Summer is the perfect time to spend quality time with your child creating nature inspired art. For your first project, try a simple nature mobile – it will only take a few minutes to assemble, and your child will delight in making art from nature. Art that is made using natural elements that you can find all around you is a fun way to incorporate science and botany into your everyday routine. The next time that you take a walk around your neighborhood or spend the afternoon exploring your own backyard, take a few moments to collect natural pieces to use in your artwork. Read on for easy how to instructions for creating a nature mobile – Eben and I had a blast completing this simple project.
** When I told Eben that we were making a “nature mobile”, he thought we were making an automobile – he was so confused at first! It was so cute.
Yesterday, we spent the day at the Florida Oceanographic Society, located in Stuart, Florida. The Florida Oceanographic Society is a no-profit organization with the mission of inspiring environmental stewardship of Florida’s coastal ecosystems through education and research.
The Florida Oceanographic Society is a 57-acre marine life nature center located on Hutchinson Island. They have a fantastic collection of sea turtles, sting rays, nurse sharks, fish and birds.
We spent part of the afternoon watching their 10-month of green sea turtle cruise around in his tank and the octopus (that was saved from a crab trap) as he climbed around in his tank. Then, we ventured outside to the large touch tanks where we were able to touch and feed sting rays, manta rays, horseshoe crabs, starfish, sea urchins and sea cucumbers.
Then, it was off for an hour long hike through the nature paths, stopping along the way to check out the fiddler crabs and blue crabs that crossed our paths. And of course, Mr. Sweet Greens and Eben had to stop and check out any living creatures along the coastline.
The remainder of the afternoon was spent watching the large marine animals (sea turtles, nurse sharks and assorted fish) being feed, followed by quietly observing a tiny mother Killdeer sitting on her nest. She was so dedicated and didn’t budge when we experienced a five minute downpour! Fantastic. Can you find her?
Eben said that this was his favorite Florida adventure to date and can’t wait to go back. If you are visiting the treasure coast or happen to live within driving distance, I highly recommend planning to spend the day at the Florida Oceanographic Society learning about our fantastic waters and the creatures that inhabit them. I am looking into their summer camp for Eben too! You can also support the Florida Oceanographic Society here.
Hello, Friends! I have a few advertising spots available for July if you are interested. These spots are perfect for Etsy shops, green businesses and green lifestyle bloggers.
If you feel your Etsy shop, group, blog or business is a good fit with Sweet Greens and are interested in advertising, just drop me a note and I will send you my full media kit. I have a ton of great green giveaways, guest bloggers, lovely how to projects, fantastic green products to feature, lots of little surprises and a lot of little surprises for the months to come. Advertising on Sweet Greens is a fantastic way to boost your sales and get great exposure!
I am a work at home green mom who completely understands that cost of raising a family, so I keep the rates reasonable – anyone who wants to can advertise on Sweet Greens. As a special bonus, I will help your shop get more exposure by introducing your shop to all of my readers in an introductory post and will also share your shop with my Facebook Fans and Twitter followers.
One of the first activities that we experienced this summer was a tour of the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse and Museum. There is a fantastic museum full of Jupiter history and artifacts and the oldest home in Palm Beach county is on the grounds to tour. I enjoyed the 105 steps up to the top of the 1860 Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse – Eben, however, is afraid of heights, the journey was tough for him. After a lot of quiet coaxing, we made it to the top – together. And the view is fantastic! If you are visiting the Jupiter area, I would highly recommend stopping by.
Have you seen all of the fantastic Fourth of July inspired desserts that Martha Stewart has come up with? Desserts are one of my favorite parts of the holiday – the red, white and blue is so patriotic and beautiful! I am trying to decide which dessert I want to make an organic version of. Fresh organic fruits, organic whipped cream – what’s not to love?
