Graybear’s Treasure Box

Unwrap Nature’s gifts with your child ~

How can a parent introduce their child to Nature in the simplest, easiest and most meaningful way? We can all agree that Nature is integral to our health and wellbeing as well as being one of the most amazing places to discover beauty, mystery and wisdom. And yet, if you don’t live on a farm or have a place to hike with your child, how can you help them to fall in love with Nature? How can you expose them to her healing ways?

We remember the days of parenting when there was so much work to do; when many moments were filled with making food, doing dishes, laundry and tiding up instead of taking our children outside and showing them the wonders of the world. We also remembered back to the time when we didn’t know as much about the healing property of herbs and how to grow our own food or how to identify beneficial insects from pests. How can you teach your children if you don’t know this information yourself and don’t have the time to learn a whole new skill set while working and parenting!

When Harry and I owned our organic farm, we frequently had farm tours for children and families. We saw the joy on the children’s faces when they encountered bugs, baby turtles, hummingbirds and giant sunflowers or picked blueberries straight from the bushes. When we sold the farm and moved to the mountains, we remembered how these experiences lit up the children and we wondered how we could continue to be a matchmaker between Nature and children.

Find delight in the Natural world, share it with your child and rest a little while ~

Thankfully, we were inspired to offer the Greybear’s Treasure box as a unique fun filled way to light up children and connect them to Nature by receiving a surprise package! Who doesn’t love to get something in the mail ~ a handwritten card, a ‘care package’ with thoughtful gifts or special handcrafted items?

As we walked the forest paths here in the Appalachian Mountains, we started picking up things on the trails behind our house… little rocks with quartz in them, feathers of a woodpecker or hawk, milkweed pods, bones and seed heads from native plants. We started making our flower essences and at the same time, Harry started turning bowls out of firewood and Deb started pressing wildflowers. Teamed with our ever-growing love of Nature, we began having more inspirations of exciting and fun things to put in the treasure box.

We began to think of ourselves as “Renaissance Pioneers” ~ we dreamed of holding on to endearing old ways of the world while making a bridge to this New World ~ a bridge that would always be there for children and parents alike.

Do you want to hold onto these traditions and pass them on to your child?

And even though Graybear’s Treasure Box is for your child, it’s for you, dear parent, too. We hope to fill you with goodness, inspiration and knowledge right along with your child.

We want to be like the quiet Grandparents living on the side of the mountain whose door is open and you can smell homemade soup simmering on the stove as you approach. As you come inside, you’ll find us by the woodstove surrounded by jars of herbs, handmade quilts and our trusty dogs. You might even find a wooden bowl of surprises to play with!

 

Graybear’s Treasure Box is for parents who:

• Want their child to experience the magic of receiving a package in the mail from someone who cares about them
• Would like their child to be acquainted, or re-acquainted, with Nature’s bounty, beauty and wonder
• Would love to have support from Nature itself through flower essences and herbs for their health and wellbeing as well as their child’s.
• Would love to educate themselves and their children about mostly forgotten treasures and mysteries of this magnificent world we live in.
• Aspire to grow at least a little bit of their own food – even if it’s ‘just’ sprouts and herbs on the windowsill.
• (Okay, we also hope you’d also be excited to get a package in the mail as well. Aren’t we all children at heart?)

Are you ready to receive?

Here’s a sampling of what each Graybear’s Treasure Box will include:

• Detailed instructions of exploratory Nature activities to do with your child;
• Treasures from the Graybears’ mountain home which may include feathers, seeds, galls, a milkweed pod, pressed flowers, mineral rocks and/or the like.
• 2 Sacred Forest® Flower Essences (1 for vitality, 1 for relaxation) to help your child with emotional attunements and centering along with specific suggestions of how to use and where to apply the essence. There are also detailed instructions of two basic Nature inspired qi gong movements to aid with these basic energies.
• 2 packets (3 oz each) of dried herbs for teas or infusions to assist your child’s health and wellbeing;
• Introductions to 3 common plants to use for health and wellbeing which will include recipes and/or instructions for use along with general growing instructions if appropriate.

We hope you’ll let us spoil you a little bit.

We hope Graybear’s Treasure Box will offer you a breath of freshness that awakens your memory of goodness, bounty and wonder as well as an opportunity to make lasting memories with your child which she will always be grateful for. We hope you’ll have a great adventure which will unfold uniquely for your family as your imaginations and senses take in these precious gifts of Nature.

And we also hope the Graybear Treasure box will offer you a bit of space to remember it’s okay to slow down, receive and trust that all is provided for.

We hope you’ll find your heart a little bit softer and more open – just like when you watch the sunset or see your child’s face peeking over the side of your bed in the morning as she reaches out and says, “I love you.”

Open your arms to receive as you and your child explore the treasures from Nature herself.
Price: $65.00 (US) for one Graybear’s Treasure Box. Click here to purchase.

A portion of all Grandparents of the Forest profits go to supporting Wild Earth, a 501(c)3 non-profit, founded in 2004, based in New Paltz, NY. Wild Earth offers profound and timeless experiences that help children grow in confidence and self-reliance within Nature. They are deeply committed to bring Wild Earth to underserved youth in urban areas. We hope our contributions will allow more children to have meaningful experiences in the woods. As we all join hands and return to the arms of Nature, we face a bright future!