Bunch Family

5 cool documentaries for kids about the planet

Great documentaries educate us and sometimes even inspire us to take action. Here are five docs for your little eco-warriors:

1. Arctic Tale (2007)

This National Geographic film follows a polar bear cub and a walrus pup as they grow into powerful adults, all the while showing the audience how tough things are in the Arctic now that the ice is melting. You had us at polar bear cub. But seriously, the idea that the Arctic home of all these amazing animals is in trouble is very scary. Think of the polar bears and walruses that could be saved if kids today grow up to be better caretakers of the planet than we are?

2. Earth (2009)

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What we’re reading today:

1. What’s the first thing the wicked stepmother-to-be tells the adorable children as soon as their dad is out of earshot? Off to boarding school with you lot! But how young is too young to ship kids off?

2. Does children’s lit lack a relationship with nature?

3. A new report suggests what we kind of already know: in the future, a woman’s reproductive span will be far less limited than it is today. Those biological clocks won’t be ticking nearly so loudly.

4. Push presents: is this a thing? Really? Apparently Jessica Simpson is getting a $30, 000 one. Isn’t the present finally being able to hold your new baby?

5. If babies are going to be drinking coffee, they might as well learn to make it themselves like this baby:

Photo by esterina on silver via Flickr  Read more...

Your Sunday Morning Plan

It’s still warm enough to play outside without freezing your face off, and just cool enough to crave something comforting and toasty. The perfect November Sunday morning consists of pressing fall leaves after enjoying an oatmeal sundae bar, we say!

Eat:

Kids can make their own masterpiece with this fun and interactive breakfast. Oatmeal is high in fibre, magnesium, and iron, and eating it actually lowers cholesterol and stabilizes blood-glucose levels. Most importantly, this whole grain breaky is a blank canvas for fun, and loading it up with fresh toppings provides an opportunity to maximize the health and taste factor.

For 4 servings of oatmeal:

• 1 ½ cup large flake rolled oats
• 3 ½ cup milk or milk substitute
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 tsp vanilla (optional)

Combine all ingredients into a large pot, bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes.  Read more...

What we’re reading today:

1. Bey and Jay-Z are having a baby. We expect no less than baby musical genius.

2. A link between natural (and not-so-natural) disasters and making babies?

3. Two brats tried to sue their mom for “bad mothering.” They were represented by their attorney father and claimed their mom sent crappy birthday cards, failed to send care packages when they were away at college and haggling over the price of party dresses. The court dismissed the lawsuit.

4. And this mom put a hold on her college education while she raised kids, saying she’d return when her youngest was 5. But, she had 11 kids so was a stay-at-home-mom for 20 years before she did indeed return to finish her undergrad. Next she’ll be starting graduate work at Harvard.

5. Adorable boy doesn’t quite get the circle of life thing.  Read more...

Toronto photographer Robert Rafton offers a how-to for photographing city-dwelling birds and animals

Growing up in Toronto, I never paid any attention to wildlife. If you’d asked me, I would have said there’s nothing to see anyhow! But when I bought my first real telephoto lens and actually started looking, I found there are all kinds of wildlife city dwellers.  If you live in an urban environment, rest assured there are cool animals around you too – including some you’d never guess could be so close.  The question is how to find them. Here are five things you and your kids can do to track them down and hopefully get some great shots using your digital camera.

1. Get up at the crack of dawn. Try looking in the largest nearby park, especially one beside a lake, river or swamp.  You’ll have the best chance of seeing something right at dawn (sorry) or right before dusk.  Read more...

Bunchland likes to give props to families who love helping the planet and getting down and dirty with nature. The ones who really knock our organic, pesticide-free cotton socks off get our coveted Gosh Darn Green! Award.

Would you consider letting bugs chill out on plants in your house? What about letting them hang out a few feet away from your sleeping child’s head?

Nici’s 3-year-old daughter Amelie has never been one to be squeamish about bugs. She is enamoured with butterflies, and once let a caterpillar crawl all over her. Nici’s boyfriend Aaron, a former kindergarten teacher, recalled a project he did with his students and suggested trying it for Amelie’s birthday: witnessing the transformation of caterpillars into butterflies. In the house.  Read more...