I purchased the Eco Kids drinking bottle for my two children and I am pleased with the functionality and value of the product. I have been shopping for safe drinking bottles for some time and found these a few weeks ago.

Several attributes I was looking for included:
1) Small and easy to manage, especially for my two-year-old.
2) Easy to open and close
3) Damage resistant
4) Environmentally friendly
5) Kid safe

With the Eco Kids line, manufactured by Crocodile Creek of Durham, North Carolina, I got all of that and more. The insert describes their drinking bottles to be earth friendly and kid friendly. I agree and also add that they are mom friendly.

Earth friendly because they are (according to the company):
1) recyclable
2) reusable
3) a great alternative to plastic
4) don't require a protective (plastic) lining or epoxy (as does aluminum)

Kid friendly because they:
1) come in neat designs
2) are easy to manage
3) easy to open and close
4) According to the company, they do not leach chemicals and
5) contain no lead, phthalates, or BPA's and
6) conform to or exceed U.S. and European safety standards and are tested in CPSC approved laboratories

Mom friendly attributes:
1) Don't easily leak
2) Extremely damage resistant
3) Easy to clean
4) Opening is wide enough to fit ice cubes
5) Can handle most liquids
6) Safe for kids
7) Small and easy to store and carry along.

I paid $14.oo for each water bottle, which I thought was a little pricey. However, I think they are well worth the price and wish I could by an adult version myself.

For more information about the product or to purchase, go to http://crocodilecreek.com/. You can buy directly from the site (less expensive) or contact them directly to find a retailer. You can also purchase them on Amazon.com, but design choices are limited.

Stayed tuned next week for tips for hiking with kids and involving them nature photography. As the 30-Day Outdoor Challenge comes to a close, I hope you all get outside this weekend and enjoy some great nature-related activities.

I want to hear about the outdoor activities you have been doing with your kids. Please comment below with the details. I will be posting the top 10 activities of the month for all to see. I will also add tidbits from personal stories from my readers to my posts.

30- Day Challenge Update: So far our kids have been outside all but two days this month. Unfortunately, one day there were too many thunderstorms to go outside. The other day consisted of a bunch of appointments and errands and driving rain prevented us from going outside to play late in the day, but we did take a walk down the driveway to the mailbox in our rain gear. We were able to do some puddle jumping in on the way down.

Our weekend consisted of several hikes and I will post the details over the next week. I will also post a product review on a water bottle that I bought for the kids and I love. Stay tuned for some great reading.

We gardened today and everyone was covered from head to toe in mud. While I was planting plants, I challenged my son and daughter to a mud pie making contest. Making them is a favorite pastime of theirs. There was plenty of mud around today since it has been literally raining for days.

You can easily make mud pies with your kids using dirt from your backyard or garden. Here's what you'll need:

1) Shovel - for digging and shaping
2) Bucket
3) Dirt
4) Water from the hose
3) Decorations - anything from the yard such as flowers, sticks, grass, acorns, stones, etc.

Use the shovel to dig the dirt and put it in a bucket. Carry it over to where it's needed. Using a gentle setting, spray water from the hose into the mud just until it's soft. Take portions of the mud out of the bucket and pat it down on any surface. Decorate using items mentioned above.

Voila, it's done!

Here are the results of our contest:

My daughter's is big and fat.

My son's are little and interestingly shaped.

I am happy to report a successful weekend with the 30-Day Outdoor Challenge. We did really cool stuff!

It all began with a camp out in our backyard. We had a bonfire, ate s'mores and read stories in the tent. It was a gorgeous night --- nice and cool and no bugs! We could hear an owl hooting and saw bats flying around, which is probably why there were no bugs!

On Saturday, we all went to Nana and Pop Pops house which is on a small lake. It was a gorgeous day that began with canoeing, fishing for Bluegills and playing on a playground, and ended with lunch at Nana and Pop Pop's and a chocolate Popsicle. How can you beat it?

My five-year-old daughter touched a fish for the first time! I was thrilled that she wanted to touch it after her Dad and I helped her catch one. I taught her how by being gentle and stroking along the grain of its scales. She said, "she is beautiful, Mommy." This year's first catch was different than prior years. Last year the fish was "gross." When she was three, it scared her. This year she enjoyed fishing and asking about a million questions about what fish eat, where they live, how they breath, etc. I was challenged to correctly answer them all! We even saw teeny tiny baby fish, which she was mesmerized by. It has been amazing watching her interest and desire to learn about nature blossom.


On Sunday, we traveled to visit my parents who live near the beach. That evening we went beach combing and played in the sand. There were all kinds of interesting things washed up on the beach. We found tons of Kelp and all different kinds of seaweed. Shells and rocks galore were scattered everywhere and were perfect for throwing in the waves. We had a rock throwing contest and my little son had a blast! It was his first time...so cute. He is almost two and is exploring everything. It's these moments I want to always remember.

That night, the kids were exhausted and fell asleep within minutes of putting their heads on the pillow. That's one thing about the outdoors, kids wear themselves out so much, Mom and Dad are guaranteed a peaceful evening!

My Dad gave my daughter a fishing tackle box yesterday as a preschool graduation present. Can you imagine? It's not the typical present, especially for my princess-loving, ballet-dancing daughter. But she was thrilled! She was most interested in the bobbers, hooks, etc. that he gave her to put in it. He gave my son his first ball to kick around the hard. Just the fact that it was his and his alone put a wide smile on his face! Gosh, I love the fact that my parents raised me to love the outdoors and that they are encouraging the same with my children.

It is supposed to rain and thunder this entire week. Getting outside over the next couple of days is really going to be tough. Stay tuned as I figure out how to stick with the challenge and find ways to get outside even in the worst of weather. This could get interesting!

According to First Nature Activity Book by DK Publisher's, worm farming is a great way to interest kids in nature. They can watch first-hand what worms do and why they are so important to gardens and soil. Monitor them for several days then either return them to where you found them, or use them to go fishing. (Remember, National Fishing and Boating Week starts next week, so this weekend would be a great weekend to do the project.)

Here's what you'll need:
1. Trowel
2. Two large bowls
3. Spray bottle
4. Small bowl
5. Dark cloth
6. Dead leaves
7. A large glass jar
8. Sand
9. Sieved garden soil

Fill the jar with alternate layers of soil and sand. Make each layer about 1 in. deep and spray each with water. Gently put the worms into the jar, keeping them away from bright light. Five or six worms should be enough. Cover the top layer of soil with dead leaves. Then cover the whole jar with a dark cloth or put it in a dark place. The worms need to be in complete darkness so they think they are underground. Leave it alone for a few days then take a look. You can see how the worms have tunneled through the soil and sand and that the layers have begun to mix together. They have also dragged the leaves down into the soil to eat them.

See my post about earthworms to learn all about how they benefit gardens and the soil. Please send feedback on whether your children enjoyed this project.

Next week I'll be posting some great activities you can do with and around water so, be sure to check back!

Since summer officially has begun, I thought it would be fun to do an online, community wide promotion to get kids outside during the month of June. Summer vacation for most kids begins in a few weeks, if it hasn't already, so they will have a lot of time on their hands. I am challenging myself and my followers to get their kids outside every day this month.

"Every day you ask?" Yes, every day. "What if the weather is bad?" Well, rainy days are just as much fun for kids as sunny days. "But, we are so busy...where can we find the time?" Not an excuse this month!

Experts say it takes 21 days to form a habit. Let's work on creating a knew habit with our kids. It does not have to be complicated. A walk outside for 30 minutes qualifies in this challenge. Even some time out back playing in the grass with a ball qualifies. The key here is to make it matter and do it for 30 minutes or more.

Over the next 30 days, I will be providing activity ideas for you and your kids. Some will be my own, but I also plan to include ideas from my favorite blogs, Web sites and books. If you sign up for my RSS feed or to be on my e-mail list, you will receive notification each time I post a new activity. I welcome your comments and ask you to share your activities with the group.

So, to start this challenge off on the right foot, let's do an activity today. Here's a great one borrowed from Fiona Danks and Jo Schofield in the book Nature's Playground, it's called The Sleeping Lions Game:

• Invite everyone to sit or lie in a circle.
• Provide the children with a challenge. Who can count 10 nature sounds? Can anyone identify any birds by their song?
  
• Can anyone hear any bugs?
• After a few minutes, break the silence and ask the children to describe the sounds they've heard.

This activity is wonderful because in a world full of all kinds of extraneous noise, it makes them stop, relax and rest. According to Dank and Schofield, "unless we make time to listen to them, the many sounds of the natural world pass us by.... Try to let in the sounds of natural places."