Keeping it simple, easy, and green!
By Sommer Poquette, the Green and Clean Mom.
Summertime is here and the children are home! That a good thing but towards the middle of summer they’re most likely bored. What will they do to stay occupied on a rainy day or after they come in from frolicking in the sprinkler? Probably whine and beg you to do something, go somewhere or turn on the tube. Except there is another option and it’s an eco friendly one which involves their imagination and a box! Yes a B-O-X! Have we forgot that children just love to play with good old fashion boxes, sticks, stones and dirt?
If you’re lucky enough to have just purchased a new energy efficient appliance and you have some large box sitting around, you’ve scored and you have an instant boat, race car, castle or rocket. The possibilities are endless. Throw down some newspaper and get out the paint, stickers, markers or whatever else you feel is necessary and they’ll spend hours decorating their new imagination machine!
Afterwards, they spend hours playing. It’s a beautiful thing to see them occupied and having fun, not dazed in front of a screen. If you’re like me and you don’t have this huge box laying around you can use the fridge box and for a very small amount purchase earth friendly recycled boxes that are ready to create and keep your kids busy and happy.
Maybe you’re local hardware store or appliance store will have a box for you but from my history as a preschool teacher, I had to call ahead for this. Most boxes are broken down immediately or they’re broken or damaged. So I’m a fridge box fan and recently with my families two boxes I was able to sail away on a ship, be
come a princess and ward off the evil pirate (my son) trying to capture me! The box can be reused over and over again and can be one thing after another. The children now are using their imagination instead of watching the television or telling me they have nothing to do.
It can even be shared with others and taken into a local preschool or daycare when you’re finished. My family transformed a box into a hot air balloon for a local preschool and they were delighted to sail away. When the box is damaged or has just had enough play it can be composted or recycled at a local recycling center.
For more ways to be a shade of green visit Sommer at GreenandCleanMom.org.