Enviro Girl KNOWS that Valentine’s Day ends up being a bigger candy haul than Halloween. Her tribe comes home from school and DUMPS their bags out, covering the carpet with tiny cards and treats. Is there a way to make this holiday a bit healthier, a little bit greener, but still fun?
First, it’s important to recognize that while the Valentine’s Day card is NECESSARY, it’s really only a vehicle for getting an attached treat. To that end, if you’re crafty, you can reuse scrap supplies like construction paper, CDs, yarn, fabric and have your kiddos make their own. Family Fun Magazine and the internet abound with cool card ideas that use up supplies already in your cabinet. Something as simple as a Dum-Dum sucker with twin paper hearts attached as wings can pass for a butterfly card with a message like, “You make me aflutter, Valentine.” Basic, cheap, and definitely NOT over the top.
However, if you’re like Enviro-Girl and have all boys who don’t care to make 25 cards for their classmates, you’ll buy a box or two of character cards for a couple of dollars and have your kids sign their names. But you still have to attach a treat–or your kid will be a classroom pariah.
But does it have to be candy? Shelling out for organic candy for classrooms of 30 students can get expensive, and while that’s the best option, you can substitute all kinds of other items for a treat. Tattoos, stickers, pencils, play dough, erasers or little notepads are all fun ideas–but they still fall under Enviro-Girl’s category of “Plastic Crappe.” She’d really rather find 25 Dum Dum suckers over 25 little toys. Your local organic food store will sell all sorts of “healthy” candy treats you can tape to those Valentines. OR, instead of candy, perhaps individually wrapped string cheese, fruit leather, granola bars or crackers can get taped to your classroom cards. But if it’s got to be candy, a Dum Dum sucker is small and probably the least harmful to a fair trade economy and uses minimal packaging–mostly made of paper. It’s the economical choice of candy, won’t contribute woefully to a child’s health since they’re only 25 calories each and fat free, and they’re made in the USA–in Ohio!
Bottom line: if you can get your kid to make their own cards out of recycled materials and attach a whole grain granola bar to it, you’re an Eco Warrior with Super Powers. But if this battle isn’t worth it, buy a bag of Dum Dums and a box of Valentines and save your super powers for the next fight.
As far as I know, this is the last year we’ll have to buy Valentine’s Day stuff for school. I haven’t heard that the older girl’s grade will be swapping at their school, so that leaves the younger girl, and this is her last year at the school. So I’m hopeful this is the last time one of my children will bring home a bag filled with candy, stickers, and lots of non-recyclable cards (all that silvery foil).
pencils! I totally recommend pencils. By this time of year, the kids are running out and I am so, so, so tired of providing.