It's April and Spring is in the air!  With Earth Day just around the corner, are you thinking of ways to help the Earth?  We are! We've got some fun tips for you in this issue along with some Earth Day coloring books and activities!  So be sure to keep reading!

In this issue:
1. Simple Things to Help Save the Planet
2. Free Craft Idea - Earth Day Coloring Book
3. Free Craft Idea - Recycling Coloring Book
4.  Free Craft Idea - Solar System Craft Idea
5. Giveaways - National Craft Month Winners...
 

Simple Things to Help Save the Planet...Saving the planet begins with you and there are so many simple things you can do to conserve our precious resources.  Here is a list of simple ideas that you can implement today:
1.  Use reusable grocery bags.  You can purchase these for cheap at almost any store these days.  I have quite a few from a recent trade show I attended.  I keep them in my car and use them instead of plastic bags.  They're also handy for gathering small items, papers, and other items from my van into my office.
2.  Use a tissue box to hold your plastic bags.  Instead of throwing those plastic bags in the trash, stuff them into an empty tissue box.  You'll have them handy when you need them for lunch bags, trash bags, or any other use.
3.  Grow your own vegetables.  You'll save bag/container waste and gas by not having to run to the store for your salad.  My husband planted lettuce this year and I'm so surprised by the harvest!  I haven't had to run to the store for salad in the last month. It also tastes delicious!
4.  Buy resale.  A Goodwill recently opened up by my house and I was thrilled.  The selection was amazing and the prices were great.  I picked up a 2 pair of pants for about $11.  Both pairs looked brand new.  One pair had really cute embroidered butterflies on it and  was from a company called Talbots.    A great find!
5.  Change your bulbs.  The hottest thing in household energy savings is the compact fluorescent lightbulb (CFL), a funny-looking swirl that fits into standard sockets. CFLs cost three to five times as much as conventional incandescent bulbs yet use one-quarter the electricity and last several years longer.
6.  Unplug your extra freezer or refrigerator when you don't need it.  I recently realized that fresh meat is much better than the meat that's been in my freezer for weeks.  So now I rarely use my freezer.  It's unplugged until the next big sale on frozen pizza!
7.  Wash your clothes in cold water.  This is a tip passed down from my mom.  She always washed my clothes in cold water and they always looked great. 
8.  Get a library card.  It's free and you don't have store all of those books at your house!
9.  Use products you already have.  One of the biggest reasons why I started KraftyKid.com was to share craft ideas from products that people have around the house.  I wasn't able to get out much with a preemie baby (with many issues) so I started to come up with ideas to reuse items in my house for crafts.  You can view them here. 
10.  Be an example.  One of the best things you can do is model eco-friendly habits.  People will notice...especially the little ones living in your home.
 

 
Earth Day Printable Coloring Book 
 Your child create their very own book about Earth Day.  This book titled "My Earth Day Word Book" will help them recognize words like reuse, reduce, recycle. Simply print out the book, staple, and color!  It's a great project for learning!  More...

  Recycling Printable Coloring Book

Your child create their very own book about Recycling.  This book titled "I Recycle" will help them to understand what it means to recycle. More...

We have plenty of fun crafts related to Earth Day on our website and many of our crafts can be created from products you already have!  I hope you'll stop by and check them out this month!  http://www.kraftykid.com/kid-crafts.html