Celebrating Earth Day with the Kids

Since turning off the lights during Earth Hour on March 29th, we've continued the dialogue about Earth Day (April 22nd) and conserving energy in our family. 

With the boys learning about saving electricity in science this month, we've created four family goals to all pitch in and make a difference in our own house!  

Our family has committed to these 4 goals to help do our part in helping the environment;

1. Turning off lights and electronics when not in use.
2. Unplugging chargers when not needed (not leaving them in the walls).
3. Doing laundry at non-peak times.
4. Riding our bikes and walking, instead of driving to our local stores.

The boys love to mark our progress each week with a special chart that Ty created and it's nice to see that we are slowly improving and reaching our goals MOST of the time!

Celebrating Earth Day goes beyond just saving energy.  It's also a great time to learn more about the earth and nature.  Last night we all snuggled on the couch and watched some incredible earth-inspired shows on Netflix.  Each of the boys got to pick a choice from the lists below and I wasn't at all surprised that Ty chose to watch the Wildlife Specials on Nile Crocodiles.  Sure, he cringed when the crocs mated in the swampy river and yes, he closed his eyes when the female laid her eggs, but he also learned some cool facts about this reptile!

We were also happy to see that Dinosaur Train episodes are on Netflix, so Jayden chose to watch episodes on Earthquakes and Aftershocks.  With a sensitivity to the level of understanding of a 3-7 year old, these episodes were perfect to start the discussion about why there are earthquakes, had we ever felt one and what would we do if it happened in our neighbourhood.   

Here are some Earth Day movies that you can watch with your BIG kids to get the conversation started about our environment, extinction and what we can do to make a difference;

1. The Blue Planet: A Natural History of the Oceans
2. Moving Art: Oceans
3. A Sea Change
4. Chasing Ice
5. Queen of the Sun: What Are the Bees Telling Us?
6. Addicted to Plastic
7. David Attenborough: Wildlife Specials
8. The Hole Story

Here are some Earth Day movies that you can watch with your LITTLE kids, that feature some of their favourite characters!  It's easy to use these films to create a teachable moment about what it means to be "green", how to help the environment and about some special animals that need protection;

1. Curious George: Mulch Ado About Nothing / Gets a Trophy
2. Go Diego Go: Rescue of Red-Eyed Tree Frogs
3. Bubble Guppies: Boy Meets Squirrel
4. Dinosaur Train: Stargazing on the Night Train / Get Into Nature
5. Sesame Street: The Camouflage Challenge
6. Wild Animal Baby Explorers: Beaks and Bills / The Mighty Oak Tree

For some more Earth Day Family Fun, try these ideas;

• Tips for hosting your own Earth Day clean up
• How to make a Paper Mache Earth
• Dirt Cups and other Earth-Day inspired treats

Disclosure: Yay! I am part of the Netflix stream team (#StreamTeam) and have received product and a subscription to Netflix in exchange for writing monthly posts.  Already a huge Netflix fan, this is a pretty sweet deal!