Not Sugar or Plastic

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Written By Miri Gindin

In 2020 all is different, and that includes Halloween.   Some are spending Halloween in quarantine.    Some are trick or treating, but gingerly-wearing face masks even with costumes that don’t have any masks, washing hands in between houses,   keeping space between themselves and other trick-or-treaters.  People are just generally being more careful, considerate: in yoga we would call it mindful.  

Let’s rewind one year back.  

It was the week of October 31st, 2019.   Of course our kids’ yoga classes had a Halloween theme!

In the yoga tradition we talk about a drishti, or gaze point;  an unmoving spot on which to focus to keep our balance or to stay calm.  I thought of a fun drishti for my yoga students: tiny pumpkins that they could place on their mats and bring home after class.   

This got me thinking of other prizes and gifts that we could bring to children that are not going to end up in the landfill, and are not going to cause the potential health challenges associated with too much sugar. (It’s not that I think sugar is evil.  In moderation it’s reportedly ok.   It’s more that I like the fun challenge of finding healthier non-sugar options. )

Here are some super simple ideas:

  • Seasonal or Unusual fruit

 

1. Do something seasonal or innovative with it

check out Bryony’s Orange O’Lantern ->

Bryony'sOrangeOLantern.JPG

2. Talk about where the fruit comes from and share some stories or legends about it.  For example: Goji berries.  Scientists discovered that people who eat Goji berries live longer! In a certain village people drank water from a well and they were living longer than average.  It turns out the Goji berries were falling into the water people were drinking and making them healthier!

3. Declare a “fruit party” at the end of the class.  Students can try a fruit that they haven’t tried before and rate it.  They can try to guess what part of the country, or the world, the fruit comes from.

4. Fruit is used widely in mindfulness training; you can try that! Lead children in seeing how their senses interact with the fruit. What does the fruit feel like to the touch? How does it smell? When they taste it, what do they taste? Does eating the fruit slowly make it more delicious? Does it make them want to eat more of it, or be happy with less because they’ve enjoyed every bite? 

  • Homemade playdough or slime given in upcycled jars/containers. 

Slime-making is something that makes children squeal with delight.  If you haven’t done this yet with the kids in your life please give it a try!  It doesn’t take long and brings out the scientist in all of us.  

There are lots of great recipes online for these! Here is one for playdough you don’t have to cook. Here are seven safe homemade slime recipes with no borax 

  • Stones with special messages.  

Our own Flora invented a beautiful idea for stones.  The children each get their own special, powerful stone.  The stone goes on their forehead for meditation time.  There is a brilliant associative power to this practice:  the children know that when it’s on their forehead, it’s time to be peaceful.  

2020 has brought out our creativity and adaptability. As hard as the pandemic has been for all of us- and we will never know how hard it has been for some- this is something to celebrate.  

Now that the holiday season is approaching I bet you have some other amazing ideas!   Please let us know what they are- the team would love to hear from you!

originally published on Ecoparent.

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