Celebrate Earth Day The Right Way With Green Eats, Crafts & Toys

Avocado Pesto Pasta

Recipe
courtesy of Chloe Coscarelli, author of Chloe’s
Kitchen: 125 Easy, Delicious Recipes for Making the Food You Love the Vegan Way

Put
a healthful twist on a traditional Italian favorite. Adding avocados from your
local farmer’s market to pesto creates a rich and creamy texture without using
cheese. Kids often tell me this is the best pasta they’ve ever eaten.

INGREDIENTS

1
pound linguine
1
bunch fresh basil, reserve some leaves forowHH garnish
1/2
cup pine nuts
2
avocados, pitted and peeled
2
tablespoons lemon juice
3
cloves garlic
1/2
cup olive oil
Sea
salt
Freshly
ground black pepper
1
cup halved cherry tomatoes or sliced sun-dried tomatoes (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1.
Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Add linguine and cook
according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

2.
Make the pesto by combining basil, pine nuts, avocados, lemon juice, garlic and
oil in a food processor. Process until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

3.
Toss pasta with pesto. Top pasta with cherry or sun-dried tomatoes. Divide
pasta among 4-6 serving bowls and garnish with a basil leaf.

For local farmer’s markets near
you, check out grownyc.org.


Stylish Seed Pots

Wave
Hill
, one of our favorite public gardens in the city, has a wonderful cultural
center where families can enjoy arts & crafts, inquiry-based learning and
the beauty of the changing seasons. Ilse Murdock, who leads the Family Art
Projects, has shared an easy craft idea for fams looking to add a little green
to their homes this month.

MATERIALSSeed_pot.JPG

Ceramic
terra cotta pot

Elmer’s
Glue

Found
objects: ceramic tiles, small stones, sea glass, shells, beads, buttons, yarn
and ribbon

DIRECTIONS

1.
Look at patterns and ceramic designs from various cultures for inspiration.

2.
Sketch out your pattern idea onto paper first with markers or crayons, and then
transfer the design to your pot.

3.
Using glue and lots of fun found materials, fill in your design and voila! You’ve created a special pot for a
favorite plant.

For more information and to visit the garden, check out wavehill.org.


Green Toys For TotsPlan_Toys.jpg

Plan Toys Assorted Vegetable
Set

For the 18 months and up
group, little ones can work up a healthy appetite segmenting a wooden tomato, mushroom,
shallot, bell pepper and cucumber.

$20.00, plantoys.com

HABA Chris Croak Push Toy HABA.JPG

This
all-natural beech wood frogger will wiggle his eyes and poke out his tongue as
kiddos scoot him across the floor.

$38.99, haba.de

Green ToysTM
Build-A-Bouquet

Budding
florists can arrange a garden of lilies, daisies and petunias. Made with
recycled materials and soy
ink. 

$27.99, in stores June
2012, greentoys.com

Green_Toys.jpg

For a great list of Earth Day activities taking place locally in Central
Park and beyond, see our Family Calendar at www.newyorkfamily.com/events. And for a round-up of eco-friendly residential buildings, read “Living At Its Greenest.”

Relevant Directory Listings

See More

Broadway Dance Center Children and Teens

<p dir="ltr">With more than 35 years of experience, Broadway Dance Center Children & Teens provides young movers ages 3-18 with exceptional training. BDC delivers the finest all-around dance experience for students by offering a wide variety of styles and levels, performance opportunities, and the highest caliber dance instruction that only New York City and BDC Children & Teens can provide.</p> <p dir="ltr">This studio is so much more than a training course for young dancers; it is a diverse, family-friendly community for budding creatives. It has an exemplary faculty who follow the vision to not only develop a dancer’s love and ability in dance, but to do so in a nurturing and supportive way.</p> <p style="text-align: left;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-16583089-7fff-d8a9-61c2-8f689f7348b2"></span></p>

The Tutorverse

<p><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #222222; background-color: #ffffff;">Join The Tutorverse for the highest quality in academic enrichment and test preparation! Whether your student is gearing up for the </span><span style="color: #222222; background-color: #ffffff;">state exams, ISEE, SSAT, SHSAT, or SAT/ACT</span><span style="color: #222222; background-color: #ffffff;">, their team of </span><span style="color: #222222; background-color: #ffffff;">experienced and local professional educators</span><span style="color: #222222; background-color: #ffffff;"> can help. Have your student join a </span><span style="color: #222222; background-color: #ffffff;">small-group class</span><span style="color: #222222; background-color: #ffffff;"> at our downtown or Upper East Side locations. Or, they can meet with a </span><span style="color: #222222; background-color: #ffffff;">private tutor when and where it’s most convenient for your family</span><span style="color: #222222; background-color: #ffffff;">. Does your student need help building study skills or improving grades? Whether your middle or high schooler needs help with </span><span style="color: #222222; background-color: #ffffff;">STEM or humanities</span><span style="color: #222222; background-color: #ffffff;">, The Tutorverse's patient and affirming tutors will teach them how to build </span><span style="color: #222222; background-color: #ffffff;">confidence and content mastery</span><span style="color: #222222; background-color: #ffffff;">. </span><a style="color: #1155cc; background-color: #ffffff;" href="mailto:info@thetutorverse.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Send an email</a><span style="color: #222222; background-color: #ffffff;"> or give them a call.</span></span></p>

Adventuring Portal

<p><a name="m_-1473885667065203258__Hlk72147528"></a>Adventuring Portal runs Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) games for kids.   We have created a safe online space for tweens and teens to learn and play D&D.</p> <p>Our D&D Summer Camp session are a one-week experience.  Monday – Friday.  Each day will be 3 hours of gaming (with 2 breaks build in).  15 total gaming hours for $180.  If you have played with us before, you are entitled to 10% off.   </p> <p>Need your kids, nieces or nephews, grand kids or neighbor’s kids to be occupied for a bit so you can get work done & take care of your to-do list? Maybe your tween or teen is still a bit isolated and craves connection with their peers? Whether your teen/tween has played D&D before or is brand-new to the experience, this safe space brings players together to have fun and solve problems as a team in ways few other online opportunities do.</p> <p>All our games focus on experiential learning.   Our players leave knowing all the basic game play as well as experiencing: teamwork, bravery, compassion, generosity, negotiation, improvisation, gamer etiquette, strategy, critical thinking, problem solving, cartography and probability - all through online D&D adventuring!</p> <p>We are an inclusive organization and welcome gamers who are LGBTQIA+ and those on any spectrum. </p> <p>All girls’ groups available. </p> <p>I am a parent, a certified elementary school and middle school math teacher and last summer in the midst of the mess started Adventuring Portal, an online Dungeons & Dragons business for kids. There are so many benefits to playing D&D and I hope you will consider us as a great way for your child to safely socialize, grow as people and have a great time.</p>