Late July is the perfect time to wonder, will this season ever end? By now, you've made trips to a pool, you've run the sprinkler, you've given in and let them stare vacantly for hours on end at the television while questioning your parenting skills, not to mention your sanity. Thus, we thought it'd be the perfect time to revisit the notion of, "What in the world ELSE can I do with my kids so I'm not facilitating their transition to mindless tv zombies who will be completely unfit to rule the nation when I'm elderly?" Below are a few tips for eco-friendly ways to spruce up the season.
1. Make popsicles! Yes, that sounds totally trite and silly, but it's a project, and a tasty AND healthy one, too. Did you know you need basically nothing but dixie-ish cups and some popsicle sticks? Should you wanna get fancy with things, BPA-free popsicle trays are less than $10 online, and they even come with the sticks... enough that while you're all eating popsicles, you can make houses out of them, or picture frames, or whatever other popsicle stick art from the 80's is currently back in vogue.
You can either blend fresh fruit with a little juice, or use straight fruit juice itself. Better yet, you can pay attention to that picture that just refuses to stop floating around everywhere on the internet and stick whole chunks of fruit into molds, with lemonade or coconut water or other light liquid around them. I'm talking about this:
There are also these, equally delicious-looking and simple to make:
Seriously, just put some fruit pieces in a mold, add a little clear liquid, and in less eight or less you'll be a superhero creator of gorgeous foodstuffs sure to delight kids the world over. If you want to get further complex, mix some yogurt in for a creamier treat.
2. Build a summer home. You don't have to be a carpenter-- or a contractor, or an architect, or anything else-- to build a house out of cereal boxes. Why would you want to do that? Because children love playhouses, and you love recycling, of course! It's green, it'll take a whole afternoon, and when it's done, you don't have to buy anyone a new toy (except maybe yourself). The tutorial is here: Cereal Box Houses
3. Host a clothing swap. Back to school usually implies back to the shopping mall, an annual task that will have to be repeated next year because good lord, those kids just refuse to stop growing until they move out. Since trends tend to stick for a couple years at a time, why not take advantage of the fact that your friends and neighbors are all in the same clothing boat together, and see who has what that the others might be able to use? Whatever doesn't get claimed can be donated, making it both a charitable affair and a solid reason to clean out the closets. Kids will be entertained trying on clothes and playing with one another, you'll save a fortune, and there is no rule ANYWHERE against parents having cocktails during a clothing swap.
4. Make a tire swing. Good times will abound when you jump outside of the pre-fab jungle gym box and construct your own paragon of back-and-forth happiness. These things have been cool for as long as cool has been cool and not... what came before cool? Swell? They may have been around since the times of swell, too! Tire swings are totally green, righteously retro, and seriously fun. All you need is a tire and some hardware-ish doohicky thingies. The whole thing is explained thoroughly here: Tire Swing Tutorial
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