Earth Day is coming up and we couldn't think of a better way to celebrate it than to run through its fields, splash in its waters and watch its beautiful clouds pass by.
There are so many things we can do to lessen our impact on the environment, from driving electric cars to using solar power and recycling materials, but the single most effective way of saving the planet (in my humble opinion at least) starts somewhere else altogether. It starts by falling in love.
When you have a deep relationship with something, when you love it, you will tend and care for it. You will make sure it is happy and healthy and that it has the best potential to share its beauty and talents with the world. The same is true of a relationship with nature. When you love the sound of the wind in the trees, you don't want to cut them down. When you swim in the river or the ocean you want to keep them clean. When you listen to the songs of the birds, you want to protect the places where they live.
This year, instead of making crafts out of recycled materials or sharing our favorite environmental books, we're giving you a simple challenge: fall in love with the world all over again... and then share it with everyone you know.
There are many ways to go about this, but it's always nice to have a place to start. That's why we made the experience card kits above. Filled with simple activity prompts typed on note cards, they ask you to "play in the dirt". . . "run in the fields". . . "listen to the birds". . . and to "watch the clouds." They ask you to engage with the world, to reinforce all of the reasons why you love it so.
The challenge is this (for Earth Day or Any Day):
- Make a set of experience cards for your family that include your favorite activities in nature.
- Do at least one activity per day
- Take pictures of the cards while doing the activities (you can share them in our new Flickr group or on our Facebook page or simply keep them as reminders to go out into the world every day)
- At the end, write a letter/story about your experiences
- Pack up the cards and your letter along with an instruction card (see image above) and send them to a friend so that they can do this too.
We've also made these digital badges if you'd like to share this process via email or Facebook. You can find them in a gallery on our Facebook page for easy sharing.
Now, get out there and fall in love!
~ Sarah
*Last time in Crafts and Activities: For the Love of April
