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Natural Awakenings Central New Jersey

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Can-Do Kids ~ Changing Our World at Any Age

This article is written especially for young readers eager to embrace the true spirit of the holiday season. Sharing it with them can help cultivate a lifelong practice of giving.

Have you ever seen someone do something that changed a situation from bad to good? Maybe your parents helped someone whose car broke down, or a teacher spent extra time after class helping you with schoolwork.

No matter your age, where you live or what you have, you have the power to do good, too. What you do can make other people happy and make the world a better place. Here are some ideas to help you figure out how.

  • A good place to start is to think about what’s important to you. This will help you find a way of giving back that you’ll enjoy and want to do again and again. For example, if you love taking care of animals, offer to walk an elderly person’s dog for them. If you get sad when you think about someone being lonely, visit a neighbor that lives alone or send a special card to a relative as a way to show your love.
  • It’s nice to help strangers, but people can also do little things close to home that’ll make life easier and better for your family. You can call your grandma to say hello, help your mom or dad with the dishes or play a favorite game with your little sister or brother.
  • You can also use your own special talents to help others. If you are a good cook, bake a healthy holiday treat to bring to someone who is feeling sick. You can read aloud a story to a younger child. If you’re strong and have lots of energy, you can help your neighbor take out the trash or with other household chores.
  • You can have fun and make an even bigger difference by doing good things with others. One way to get your friends excited about joining you is to plan a “Giving Party”. Ask your parents to help you download a free guide (WateringCanPress.com/html/parents.html) that has fun ideas and activities for creating a holiday-time or birthday party or rainy day get-together.
  • Giving to other people is important, but the planet needs us, too. You can be giving by picking up litter, recycling and even turning off lights when leaving a room. When we pay attention to the environment around us, we can learn how to respond in a giving way.
Ellen Sabin is the founder and president of Watering Can Press (WateringCanPress.com), a publishing company committed to growing kids with character. Her series of award-winning books include, among others, The Giving Book: Open the Door to a Lifetime of Giving; The Greening Book: Being a Friend to Planet Earth; and The Healthy Body Book: Caring for the Coolest Machine You’ll Ever Own.

Fun Activity

Who’s Been Giving to You?

KidsOnGlobeWhether it’s time, love or things, the people around us give to us all the time. Sometimes we don’t stop to think about what people do for us, and so we forget to say, “Thank you.” Appreciating what people give us is just as important as giving to others.

Here are some questions to ask yourself. After you have answered each question, think about what you can do to thank people for their kindness.

Who shared with you? What did he or she share?

Who taught you something? What did he or she teach you?

Who showed you love? How did he or she show you love?

Who made you happy? How did he or she make you happy?

Source: Adapted excerpt from The Giving Book: Open the Door to a Lifetime of Giving with the author’s permission (WateringCanPress.com/html/givingbook.html).

Healthy Kids Kids volunteerism activism
Tick Talk

Spring officially sprung on March 21. We have turned our clocks ahead. We are looking forward to warm winds, sunny skies and the smell of fresh cut grass. The daffodils and tulips have recently bloomed and we are just starting with the yard work that comes with the warmer weather.  Sadly, another season has started ramping up.  Tick season.

•             The best form of protection is prevention. Educating oneself about tick activity and how our behaviors overlap with tick habitats is the first step.

•             According to the NJ DOH, in 2022 Hunterdon County led the state with a Lyme disease incidence rate of 426 cases per 100,000 people. The fact is ticks spend approximately 90% of their lives not on a host but aggressively searching for one, molting to their next stage or over-wintering. This is why a tick remediation program should be implemented on school grounds where NJ DOH deems high risk for tick exposure and subsequent attachment to human hosts.

•             Governor Murphy has signed a bill that mandates tick education in NJ public schools. See this for the details.  Tick education must now be incorporated into K-12 school curriculum. See link:

https://www.nj.gov/education/broadcasts/2023/sept/27/TicksandTick-BorneIllnessEducation.pdf

•             May is a great month to remind the public that tick activity is in full swing. In New Jersey, there are many tickborne diseases that affect residents, including Anaplasmosis, Babesiosis, Ehrlichiosis, Lyme disease, Powassan, and Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiosis.

•             For years, the focus has mainly been about protecting ourselves from Lyme disease. But other tick-borne diseases are on the rise in Central Jersey. An increase of incidence of Babesia and Anaplasma are sidelining people too. These two pathogens are scary because they effect our blood cells. Babesia affects the red blood cells and Anaplasma effects the white blood cells.

•             Ticks can be infected with more than one pathogen. When you contract Lyme it is possible to contract more than just that one disease. This is called a co-infection. It is super important to pay attention to your symptoms. See link.

https://twp.freehold.nj.us/480/Disease-Co-Infection

A good resource from the State:

https://www.nj.gov/health/cd/topics/tickborne.shtml

 

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