Welcome to Clean Air Kids and meet the Clean Air Moose! The Moose wears his leaf cape as he learns all that he can about caring for the earth, the water, and the air & he shares his knowledge with kids (and fellow moose). You can share his mission by becoming a member of the Clean Air Kids Moose Club! Share your ideas for eco-crafts, ways to reuse things & things kids can do to be green by sending an email to kids@cleanairlawncare.com - check back soon to see your idea on this blog!
Here’s how you celebrate the first day of May:
Craft yourself up a bunch of homemade hanging baskets. Then on May Day (May 1), fill the baskets with fresh-cut flowers and sneak them onto the front doorknob of your friends’ houses for them to discover.
Here's a picture of a basket you can make out of an upcycled tin can and a wire hanger:
Here are natural ways to dye your Easter Eggs this year:
RedRed onion skins, use a lot (boil with eggs)
Pomegranate juice OrangeYellow onion skins (boil with eggs) YellowLemon or orange peel (boil with eggs)
Carrot tops (boil with eggs)
Celery seed (boil with eggs)
Ground cumin (boil with eggs)
Ground turmeric (boil with eggs) Yellow BrownDill seeds (boil with eggs) BrownStrong coffee
Instant coffee
Black walnut shells (boil with eggs) Yellow GreenBright green apple peels (boil with eggs) GreenSpinach leaves (boil with eggs)
Blue
Canned blueberries and their juice
Red cabbage leaves (boil with eggs)
Purple grape juice Violet Blue
Violet blossoms
Red onion skins, less amount than you need to make red (boil with eggs) Lavender
Diluted purple grape juice
Violet blossoms plus squeeze of lemon (boil with eggs) Pink
Beets, fresh or canned
Cranberries or cranberry juice
Raspberries
Red grape juice
Here is how you can make a trap to catch a leprechaun!
Leprechauns have big egos, so a giant version of their own hat is irresistible to them. Once they step on the false top, you'll have caught a 10-gallon prize.
So that the top doesn't give way too soon, use a lightweight bait, such as a crumpled piece of gold foil. Our hat, a recycled oatmeal container, is wrapped with green felt secured with double-sided tape. To make the trap, we cut a hole in the lid (see image), then cunningly concealed it with a circle of green felt that will give way when the leprechaun steps on it.
Leprechauns love to break rules. Warning signs are sure to lure them in.
Natural materials make these woodland creatures feel at home. Our ladder is made from twigs held together with wood glue.
Thank you to familyfun.com for this idea!
Michael Lang understands the importance of composting any food waste and other products during lunchtime.
And he's only in the fifth grade.
Michael, 11, and his classmates at Grandview Elementary School in Windsor will become the first elementary school in Weld County on Monday to recycle compostable waste during their lunch periods.
“I think it's going to be fun to start composting. It's going to be really important and it's going to help a lot,” Michael. “I think it will give us a good start.”
Fourth-grader C.J. Christensen, 9, is also excited about the program.
“I think this is really cool, and that it's really going to help out our environment,” C.J. said. “I bet I'm going to be doing this for a long, long time after this. This is really exciting for me. I think the world will be doing great if other people catch on with this. If we keep doing this, I think the world is going to be in great shape in a few years or so.”
Winter time is the time to take good care of our outdoor feathered friends. These easy bird treats are fun to make & make birds happy.
Supplies
Slice of sandwich bread for each hanger
Cookie cutter or paring knife
Yarn or other strong piece of string or cord
Peanut butter or vegetable shortening
Wild bird seed
Instructions
Use a cookie cutter to create shapes from slices of sandwich bread. We did stars and circles for our treats.
Let bread sit on the counter until dried out, a couple of hours should do the trick.
Line a plate with bird seed.
Use a toothpick or wooden skewer to poke a hole through the bread for the string. Be sure that you leave enough room above the hole so that it doesn't tear.
Thread string through the hole and gently tie in a knot.
Spread both sides of bread shape with peanut butter. Coat with bird seed by laying it on the bird seed lined plate and turning over to coat thoroughly.
Hang your creation outside.
Editor's note: Try to hang your treats in close proximity to a branch that the birds can perch on while sampling their goodies.
Clean Air was at CSU preschool this week setting up a worm bin. The kids all became members of the Clean Air Kids Moose Club and will now be able to feed their food waste to the worms! Oooh, how fun it was to feel the worms & feed them cranberries & apple pieces!
you can make telephones with them, all you need is sting and sharp object to poke hole in the ends of the contaners.
You can also make catipillers with them. Kids love to paint and make things there own. Let your kid paint them or add sticke...r and then sting them all together, tie off both ends... and you end up with a very cute critter! See More
: Share what eco-friendly, fun, outdoor, volunteer, or sustainable activity you are doing today. Post a picture if you want to!
Ideas for a 'Staycation': Instead of using up gas driving or flying, why not vacation at home instead? Camp in your own backyard, discover where you live as if you were on vacation there & you will see it all in a new way. Do you have ideas for your staycation?
Annie CareyToilet paper tubes can go in the compost. What else can be done with them? Anyone have any craft ideas?
Molly EversHere are a couple of wabsites with lots of good craft ideas. Most of them use recycled materials. www.dltk-kids.com www.perpetualpreschool.com
When I am a preschool teacher I am at these sites all the time!
Make a twig vase: 1)find an empty jar 2)find twigs and break them to be a little higher than the jar 3)plt rubber bands around the jar about an inch from both ends 4)slide the twigs under the rubber bands 4)tie twine or ribbon over the rubber bands
Angela Thoresen Nelsoni love this and need to make it... i have empty tins that i use for the pencils and crayons..I want to use this idea... and we sure have enough twigs.
Here is an example of a sock puppet: wonder what the dog is thinking?!
Instead of throwing it out, what else can you do with it?
Post ideas here. Perfect for a rainy day!
Mismatched socks: Make a sock puppet - make a face where your foot used to be with markers or sew on eyes and a smile...put your hand in & now you have a new puppet!
Things to do outside on a summer day:
- fly a kite
- go for a walk
- ride a bike
- play fetch with a dog ...- toss a frisbee
- play frisbee golf
- go swimming
- read a book in the shade
- play in sprinklers
- play bocce ball
- play soccer
- shoot hoops with a basketball
- go to a park
- create a nature scavenger hunt to do with friends
What else can you do outside on a summer day? Share your ideas here!
Visit Clean Air Kids at the Sustainable Living Fair September 18th & 19th for lots of fun!