Just wanted to share some amazing finds on Zulily today…all centered around an eco birthday. You can create your own Pinterest/magazine worthy birthday soiree for your little one AND be kind to the planet at the same time…

My favorite are the Mason Jar Sippers that can be paired with those adorable paper straws but they also have some little milk jugs… too cute!

See the other items on Zulily…

Each and every year I sing the praises of the Wildcraft Game from Herbal Learning. We have had our game for 4-5 years years now and love it still. It takes an educational topic (in this case medicinal herbs) and puts into a format that kids will not only enjoy, but adore…a board game. They have fun and play a great game while they learn about a very important subject that seems to be generally ignored nowadays. I think it is incredibly valuable to teach our children that plants can help us heal and be our medicine. This is old wisdom that we can all benefit from and that is why I love this vehicle for allowing allowing parents and kids to learn about medicinal herbs together.

Well, the same folks are now bringing another product to us for a very short time, just a few days in fact. I am more than a little excited about it!! It is called Herb Fairies and it is essentially a collection or resources and books that will teach children about medicinal herbs in more depth and with an element of storytelling. It seeks to get kids excited about plants and herbs early in life with these inventive and captivating stories about various fairies who trying to bring herb magic back to the mainstream. They get to read about the Lemon Balm Fairy and the Chickweed Fairy and also about the wonderful health promoting properties of these individual plants.

Kids see plants around them all the time but have they really connected with what they are and what they can do, or are they just green background material? This collection is ideal for parents who want their kids to learn more about plants and herbs in depth AND it would make an excellent addition to any homeschool curriculum.

You can visit the landing page to read about what you get and watch a video highlighting all the features but you essentially get 13 beautifully illustrated books (with audio versions included), a Magic Keeper’s Journal, coloring pages, recipe cards, a free subscription to the Herbal Roots Zine, and much more. They have already released some videos about the recipes found in the books such as Dandelion Flower cookies and Violet Candies, both of which your children can make using flowers they harvested themselves. It is only available for the next few days and then it retires until 2014 so make sure to check it out.

Enjoy!

I have shared before that I am a big time movie lover. I worked at a movie theater for years just to get all the free movies I could handle and I REALLY used that perk. I like action and adventure personally. I grew up with The Dukes of Hazard and Wonder Woman re-runs as well as shows like The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles. My mom instilled in me a love of movies with strong female characters too. As a tween/teen I was a HUGE fan of Ellen Ripley of the Aliens franchise. To this day I still love movies with women who are strong and capable. Sadly there are’t a whole lot of movies that depict strong and capable young women and teens but there is one that meant a lot to me when I was that age. As an added bonus the heroine is also very into environmental issues and human and animal rights. I just rewatched it this week. LOVE!

The movie is A Far Off Place and it stars teenage Reese Witherspoon and Ethan Embry. Reese plays Nonnie who lives in Africa with her family. Her father is the gamekeeper for the area and he tries to peacefully resolve the poaching crisis facing the area through legal channels. He has shored up the borders and the ivory trade has been blocked, making the wrong people very angry. Nonnie is wanting to take mattes into her own hands though because while trade has stopped, the killing has not. She has found a hero and mentor who is actually out stopping the poachers in their tracks and bringing them to justice the old fashioned way…at the end of a shotgun barrel. They disagree about how best to resolve the issue but they have some things in common…a love of Africa and a love for the wildlife there. The movie hosts some gruesome opening scenes of poachers mowing down beautiful elephants and then using chainsaws to remove the tusks from their corpses.

Harry is a New York City kid who is visiting their home with his father and he is quite bored with the country. In one scene he is asking what fun there is to be had in Africa, just as herd of giraffes are trotting by. Perhaps because he is looking for something to do he follows Nonnie as he sees her sneaking out into the bush at night. They come across Nonnie’s bush friend Xhabbo who has been injured. The teens help him to a nearby cave and treat his wounds. Nonnie gathers local plants to heal him (gotta love that). Xhabbo asks them to stay with him in the cave overnight and they do. While they are sleeping a group of poachers attack Nonnie’s home and kill everyone there, including the parents of both teens.

Their devastation over the loss though must wait because they overhear that the poachers want to finish them off as well, since they cannot be sure how much they know. Having no means of transportation, all three of these young folks set off on a 2000 kilometer trek across the Kalahari desert. That is like walking from New York to Miami and in very dangerous country. Together they fight for survival every day, hunting, foraging for food and water, and trying to throw off poachers who are hot on their trail.

As far as strong and capable heroines go you cannot beat Nonnie. She is a lovely girl who cares about truly important issues and she is seeking to make a difference in the world, even at her young age. I was a complete Nonnie fan as a teen myself and even named my dog after hers, Hintza.

I highly recommend this movie for families and especially for teens and tweens. It is kind of graphic (even though it is a Disney movie) but I think that makes it more realistic. I also recommend the book it is based upon. Enjoy!

Kids birthday parties are notorious for being extravagant wasteful affairs these days. The market is huge for all the party gear that is needed…the balloons, plates, napkins, favors, confetti, etc. They come in every theme known to man so that the birthday celebration can be a perfect example of the commercialization of our children. All of it has held very little appeal to me as a parent and I have chosen to “just say no” for years. For us that means we don’t do “themes” and we usually don’t even invite guests beyond family. In fact instead of parties we usually just plan a special event… a night at a hotel with a waterpark (for our two winter birthdays) and cake and gifts with parents and grandparents. Our summer birthday boy usually gets a paintball adventure.

It has been a very conscious decision not to buy into the commercialization of birthdays but I recently read a book that softened my heart to the idea of more traditional parties. The book is Naturally Fun Parties for Kids; Creating Handmade, Earth-Friendly Celebrations for All Seasons and Occasions. The book is gorgeous and some of the parties outlined in it reminded me of parties that might have been thrown for kids decades ago. They are simple yet elegant and fun for everyone, not just the wee birthdays guests. THESE are parties I can get behind…where Buzz Lightyear and Dora are nowhere to be found and there aren’t huge bags of garbage to be thrown out at the end.

The book is broken up into sections for each season, which is helpful but the intro talks about shopping thrift stores for party stuff, using regular plates and flatware, cloth napkins, and using nature as the centerpiece and backdrop of the party. I loved the themes too…pancake party, forest fairy party, natural spa party, strawberry picking/jam making party, winter solstice party, cooking party, upcycle art party and so on. There are plenty of ideas for both boys and girls and every party is perfectly outlined so you can reproduce it on your own. The pictures are sensational as well. I know my daughter would be thrilled by the spa party and the book includes recipes for facials and scrubs made with natural ingredients so that the attendees can have a spa experience without the toxins in conventional products. It is perfect for slumber parties too if you ask me.

I suggest that parents look a little less on Pinterest for birthday party ideas and check this book out instead. I highly recommend it! Enjoy!

See also: How to Host a Green Birthday Party

Spotted a few killer deals on Zulily today. I LOVE spotting deals for organics and for green toys because these things can get spendy! Might be time to start Christmas shopping…

Organic Leg Warmers:

Organic sheets sets for babies and toddlers:

Green Toys: