What To Do This Weekend - Honour Earth Hour!

Earth Hour is this Saturday, March 26, at 8:30 PM. Now, while some have said an hour doesn't make a difference - I say every little bit counts, and when millions of people join together - heck, yeah! an hour makes a difference ;-)

Getting off soapbox now....please stay tuned....

So, all you have to do to participate in Earth Hour is turn off your lights and electronics for one hour... but have you thought about how you and the fam can make it even more fun? When Earth Hour first started and my boys were younger, we'd let them stay up the extra half-hour, then put them to bed at 8:30. Instead of a bedtime story book, we would tell stories on the fly. It led to a couple of good discussions too (like why humans have hair)...Here are some other ideas we've had:

• Give your kids their bath!
• Make faces by candle light.
• Read by candle light.
• Tell ghost stories.
• Play Jenga, Twister or another game where a lack of sight can really mess up the action :-)
• Play hide-and-go-seek, spotlight-style in the house.
• Go for a walk around the neighbourhood... leave an anonymous "Thank you for participating in Earth Hour" note in the mailboxes of dark houses.
• Draw family pictures, or sketch your favourite cartoon characters.... without candles or light. How crazy will they be?
• Paint each other's faces in the dark - when the hour is up, see who looks the silliest.
• Have a scavenger hunt - for younger kids, you can go with easy to find objects that can be located in their regular spots (i.e.: a spoon, a shirt), for older children, be more specific (i.e.: a red shirt; a spoon with flowers on the handle), or hide items earlier in the day (i.e.: a chocolate bar hidden in the family room).
• Have a sing-along... 99 bottles of milk on the wall?
• Have a tickle fight!
• If you don't mind a bit of mess, get everyone in their swimsuits (OK, so you'll have to be able to handle a slight chill as well), get out the washable paints (put each colour in a separate pie pan), put a huge piece of paper (or several taped together) on the kitchen floor, and make the craziest finger-hand-foot-painting poster ever!

Even if you already have plans, you can find ways to incorporate Earth Hour into your evening - if you are entertaining, eat dinner or have a chat by candlelight; if you are out - turn off the electronics you have on you (iPod; cell, etc.). Or, just talk about ways you can incorporate energy-efficiency & environmental awareness into your life - every bit counts :-) You can also pledge your support to Earth hour and the environment by visiting http://www.wwf.ca/earthhour/.

Have a fun one!


For details on events in & around town, check my calendar regularly! It is on the bottom of every page, or click Events Calendar in the navigation bar :-) The Tely Go Guide is also a good source.