Intellectually engaging your fabulous kid
We’re taking a much-needed break until Labor Day.
In the meantime, why not revisit some former fabulousness? Mummify a chicken! Make a cloud at home! Find DNA in a strawberry! Read something fabulous while you wait for Mockingjay to come out!
Please let us know if you could use book or activity advice – we’d love to hear from you, and to meet all your needs come September.
Love, Gina and Beret
posted by Gina
As a kid, my family drove to Tahoe every summer. That’s a long drive from Southern California, and we stopped roughly three times each way for me to throw up. Oh, the magic that is carsickness. Family car trips were rough on me, since everything that might entertain me – books, crayons, notebooks – was out of the question. Especially in the backseat.
My friend Aliza and I just drove from North Carolina to New York, closing out a delightful mountain vacation. The drive is both lovely and long, and since we both have the carsick issue, there was very little reading, facebooking, texting, or any kind of looking anywhere but straight ahead.
So, for those of you with kids that suffer similarly, I present to you: The Car Games Aliza and I Played While Driving to New York That Were Actually Kind of Fun.
posted by Gina
Were you cloud-inspired by Beret’s DIY Clouds? Have you been wishing there were more sort-of-cloud-related activities to do with your kiddos? Have you ever wondered what happens when you put Ivory Soap in a microwave? I am here to help.
posted by Gina
First: a disclaimer. I don’t have kids. You likely gathered this already from previous posts, featuring myself and Larry the Cat as Play-Doh and macro lens beta testers, rather than the small folks for whom this blog is intended. This week’s post is not cat-friendly, so I’m afraid my images will feature some other people’s kids, gathered from my trolling about the internets compiling festive bubble wrap ideas.
What’s that, you said? Bring on the festive bubble wrap ideas? Ok then!
posted by Gina
So, I like rocks. A lot. What’s not to like? Rocks come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and colors. They’re accessible. They’re inexpensive. They’re versatile. And they’re friendly. Anyone else have one of these as a kid?
posted by Gina
When I was a kid, there was no internet and there were no smartphones. The same is true for when I was a high school and a college student. The practical upshot of this meant that I was lost a lot of the time.
Continue reading “Finding Your Way: Maps, Compasses, and Treasure – Oh My!”
The grip of winter has left New York.
Mostly. It was kind of chilly yesterday.
BUT! The flowers are blooming, the cats are sneezing, and I can leave the apartment without 20 layers of clothing. Bliss!
Which gets me thinking about spring time, and the start of summer, and how those of us living in the cities can get that desperate craving to reconnect with something green. As I was scouting about these internets, continuing to put off the massive, massive research paper I have due next week, I found this nifty website. And you should scope them out.
To get you started, here’s a page I particularly liked, especially in light of needing to commune with trees again. Have you ever hugged a tree? For real? I did it in a college science class, and I will tell you, it was actually kind of amazing. Go hug one. And then adopt it. Then do some of this other stuff.
Happy Spring!
Kids living in urban centers, or even suburbs, are often disconnected from the nature. Here are some activities you can do with kids with nature and our environment:
Adopt a Tree
While taking a walk or hiking, have your child to pick out a favorite tree in a park or forest and “adopt” it. Essentially, your child will take on the role of being the tree’s caretaker. Do bark rubbings with crayons and paper; leaf collection and pressing in the fall; and look for flowers and fruit in the summer. Each year, take pictures of your child standing beside the tree. You can even bring along measuring tape to track the tree’s growth. Kids can also research the tree on the internet: where the tree is commonly found, usual life span, height, etc.
Clean Up the Earth
A good way to teach our children about taking care of our…
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