10 Things I Can Do to Help My World
Written and Illustrated by Melanie Walsh

Turning off the tap while brushing your teeth…using both sides of a piece of paper for drawing and writing…planting and nurturing gardens…these are some of the ways kids can be gentler to the earth. With bold, fun illustrations, Melanie Walsh gives children easy ways to help the environment.

Biographical Sketch:

After studying at Harrow School of Art and the Royal College of Art, Melanie worked as a textile designer before writing and illustrating children’s books. She is widely published and has won the Parents’ Choice Gold Award in the US for Do Pigs Have Stripes? Melanie lives in London and has young twin sons.


Suggested Activities:

1. Have children come up with 5-10 more ideas for simple ways to help the environment. Use these ideas as writing prompts: e.g., “To help my world, I can….”

2. Plan a field trip to clean up an area park or playground.

3. Brainstorm with students some ideas for “greening” the classroom or school. Help them present these ideas to other students, teachers or parents, throughdrawings or other media.

4. Decorate and set out recycling bins for various materials: glass, paper, aluminum, etc. Discuss the differences among the materials and how each might be re-used. Find out how actual recycling facilities turn trash into usable objects.

5. Plant some seeds and start a small garden in or outside the classroom. Measure their growth and, if vegetables or fruits are produced, keep track of how much food was harvested.

6. Plan an art activity using all recycled materials.

7. Create a “don’t be a litterbug” poster or mural that all in the school can see.

8. Use recycled materials to make musical instruments---e.g., coffee can drums, cardboard tube kazoos or rainsticks. Make a joyful noise!

Companion Books:

David, Laurie and Cambria Gordon. Down-to-Earth Guide to Global Warming. Orchard Books, 2007.
The EarthWorks Group. 50 Simple Things Kids Can Do to Save the Earth. Andrews McMeel Publishing, 1990.
Gibbons, Gail. Recycle! A Handbook for Kids. Little, Brown Young Readers, 1996.
Green, Jen. Why Should I Recycle? Barron’s Educational Series, 2005.
Thornhill, Jan. This is My Planet: The Kids’ Guide to Global Warming. Maple Tree Press, 2007.

Books Written and Illustrated by Melanie Walsh:

Big and Little. Candlewick, 2001.
Do Donkeys Dance? Sandpiper, 2002.
Do Lions Live on Lilly Pads? Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, 2006.
Do Monkeys Tweet? Mammoth, 1998.
Do Pigs Have Stripes? Mammoth, 1997.
Monster, Monster. Candlewick, 2002.
My Beak, Your Beak. Houghton Mifflin, 2002.
My Flower, Your Flower. Eden Project Books, 2004.
My World, Your World. Corgi Childrens, 2004.
Ned’s Rainbow. DK Preschool, 2000.

Websites:

http://www.kidsrecycle.org Resources for children and teachers on how to work toward “zero waste.”

http://kids.niehs.nih.gov/recycle.htm National Institute of Environmental Health Services webpage. Many links for resources, games and activities at the bottom of the page.

http://www.epa.gov/kids/garbage.htm EPA suggestions for recycling activities.

http://www.kidsgardening.com National Gardening Association. Links to grant opportunities, ideas for gardening projects, books and other materials.