Empowered by Play » Roots and Shoots http://www.empoweredbyplay.org Helping families and teachers protect and promote imaginative play in our way-too-busy, consumer-driven, media-filled world. Fri, 13 Jan 2012 17:26:35 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Celebrating Peace http://www.empoweredbyplay.org/2010/09/celebrating-peace/ http://www.empoweredbyplay.org/2010/09/celebrating-peace/#comments Tue, 21 Sep 2010 11:36:21 +0000 Geralyn http://www.empoweredbyplay.org/?p=1090 How will you celebrate today’s United Nations International Day of Peace?

Share what you have?

Help others to be heard?

Be open minded?

Teach peace?

I started celebrating a little early – on Sunday at our local Roots & Shoots meeting. Roots & Shoots is youth-driven international organization founded by Dr. Jane Goodall. The movement [...]]]> How will you celebrate today’s United Nations International Day of Peace?

Share what you have?

Help others to be heard?

Be open minded?

Teach peace?

I started celebrating a little early – on Sunday at our local Roots & Shoots meeting. Roots & Shoots is youth-driven international organization founded by Dr. Jane Goodall. The movement is about promoting positive change for people, animals and our environment, and we met on Sunday to celebrate the United Nations International Day of Peace. ( The actual United Nations International Day of Peace is today, September 21st. ) All the families joined for a peaceful game of soccer – a game that is played internationally. Then we made peace doves – decorated with ideas about spreading peace. I wrote a bunch of ideas, and my favorite was, “Live more simply so all can simply live”.

The idea of living simply has been on my mind ever since I heard Annie Leonard speak at the Consuming Kids Summit in Boston last April. Annie Leonard is the author of The Story of Stuff: How Our Obsession with Stuff is Trashing Our Planet, Our Communities, and Our Health – and a Vision for Change . She helped me realize how much of the world’s resources the United States is using. Way more than our share, that’s for sure. So now, when I read my copy of  Real Simple magazine, I take a step back and look hard at what I am reading. Are PVC beverage coasters really necessary? They certainly aren’t real simple.  So now I’ve been forming new ideas (for me) about what living simply means.

Yesterday my son proudly made homemade bubble-blowing liquid from dish detergent. He bent a big paper clip into a homemade bubble wand. “I didn’t even have to buy it. I just made it,” he declared as his bubbles floated into the afternoon sky. Nice – and simple. (Simple can be fascinating, too. How does a round bubble come out of an odd shaped blower?)

Peace comes in many shapes and forms. Today, Dr. Jane Goodall hopes we all dream big.  For me, dreaming big means using less and re-using more – and helping my family do the same. Happy United Nations International Day of Peace! How will you spread peace?

A Message from Jane for the 2010 Day of Peace from The Jane Goodall Institute on Vimeo.

]]> http://www.empoweredbyplay.org/2010/09/celebrating-peace/feed/ 0 Empowering Movements http://www.empoweredbyplay.org/2009/09/empowering-movements/ http://www.empoweredbyplay.org/2009/09/empowering-movements/#comments Fri, 25 Sep 2009 13:08:00 +0000 Geralyn http://www.empoweredbyplay.com/?p=57 This week I learned about The Children & Nature Network, an organization with a great mission: The Children & Nature Network (C&NN) was created to encourage and support the people and organizations working worldwide to reconnect children with nature. C&NN provides access to the latest news and research in the field and a peer-to-peer network [...]]]>
This week I learned about The Children & Nature Network, an organization with a great mission: The Children & Nature Network (C&NN) was created to encourage and support the people and organizations working worldwide to reconnect children with nature. C&NN provides access to the latest news and research in the field and a peer-to-peer network of researchers and individuals, educators and organizations dedicated to children’s health and well-being.

There are a growing number of local chapters and on the site you can read about groups such as in the Bay Area, North Carolina and Saratoga Springs,New York, which are launching community-wide campaigns to get children and adults outside to play and explore in nature. Awesome! The coordinated efforts of hospitals, universities, museums, individuals and businesses is impressive and inspiring. Each chapter has their own unique take on the central theme of reconnecting children and nature, and I can feel the enthusiasm of the folks involved in each worthwhile event.

It is empowering to be part of a movement. Here at home, my boys and I have joined 4-H and Roots & Shoots: Roots & Shoots, a program of the Jane Goodall Institute, is a powerful, youth-driven, global network of more than 8,000 groups in almost 100 countries. Together, youth of all ages are taking action to improve our world through service learning projects that promote care and concern for animals, the environment and the human community.

For me (and many others), nature has become a powerful and effective antidote to screen-time. The benefits of imaginative, natural play, as well as taking care of the earth, serve us well. Whether you chose to join an organization, or are happy to find your own ways to connect children with nature, it is energizing to know that so many others are in this important pursuit!

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