With fun arts and crafts activities as well as tips and tricks, DISNEY GO GREEN shows how to live a more sustainable lifestyle!
Many children are interested in sustainability and learning how their actions impact the planet. Now everyone can join Mickey and friends in living greener with DISNEY GO GREEN: A Family Guide To A Sustainable Lifestyle (Edda USA; $12.95/hardcover). The book explains how to create a more sustainable lifestyle in a simple, understandable way by exploring the Three R’s – Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – and discussing our ecological footprint – a measure of how much we take from the earth’s resources to produce the things we use.DISNEY GO GREEN includes interesting facts and great tips for sustainable living, and has lots of fun activities to try at home and school.
The purpose of the craft activities is to show children how to be artistic using items found in nature or reusing items, to reduce the impact on the planet. For instance, instead of going to the store to buy paint, children can make their own watercolors by boiling plants in water to release their natural dyes. Here are a few options:
red onion peels: crimson red & burgundy
pokeberries: deep red orange
pekoe tea: brown
black walnuts: black
Queen Anne’s Lace: green
marigolds: green
blueberries: blue
cayenne pepper: rust red
yellow onion peels: yellow & tan
coffee beans: brown & tan
dandelions: mossy greens
Some suggestions for other projects that reuse materials are:
turn an orange juice carton into a bird feeder
use different tube-shaped materials to make a marble run
notch old paper towel and toilet paper rolls to make Lincoln log structures
DISNEY GO GREEN also emphasizes making better food choices to reduce our ecological footprint. This includes planting container gardens and composting. There are also recipes for using locally grown ingredients. Here’s one for apples picked from a local orchard:
Easy applesauce
Peel, quarter, and core apples to remove the seeds. Cut into small chunks, place in a saucepan, and pour enough water to barely cover the apples. Squeeze a bit of lemon juice and as much raw sugar as you would like, but not too much. Simmer for about 20 minutes on low heat. When cooled, mash up your sauce with a fork and pour into a sterilized glass jar.
In the book, readers are reminded, “Sometimes making green choices takes us out of our comfort zone. It takes us away from the things we usually do and what’s comfortable to us. At these times, it’s good to remember that we’re doing what’s best for us, and what’s best for the environment.” For children looking for fun activities and great advice about sustainability, DISNEY GO GREEN is the perfect resource.
Looking for something to “Yabba-Dabba-Doo” together with your kids? Check out The Flintstones and WWE’s all-new animated film, The Flintstones & WWE: Stone Age Smackdown, co-produced by WWE® Studios and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment. Timed to debut leading into WrestleMania 31, this all-new original movie is available on DVD, Blu-ray Combo, and Digital HD for the first time tomorrow– March 10, 2015! Rated the #2 greatest cartoon of all time by TV Guide, the Flintstones’ return to the center ring will be sure to deliver high-octane action for fans of all ages, bringing parents who grew up with The Flintstones and kids who love WWE together like never before! The Flintstones & WWE: Stone Age Smackdown will be available on Blu-ray Combo, DVD and Digital HD.
Perfect for kids who have older siblings that love WWE, this all-new, original movie brings some of WWE’s toughest, wildest superstars to Bedrock for an awesome crossover with some of the most iconic and popular cartoon characters of all time– The Flintstones! When Fred loses his family’s vacation money, he hatches one of his hair-brained plans to get it back. It’s a sports entertainment spectacle that involves throwing his best bud, Barney into the wrestling ring with the likes of John Cenastone (John Cena), Marble Henry (Mark Henry) and even The Undertaker, with Fred himself as event promoter! The crowds roar, the “clams” are pouring in from ticket sales and even Mr. McMagma (Vince McMahon) is taking notice of all the hoopla. Can Fred keep serving up bigger and badder matches or is he in for the rocky ride of his life? Including all-star appearances from The Boulder Twins (Brie and Nikki Bella) and Daniel Bry-Rock (Daniel Bryan), it’s time to get the whole family together for a collection of hard-hitting, side-splitting laughs from the most epic event in all of prehistory!
The movie is a fun and exciting mashup of the classic Flintstones characters we all know and love with some of WWE’s biggest names– it’s a joy for kids and parents alike to see these worlds collide. The Flintstones & WWE: Stone Age Smackdown has become an instant classic in our house (Marc LOVED the movie and we can’t stop watching it!) and I’m sure it will in yours too, especially if you’re big fans of The Flinstones or WWE!
“The Flintstones & WWE: Stone Age Smackdown” will be available for streaming and download to watch anywhere in high definition and standard definition on their favorite devices from select digital retailers including Amazon, CinemaNow, Flixster, iTunes, PlayStation, Target Ticket, Vudu, Xbox and others. Starting March 10, “The Flintstones & WWE: Stone Age Smackdown” will also be available digitally on Video On Demand services from cable and satellite providers, and on select gaming consoles.
The YouTube Kids app, the first Google product built from the ground up with little ones in mind, is available for free on Google Play and in the App Store App Store in the U.S., starting today, February 23, 2015.
Families worldwide are already watching millions of videos on YouTube. The app makes it safer and easier for children to discover and explore videos on topics they are curious about with family-friendly features, including:
Playful, Fun Design: The YouTube Kids app is delightfully simple and packed with age-appropriate videos, channels and playlists with a focus on content for early literacy. With larger images, bold icons and more, it’s fast and simple for little thumbs to navigate. And there’s a voice search option so even if your children can’t spell or type, they can still find videos that pique their curiosity.
Parental Controls: The YouTube Kids App offers several options that help you control the experience for your kids.
Timer: Let the app be the bad guy with a built-in timer that limits kids’ screen time. The app alerts them when the session is over so you don’t have to.
Sound Settings: Parents have an option to turn off background music and sound effects, so your kids can keep watching quietly while you catch up on chores or simply take a break in peace.
Search Settings: If you’d rather limit your children to just the pre-selected videos available on the home screen, you can turn off the search feature.
Product feedback: The goal is to continuously improve YouTube Kids App, so there’s also a space for you to give YouTube your feedback.
Family-Focused Content: Rest easy! Videos in the YouTube Kids app only focus on kid-appropriate content. You can browse channels and playlists in four categories: Shows, Music, Learning and Explore. Search videos of particular interest to your family, like model volcanoes, math tutorials, the amazing (and endless) world of trains—and everything in between. Enjoy favorites including Jim Henson TV, Mother Goose Club, Talking Tom and Friends, National Geographic Kids, Reading Rainbow and Thomas the Tank Engine, and discover new videos coming soon from beloved YouTubers like the Vlogbrothers and Stampylonghead.
Common Sense Media, a non-profit organization providing education and advocacy to families to promote safe technology and media for children, said that the YouTube Kids app is:
“An exceptionally fun way for kids to browse online videos and for adults to guide their viewing.”
“A serious contender as a family’s go-to way for kids to watch videos online.”
“There’s something for everyone on YouTube Kids. Toddlers to big kids will be able to find a show, some music, or some educational content that fits their interests.”
Check out a video about the new YouTube Kids app here!
PBS KIDS and Sesame Street premiered Cookie Monster’s very first special “The Cookie Thief” on February 16. A cookie art museum has just opened on Sesame Street, but art suddenly disappears and Cookie Monster quickly becomes a suspect! Cookie Monster’s special is a nail-biting, cookie-munching thriller with guest stars including Rachel Dratch of Saturday Night Live fame.
PBS KIDS also announced NATURE CAT, a brand new series that will premiere this fall. NATURE CAT follows Fred, a house cat who dreams of exploring the great outdoors. In each episode, once his family leaves for the day, Fred transforms into Nature Cat, “backyard explorer extraordinaire.” NATURE CAT was created by brothers David Rudman (Cookie Monster on SESAME STREET, The Muppets) and Adam Rudman (Tom & Jerry, SESAME STREET, CYBERCHASE).
PBS KIDS and SESAME STREET premiered an all-new one-hour special on February 16, “The Cookie Thief.” During the special, a cookie art museum has just opened on Sesame Street. Cookie Monster and his friends feel as if they’re in a whole new world, but when art suddenly starts to disappear, Cookie Monster quickly becomes a suspect. Can Cookie Monster clear his name? Will they find the missing art in time or will Cookie Monster be banished from the museum forever? “The Cookie Thief” is a fun, action-packed special in which Cookie Monster explores self-regulation concepts – such as impulse control, following directions and managing emotions.
This fall, PBS KIDS will premiere NATURE CAT, a new animated series that encourages children to explore nature. NATURE CAT follows Fred, a house cat who dreams of exploring the great outdoors. Through NATURE CAT, co-creators and brothers David Rudman (SESAME STREET, The Muppets) and Adam Rudman (Tom & Jerry, SESAME STREET, CYBERCHASE) have teamed up to inspire viewers to get outdoors and develop connections with the natural world. Designed for kids ages 3-8, the multiplatform media property will encourage families to get active and go on their own outdoor adventures. The series will air daily following its premiere (check local listings).
Have you ever applied makeup in a dark room, and walked outside to find a line of bronzer down the side of your face? American women claim that the biggest challenge they face when applying make-up at home is not enough light – sounds like we found the problem! Swap out your bathroom lighting for Cree LED Bulbs, available at Home Depot, and see what you think of the difference.
But what is a Cree bulb anyway? Cree bulbs are “The Biggest Thing Since the Light Bulb,” LED bulbs that look and light like a classic light bulb, but provide all of the savings, energy efficiency, and product longevity that comes with being LED. To do this, Cree pioneered three different innovations: 4Flow Filament Design, LED Filament Tower Technology, and Spectral Notching Technology.
Cree‘s 4Flow Filament Design is to thank for the Cree Bulb’s similarity to a classic incandescent bulb in appearance and light. It combines cross-flow ventilation and clever optical design to recreate incandescent bulbs’ timeless appearance within a shatter-proof housing. It’s durable and affordable!
Cree LED Filament Tower Technology is designed to emulate the look and feel of an incandescent filament but provide all the benefits of LED technology, long life and efficiency. The design of the Cree LED Filament Tower provides a compact, and optically centered and balanced light source (like the tungsten filament in an incandescent bulb) to deliver the warm, all-around light you and your lamps and fixtures love. You can get cheaper, more durable and efficient LED light without having to sacrifice the warm lighting that’s a staple of incandescents!
In addition to being up to 79% more efficient and lasting 25 times longer than a typical incandescent, the Cree TW Series LED bulb produces true and natural light with a Color Rendering Index (CRI) of 93. To make this possible, Cree developed a new way to bring TrueWhite™ light to LED bulbs.Cree Spectral Notching Technology takes advantage of Neodymium glass and other optical innovations to produce light that makes colors look like they should. See the difference in the food you eat, the clothes you wear and the appearance of your skin.
Cree Bulbs are the perfect addition to your home– you’ll be surprised to see how much you save by switching over to Cree LED! Try them out in 2015 and find out for yourself!
Have you ever applied makeup in a dark room, and walked outside to find a line of bronzer down the side of your face? American women claim that the biggest challenge they face when applying make-up at home is not enough light – sounds like we found the problem! Swap out your bathroom lighting for