Plus, one good thing, the tallest giraffe, planting trees
|  | Sunday, August 9, 2020 | | | | |
 | | PHOTOGRAPH BY ND3000, GETTY IMAGES | | By Rachel Buchholz, KIDS AND FAMILY Editor in Chief
Raise your hand if you’ve ever been shamed into recycling by a child. Now raise your other hand if you’ve been guiltily acquiring cardboard delivery boxes and plastic takeout containers in the five months we’ve been quarantining.
It’s no secret that kids are passionate about protecting the planet. In fact, nearly half of parents in one poll reported that it’s their children who are in charge of recycling; just as many say they’ve been reprimanded by their well-meaning offspring for not following good eco-practices.
And yet, the pandemic has forced many of us to do just that. In May, Walmart reported a 74 percent increase in online sales, as more of us have opted for socially distant delivery or pickup for food and basic supplies. And as soon as lockdowns began, people started panicking over the 50 percent screen time increase for kids, fearful of how the devices would sap children’s energy as well as the Earth’s.
Experts, though, believe that the pandemic provides families plenty of opportunities to reset some environmental practices—and put kids in charge of it. “We can learn from spending all this time at home,” says climate change scientist Elizabeth Thomas of the University at Buffalo in this Nat Geo article about how to green your stay-at-home routine.
That could mean challenging them to plug in devices only until they’re recharged (as opposed to keeping them in overnight, like, um, some writers had been doing until they read this article), come up with a weekly plant-based meal to save water (it takes a lot to feed cattle!), or become the keeper of a monthly shopping list to prevent too many online orders.
Because let’s face it: You can build only so many forts out of all those cardboard boxes.
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 | | PHOTOGRAPH BY LORI EPSTEIN, NAT GEO STAFF | | | |
 | PHOTOGRAPH BY IPPEI NAOI / GETTY IMAGES
| | | Regaining confidence: Last week at Nat Geo Family Camp, kids got back some of their confidence (nothing says “wait, I must do everything for you” like stay-at-home orders) by learning how to organize a family night hike and build a backyard tent out of recycled boxes. (You probably have a few.) This Wednesday—the last two Family Camp activities of the summer—children can learn all about sportsmanship by creating congratulatory badges and performing in a family talent show. Parents can also join our Facebook event to find out what other families are doing. | | | |
 | PHOTOGRAPH BY PETE MULLER, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION
| | Schools, take note: Many parents kept kids home from summer camp, but some camps still welcomed children this year. Some were able to prevent COVID-19 infections among kids by rethinking everything from how they gathered to how often staff had temperatures taken. But others—like the Georgia overnight camp that reported 260 out of 597 campers testing positive for the disease—couldn’t stem the outbreaks. Nat Geo’s Michael Greshko reports on what lessons schools might be able to learn from summer camp experiments this year. (We want to hear from you: What will your kid’s back-to-school look like?)
Family discussion: What can one kid (or parent) do to slow climate change? Before asking that question, perhaps you should share this story—on the almost accidental way that Los Angeles got behind a plan to plant 90,000 new trees in the city. The lesson: sometimes big things happen one step at a time. If the climate change question doesn’t spark, transition to the tried and true. In this case: Name one good thing that happened this week.
One good thing that happened this week: She had made it through COVID-19, and was on a long road back. On Tuesday, Mara Gay of the New York Times managed a three-mile run—and sent this picture back. “To those of you with long (long!) recoveries,” she wrote, “this one is for you. You aren’t alone. Keep fighting. We will get there, together.”
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| TRY THIS: BOREDOM BUSTERS FOR KIDS | |
 | | PHOTOGRAPH BY NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, GABE SPITALE | | A peanut is not a nut. Also, panda droppings can be made into paper. About a million Earths could fit inside the sun. Weird But True! facts like these make kids curious about the world around them—and now we’ve got even more with Friday’s Season 3 premiere of the Emmy Award-winning series Weird But True! on Disney+. Hosts Charlie Engelman and Carly Ciarrocchi (above) reveal crazy facts about the world—from dinosaurs to photography to venomous animals—with a little crafting and role-playing mixed in. Keep up the learning with the Weird But True! book series. Because the world is a very weird place … and that’s a good thing! Note: The Walt Disney Company is majority owner of National Geographic Partners.
The tallest giraffe? That’s what Guinness World Records says. Meet Forest, an 18-foot, 8-inch male giraffe at the Australia Zoo in Queensland. CNN reports that 13-year-old Forest has fathered 12 calves, with another on the way. Giraffes often grow to between 15 and 18 feet tall.
This newsletter was edited and curated by David Beard and Rachel Buchholz. Have a healthy and a sane (as possible) week ahead! | | | |
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