One of our family traditions is to head down to the beach for our own family earth day clean up. Each of our kids are given a bag to fill. There has been some baulking at this tradition in Chicago when Earth Day can be 20 degrees! Nevertheless, everyday should be earth day. Teaching our kids to be stewards of our earth is a powerful lesson. Pick something they can do to clean up some part of the earth this spring.
In our Tiny Treks class this week, I gave each child a bag and they had to find the number of pieces of garbage to match their age. My two and three year olds needed some help, but really tried to get that garbage in their bag. One of our five year olds took the task very seriously and with work gloves on he quadrupled his age and filled a whole bag with winter garbage on the beach. Another added twist is to blast one of my all time favorite children's singers, Tom Chapin's song Happy Earth Day. My older kids may give me an eye roll at first, however within moments we are all loudly singing along.
Happy Earth Day by John Forster & Tom Chapin
© 1992 Limousine Music Co. & The Last Music Co. (ASCAP)
One day she spun out of the sun.
Did she know at the hour of her birth?
That she'd cool and she'd bloom and one day become
The garden we know as the Earth.
Happy happy Earth Day,
Happy happy Earth Day.
From the schools of leaping dolphins and the herds of kangaroo
Happy Earth Day to you.
We celebrate your waterfalls, your glaciers and typhoons,
The sweet smell of your meadows on rainbow afternoons.
The northern lights on starry nights and when the night is gone
The fiery magic of your dawn.
Happy happy Earth Day,
Happy happy Earth Day.
From the fields of chirping crickets and the frogs of Blue Bayou
Happy Earth Day to you.
From the highest Himalaya to the mountains under sea,
From the frozen tip of Greenland to the sands of Galilee.
We're gathering together to raise our voice in song
And pledge to keep you green and strong.
Happy happy Earth Day,
Happy happy Earth Day.
Every time I smell a flower or feel the morning dew,
Every time I see a baby learning something new,
I'm amazed again how blessed we are and it's all thanks to you.
Happy Earth Day to you.
Happy Earth Day to you.
This song appears on both Tom Chapin's Billy The Squid and This Pretty Planet CD's.
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