Caring for God’s Creation
Caring for God’s creation is everyone’s responsibility. However, as His children, it’s especially important for us to exhibit good stewardship over the environment. To foster this sense of responsibility, the children at By The Hand teamed up to create 3-dimensional globes illustrating practical things we can do to preserve the purity and abundance of our air, water and land and animals that inhabit this world. The solutions presented by our kids represent holistic efforts to save the environment, since partial efforts cannot save an interrelated system. 

The initial exhibit “Cool Globes: Hot Ideas for a Cooler Planet” was featured by the City of Chicago last summer on the Museum Campus. The Field Museum, the Chicago Park District and the Department of Environment partnered with this public art project, which was underwritten by corporate sponsors. The globes were produced by a variety of people, including world-famous artists, celebrities and children participating in school projects. As an extension of this ongoing project, the kids of By The Hand created 93 mini-globes.

Unveiling God’s Plan
Each member of the 93 By The Hand teams received a Cool Globes t-shirt for participating. In addition, to honor the teams’ hard work, 93 trees have been planted by American Forests, an organization that plants trees to beautify urban areas and replenish our forests and ecosystems in less-developed areas. These trees help clean the air and water, filter polluted runoff, and erosion, and provide a habitat for wildlife.

Of the 93 mini-globes, 23 finalists were chosen, one finalist for each team at By The Hand. They were all featured in the “Cool Globes by Cool Kids” exhibit at By The Hand’s Third Annual Spring Benefit on May 8 at the Field Museum. The globes will now go on display at local schools and libraries. Each of the 23 finalist team members were given a new pair of gym shoes to encourage walking—an environmentally friendly way to travel.

The winning design was reproduced on a large globe that is 5 feet in diameter. (Click here to see the big globe being reproduced by our kids.) It was unveiled at the By The Hand Spring Benefit on May 8 at The Field Museum. And is now on display through September 1 at  the Field Museum as part of the Cool Globes. In addition, each member of the winning team will be awarded a new bicycle.  Please scroll down to see all of the children’s globes.

Click here to see a video of our children creating the Cool Globes.

Other Cool Projects for Cool Kids
In addition to the Cool Globes project, By the Hand has been learning ecological stewardship over God’s creation throughout the year by participating in cool events. These learning opportunities include an ecology club, which is sponsored by Chicago’s Department of Environment, field trips, learning labs, a visit from the Field Museum’s Veggie Mobile and an overnight at The Field Museum.