Thursday 21 April 2016

It is Planet Earth’s birthday today…. Let’s celebrate by belonging to it.


Earth is the only planet with chocolates and children! That is because it is blessed with life- insects, trees, birds, animals and especially humans. Humans are searching for life forms on other planets and in this search have forgotten to take care of what we already have- Planet Earth, a living breathing planet that has water and air and food.

But many people have woken up to face the reality about the kind of world we want to leave for our children and grandchildren and have initiated a day on which we can remember and acknowledge the importance of this wonderful planet and strive to treasure and save it. The world now marks Earth Day to make the human race realize the importance of the Mother Earth. Earth Day is celebrated every year on the 22nd of April. In 1970, a senator from Wisconsin, USA, Gaylord Nelson first conceived of this day.

More than just remembering or acknowledging the wonder of Planet Earth on this special day it is important we teach our kids and ourselves to ‘belong’ to this planet. And to do that we have to fall in love with Planet Earth, because when we love something, we bond with it, treasure it and it belongs to us. And we never have to be told to take care of something that belongs to us!
Its time to fall in love with Planet Earth and belong to it. Its time to help our children experience its wonders, instead of always putting the responsibility of saving it on them. How can our children save something that they have not experienced or understood the importance of?

Its time to take our kids on walks…not in malls all the time but once in a while in a park, on the beach and places where they can breathe pure unadulterated oxygen! Try a nighttime walk, help your child hear the sounds during a day-time walk and a night-time walk. Take a magnifying glass along for your walk in the park and see how your little explorer loves to look at leaves and insects with the magnifying glass. Next time try taking tinted magnifying glasses (available easily in all  toy stores) and see how your child will giggle and wonder at how green leaves look red or the blue sky looks green.

Sleep on the grass and look at the clouds passing by and play a game of finding object shapes in the clouds. At night look at the sky and try to look for star clusters. All these activities will help children fall in love with nature and help them understand that birds and insects and animals and trees are an integral part of our environment. They will not look at insects as ‘eek’ something to scream about or dirt and mud as ‘yucky’, they will be able to feel different textures in nature and this stimulation is extremely healthy for their emotional development and brain development. After all the 5 senses are the main route to stimulating our brain synapses.

When our children stop going outdoors they are left out of the nourishment that nature can provide for their emotional development. Nature Deficit Disorder, is a term coined by Richard  Louv  in his 2005 book Last Child in the Woods, he refers to a growing trend around the world wherein  children are spending less time outdoors resulting in a wide range of behavioral problems.

Technology is something that children have already fallen in love with, and that is why you will notice how fiercely they protect their tech gadgets and tech use time. Because they have a bond with it, it belongs to them. Let us use technology to help them experience and fall in love with nature and when they do, ensure that they get real life nature experiences too.

I have given below a list of apps that you can use to help your child fall in love with Planet Earth (these are from igamemom.com and this site has a fantastic collection of apps). Have a fun Earth Day.
·         Lorax- this app recounts  a favourite Dr Seuss story by the same name in which Lorax tries to save Truffula forest from the hands of a factory owner. The story serves as an ecological warning and is suitable for age 3 to 6 years
·         Earth Primer- an interactive science book, in this app kids can create volcanoes and sculpt mountains.
·         WWF Together- this all is from the World Wildlife Fund and has origami instructions for each animal introduced. (free)
·         The Yuckies- a series of two FREE books teaching kids about environment. The stories use muck, goop and mischief to teach kids why it is important and how to keep our environment clean. The series is designed for 5-8 year olds.
·         Toca Nature- (is my personal favourite as it helps kids and adults understand the impact of ecological changes) this is an open-ended app for kids of all ages. Kids can make changes in the natural environment and watch how other elements change correspondingly. For example, by adding trees, kids will be able to see the animal distribution changes over time, water circulation changes too.
·         WilderQuest - is a free app by National Parks and Wildlife. Through the lenses of the device, kids experience the virtual reality of the wild nature, watching animals moving close by, be so near to the plants that they will feel they can smell them and touch them. It is great way to experience the nature when you cannot go out.
·         Ranger Rick Jr. Appventures: Lions-  from National Wildlife Federation (NWF), it is the first of the series of Ranger Rick Jr. Appventures. Kids follow Ricky Raccoon to visit Lars the Lion and experience a lion’s life in the jungle. With built-in games being integral part of the story, it is a great learning app for kids age 4 to 7.
·         Audubon Birds- it is an encyclopedia on birds from Audubon Institute, who has been working on ecosystems, with focus on birds and other wildlife, for decades. There are many nice features in the app. The best is the search function. You can search a bird by color, shape, name, location, song pattern, etc. A great app to keep handy when being in the park.






70 comments:

Unknown said...

It is indeed very important that we help our children in understanding the wonders of Mother Earth by using every opportunity to make the children experience oneness with Nature. I shall definitely urge the parents of children in my class to download and try out the various informative apps that you have mentioned in the article. Thank you very much Ma'am for this extremely informative article.
Warm regards,
Rashmi S. Gawde
Teacher - Jr. K.G.,
Podar Jumbo Kids,
Nashik.

Sunitha said...

Wow!An apps to get kids closer to mother earth.... What else could be a way novel .After reading the article about suicides and celebration was just pondering on how could we bring back to our kids,the life which we lived...hopping around, playing around in the mud. Would definitely have the contentment this summer that have done something productive with my kid.
Sunitha Jadhav
PJK, Nashik

Shahnaaz Shaikh said...

Now a days parents are working,so they fail to spend healthy time with kids.And whenever they get time they rush towards the malls,cinema halls,etc .But after reading this article parents will understand the true meaning of spending healthy time with the kids.Parents will also get a chance to remember the old days.And children will get the true knowledge of our planet Earth.
Shahnaaz Shaikh
PJK,Nashik

Unknown said...

Thankyou very much maam for sharing such a wonderful and helpful article.It's a neccessity for everyone to spend time in nature and observe beautiful birds flowers insects etc.... instead of spending time in artificial and fantasy world.Feeling nature beauty will surely help us stay healthy fit and fine.so lets all put our hands together and help to save nature.
Thankyou maam.
Ashwini Mungi.
PJK Nashik..

Tejashree Marathe said...

Thank you so much Ma'am to share with us such an informative article.These types of activities will really help our children to get in touch with Mother Earth.They will see life of beautiful nature.
Tejashree Marathe
Teacher PJK Nashik

Unknown said...

What a fantabulous idea of attracting our technowizards towards our Mother Earth. Technophilia is the biggest and serious problem faced by today's parents. A great idea to convert our kids into Nature lover by using their favorite way of technology.
I too am very excited to explore these apps and am really looking forward to it.
Thank you ma'am for sharing important apps .
Ms.Rubina Khan
PJK Nasik

Unknown said...

Thank you very much ma'am for sharing helpful article. It is very important that we help our children in understand the Mother Earth. They will see life of beautiful natural. Supriya Labhade PJK Nashik

Unknown said...

Thank you maam for this wonderful aticle.I am sure the Apps mentioned are going to help parents direct their children to understand the importance of Nature and protecting it,in a technoway.Lots of Love for our Mother Nature.Happy Earth Day to all.
Sejal Pandya
PJK,Nashik.

Radhika Joshii said...

What a wonderful way to celebrate Earth Day in real sense. This article can be the best example for parents that how we can use traditional learning and modern thoughts together for holistic development of children keeping in mind the constraints of today's era.
- Neha Khanvani (PJK Bhavnagar)

PJK,Nigdi said...

Thank you Ma'am for the informative article.Yes Ma'am technology is something that children have already fallen in love with.Apps related to Earth are going to help the children to understand the importance of wonderful planet Earth.

Sonali Karmakar said...

Thank you Swati ma'am for sharing the blog. It is indeed very informative. Now it is time to fall in love with planet earth and do our part to save it. Let us all celebrate Earth day with the children by the mantra Reuse - Refuse - Recycle and Remind.

Unknown said...

Young children are fascinated and curious about the natural world, it is we, who need to direct them so that they fall in love with it and strive to treasure and save it. Thank you for sharing the list of apps, I am too excited to explore the same. Happy Earth Day!!!

Sonali Karmakar said...

Thank you Swati ma'am for sharing the blog. It is indeed very informative. Now it is time to fall in love with planet earth and do our part to save it. Let us all celebrate Earth day with the children by the mantra Reuse - Refuse - Recycle and Remind.

Unknown said...

I Miss Tanvi Mody teacher of Podar Jumbo Kids Plus Vile Parle would like to thank you ma'am for sharing such an informative blog with us. It is important to take kids outdoor and let them explore to nature which will help them to love their planet earth and learn to take care of it.

Unknown said...

I miss Rajul Nishar a teacher from podar jumbo kids vile parle would like to thank you for sharing such a informative blog with us. It's really important to make the children understand about nature. This would help then to connect with their mother earth.

Unknown said...

Its beautifully expressed.

Shweta pawar( bhosle) said...

Thank you so much ma'am I really appreciate your thoughts about mother earth. And the way you show to us such an informative article.These types of activities will really help our children to get in touch with Mother Earth.. We definitely use this traditional learning and modern thoughts together with the children's of our school...
Shweta Bhosale
PJK, Nashik

Prutha Kamdar said...

Thank you ma'am for sharing such a wonderful information...

On this Earth day, let's pledge to protect our planet and make our children feel the beauty of it thereby helping them to understand its importance...

Ms. Prutha Doshi
PJK Rajkot

Asfia shabbir said...

First of all maam thank you for sharing such wonderful information about our planet earth.Children along with their adults can experience nature in a very unique n fun way as you have explained.Indeed we all have to understand the importance of our mother earth
PJK
Landmark

Unknown said...

I Ms. Poonam Borade teacher of PJK Plus Vile Parle would like to thank you ma'am for sharing such important blog with us. It's true that we have forgotten to take care of plannet earth. We should make children fascinated to nature. Let them explore the wonders of nature.

Unknown said...

I Ms. Poonam Borade teacher of PJK Plus Vile Parle would like to thank you ma'am for sharing such important blog with us. It's true that we have forgotten to take care of plannet earth. We should make children fascinated to nature. Let them explore the wonders of nature.

Unknown said...

I Ms. Poonam Borade teacher of PJK Plus Vile Parle would like to thank you ma'am for sharing such important blog with us. It's true that we have forgotten to take care of plannet earth. We should make children fascinated to nature. Let them explore the wonders of nature.

Unknown said...

Thank you Ma'am for such an informative article. Today's children are so tech-savvy that these apps will really teach them how to correlate with our Mother nature.
Ms Jayanthi Subramanian
PJK Nashik

Unknown said...

Thank you Ma'am for such an informative article. Today's children are so tech-savvy that these apps will really teach them how to correlate with our Mother nature.
Ms Jayanthi Subramanian
PJK Nashik

Unknown said...

Important article a must to spread the word save planet and resources for our gen next....start today.

Unknown said...

Thank you Ma'am for sharing such a wonderful and informative article. It is really very important that we all should take care of 'Mother Earth' and inculcate the same to our kids.
Happy Earth Day.
Shaheen Shaikh,
PJK,Nashik.

Unknown said...

Thankyou ma'am for this important blog,it really reminds us of our own childhood..how we were attached to our Mother Earth..playing in mud,exploring nature etc.But today's kids are avoiding these kinds of play rather than they enjoy playing on different gadgets..It is our duty to make our children realise the importance of our nature through role modelling.
Sunita Sharma
PJK,Nashik

Unknown said...

I Ms Sabina Shah teacher of PJK Plus Vile Parle would like to thank you Ma'am for such an informative article. At our centre we celebrated Earth day by explaining them the importance of nature and also told the children to water the plants.

Unknown said...

I Ms.Leela Chamaria teacher of PodarJumbo Kids plus Vile Parle would like to thank u maam for sharing this informative blog.lndeed in today's world it is very important that we teach our kids the importance of motherearth ao that they grow up loving their planet earth.It's a humble request to all our parents and teachers to refer to the informative sites.We as teachers celebrated Earth day in Podar Jumbo kids by watering plants,by refering through a story of 3 little pigs and introduction of earth.Kids promised not to waste water at home and in school.

Unknown said...

I Ms.Leela Chamaria teacher of PodarJumbo Kids plus Vile Parle would like to thank u maam for sharing this informative blog.lndeed in today's world it is very important that we teach our kids the importance of motherearth ao that they grow up loving their planet earth.It's a humble request to all our parents and teachers to refer to the informative sites.We as teachers celebrated Earth day in Podar Jumbo kids by watering plants,by refering through a story of 3 little pigs and introduction of earth.Kids promised not to waste water at home and in school.

Unknown said...

Getting closer to Earth...am Awesome thought,lets pledge to give our kids a beautiful future by teaching the importance of celebrating EARTH DAY. Nature in itself has amazing things in it.Lets unfold its beauty and find myriad happiness in it.
Mrunalini Shinde
PJK,Nashik

Unknown said...

Thank you so much ma’am for sharing yet another very informative, helpful and motivating article. Now a days young children are curious to know more about the natural world and that’s why they fascinate towards exploring these things through electronic gazettes, Thank you for sharing the list of apps. This is going to help the children to understand the importance of planet Earth. Taking kids outdoor will help them to love their planet earth and also they will learn to take care of it. Proud to be a part of Podar Jumbo Kids where we always celebrate each and every event in real sense.

Unknown said...

Thank you ma'am for such an important blog...We humans have forgotten to take care of our mother earth in this concrete jungle....children do what they see... celebrating Earth Day makes them aware about the environment and their surroundings... and this makes them more connected to the environment...
Puja Mistry
Teacher
PJK PLUS VILEPARLE

Unknown said...

Miss Vidhi Chawda teacher of Podar Jumbo Kids Plus Vile Parle would like to thank you ma'am for sharing such an informative blog with us. It is essential to teach kids to take care of our Planet Earth,as we live on a beautiful planet, and it's the only one we've got. By taking kids outdoor will help them to love their planet earth and also they will learn to take care of it...

Unknown said...

I Ms. Kalpita Bhirud teacher in Podar Jumbo Kids Plus Vile Parle,would thank you ma'am for sharing this information where with the help of technology we can make our children understand the importance of our planet and they learn to love our Mother Earth but it's equally important to take them to places where they can explore and experience the real beauty of our planet.

Unknown said...

Thank you Ma'am..... For sharing these important and precious thoughts about our mother earth and moreover about sharing all apps which will be really useful and interesting for kids. And yes, I agree with you that we have to give them real life, nature experience and definitely we will see the change.....and yes we will ensure - we, as parents, also show the same attitude (will start loving mother earth)towards our mother earth.

Sakshi Kelkar.
Teacher, Podar Jumbo Kids,
Ambegaon, Pune.

Farida Lokhandwala said...

Indeed a host of useful apps for our children to keep them engaged , thinking , exploring and learning the wonders of mother Earth in a fun way. As rightly said mam, its about developing belonging for our planet Earth and then caring for it automatically creeps in a human mind.

Anonymous said...

Dear Swati Ma'am, thank you for yet another motivaing blog on such a pertinent issue. We all have a special glow on our face on our bithday and indeed we feel special too! But unfortunately, our Mother Earth can't have this privilege because we have not given her the respect and love she deserves.
Your unique and fabulous suggestion of bringing this to the notice of our young generation is truly phenomenal. I'm sure the message will be effective and they will realise the obligation we have to protect the depleting resources of our Earth.

Unknown said...

Really we have to do such deeds now by which our Earth remains the same after centuries with very less changes.Whatever has happened yet we should let it go and look forward to save which is in actual condition today.Thanks Mam for sharing your thoughts with us and bringing in us a sense of togetherness.

Unknown said...

Many things we know , but forget to follow in our actions . Like we know that we need to protect our environment but because of our daily busy routine we forget to implement it . But it is time we need to think of saving and caring our Planet Earth . Before we teach our children to save Planet Earth , we elders have to start following on our own first .We have to introduce the Earth to the children .

Anonymous said...

Many a times people feel that this necessity to talk about nature is for metro cities children only. But I deny this point as children situated in any part of country are getting away from the importance of nature and its need in healthy life. Article touches not only why it is required but also gives insight how we can make our children love environment .. A must read article .

Unknown said...

Such a motivating article Ma'am for everyone to take care and love our nature, earth. Indeed it is a great way to connect children with earth and nature using the technology. Every working parent can do this and make the child feel love and connect with the earth.The idea of going out with the tinted magnifying glass, and looking for the stars and shapes of objects in clouds is so good that even parents will love to do it with children and relive their childhood. Must say all the parents should try it once and definitely they will fall in love with the nature and earth all over again along with their children.

Unknown said...

An excellent way to get children closer to Mother Earth. A green planet is a clean planet. Thank you ma'am for sharing such an informative article.

Unknown said...

I Mrs Shruti Ramani, Teacher in PJK Plus Vileparle, We thankyou ma'am for sharing such educational article for all the young and the old. This blog shows us how to take care of our mother earth. Our branch have done the activity of watering the plants and also planting more trees.It is very important to show our children the importance of our nature earth in our day to life by role modelling. We will be very happy if you share your information often and keep us updated .

Unknown said...

A very informative article for today's young generation. Children love nature but we as adults ignore their curiosity which makes them loose the importance of nature. We all have to create a world where environment doesn't need protection and these apps will surely make our generation to get closer to their Mother earth. Thank you ma'am for sharing such a motivating article.

Uma Nagdeo said...

As said in the above article its very important for young kids to stay connected with Mother earth which will nurture their brain development and emotional development through different experiences and by exploring wonderful creations of our nature. Its equal responsibility of each one of us to ensure such opportunities are provided to our children Thank you ma'am for sharing wonderful information of various Apps which will help somewhere to stay connected and love our Mother earth.

Podar Jumbo Kids, kalyan said...

thank you so much ma'am for sharing such an informative and wonderful article through which we can create love for nature in the kids.

Unknown said...

Thank you ma'am for sharing an important & informative article.Actually we adults many times forget to to provide opportunities to our children.The apps you shared and the activities like sleeping on grass and watching the clouds, In night looking at stars will help children to explore get closer to Mother Earth & experience the wonderful creations of our nature.

PJK Vadgaonsheri 2 said...

Here is a small poem on Earth Day i want to share:-
Earth Day comes ones a year.
Hurrah hurrah
For all to celebrate and give a cheer!
Hurrah Hurrah!
For all we do to help our Earth !
By keeping its clean to keep its worth,
and we all go marching
to reduce reuse and recycle
Boom Boom Boom Boom !
by Kim Short

Unknown said...

Thank You Ma'am for sharing a wonderful article on MOTHER EARTH. Young children love to play and explore. So instead of giving them gadgets we should encourage them to explore nature, help them to honor and love the MOTHER EARTH, unfold its beauty and to take care of it by teaching them the importance of EARTH by REUSE-RECYCLE-REDUCE-REPLENISH-RESTORE

Unknown said...

Thank you ma'am to sharing such a nice information. Thank you for suggesting so many activities to connect our kids with nature.

Mrs Vaishali P. Joglekar
PJK Chalisgaon.

Unknown said...

Thank you ma'am to sharing such a nice information. Thank you for suggesting so many activities to connect our kids with nature.

Mrs Vaishali P. Joglekar
PJK Chalisgaon.

Suman Khandelwal PJK Gondia said...

Thank you so much ma’am for sharing motivating article with all of us,It is one of great way to connect the children with the nature . Its very true we must take a quiet walk with mother nature,it will nurture our mind , body ,and soul.

Ms. Khushboo Lalwani said...

I Ms. Khushboo Lalwani teacher in Podar Jumbo Kids chalisgaon,would thank you ma'am for sharing most important information about planet earth. Yes Ma'am we should help children to fall in love with nature and help them understand that birds and insects and animals and trees are an integral part of our environment because of which they will understand the importance of the planet in which they live and will not destroy and pollute it.

Ms. Khushboo Lalwani said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...

An article which brings us near to nature.It has made me think as to when I had my last nature walk...
We are busy with technology. The article takes us back to our childhood days.And as adults it is our duty to take our children to this pleasure ride.Indeed a better way to spend quality time with our children.And for the techno savy kids the apps help them to have that bonding with mother nature.A superb article,Thank you Ma'am." Hay" It's earth day lets take an oath to walk a step close to nature and save our unique planet "EARTH".

Unknown said...

Thank you ma'am for sharing such a wonderful blog with us. parents and teachers will surely give different opportunities to children to feel nature which will take them into the world of happiness.

Miss. Mumtaj Pinjari
PJK Chalisgaon.

Unknown said...

Thank you so much ma'am for sharing such a nice article with us. This article really help the children to understand the importance of wonderful Planet Earth and also they will learn to take care of it.

Miss. Shital patil
PJK Chalisgaon.

Unknown said...

Thank you ma'am for sharing this wonderful and helpful blog. It is said that our mother is our first teacher and our second teacher is the nature. It is true that the nature is one of the best place where children and adults can develop themselves. children enjoy playing in the mud, water. So we should protect and take care of mother Earth.

Mrs. Laxmi Pathak.
PJK chalisgaon.

Unknown said...

Thank you ma'am for sharing such an informative article with us.This type of activities will really help our children to get in touch with Mother Earth.They will experience the beauty of nature and I am sure the app mentioned are going to be of a great help to parents & teachers to direct our kids to understand the importance of nature and how to protect it in a techno way.

Unknown said...

I Mrs. Madhu Ahuja teacher of Podar jumbo kids chalisgaon would like to thankyou Maam for sharing this informative article about our planet.This auspicious information gives us knowledge about our mother earth.we should aware our children about the protection of planet earth.we all should save it.

Unknown said...

Its a wonderful way to bring children close to nature. Children can definitely encouraged to explore the wonderful gift of nature through these activities. Thank you ma'am for this informative blog on Mother Earth.

Unknown said...

Dear ma'am,

This is really a wonderful article about our planet Earth.We live on it,so its our prime duty to think about it and I totally agree with ma'am that now its high time,we need to think seriously about our Mother Earth and save her.

Regards,
Ms. Neha Mittal
Teacher of PJK,Bhosari

Unknown said...

I Mrs. Seema Mahato teacher of Podar Jumbo Kids,Bhosari would like to thank you ma'am for sharing such a wonderful article with us.Through this article we all are aware with how to take care of our Mother Earth and recently through our Earth day celebration our kids were also made aware of it.This was really a good platform to explain kids about how to take care of our environment and save it plus your blog has added a flavor of brief information to it.

Unknown said...

I Mrs. Reshma shah teacher of PJK,Bhosari would like to thank ma'am for sharing with us such an informative article. Nature walk is very important for kids,so that they can feel it by themselves. It helps us to make them understand the importance of our mother earth.By celebrating the event like earth day kids came to no the value of nature and how to protect it.Now a days water is big problem that everybody is facing,so we can give message like "Save Water,Save Earth".

Unknown said...

As its very important for kids to get belong to nature.Thank you ma'am for sharing such a beautiful information and as it will also help teachers and adults to know the importance of environment and our mother earth.

shilpa said...

Great great knowing children will learn through games thanks for sharing this apps more over the child will be close to the nature and really child will try to love and care mentioned in this wonderful article belong to this earth and fall in love with Planet Earth.We never think of this really wide thought will surely share thank you.

Unknown said...

Respected Madam,

We are very much thankful to you, you have always guided us and have made us aware of many things which is very important in our life. Now this article, lovely, Ma'am why only children even we elders need to learn as to how to take care of our mother earth and love nature, because, today people facing so many problems, in which the biggest problem is global warming, we are responsible for it. Ma'am once again thank you for making us aware of it.

Unknown said...

Thank you so much Swati Ma'am for this must read article. After reading this article I remember a quote "As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.".And surely as a parent,educator and a human being I will try to inculcate the best of this article in my life style.

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