Fun While it Rains.

While one of my kids might actually be getting sick and tired of rain the other is beginning to muse aloud that it might be nice it it *always* rained. Course she does see the problem that presents to dream #1: to live somewhere where she can swim outside all year round.

So while the sun struggles to make an appearance today we look back at the past 11 out of 18 days where it rained and find lots and lots of opportunities for fun indoors.

You can only get so soggy after all.

Here to help with some indoor inspiration is Little Footprints Top 10 Rainy Day Things for Fun.

Get your Boom Boom on! This ultimate deck of Family trading cards inspires to do good in meaningful and achievable ways and calls on you to pass on the goodness online. From planting flowers for others to enjoy, to telling old stories to younger generations these cards make random acts of kindness fun for the whole family.

Brand new to the shop this 51 piece Tyrannosaurus 3D Dino puzzle can strike about 20 different poses keeping Dinosaur Aficionados busy for hours! Made sustainable and responsibly by French eco fun maker Bioviva, a company committed to the environment since they started making fun in the mid-90's.
Ages 6 & up

Create masterpieces on a rainy afternoon with is Paint With Wool kit. A box full of wool canvases, lots of brightly coloured roving and even 3 felter's needles! Everything you need to make 4 amazing works of art, you just bring a suitable surface to work on. Once your done turn the box into a frame. Full instructions and inspiration included.
Ages 8 & up



More a sculptor than a painter? Clementine Art's Modeling Dough is just the ticket to bring cheery colour to a drab overcast day. They look lovely, smell lovely and feel lovely - what more to you need to sculpt the next masterpiece?

Get active indoors and no batteries required with this Balance Board. Made in the USA from sustainably forested materials, this formaldehyde free plywood board has a challenging maze to keep you coordinated and on your toes. Try the rolling the balls inward for a beginners challenge but if Daddies think rolling the balls out is just as easy they just might loose the family bet! Available in 2 sizes. Perfect for 3 to 93

A bit of drizzle can make examining nature even more fun. Grab a pair of galoshes and head out with this Naturebag full of ways to look at nature around you and record what you find. There's even a blindfold for a all natural guessing game. Canadian made this eco friendly award winner is full of wonderful stuff. Ages 3 - 12

Outside in the puddles or inside in the bath this tug boat is totally fun. Made from recycled milk jugs by Green Toys it's a fantastic water toy, available in 3 colours and dishwasher safe for easy cleaning. Ages: 6m & up




Stuck inside with the wee one? Enjoy a game of eye spy wildlife right outside your window with this set of Backyard Buddy Blocks. Perfect size for little hands. Learn basic colours and animals with this set made from responsibly harvested rubber wood and child safe paints.

At under $10 this game leaves you change to get something yummy at your own Farmers Market. A game about looking out for each other and problem solving to make the market a success. A wonderful game made in Perth Ontario perfect for ages 6 to 12 with two sets of rules for basic and more complex play.

I always think the funnest things to keep you busy on a rainy day are things with more than one thing going for it which is why I love these puzzles you get colour yourself. Made from plantation rubber wood they are available as a Sea Turtle, Butterfly or Train paint them up then try to put them back together again!
Ages 3 and up.



Course it's easy to beat the rainy day blues so long as your having fun so I hope you get a chance to have some fun today!

Mid Week at My Place: Earth Week

Earth Week and Easter in one week makes for one very busy gal indeed. Course I'm right on top of it hopelessly behind in my to-do's now that they are both right behind us. Well they are not really, not for me anyway - we are still celebrating both at Little Footprints till the end of the month with a great sale that's keeping me busy - but I digress!!!!

The thing about busy is we always are busy. When Earth Week comes around I'm reminded to slow down a bit, admire this lovely planet we are on and try to do something, no matter how small, to at least keep it this nice  if not make it a little nicer.

This year I might have been reminded but things have felt very busy of late and sadly it feels kinda tough to take on even one new little task. There seems to be so many other tasks lined up already waiting for their turn.  But I have a plan and it's as simple as deck of cards.

 We have these Boom Boom cards, ours at home is the Family Edition. It's this great deck of cards full of easily achievable things to do that bring some good and once you've done it you then get to share the card and tell your story to inspire others. We've loved trying them out, having had fun planting flowers for others to enjoy which you can read about over at our profile at Boom Boom but we could use them more. In fact their one of those things standing in line waiting to be done so I've made a promise to myself we will do one card a month and pass it on till next Earth Day. Since their full of easy to do acts of altruism I'm pretty sure we'll have left a happier vibe on this lovely planet of ours and done some good for it along the way if we do. And hey, if we document it back on the Boom Boom site where we can share the great things we've done we can track our progress and share it with others.

If you would like to join me in my quest to do a wee bit o' good once a month we just happen to have the Boom Boom Cards Green Deck on sale for 20% off at that great little sale I mentioned at the shop. That makes them under $10! How's that for a green deal? There totally full of great little ideas and totally fun to do. :)

If you've made your own promise to your self to do a bit more good this Earth Week I'd love to hear about it!

In the meantime,

BHappy and have fun
Barb

Welcome!

Hi there and welcome to my new blog!

Every since I had my first child I have been getting greener and greener. It began, I think, with simply reading the back of food boxes. I had been reading the back of boxes a long time ago but once I had the kiddies I started really caring about avoiding all the fake stuff, sugars and salts running rampant in packaged foods. Not a stretch when your also reading about the biological effects of additives in food. Obesity, negative cognitive effects I(ADHD, effects on autism, sleep troubles and so on), physical dependencies on sugars and salt, just to start. All things I would like to mitigate as much as I can for my kids, all things I can effect change on.

Next I began to think about the environment my kids are in. Bisphenol, phthalates, plastic off-gassing and chipped paint. My second, Zane, is a mouther. In his first year he had to taste and chew on everything! Toys, books, rocks, soap. From the most obvious to the most obtuse, he would give it a chew and I would get thinking about it. I know a lot about airborne particulate and off-gassing of foams, plastics and fire retardants from many years running my own company as a Corporate Interior Designer. And I would think, " if I don't like what he's chewing on, and the airborne chemicals relates to it, how do I feel about the process to manufacturer it?"


So, here we are.

In this blog I hope to diary all the wonderful things I have learnt about becoming Planet Friendly with my kids and share it with you. My greatest focus will be Planet Friendly play and sustainable fun, but I also will share anything else I can about our own experiences becoming eco-friendly as a family.

I hope you enjoy this blog and I welcome and comments and suggestions you may have to make it even better.

thanks for stopping by!

BHappy,
Barb