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Summer Challenge #8: Visit a Place Where They Make Stuff
This week the summer challenge is to locate a factory, within driving distance, that makes cool stuff. If you have ever tried to make anything yourself, you know how hard it can be to get a recipe or creation just right. Factories have mastered a technique and it can be fascinating to observe how they get things made. When on your tour, the guide can explain how everything works: how sugar turns into candy and cream into ice cream. Everyone is can have curiosity, so foster your child’s curiosity by exposing him t American Whistle Factory — Worthington, Ohio American Whistle Corporation is the only manufacturer of metal whistles in the…
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Summer Challenge #7: Visit a Living History Museum
This week the summer challenge is to locate and experience a living history museum. This is a place where buildings, objects, and a way of life have been preserved for you to experience. You will see first hand what people wore, ate, and did for fun in another time. “These special attractions typically feature costumed historians who bring the past to present in old-fashioned settings, examining how people lived in various stages of history. The museums are interactive and allow children to try their hand at crafts, take part in historic reenactments and tour homesteads and farms with animals.” So much to see, explore, and discuss and we just so happen…
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Summer Challenge #6: Visit an Ethnic Restaurant
This week the summer challenge is to visit an ethnic restaurant. Join us on our journey to become a little more adventurous when it comes to eating. Trying new foods from different cultures expands palates, introduces different cultures through cuisine, and provides opportunity for language development. How new and different foods can promote language use: Provides opportunity to expand vocabulary Provides opportunity to make a choice Provides opportunity to place an order Provides opportunity to describe what the new food looks like Provides opportunity to describe how the new food smells, feels, and tastes Why it’s important to expose children to new food: If you want your child to eat…
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Summer Challenge #5: Complete a Random Act of Kindness
This week the summer challenge is to encourage and/or teach your child how to complete a random act of kindness. Children learn by observing adults, even when those adults aren’t intentionally trying to teach them anything. Have you seen your child pretend to talk on the phone, pretend to do their makeup, or pretend to wash dishes in the play kitchen? I have many times and I am always shocked by my daughter coming up with these ideas when I haven’t explicitly taught them to her. Spend this week to encourage yourself and your child to make intentional choices that will spread happiness by being positive and kind. We will…
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4 Tips For Helping City Kids Connect to Nature
1. Take A Walk! We often make the mistake of thinking of nature as being synonymous with wilderness, and forget that even city sidewalks and public parks offer fertile ground for fostering a nature connection. The puddles in the gutter, the dandelion growing through a crack in the sidewalk, and the pigeon cooing on a ledge are all part of nature! But if we never take time to step outside, slow down, and look around, we miss them altogether. Challenge yourself to go for weekly exploration walks in your neighborhood, and keep track of how many signs of nature you can spot along the way. This practice will sharpen your kiddo’s…
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Life with a DockATot
If you are at all active on Instagram and follow any type of “mom blog” accounts, I am sure you have seen the rave reviews about DockATot. Instagram was where I was first exposed to the DockATot brand, but I was hesitant to see the necessity of this item for us since we already own a boppy lounger, bassinet, and a rock and play. I then had a friend tell me that if her house were on fire, she would make sure her kids were safe and then go back to save her DockATot. With this type of endorsement, I decided this product was something we needed to try out. The DockATot…
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Summer Challenge #4: 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 Check-in each week this summer for adventure ideas in your community. My hope is that each…
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Summer Challenge #3: Plant a Garden
This week the challenge is to plant a garden, any garden. Think of ways to involve your child in creating a vegetable, flower, or even a fairy garden. The following are just a few ways planning and creating a garden promotes overall development in a child: Promotes Language Development Gardening provides many opportunities to observe and discuss. You and your child can discuss the plants/flowers/fairy supplies that are needed and where these items will go in the garden. Once the items are home there will be plenty of opportunity to discuss size concepts, spatial concepts, color concepts… etc. It’s hard to plan a garden in silence! Enhances the Ability to…
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Summer Challenge #2: Explore a New Playground
This week the summer challenge is to find and explore a new playground. Be sure to check out the playgrounds in your own backyard as well as in a neighboring community. 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…
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Summer Challenge #1: Join a Summer Reading Program
According to the School Library Journal, “Based on the findings of a recent three-year study by Dominican University’s Graduate School of Library and Information Studies, we can confirm what many librarians have long suspected: students who take part in their local library’s summer reading program significantly improve their reading skills. In fact, we found that kids who participate in these programs are 52 Lexile points ahead of their peers who do not. Summer reading programs are also an antidote for learning loss. So instead of losing knowledge and skills during the summer months, kids who attend reading programs actually show gains.” This week be sure to stop by your local library…