like us, you can just use paints.

We took our book and paints in the sunny backyard and got to work on our song-line paintings, influenced by our local park

We had lots of fun and, of course, ended up getting very messy, which is what we like best! We would love to see your song-line paintings of your favourite place on earth.

Earth Day Giveaway

Earth Day 2013 is this coming Monday and here at Little Scribbles we have lots of Barefoot fun for you to celebrate, including the chance to win a copy of the award winning Barefoot Book of Earth Tales. The focus for this years Earth Day is climate change, for more information take a look at the  Earth Day website in which we can here how:

 ' Climate change can seem like a remote problem for our leaders, but the fact is that it's already impacting real people, animals, and beloved places. These Faces of Climate Change are multiplying every day. Fortunately, other Faces of Climate Change are multiplying too: those stepping up to do something about it.  ' 

It is true that, at times, we can often think that we are a small fish in a big pond when it comes to climate change but the small things really do add up and together we can make a big impact on our environment. One of the reasons that I became an ambassador for Barefoot Books was due to their strong stance on sustainability. With ethical sourcing of paper and manufacturing, awareness of carbon footprint when shipping, recycling of paper for our books and vegetable based ink, Barefoot lead the way when it comes to green business. Through our natural child and world culture books, we help spread the message about creating a happy planet. One of my favourite books is The Barefoot Book of Earth Tales

In The Barefoot Book of Earth Tales we Learn how different cultures around the world set out to live in harmony with the natural world in this popular anthology. The seven folk tales are each followed by a hands-on activity that promotes green living and reinforces the eco messages of the stories. Whilst the book is aimed at 5-11 year olds, I think it is a book that is fun for all the family, so make sure you enter the competition at the bottom of the page to be in with a chance of winning you own hardback copy.

If you want to delve deeper into the book the take a look at our book club discussion guide

You can also check out our great Earth Tale inspired craft: Bring the messages of the stories home and keep the birds in your garden happy and healthy with this easy to make Environmentally friendly pine cone bird feeder.

To be in with a chance of winning a copy of The Barefoot Book of Earth Tales, simply follow the details on the Rafflecopter below and let me know your eco-friendly tips

If you don't win, don't worry, you can get 20% of a copy of this fab book here 

a Rafflecopter giveaway