Native people have always recognized or imbued in animals certain human like traits, easily recognized by youth. Otters appear to be playful, and squirrels assertive. No one questions the strength of a bear, the extraordinary expressions of a frog, or the patience of a spider. (Thom Henley)

I got the idea to do the Empowerment Pebbles with my Little Humbugs nature class after reading a marvelous book “REDISCOVERY” by Thom Henley. A fascinating read and full of outdoor activities based on Native traditions.

Little Humbug Spirit Pebbles.

For my Little Humbugs nature class, I decided to get the children to search for 7 smooth pebbles, one for each day of the week.

Using simple drawings of animals listed below, paint or draw your designs on the rocks.

Once the child has drawn a design on each pebble, tell them the special gift that each of these animals bring to them and ask them to think about how they can use this gift in their own lives. Use animals that are native to your region and familiar to your child.

WOLF: Special Person – Just as the wolf howls its proud song to the moon, you too can recognize that you are a unique and special child. You are a lovable and wonderful child!

RAVEN: Curiosity – The raven is never bored, always curious, always exploring every corner of the world. So too can you awaken your sense of wonder – discover nature and its endless wonder.

SALMON: Sharing – just as the salmon shares its body with the bear, otter, eagle and human, so too can you learn to share your food, your feelings, your fears, your books and toys. Sharing is one of the most important traditions.

SPIDER: Patience – Spider spins her web and waits, and waits, and waits…Spider knows that her patience will be rewarded with a fly in her trap and a meal for her young. You too can learn the lesson of patience; all things will not come to you instantly.

BEAR: Strength – The powerful grizzly bear will bring you to the gift of strength-inner strength to help you through sad moments in your life. Like the mother grizzly bear who overturns logs to feed insects to her cubs, or to protect them from danger, you too can learn to be strong.

HUMMINGBIRD: Happiness – Hummingbird, this joyful little spirit, brings happiness into your life. All the sweetness in the nectar is yours. Remember to take time and smell the flowers and find joy in all you see and do.

DEER: Peacefulness – The gentle deer brings you the gift of a peaceful spirit. Deers are always aware, always alert, but at the same time they are peaceful and gentle. Take time to be quiet. Ask your parents to take you to a beautiful meadow of wildflowers or the hushed silence of the forest and you will know the gift of the deer.

The youngest in my class (6yrs) turned over each pebble after drawing her animal and wrote the meaning on the back of the pebble. I was very impressed by this action and all the other children followed suit.

How to use your spirit pebbles.

At the beginning of the week, get your child to close their eyes and randomly draw one pebble from the pouch. This will be their special power, or focus, for the day. By keeping that day’s pebble as a touch stone in their pockets, they will be reminded of their discipline throughout the day. At the end of the week all pebbles will have been drawn and are then returned to the pouch. Once a month your child could have a special day to reflect on being joyful, patient, generous etc.

Use recycled felt or a scrap of old material to make a pouch to store your pebbles.

The beauty of the journey of Empowerment play is that it brings the animals alive for the children in a way they’ll long remember.

This was one one of my favorite and most rewarding activities out of all the The Little Humbugs nature camp activities. I really do hope you make time to do this wonderful nature craft with your children. If you would like a copy of my Little Humbugs Spirit Pebbles worksheet, drop me an email:info@littlehumbugs.com

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Thom Henley for writing “Rediscovery“. It has been an inspiration and continued resource for my work. The Little Humbugs live very similar to how the Native American Indians used to live and I am thrilled to be able to incorporate a little of the Native American Indians traditional teachings in my work.

“Children need to be together in nature, so they can learn to respect, accept and understand each other better. Native American Indians have something important to teach about respect for the earth and all our relations that live here.” Erma Bearstops, Lakota Elder.

“As a parent, environmentalist, and a scientist I cannot conceive of a more important program than Rediscovery.” David Suzuki

The Day of the Honey Bee

I had the pleasure of joining councilor Michele Rule, Casey Hamilton and other members of the Central Okanagan Food Council Booth at the local Farmers Market this weekend.

Spot the Queen Bee … was a big hit thanks to Bob Chisholm and his “Brainy Bees“.

We were helping to raise awareness for our amazing little pollinators on a very special day…The Day of the Honey Bee.

Finding the Queen Bee was a big hit for both kids and adults and a great way to get kids interested in learning about the bees.

Councilor Michele Rule, her mother holding onto Chloe and marghanita (photograph by Casey Hamilton)

More information about the COFC can be found on their website: Central Okanagan Food Council

The Mayor’s Environmental Expo and Awards

The environmental event featured 35 exhibitors with interactive displays and activities for adults and kids. I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to handle a California king snake. (I’m usually terrified of snakes but after holding this beauty I didn’t want to put it down).

Watch the short video

And visiting from the B.C. Wildlife Park in Kamloops, Danielle Rogers and other members of staff showed off a Barn Owl and a Turkey Vulture, a species which can be found in the Central Okanagan in the spring, summer and fall. (We will be dedicating a  Little Humbugs video episode to the wonderful Birds of Prey from BC Wildlife Park next month).

Compost Fun

Kids got to play in compost. Another wonderful example of engaging kids by allowing them  hands on experience….thanks to Dean Dack and his classic compost.

Congratulations to Glenmore Elementary for winning the Mayors Environmental Award for the Greenest school. What a fantastic example for other schools to follow suit.

The Little Humbugs were thrilled to be awarded 3rd Place in the most Innovative Business Initiative Award.

Christine Collins (a green advocate) who nominated me for the award.

It was an honor to be part of the Mayor’s Environmental Awards this weekend. It was  a fantastic event and the speakers were inspirational. It is incredibly exciting to see so many dedicated to helping the environment.

The future looks GREEN!!

Central Okanagan Food Council

Brainy Bees

BC Wildlife Centre

Watching the Sunrise is Magical!

Watching the sunrise, has a certain magical quality about it that awakens one’s primal instincts.

High up in their blossom hideaway,  Butterfly Girls and Dragonfly Boys gaze at the beautiful sunrise, casting warm rays of light on Mother Nature waking up.

Enjoy the video below…

So set the alarm clock, grab your kids and go outside…let Mother Nature captivate you with her beauty.

You can order a Butterfly Girl Fairy from the Little Humbugs website.

For Earth Day The Little Humbugs would like to help raise awareness for our pollinators.

The bees and the butterflies are having a really hard time right now and need our help.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), we are facing an “impending pollination crisis,” in which both wild and managed pollinators are disappearing at alarming rates owing to habitat loss, pesticide poisoning, diseases and pests.

As a society, we need to recognize our debt to the “forgotten pollinators.” To successfully confront the impending pollinator crisis, we must work together.

Please help raise awareness of how important our pollinators are by getting kids involved. Below you will see samples of my worksheets, featuring the Little Humbugs. Great fun for kids to read and work on with parents, teachers, or friends.

Go Outside and Hunt for Bees and Butterflies

I believe if we instill a love of nature in a child, they will want to protect it.

Have fun learning about our pollinators

Make a Bumblebee Home

Learn what you can do to help

The full set of FREE worksheets and coloring sheets are available from The Little Humbugs website.P lease print out the sheets using recycled paper-for a happier, healthier planet-thanks! (Please note the PDF does take a while to download).

Thank you for helping to save our pollinators!

Thank you from all the Little Humbugs !

And don’t forget to join our Facebook Fan page so you don’t miss out on any future suprises!

CELEBRATE WORLD STORYTELLING DAY – MARCH 20th

World Storytelling Day was developed in the 1990’s as a worldwide celebration of storytelling, an opportunity for storytellers to share stories on the same day all over the globe. Beginning in Sweden, the day was celebrated as ‘All Storytellers Day’. From Sweden the celebration grew all over Northern and Eastern Europe, into the America’s and beyond. The date is chosen as the beginning of the Spring Solstice (or Autumn solstice for the Southern hemisphere), and is also a date used in Mexico as ‘Day of the Storytellers’.

The theme for 2010 is “Light and Shadow”

What a great way to spark a child’s imagination…

….Let them discover their SHADOWS.

Let’s Go Outside…

On a bright sunny day go outside and observe shadows. Let your children explore shadows of themselves in different positions eg standing, crouched down, with arms extended or like Samuel here- playing basketball.

You can record their shadows with chalk on the tarmac.

Or capture their shadows on camera. Download the pictures and let your child make up a story based around their images. (Sam loves to play around with his photographs using photoshop-this is computer time I am happy to encourage).

Sam thought this shadow looked like a TRex

But this was his favourite shadow…….The ALIEN

Now Sam is ready for his storytelling on March 20th…ARE YOU?

Always remember: It is very dangerous to look at the Sun. NEVER look directly at the Sun.

Chloe the Gardener is thrilled to have Kristen Crouch visit Chloe’s Gardening Club.

Kristin is the host for Eastlink’s television show That Bloomin’ Garden. Her show is geared towards the new gardener in hope that she can encourage someone to try their hand at gardening and further beautify this earth we love. Kristin is passionate about teaching children how to garden. She recently developed a junior gardener class that she runs twice a year in local schools.
Kristin has a diploma in general horticulture from the University of Guelph. She has worked in the landscape industry for many years and recently retired to devote more time to teaching.

– It is my goal to develop new gardens at schools and youth centers so we no longer have to say we are two generations away from growing our own food – Kristen Crouch

There is just as much life under the soil as there is on top.

Go to your recycling and grab a few old newspapers.

Place the newspaper on the ground outside and get them wet with the hose or use a watering can. Take the newspaper and lay it down over an area where you might want a new garden or over an existing bare spot in the garden. On top of the newspaper, place some old leaves to help keep the paper from blowing away. Leave the paper in place for one week, don’t forget about it!

After one week is over, check the paper by carefully lifting one corner up. It will feel wet and sticky but that’s okay. Nature has been at work decomposing the paper in a special way.

Look closely and you should see worms under your newspaper.

Why are they there and not in the soil? Worms like dark places and that’s just what you created when you placed the newspaper on the soil. Worms are busy in our soil all the time. They come up for air on rainy days, take a peek at the world and then crawl back down in the soil.

This is great for your garden as worms travel in the soil and make tunnels to let air into the soil.

Worms eat organic waste, soil and minerals in the soil and their body turns it into compost which makes the soil great for growing plants. They are truly a gardener’s best friend.

You can follow Kristin on Twitter : @deltagardener and visit her blog: That BloominGarden

Helping to address the disconnection between children and the natural world in my own small way.

I am really excited to launch my new “Let’s Go Outside” webisodes – my small way of helping address the disconnection between children and the natural world.

When children and nature mix, something Magical happens, I want to share some of that Magic with you and your children…with the help from the Little Humbugs – my Nature Warriors.

The Little Humbugs can inspire children to Go Outside….

My introduction webisode features – Fun in the snow Here’s a few pics from the video:

The forest looks so pretty in the snow thought the Butterfly Girls.

Let’s Go Outside and make…

…Snow Angels

I want to make Snow Angels too….

Let’s Go Outside and build a Snowman

I want to make a snowman too….

Let your children be inspired to Go Outside with the Little Humbugs…

NO SNOW! No worries- you can visit the beach and make sand angels or collect some rocks and make a rock man.

Once you’ve made your snowman or rock man send us a photo of your outdoor art and we’ll post it on the Little Humbugs Art Gallery!

By taking the picture and sending it into the art gallery your child get’s to share their wonderful outdoor creations with other children.

Worksheets available to accompany the series, by request: info@littlehumbugs.com

Over the course of the year the series will feature :

• Nature based arts and crafts (part of the fun is going outside to hunt for the nature items)
• Visits to farms, bee keepers, orchards, parks and beaches
• Interviews with park and forest rangers, conversationalists, butterfly experts and many more…
• Enchanting Little Humbugs stories
• Discovering wildlife
• Trails, walks, gardening, birding, rock hunting, star gazing, moon watching, cycling, barbecuing…….

Discovering some of British Columbia’s Wildlife

British Columbia is the most biologically diverse province in Canada. British Columbia is home to 143 mammal species, 454 birds, 20 amphibians, 19 reptiles and 450 species of fish. Some of these species are not found anywhere else in Canada.

I’m really excited about sharing some of these amazing species with you….

…But more importantly, I want YOU to share your wildlife and nature stories with the Little Humbugs and me!!

I love all butterflies but the Monarch best of all, we have them in our garden a lot-love Grace from Australia (age 6)

• What are your favorite outdoor activities
• What’s your favorite animal
• Do you have a favorite tree or flower

If you have a topic you would like featured or want to submit your nature craft idea, photos or videos or any suggestions you’d like to share, please email me. I’d love to hear from YOU: info@littlehumbugs.com

I am passionate about nature and I’m certain you are too!

Join me on this exciting new adventure and share the joys of Mother Nature with your family and friends.

Watch the first Let’s Go Outside video. Please share with friends and family-thanks!

Creativity is natural in all children

Inspired by nature One of the first things our children wanted to do when we moved into our new home in BC was to build a stone man…in fact lot’s of stone men.

Being part of the creative process is so rewarding both as a parent and an author/illustrator

Materials and experiences trigger ideas…

My husband and I visited a NY school in Brooklyn as part of our storytelling art workshops, based around my first children’s book character Toffee the Highland Cow. As artists we believe in the the importance of providing children with a “hands on” creative experience. After reading one of the Toffee stories the children get to create their very own Toffee Cow clay models.

Out of all the schools and libraries we visited this one in Brooklyn remains the most moving experience we have encountered. These kids were so enthusiastic about getting creative, they were eager to express them selves through their art and creations. All the Toffee models were so individual, featuring part of their personality.( I long to get back on the road and do more art workshops-mission for 2010).

Get Creative …..Inside

Sam makes one of Santa’s reindeer out of clay

And Outside… In Summer time

Sam and David chalk the driveway

And  Winter time...all seasons!

Sam gets creative in the snow

Samuel is a very creative child -unfortunately his school(not individual teachers but the curriculum) just isn’t fueling his creative needs. My husband and I are artists (and hubby was a singer/songwriter many years ago) so Samuel is one of the lucky ones, he is surrounded by music, art, drama and nature when out of school.

I do wonder how other highly creative children receive the nurturing they need when so many schools are more interested in the academics. I am all for a good academic education but there needs to be more time allocated to nurturing the creativity in a child.

Encouraging kids to be creative-My book characters:

The Little Humbugs learn from nature as they go about their business in the forest. The Butterfly Girls and Dragonfly Boys learn from counting how many eggs the chickens have laid and measuring out ingredients when baking. Growing their own fruits and vegetables and collecting seeds, they learn the names of each plant and document their findings for their enormous underground seed library.They draw and sketch the flowers and animals that they share the forest with and their creativity ‘blossoms’ – like all childrens’ should.
They entertain each other around an open fire with storytelling and musical plays in the outdoor amphitheater.  The Little Humbugs live very similar to how we all used to live. I believe we need to return to that way of learning. Bringing nature and creativity back into classrooms and home life too.

I love to be a little whimsical and spontaneous……….let me be creative!

Please send your childs nature art to:info@littlehumbugs.com and it will be displayed in the Little Humbugs ART GALLERY.

Check in for guest posts on this subject -part 2 next week.

We are delighted to announce our partnership with the Sierra Club BC.

One of our main goals as a company has always been to try and make an impact in what we do. To that end we are delighted to be partnering with Sierra Club BC where we will donate 25% of any purchase made by members of the club. We hope that in some small way we can make a difference in helping conserve some of the worlds most precious areas.

The Sierra Club is carrying out important conservation work in places such as the Great Bear Rainforest and the Flathead River Valley, one of the most diverse and ecologically intact natural ecosystems in the temperate zones of the world.

With your help we give the Sierra Club that extra bit of support they so rightly deserve.

It was our move from Scotland to BC almost 5 years ago that impacted on where we are today. It was  BC’s wilderness and beauty that inspired me to write about my Nature Warriors – “The Little Humbugs”.

ENGAGING CHILDREN

Engaging children with nature at an early age is crucial for their health and well being. Enormous benefits will come from creating a generation of children eager to help conserve our natural heritage.

In order for children to help look after our Natural World, they first need to experience it’s MAGIC………

THE LITTLE HUMBUGS – The Humbugs live their lives not dissimilar to how we all used to live, respecting and living in harmony with Mother Earth.

The Little Humbugs are based on an award winning book series that involves children on a quest to protect our Natural World.

Giving back for the future of our children and the planet.

As a mother of 3, I have always had two major concerns: children are spending far less time playing outdoors than ever before; the Natural Environment around us is constantly being plundered and despoiled. As a child, I reveled in the magic of Mother Nature. As a parent, I feel driven to protect it.

I want my children and the generations that follow to inherit the same privileges that I once enjoyed.

CONSERVATION

In order to preserve what is left of our Natural World, we need to conserve it.

25% of SALES GO BACK TO THE SIERRA CLUB

For every Little Humbugs purchase made by a BC Sierra Club member, we will donate 25% of the purchase to the Sierra Club BC.

We are a small family run business passionate about nature and the well being of the planet and want to give back. We felt The Sierra Club of BC, Canada would be a perfect partnership  – they work on issues ranging from climate change and energy to toxic chemical contamination and loss of biological diversity.

The Sierra Club - Grassroots defenders of Canada’s environment since 1963.

• Delivering Sierra Club BC’s award-winning Environmental Education Programs across BC to 7,000 students, fostering children’s appreciation and love of nature, and inspiring a new generation of environmental stewards:

• Protecting 5 million acres of the Great Bear Rainforest from logging and implanting lighter touch logging in the remainder of the this unique natural area, thus saving the home of the unique Kermode Spirit Bear; and

• Drawing international attention to the endangered Flathead River Valley in South Eastern BC – “One of the most diverse and ecologically intact natural ecosystems in the temperate zones of the world,”(National Geographic.) Thanks to Sierra Club BC, delegates from the United Nations World Heritage Commission visited the area in September to investigate potential destructive mining proposals in the Flathead.

• Sierra Club BC -  Celebrating 40 years of passionate commitment to protecting BC’s wild spaces & species.   Help us celebrate at our Sierra Club BC Foundation Annual Dinner on November 5th. Sierra Club BC Annual Dinner

To find out more about the Sierra Club, visit: http://www.sierraclub.bc.ca/

The Little Humbug Products

The Little Humbugs were created to tell a compelling story on how we need to care for the environment and to live in harmony with the Natural World. Through engaging characters, the power of words and images and interactive play, our goal is to inspire and empower children to get outdoors, explore and create change.

The storybooks immerse the reader into the world of the Little Humbugs and reveals to the young child just how important it is to look after the natural world they inhabit and that they have an important role to play in caring for it too.

The storybook characters (dolls) encourage interactive play, helping to stimulate a child’s curiosity of the natural world around them, creating a bond and lasting affinity with their surrounding environment and natural world through the Little Humbugs.

Winner of the Canadian Toy Testing Council 3 Star Award (highest rated)

• Eco friendly Chapter books and Picture books
• Educational Dolls
• All Natural Lotions and Potions
• Fair Trade Felt Bead Kits
• Natural Gemstones
• All Natural Sleepover Kits

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