I am thrilled to be working with Italian mother and writer-Claudia Porta on her exciting new book about play and yoga for kids. Let’s Play Yoga.

Claudia is a mom, a writer and a yogi. She practices yoga with her three kids and they also write a lot of books together. On her blog La Casa Nella Prateria (The Little House on The Prairie), Claudia shares her family’s adventures since the day they left the city of Turin (Italy) to live in the French countryside. Together they explore nature and enjoy every single day of their new life.

Claudia with her youngest, Chiara.

I  love practicing yoga with my own daughter and many of the simple poses are named after animals and nature, so they appeal visually to children and learning them stimulates their imagination. Sam and Jasmine have been posing for me which has made this project an enormous amount of fun to illustrate.

…Two kids, Leonardo and Gloria, are playing together. They imagine they can fly around the world and visit foreign countries. They pretend they can transform into different animals and creatures and live wonderful adventures.

Through their journey, they do several yoga poses and even learn the secret of wisdom.

On the above page, I have illustrated Gloria in the Butterfly position - La Farfalla

This is a favorite pose among kids. In this pose the kids are asked to sit cross legged and they are then asked to place their hands on the knees. The kids then move their knees in the same way a butterfly would flap it’s wings.

Claudia’s daughter, Gloria enjoying her yoga outdoors in the fresh air.

In the book, simple yoga poses teach children about nature, their environment and inspires their imaginations. They learn by playing, singing, moving and imitating.

I can’t wait to share the finished book with you all later this year.

You can ctach up with Claudia on her wonderful blog: www.lacasanellaprateria.com

RECEIVE A FREE  SUMMER ACTIVITY (Printable) BOOKLET (BOYS 2010)

CALLING ALL OUTDOOR BOYS -The Dragonfly Boys want to know:

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE SUMMER OUTDOOR ACTIVITY?

Just leave a comment below telling us your favorite outdoor activity and you’ll receive a FREE PDF printable copy of BOYS SUMMER ACTIVITIES. (Just in time for summer holidays)

Once the Dragonfly Boys have collected enough activities they will compile a SUMMER printable booklet with the COOLEST  summer activities from around the world.

WHERE DO YOU LIVE?

TELL THE DRAGONFLY BOYS what country you live in.

Dragonfly Boys live deep in the forests in many different parts of the world.

Help the Dragonfly Boys make the COOLEST “GREAT OUTDOORS” Activity Booklet EVER!

What’s your favorite Summer Outdoor Activity?

Swimming in the Lake? Fishing by the River? Flying a Kite? Cooking marshmallows on the Camp Fire? Making a Bow and Arrow? Collecting Bugs?

Just leave your comment below and your activity will be included in the FREE printable booklet .

Don’t worry Girls-The Butterfly Girls will be calling for your Favorite Summer activities next week-stay tuned!

Time to get on my bike…

At last, the weather was mild enough to get on my bike….Yippee!!!

Juggling work, demands of the children, husband and home- leaves very little “ME” time. However, last week, I was determined to make time to meet my dear friend for lunch. She’s an absolute gem and we both love biking and the outdoors. With all my family back in Scotland (and working from home) I very rarely get time away from the children. I’m not complaining-but we all need time away from our loved ones, (even if it’s just an hour with a friend). The kids need it as much as we do.

When I’m on my bike I feel like a kid again. That sense of freedom-that I can go wherever I want.

Heading down to the lake I snapped a shot of the view.  It’s a beautiful ride and easy too… down hill all the way.

My friend and I shared a few laughs and collected little treasures from the shore. As we neared the end of our walk along the lake appreciating the tranquility and the lapping of the water, geese arrived. Lots of geese.

Both my friend and I spend a lot of time outdoors with our families.

And guess what…so do Geese!

These gorgeous birds are real family-oriented birds. Usually in their second year of life, a Canadian goose will find a mate and stay with it for life. Both parents look after their young and the family spends all of its time together.

Then they were off…

And so was I…I had to meet Sam coming out of school.

Happy to be free from school- Sam gave me one of those loving-happy smiles that makes a mother melt. He asked for the bike and helmet, lowered the seat and handed me his back pack.

Guess who was walking home.

As I walked, he peddled slowly (he wouldn’t be going anywhere fast-it’s up hill all the way home). Having spent a wonderful hour down at the lake with my best friend, I was relaxed and eager to hear about his day and I felt totally tuned in.

Sometimes I’m not tuned in

When your in the house,  although you’re there in person, occasionally, you’re not always tuned in-giving them the full attention they so rightly deserve.

Being Outdoors (and grabbing some ME time) helps you tune in

An hour later we arrived home……….. happy and healthy.

What do you do with your- ME time?

Canadian Geese -Get the Facts from Canadian Wildlife Federation

Canada geese and other migratory waterfowl make use of natural wetlands as habitat. Unfortunately, Canada’s wetlands continue to disappear. As much as 70 per cent of Canada’s original wetlands have been lost in some areas of the country.
Help conserve these precious habitats for Canada geese, other wildlife and people. Learn more about how you can help conserve Canada’s wetlands! visit: http://www.ducks.ca/conserve/index.html

Hope your enjoying watching the Winter Olympics. Now that the Games are in full swing what better time to announce the winners of KATI the Canadian Butterfly Girl.

Thanks to all who either commented below or left email messages. All the comments/messages were awesome. It was wonderful to read how much you all love the outdoors in Winter!  Too hard to choose winners so I decided to put all the names in a chrysalis and pull out 5 lucky winners.

It’s time for the lucky winners to step up to the podium and receive their Gold medals!!

And the winners are: Watch this video:

All winners will be notified by email- I will require a postal address. All dolls will be posted in the first week of March 2010.

Previous post:

Celebrating the 2010 Winter Olympics

Kati from Canada is flying  into Whistler to watch the Winter Olympic Games.

With Kati the Butterfly Girl being a super fit athlete herself and holding the record for the fastest flying Butterfly Girl, she is super excited about the Winter Olympics being held in BC Canada.

Kati is on a very important mission – to raise the awareness of the importance of butterflies to our eco system and encouraging kids to Go Outdoors and discover the Magic Mother Nature has to offer…

Connecting Kids to Nature…

Kids are spending less time outdoors than ever before. Kati and all her Little Humbug friends get kids super excited about nature and help them see the outdoors as a fantastical playground. I believe if you instill a love of nature in a child, they will want to protect it. You first need to get the child outside and enthused about nature. When children and nature mix, something magical happens. All children deserve that Magic in their lives.

Lets Go outside… Kati shows kids how to make a Snow Angel

Lying flat on the snow, Kati moves her arms and legs back and forth, with lots of giggles…

…to create her very own Snow Angel

Kati takes a minute to admire her Snow Angel

Although Butterfly Girls can’t normally fly in extreme cold weather, they still love to play outdoors-especially in the snow.  Kati the Canadian Butterfly Girl has been given magical crystals (from Jasmine-the seed keeper and leader of the Little Humbugs) to help her fly through even the most treacherous snow storms.

Monarch Butterflies in Winter

When I heard that the Monarch Butterflies winter habitat was under threat, my first thought was how can I help.

That’s when I decided to create Kati the Canadian Butterfly Girl. Kati is just like my other book characters- The Little Humbugs, only she is my little Canadian Nature warrior – educational doll, helping to raise awareness of the importance of butterflies and in particular, the Monarch Butterfly.

Kati the Butterfly Girl 2010 Winter Olympics Competition

WIN a Kati Doll

To celebrate the 2010 Winter Olympics being held in BC where I now live and was inspired to write about the Little Humbugs, I’ve decided to give away 5 Canadian Dolls.

To Win a Kati Doll just leave a comment telling me why being outdoors in the winter time is special to you. My daughter will help me choose 5 winners. The winners will be announced and contacted via email on the opening day of the 2010 Olympic Games.

For every Award Winning Kati doll sold, a tree will be planted in the conservation project ‘Trees for Monarchs operated by the Global ReLeaf organization(American Forests). A certificate is included with every doll.

• Connecting Kids to Nature
• Educational and Fun
• Helping to protect the Monarch Butterflies
• Planting a Tree for every doll sold
• Doll comes in a chrysalis just like a real butterfly
• No wasteful packaging-the chrysalis is the packaging

As the monarch is threatened by deforestation of its winter habitat in the fir forests, this is a great way to teach kids about endangered species and motivate them to get outdoors and explore Mother Nature.

Please leave your comment on why being outdoors in the winter is so special to you, thanks!

Call for Action- Mass Bike Ride

We headed down to the Rotary Arts Centre to join in the Mass Bike Ride. The event was part of 350.org’s Day of Action.

David Suzuki, a long time activist to reverse global climate change has been working hard to find ways  for society to live in balance with the natural world that sustains us. The David Suzuki Foundation have been raising awareness of the International Climate Action Day and have over 4000 events organized across Canada.

Thanks to Urban farmer, Curtis Stone who organized this bike event along with Angela Reid and Tolmi Greaves in an effort to raise awareness of the need to reduce harmful gas emissions.

Great to see so many people making the effort to participate….Great ride!

Everyone knows the benefits biking provides not only to our own health but our planet too.

As a family we love to bike, especially mountain biking in the forest but more importantly our teenage son uses his bike as his mode of transport from early Spring to the first snow fall.

After the event, we took advantage of the beautiful weather and cycled along the boardwalk, reminding ourselves how lucky we are to be able to cycle around one of the most beautiful parts of the Okanagan.

Who wouldn’t want to bike around here? BIKES ROCK!!!

Just finished my poster for the Little Humbugs website to celebrate World Oceans Day on June 8th.
When you read facts like: 70% of the world’s coral reefs have been destroyed or are currently threatened you really feel you need to do something to help. I’m using my book characters to get a simple message across to kids – spread the word on June 8th about our damaged Oceans.

Here are some amazing people doing incredibly great work to help save the Oceans:
http://www.philippecousteau.com

http://www.earthecho.org

http://www.theoceanproject.org

http://www.davidsuzuki.org/Oceans/OceansDay

Please click below for a FREE World Oceans Day Colouring sheet for kids:

FREE Dragonfly Boy World Ocean Day Sheet
Here are some ways you can help:

1. Become more mindful of plastic consumption and trash production.
2. Reduce, Reuse and Recycle.
3. Say “no” to plastic grocery bags
4. Think durable not disposable.
5. Buy food that is produced locally
6. Watch what you put down your drain. Use green products.
7. Spread the word – Wear Blue and Tell Two on June 8th.