Cooler, Drier Temperatures Creating Static Cling?
To control static cling, try the following:
Add ½ cup of vinegar to the last rinse cycle of your wash (fabric softener dispensers work great for a timed release)
Avoid synthetic fabrics
Air dry when possible
Fabric softeners often contain synthetic fragrances and are a disposable and chemical product. If you do use fabric softeners, consider using the liquid type rather than dryer sheets, which are a greater strain on the environment and less effective. |
Earache Relief
Have an earache in the house? If caught early enough, it can likely be treated with warm oil and garlic. Please do not mistake this for medical advice, though. If you are concerned, seek professional help.
To treat the earache, warm a small amount of olive oil and a clove of mashed garlic on the stove (you don’t want it hot, just comfortably warm). Dip a cotton ball into the garlic-infused oil and place inside the ear. Doesn’t smell pretty, but works well. The warm oil soothes while the garlic provides anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory protection.
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Fun Family Activities for Autumn
Bird table
Make a bird table and watch your fine-feathered friends throughout the fall and winter. A bird table is a place for birds to get food and, if you provide it, clean water. There are several kits available, but you can design your own with some decisions on what you want. Do you want it to be covered? Do you want it to be able to hang or do you want to build a stand for it (a wooden post works as a great stand)? You’ll want it to be off the ground to avoid attracting rodents.
A table can be as simple as a piece of wood nailed to a wooden post and secured in the ground. A rim around the edge of about 2 centimetres high will help keep food from blowing away, and a small gap in that rim will allow rainwater or melted snow to drain away. Your table can be as big or as small as you’d like, but should have a tray that is flat, even and sturdy enough for birds to gather together atop it. Once your table is built, try providing a variety of foods and keep an eye out to see who visits. Be sure to clean your table occasionally and once you start providing food, be sure to keep it up because those you attract may begin to rely on you.
Ideas for setting your table:
Sunflower seeds
Peanuts (shelled and unshelled)
Peanut butter
Millet
Corn
Coconut (not the shredded kind)
Dried fruit
Birdseed mix
Clean water (replace frozen water as possible)
Flashlight Tag
With the light balance shifting and giving us more time without sunshine, it’s a great time to play in the dark! Flashlight tag is a great evening activity for the whole family – either inside or out. For older children, let everyone but one hide, and give one person a flashlight to find the others. Smaller children can each be given their own flashlight to hide with, and can find each other a little easier by following the beam of each other’s light. This is a great way to inspire a love of the dark, but of course, no one should be coaxed into a situation they find scary. If there is someone who feels timid about hiding alone, let them hide with another person.
Paper Bag Costumes
With Halloween around the corner, dressing up is on everyone’s minds. Costumes (for Halloween or any day) can easily be made out of large (grocery size) paper bags. Simply cut the bag open in the back, then cut out arm and neck holes. Decorate as imaginations decree, then put it on and tape the back closed. These costumes are surprisingly durable and are super fun and easy, recycled (and recyclable), and very economical! Check out our Halloween section for more Halloween fun.
Plushie Costumes
The magic of Halloween is likely to spark excitement and great anticipation in many households. As the big night or big party looms forever away, spend an afternoon making costumes with your kids - for their favourite teddy bears and dolls.
Use old scraps of fabric or coloured paper and any other craft/recycling materials you have lying around. A straw with a construction paper star attached will make a great wand for a doll dressing up like a fairy, and all types of masks can be made for costuming creatures with a little paper and a string stapled onto the back. Get creative and have fun. For more fun craft ideas, check out our special Halloween section.
Crayon Cookies
Breathe new life into those broken bits of crayons with this fun and easy craft. Place muffin cups in a muffin tin and fill them about 1/3 full with old crayon bits (paper removed, of course). You can mix and match colours for a rainbow effect, or keep like colours with like for a single-colour crayon cookie. Preheat your oven to 300 F, and then turn it off when you place your muffin tin in. Keep a close eye on the crayons and remove them when they have melted together. Let them cool completely, then peel off the baking cups for crayon cookies which will let you colour in large or small areas with fun and ease!
**We recommend using soy or beeswax crayons, as “traditional” crayons are made with petroleum by-products.
Autumn Prints 
Capture the spirit of the season!
Supplies needed:
Paint & brushes
Paint smock & table covering (try using an old sheet to cover the table - it can be used over and over again and is washable)
Variety of autumn items i.e. leaves, dried corn cobs, apples, pears, etc.
Make beautiful prints using the treasures of autumn. Provide your earthy children with a variety of items from autumn’s bounty and some not-too-thick paint then let the imaginations run wild. Stamps can be made from cutting fruit such as apples and pears in half (cutting them in half lengthwise creates an interesting image). Different leaves make wonderful stencils or prints and dried corn cobs rolled in paint will make gorgeous designs. Try using brown packing paper to make wrapping paper, card stock to make cards, a box for a 3D piece, or a long strip of newsprint for a wall mural.
Apple Dolls
A little Halloween magic! Apple dolls are a great way to start celebrating Halloween early. If you make your doll early enough, by Halloween it will turn into a witch.
Supplies:
A large apple with a stem for each person making a doll
A small paring knife
Lemon juice
Wire or pipe cleaners to shape a body
Scraps of fabric and/or yarn for clothes and hair
Instructions:
Peel the apple leaving a band around the top near the stem. Cut an exaggerated face (include a nose, slits for the eyes, a mouth, and maybe even cheekbones) into the apple (it will probably shrink by about ½, so make sure your features are deep enough - be careful, however, not to go right through). Rinse entire apple with lemon juice to keep it from turning to brown, tie a string or thread around the stem and hang to dry. Each day your witch will become a little more witchy.
When she’s dry, make a body from pipe cleaners, fashion clothes from material scraps and attach the body to the head by inserting the pipe cleaners into the apple. Get creative and use cloves for the eyes, rice for teeth, corn silk for hair, etc.
You can make these with younger children, too. My little one ate the apple pieces as I carved, then laughed joyously at our apple doll before eating her nose and chin. Sure we didn’t get that one hung to dry but what a great way to share an apple!
Leaf jumping 
If you can’t do this in your own yard, head to your local park and enjoy this timeless classic there. Rake as many leaves as you can into huge piles, take a running start and then dive in. If you have a large yard to rake, make it into a party. The work will go quicker and will be even more enjoyable as a shared activity. Top it all off with warmed and spiced apple cider for a truly autumnal experience. When you’re done jumping, use the leaves as mulch in your garden, compost them, or check for local programs which want leaves for either of these reasons. Don’t forget to save a few for craft projects!
Nut and seed pictures
As autumn leads us to winter and the squirrels store away their treasures, it’s a great time to make a collage or picture with the little wonders of nature – seeds.
Supplies needed:
Paper for a background
Glue
Variety of nuts, seeds and seedpods (shelled and/or unshelled nuts can be used)
The directions are simple: glue the nuts and seeds, nutshells and seedpods into an interesting design or picture. Let the imaginations roam free: make nature scenes, family pictures, or an abstract design. Have a nut cracker handy and you can use the insides and outsides. Have plenty on hand so snacking can be abundant. Try using pecans, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, peanuts, walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, and seedpods from trees (the “helicopter” ones are great)
Spice Collages & Pictures
Try making a collage or picture from spices and herbs. Use glue to draw out where you want to place each spice, sprinkle on your colourful concoction, let set for a few minutes then shake off onto a newspaper. Keep going, adding just onespice at a time until you have a completed piece of art. Looks great hanging in the kitchen!
Great spices and herbs to use:
Paprika
Cinnamon
Turmeric
Tarragon
Basil
Oregano
Chammomile Flowers
Whole cloves
Whole allspice
Mustard Seed
Beanbags
Beanbags are great toys for children and are really easy to make (even for those of us who are “sewing impaired”). They are great springboards for imagination and are great fun to throw about – inside and out.
Include your children if they can manage a needle and thread, and if not, give them a shoelace and large-hole buttons to “sew” as you work.
Beanbag Instructions:
For each bean bag you will need:
2 sturdy pieces of fabric (we recommend a natural fabric like cotton or hemp), cut to 3 ½ inches by 5 inches for small beanbags or 5 ½ by 8 for larger size
1/3 cup of dried beans or rice
needle and thread
Sew the fabric together on 3 sides, turn it inside out so your seams are on the inside, and fill your newly made pouch with beans or rice. Finish it off by stitching the final side closed and presto! You made a bean bag. Make a few of them for even more fun if you have the time and inclination.
If your children would like to decorate the bean bags, let them draw on the fabric before you sew it and remember to put the drawn-on sides face-to-face when you start to sew.
Scavenger Hunt
Go for a family walk in a park or forest and have items each member of the family needs to collect or spot. With the treasures you collect you can later make crafts.
Variations: use a digital camera and take pictures of various items, or give each member of the family gloves and pick up garbage, using the time to talk about our environment and the importance of looking after it.
Ideas of items to collect:
red leaf
yellow leaf
brown leaf
green leaf
nuts, acorns, pine cones (depending where you live)
feather
twigs
flower
Things to spot:
local birds
worms
frogs
nest
slug
squirrel
geese
duck
water pond
fish
Other fun autumn family activities:
Bake Cookies - the Earthy Family in the Kitchen Tasty & Tempting Treats recipe e-book is loaded with healthy, whole-foods recipes.
Enjoy An Evening Bonfire - if you don't have firepit in your backyard, check for one at a local park. Roast apples on sticks or potatoes & corn in foil.
Visit Farmer's Markets and enjoy a harvest bounty supper.
Star-Gaze - more dark hours create more opportunity.
Click Here for a Full List of Earthy Family Articles.
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Celebrating the Season
