FoodShed Planet Kids

My younger daughter handed me a sheet of paper on which she had written ferociously on both sides. With great urgency in her voice, she said, "These are seeds we need to grow, Mom." Her teacher pulled me aside and said, "I'm not sure what she was working on this morning, but she couldn't be stopped. It was very important to her." Turns out she had read a book about wild plants and jotted down what she thought we needed to know. She was moved to action in a way I had not seen before.

"Chicory grows in fields all over the country," she had written. "California poppy grows in yards and fields. Wild strawberries grow in dry, sunny places and open places and on hills. Queen Anne's Lace is sometimes called 'birds nest' because the old flowers curl up and turn brown."

Yes. The light had gone on. The light that went on for me when I was maybe eight or nine years old and I used my allowance money to buy my first subscription to the National Wildlife Federation's magazine. The light that burned inside me, telling me, without question or the need to ask my parents' opinion or permission, "This I need to do."

The next day or so, I read a wonderful article on CNN.com by a writer named Melody Warner, titled 10 Ways to Get Kids Environmentally Involved. I thought it would be the same old, same old--recycle, grow a garden, save the world--all of which we're already doing (or trying to do!) in one way or another. But no. Melody had some fun, creative ideas that breathe new life into old ideas, and had me already thinking of ways to extend the ideas even further.

* Turning a neighborhood cleanup into a scavenger hunt--or how about an art project like the enormous bug the kids created at E. Rivers Elementary School out of plastic container lids? How about visiting our local dump or reycling center?

* Building toys out of trash, or how about other items in nature? Rocks? Shells? Pinecones?

* Spinning an eco-tune--or how about writing and recording one?

* Having a No Electricity Day--or how about actually visiting our electric company? How about finally getting to the Southface Eco Office or Energy and Environment Resource Center? Been meaning to do that.

The dark days of winter are coming, and the crops will one day slow or disappear altogether (although, really, a four-season garden is very possible here in Atlanta). And so, now is the time for "planting the seeds," not just in our gardens but in our children, in each other, in ourselves. And nurturing the ones that are already sprouting in our children, that have shown their small, green leaves and are begging to be fed and watered. So that we can emerge, come spring, more committed and aware than we are today.

And so, today I embrace a child's need to share her new passion for these wild plants. To know them, truly know them. And to feel as if she has made a difference in their survival. And I use that a springboard to provide more potentially transformational experiences to FoodShed Planet's Kids.

I can do more. And, now, inspired by words written in No.2 pencil on a ripped sheet of notebook paper ("milkweed grows in fields, roadsides or even dumps"), I will.

Look for posts tagged FoodShed Planet Kids for specific websites, experiences, ideas, resources, and more, relating to increasing and embracing environmental awareness in kids (and perhaps the kid in all of us).

FoodShed Planet Kids