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Summer Challenge #10: Explore a Children’s Museum
To beat the heat of the dog days of summer, the challenge this week is to explore a Children’s Museum. Children’s Museums provide rich environments that stimulate a child’s natural curiosity and creativity. Museums are generally multi-sensory, hands-on, active, and child-centered environments which offers children unique opportunities to play and learn. Central Ohio is surrounded by a number of Children’s Museums. A few of our favorites include: AHA! Children’s Museum located in Lancaster, Ohio. You can read all about our experience here. Little Buckeye Children’s Museum located in Mansfield, Ohio. Our first hand experience is here. Also, be sure to ride the carousel down the street from the museum when you are there.…
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Summer Challenge #9: Visit a U-Pick Farm
This week the challenge is to locate and visit a u-pick farm in your area. A u-pick farm is a wonderful opportunity to develop language in a natural setting. You can talk about the type of food being picked by describing how the food looks/feels/smells/tastes. Your child will also have the opportunity to follow simple directions during the activity, ex: pick one/put in/give me. There are a variety of fruits and vegetables to pick at end of July/beginning of August. For an idea of what’s available for harvest in Ohio check out this Ohio Harvest Crop Calendar. Some of our favorite u-pick farms to visit in the Central Ohio area include:…
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Make Your Own Story Trail
Setting up your own Story Trail in your backyard is a funny and easy way to get moving and promote literacy. A Story Trail is a way for families to read together outside, promoting literacy and movement. The pages of a book are laminated and mounted and presented one at a time down a trail or around a park. The pages can be spaced as close or as far apart as needed. Families can stroll from one page to the next, or you can encourage movement by having your child skip or run to the next page. I thought it would be fun to create a Story Trail in our…
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Using Basic Language Concepts with Goldfish Swim School
My daughter had very few words when we first began swimming with Goldfish Swim School. Her vocabulary consisted of the few words that all babies start out with (mama, dada, no, mine, etc.), but she was using very few, if any, basic concept words (location, time, number, description, feelings, etc.). These are words that a child needs to understand and use in order to perform everyday tasks like following directions, participating in daily routines, and engaging in conversation. Basic concepts often occur in pairs and tend to be opposites (hot/cold, happy/sad, etc.). Our weekly swim lessons at Goldfish consist of practicing the same skills. The directions and tasks my daughter…
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Summer Challenge #8: Take a Walk on a Story Trail
This week the challenge is to locate and take a walk on a Story Trail in your community (or make your own). A Story Trail is when pages from a children’s story book are placed page by page along a walking route in your community. You may have seen one placed on posts around a library or along a path in a park. A Story Trail is a fun way to combine early literacy learning, physical activity, and family interaction. It helps build a child’s interest in reading while encouraging healthy outdoor activity. StoryTrails local to Columbus: Dawes Arboretum – This year the Story Trail book is Sunflower House written by…
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Summer Challenge #7: Engage the Senses at the Farmers Market
This week the challenge is to check out a local farmers market and engage your senses while you are there. Children experience their world through their senses: smell, sight, hear, taste, and touch. A trip to the local farmers market is a multi-sensorial experience, which can further result in increasing your child’s language development. For more on how to engage the senses and promote language development click this link . If you are in the Central Ohio area be sure to check out Eat Play Columbus for a list of when/where the local farmers markets are happening this summer. My hope is that each and every adventure will be different and exciting. Please…
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Summer Challenge #6: Explore an Open Space
This week the summer challenge is to explore an open space in your city. An open space is any open piece of land that has no buildings or other built structures and is available to the public. These spaces can include: Green space (think community space, community gardens, parks, and cemeteries) Playgrounds Public seating areas Public plazas Vacant lots Open space provides areas for residents to enhance the beauty and environmental quality of neighborhoods. Some Suggestions if you are here in Columbus: Columbus Commons The Scioto Mile Columbus Recreation and Parks 4th Street Farms My hope is that each and every adventure will be different and exciting. Please connect and…
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Summer Challenge #5: Explore your own backyard
It’s the heart of summer and the 4th of July is fast approaching. There are generally a lot of neighborhood and family get togethers planned this week, so the challenge is to find new ways to explore your own backyard. Below I have listed 10 ways to get you started. Whip up some sidewalk paint from the Happy Hooligans and get to work painting away in the backyard. Label the paint colors and discuss what your child is painting. Run through the sprinkler. Have some fun with “ready, set … go.” Discuss the concept wet/dry. Make some Mud. Discuss how mixing dirt and water create mud. Search for rocks and paint them…
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A Visit to Slate Run Living Historical Farm
Slate Run Living Historical Farm provides the opportunity to experience first-hand what farm life would be like on an Ohio farm in the 1880s. An old farmhouse, barn, and gardens, are open for visitors to explore. Staff, dressed in traditional attire from the 1880s, are there to work the farm, answer questions, and help get visitors involved in farm life. I have read about Slate Run Farm for awhile now, but I have put off actually visiting. When I thought about making the trip it seemed far and I wasn’t sure my daughter would be interested in exploring the farm for longer than 20 minutes. I finally decided to check…
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Take a Taste Tuesday with Dayana
My name is Dayana. I married my best friend and am a mom of three cuties ages 6 (soon to be 7), 5 and 1. They sure keep me on my toes, but I love spending time with them, especially now that school is out. We stay busy by trying new things, going to fun places, gardening, doing crafts and of course we LOVE cooking together. It’s funny because that is where the idea for my small business came from. You see, when I was expecting my oldest daughter, my mom (who happens to be a professional seamstress with over 30 years of experience) made the cutest matching apron set…