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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…
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Explore a New Playground
5 Reasons to explore a new playground: Promote language skills: The playground is an easy way to build language practice into your day. Check out this link for how to have fun with language at the playground. An inexpensive way to spend the day: Playgrounds are free! An exciting way to burn off some energy: A new playground means lots to see and explore, so hopefully the kids will constantly be on the move and ready for a nap. Visit a new place and meet new people: Exploring in a new place will take you out of your comfort zone. Finding a new playground is a great way to see what other…
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Take a Taste Tuesday with BeetBox
Hello! We are Sara Burkhart and Christina Saluke, Co-Creators of BeetBox, a subscription service designed to get kids ages 3-10 excited about eating fruits and vegetables. As moms to young children, we have a passion to teach kids how essential these tasty foods are and to help set the foundation for a lifetime of healthy eating. We create boxes packed with original content and carefully curated items intended to make fruits and vegetables appealing. Children will discover information, recipes, snacks, activities and products highlighting the fun and flavor of produce. BeetBox encourages children to experience hands-on involvement: shopping for, learning how to properly store and prepare and most importantly tasting produce!…
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Join the Kindness Rocks Project
The Kindness Rocks Project – The Art of Connection was created to spread inspiration and motivation for unsuspecting recipients through random inspirational rocks dropped around the community. The world is in need of a little more peace, love and understanding, so join us by contributing in a small way by painting and dropping inspirational rocks around town. How to Join In: Gather Some Rocks Write an inspirational message on the rocks Leave your rock across the community for others to find If you do paint and drop rocks around town, be sure to add #thekindnessrocksproject to the back of each rock you paint. We will be spreading rocks around this week…
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Lemonade in a Bag
For a language filled experience try this simple lemonade in a bag recipe. When making this with my daughter, I gather all the ingredients and supplies on a tray. All this activity requires is a lemon cut in quarters, sugar, water, and a sandwich bag. It gets pretty sticky, so I like to make it outside. I prepared a recipe to use as a visual that helps sequence the steps as we go (there is a printable PDF at the end of the post). While preparing the lemonade, I give my daughter simple directions while pointing to the pictures in the recipe. I use first/second/then/last and put in. The majority…