April 2009

Just in Time for Earth Earth Day

On April 22nd more than 500 million people and national governments in 175 countries will celebrate Earth Day.

Education experts at Goddard, the country’s leading child care franchise company, offer the following fun projects that you can do at home to teach your toddlers and preschools about the environment:

1. Create the Earth. Eco-friendly coffee filters make great miniature earths.  In two separate cups, use food coloring to make blue and green colored water. Then allow the children to use eyedroppers to drop the colors on their Earth (coffee filter). When the colored water is dropped on the filter it spreads a bit and the children can create land and water shapes on their “little earths.”
2. Lights Out, Flashlights On. Play “I Spy” in the dark.  Have the children use flashlights to locate objects they can use to become more “green,” such as a light switch or recycle bins.
3. Go for a Nature Walk. Place tape, sticky side out, on the children’s wrists and take them outside to collect things in nature. You could also decorate a sack and go around the neighborhood picking up litter.
4. Dress It Up! Hold a fashion show using old newspapers as the runway. Create vests by using grocery sacks decorated with recycled supplies such as used yogurt cups, etc. Glue recycled materials to the vests and decorate with paint. Then let your kids show off the “beauty of recyclables” while learning what items can be recycled.
5. Make Rainsticks. Recycle old paper towel rolls by making rainsticks. Have the children close the bottom of the stick with paper and tape. Then fill with beans or rice. You can also crumple up some aluminum foil to make a louder sound. Let the children decorate the rainsticks with construction paper. Use this activity to talk about the importance of clean water and water conservation.

About Goddard Systems, Inc. www.goddardschool.com

Recently named #1 Childcare Franchise in the United States, by Entrepreneur magazine, for the eighth consecutive year (January 2009) and one of the Top 200 Franchise Systems (in worldwide sales), by Franchise Times, for the second consecutive year (October 2008); Goddard Systems, Inc. (GSI) is expanding The Goddard School® network throughout the United States. Headquartered in King of Prussia , Pennsylvania , GSI currently licenses 320+ franchised schools with more than 40,000 students in 37 states. With a successful system in place and dedicated franchisees, GSI is the acknowledged leader in franchised childcare and a premier childcare provider in the United States .

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