Here at Jam Attic HQ not only are we passionate advocates of sustainability, but we are also Mummies to young children. Any parent knows that to keep children entertained during the summer holidays is a full-time job, so we want to share with you some of the things we’ll be doing with our own children during the approaching 6-week holiday. The importance of sustainability and looking after the environment is a message we should all be teaching our children, after all we are only sitting tenants on Planet Earth. In our first Jam Attic blog we show you some great activities you can do with your children that are not only good fun but will also be a great learning experience for them.
That’s Rubbish
Why not take your children out for a walk to a local green space, park or into the countryside on a litter picking exercise? Equipped with gloves, a sharp stick or grabber and the all-important compostable rubbish bag you can scour the area for discarded rubbish and collect it up to be deposited in your home recycling bins. As well as the obvious benefits of getting out into the fresh air, your children will learn a valuable lesson about keeping the environment clean and safe.
Jam Attic tip: Close parental supervision is important on this one, make sure nothing that could harm your litter picking dynamos is picked up with wild abandon!
Rainy days
We know we can rely on the British weather to provide us with some rainy days, even during the summer holidays. Use an old plastic juice or water bottle wedged down into a flower bed and on those downcast days capture the falling rain to be recycled as water for your household plants. Cut the top quarter off the bottle to give you a nice wide aperture for maximising rain collection. Maybe your children can create a daily chart to keep track of how much water they collect, which also helps them practice their litres and millilitres measuring. Then, simply appoint your little weather watchers as head of household plant watering and let them appreciate the benefits of using less water straight from the tap.
Jam Attic tip: Multiple water collection bottles scattered around open areas of your garden means you have also created a practical way to recycle old plastic bottles.
From little acorns
The wellness benefits of spending your valuable free time tending to your garden are as old as the hills. Encourage your budding (**cough**) gardeners to plant their own seeds and tend to them throughout the holidays. Whether you want to create a new flower bed, beautiful planting box or even start your own mini vegetable patch, teaching your children to create their own little bit of wildlife is one of the most environment-centred things you can do. A very straightforward activity that gives your children their own little bit of responsibility. From planting, watering, weeding and generally tending to their home-grown patch teaches your children the experience of the entire life cycle of plants, flowers, and vegetables.
Jam Attic Tip: Packets of wildflower seeds are readily available to buy in all garden centres, growing wildflowers in a planter box is also a great way of attracting honeybees to your garden. As natures engineers, they need all the help we can give them!
One other aspect of the summer holidays is that all-important last day at school. If you’re part of a parent group looking to buy an end of term gift how about a Jam Attic gift voucher? Already proving popular with some of our clients, for that special class teacher, our vouchers are handmade using 100% tree-free cotton rag paper. Embedded with wildflower seeds, Jam Attic gift vouchers have that extra special environmental benefit.