Little Green Books

I was searching Amazon for some age appropriate, eco-friendly books and discovered that publisher Simon & Schuster has a series of books called, Little Green Books. So far, the series includes 10 titles. Each book teaches children ways to be eco-friendly and care for the environment. Topics such as gardening, global warming, recycling and endangered animals are discussed. And each of the books is printed using recycled materials!

Titles currently available on Amazon.com:

• Little Panda


• I Can Save The Earth!


• Little Monkey


• The Polar Bears' Home


• Easy to Be Green


• My First Garden


• The Adventures of a Plastic Bottle

Coming Soon:

• Don't Throw That Away


• The Adventures of the Alumninum Can


• What Do You See?

I'm very excited to pick up a couple of these titles! For more information, click here.

Wall to Wall

Thought it'd be nice to get some cute little bulletin board items for the walls.

So far, I got this for the reading corner to go over the bookshelf:



*I kind of got this because it has little ladybugs :)

And I got this set of charts:



And this calendar for circle time:

Little Miss Sunshine and Others

Did you read Roger Hargreaves (Little Miss and Mr. Men) books as a child (or have them read to you)? I love them and I really love the fact that there's a t-shirt for every book being sold everywhere you go (although I have yet to purchase one).

I was cruising around on ebay and found these:



...And snatched them up pretty quickly! Since I plan to do a "Manners Monday" session with the kids each week, I thought I'd start to pick up a couple of these books as a fun way to introduce topics.

I can't wait for them to arrive so I can add them to the collection of 30 plus children's books I already have waiting to congregate on this... (Courtesy of Walmart...should be shipping soon!)



Take a look at this site to learn more about the characters in these books.

Gator Tots: Store Review

With all the news about BPA in sippy cups and baby bottles possibly being unsafe, I set out on a mission to find BPA-free products for my new home daycare. In my quest for inexpensive shipping and variety, I came across a site called, Gator Tots. The site is owned and operated by a former 4th grade teacher turned mom.

This fun site carries unique, American-made items. You can find everything from dining utensils to educational puzzles.

These are the bpa-free plates, bowls and cups I ordered:








Such fun, kid-friendly colors! I must admit, the sectioned plates are totally because I hate when my food touches...so I tend to assume other people hate it, too.

I look forward to ordering more home daycare stuff from this site in the near future! And the best part...my order shipped the same day I placed it. Gotta love that :)

"Green" Valentines Day for Kids

Every year, parents across the world head into their local card shop, drugstore, Walmart or Target to pick up V-Day cards for their child's classmates. And we all know those cards only last about a week before they're thrown out (not because they aren't lovely, but clutter ensues and moms clean!)

Here are a couple creative, "green" ways to celebrate V-Day with your little one and his/her schoolmates.

• Get your hands on some card stock, have your child create cute little bookmarks for his/her classmates. They can decorate with marker, crayons, glitter or even get fancy and use items such as old buttons or old magazines (for a collage effect). Sure it make take some extra time, but your child will enjoy the creative process and his/her peers will enjoy the finished product. For a bookmark template, visit this site.
• Some schools don't allow baked goods, but if your child's school is anything like my nieces, cupcakes always = fun! Bake enough cupcakes for the class and have your child pass them out instead of V-Day cards. Head to the supermarket and pick up some V-Day cupcake liners and select decor. Then, let your child's imagination run wild as he/she creates custom cupcakes! Check out this page for some inspiration.
• Baked goods not allowed, how about some V-Day fruit kabobs with yogurt dip? Try this healthy recipe with your child!
• Have you ever spent time on the Oriental Trading website? You can pick up quite a few items in bulk, such as pencils, coloring books, stuffed animals, crafts, bookmarks and even stickers! Any of which may be a replacement for traditional Valentine's Day cards (a more green alternative).
• If you're feeling really daring and up for the "green" challenge, you might also try working with your child to create plantable paper. This is a great way to help the environment and teach your child something new. Here's a recipe for plantable paper. You can use this recipe to make everything from cards to ornaments.

Happy Valentines Day! And remember, Green is the new Red on V-Day!