For many kids, the excitement of winter has faded and cabin fever is setting in. So why not plan an eco-friendly and healthy activity to do while waiting for spring to arrive? Not only is it a great way to beat the boredom, it’s also the perfect way to spend quality time with the kids. Here are some eco-friendly (and tv-free) activity ideas:

Go to the library. The library is a great place for kids to let their imagination roam. Save paper by borrowing books and returning them when you’re done. Most libraries are free, making it not only eco-friendly and educational entertainment, but a cheap one, too.

Recycle old goodies. Before throwing something away, see if you can use it for crafting. Use buttons to make necklaces, newspapers for decoupage, or plastic bottles for musical instruments. Be creative!

Take a hike. Just because it’s cold outside doesn’t mean you can’t still go for a hike. Let the kids choose the destination and have them point out the different animals and trees they see along the way. And if there’s snow on the ground, look for animal tracks and try to identify them (at the very least, you’ll find prints from birds, squirrels, dogs, and cats).

Have a picnic inside. Kids love cooking, so let them choose what treats they’d like to make and have them lend a hand with the ingredients. After you’ve whipped up everything, spread out a blanket in the middle of the room and enjoy some homemade food with the kids!

I feel like a proud parent! “Duckey and the Ocean Protectors” has been chosen to be a part of Environmental Education Week’s “Green Reading” list. Many educators refer to this suggested reading list to choose environmentally themed books to use in their classroom lessons and activities. And with this year’s theme, “Be Water Wise!” Duckey is sure to make a splash! And we’re in very good company. Other books on the Green Reading middle school suggested reading list include: “John Muir: My Life with Nature;” Gary Larson’s (Far Side) “There’s A Hair in My Dirt: A Worm’s Story;” and Kenneth Grahame’s classic “The Wind in the Willows” (a personal favorite). Look out for Duckey on the reading list during Environmental Education week (April 12-18)!

A friend of mine has a teenage daughter and lives with her aging parents. In the Japanese culture, a multigenerational house is commonplace. Grandchildren eat, sleep, play, and live their daily lives with the grandparents and great-grandparents. It’s just what they do. And now, President Obama and his family are living in multigenerational style in Washington, in a 200+ room house big enough for the most extended of extended families. The multigenerational household I’m referring to here is not one borne out of necessity. I’m not referring to the grandparent who is raising the grandchild because his parents aren’t present. Nor am I referring to the elderly grandfather living with his daughter’s family because he can’t live alone or needs extra care. I’m talking about families who, by choice, live together in order to enrich each other’s lives, to work as a team to raise children to be honest, loyal, and kind people, and to simply enjoy each other. Children can learn so much from older generations and the older generations have so much to share. They are a snapshot of history and what better way to pass on history than by sharing stories, answering questions, and encouraging questions. Time passes to quickly in today’s society. We must guide our kids and take stock in what’s important, and that’s family values.

As a kid, I would visit my grandparents’ farm nearly every weekend. Here is where I learned one of life’s most important lessons: hard work builds character and integrity. Today, it seems, we have forgotten some of these fundamental truths about life. Our society today casts our kids onto a hamster’s wheel. They are inundated with media messages and technology that move so fast you need a speed boat to keep up. So how do we engage our kids in conversations about hard work, dedication, loyalty, and the privilege of freedom? It’s our responsibility to teach them. Yes, our responsibility. We have to talk with our kids, share our own experiences of how we grew up and how our parents did. Tell the story of how you delivered 25 newspapers in an hour on your paper route for three years in order to buy a new bike (to deliver more papers). Remind them that not only did their grandmother not have a flat screen, she had no screen, and listened to the news on a radio while she knit socks and hats and sweaters to clothe her family. As adults, we always talk about how we want to leave our planet in the best shape possible for our kids, and their kids. But what kind of message do we want to leave in our children’s souls? My grandmother, who was part Cherokee, always said to me, “When you visit the forest, listen to the trees. When you go outside, listen to the wind. When you go to the seashore, listen to the water and waves. They are telling you a story. All you have to do is open your mind and take the time to listen.” These are the things we must teach our children.

We’ve been getting great early reviews on”Duckey and the Ocean Protectors” and now the Duckey Eco-Essay Contest is listed on the Digital Library for Earth System Education (DLESE), a website that holds a wealth of Earth information and learning tools for students and teachers. The contest is listed on their News and Opportunities section, right above a NASA entry! This is a thrilling opportunity, not only because it will allow more kids to participate in the contest, but also because the listing will help get more kids interested and involved in saving our oceans. Click here for more information about the Eco-Essay Contest and how you can participate.