By Michelle Riggen-Ransom

’Tis the season to be freezing, so what could be more fun when you’re stuck inside than to play with ice? Inspired by my son’s current (and very appropriate) school studies on Antarctica, my kids and I went on a hunt for funky containers to fill with water and pop in the freezer to make icebergs. We started off simply with a few plastic Tupperware containers but soon branched out into cups, caps, even little animal-shaped molds we had for rice.

The goal was to have several “icebergs” that we could pop out and float in the kitchen sink the next day, which was threatening to be another cold and slushy one. Almost any thin plastic works, as long as the opening is big enough for the ice to pop out (although the truly ambitious could use, say, a plastic milk jug and cut away the plastic when the water freezes. Now that would make a good iceberg!).

After we had the freezer appropriately stocked with icebergs-in-the-making, we went on a house-wide search for small plastic animals that could potentially live in Antarctica. You would be amazed at the biodiversity Antarctica has, especially when you cheat a bit and add sharks, blue-footed boobies, and crawfish into the usual arctic mix of polar bears and penguins.

Popping the ice out of the containers the next day resulted in a bonus science lesson. One of the cups we used was thicker plastic than the others, so it cracked. We talked about how water expands when frozen and then, as we played with the ice, noted if smaller-sized icebergs melted at a faster rate than the larger ones (nope).

This activity kept a one-year-old and a five-year-old playing together happily for almost an hour, until most of the icebergs had melted and the animals had all “drowned.” With more cold weather on the way, I’m sure we’ll be resurrecting the penguins and rebuilding their frozen home many more times.

Nature/Nurture, written by Michelle Riggen-Ransom, is an occasional column with ideas and information to help kids and their families engage with the natural world in fun, interesting ways. Share your thoughts and explorations by adding your comment below, or contact us with your story ideas.

Photo Credit: Michelle Riggen-Ransom

Have a budding naturalist and/or filmmaker in your family? The Nature Watch Showcase is looking for original clips of budding naturalists in action that you can post on their site and share with the world. Now’s your chance to be the wacky, animal-loving character your family watches on TV thinking “We could do that!”

Need inspiration? Have your kids don pith helmets and give an up-close-and-personal tour of the “wildlife” in your backyard. Go for a hike, look for birds and talk about the changing leaves. Or head to the beach, see if any interesting things have washed ashore and interview the family about how the beach is different in the fall than the summer.

Find more info on the Nature Watch site or email info(at)thenaturewatch(dot)com. If you do make something, send it in to kidoinfo and maybe we’ll post it here! And even if you don’t become world-famous, you’ll have had a fun outdoor experience and get a cute video of your kids channeling their inner Bindi.

Nature/Nurture, written by Michelle Riggen-Ransom, is an occasional column with ideas and information to help kids and their families engage with the natural world in fun, interesting ways. Share your thoughts and explorations by adding your comment below, or contact us with your story ideas.

By Michelle Riggen-Ransom

I will concede, at last, that summer is over if for no other reason than the tomatoes are winding down. Late summer, as any gardener will tell you, means an overabundance of tomatoes; picked and eaten warm off the vine, given away to garden-less neighbors, made into sauce, sliced, canned, collected by the basketful until one can simply eat no more. The tomato is the golden retriever of garden vegetables: show it minor affection and care and it will reward you with unconditional abundance.

We also grew pole beans, which shot green clutching tendrils in all directions, choking out our snap peas and attempting to cling on to everything within its reach. We ran stakes about four feet long and a foot apart, but underestimated their mass and planted them a little too close to everything. They happily took over a large section of the garden, providing us with fat, six-inch beans and my son and his friends a hidden garden play spot.

The surprise success of our garden was two types of eggplants grown from starts that our neighbor gave us. One was a beautiful, purple-and-white variegated heirloom variety that grew the size of human heads. The others looked otherworldly – tiny white eggplants the exact size and shape of eggs. Whenever we presented these as gifts to our friends, they cradled them in their hands, delighted, and didn’t want to eat them.

We also grew a few good-sized zucchinis, many cucumbers, and two pumpkins that are still going strong. Our sweet corn surprised us by doing well in spite of a hailstorm, so next year we are planning on growing much more. A dozen or so peppers, both green and hot, survived a rather nasty Japanese beetle thrashing. The radishes never really made it, a result of overzealous early watering, and our carrots were numerous but small.

Last week, we were able to make a delicious meal consisting of everything we had grown (except the spices). I thought I’d share my recipe for “Super Easy Thai Veggies” in case your garden is similarly overflowing with bounty.

Super Easy Thai Veggies (serves 4-6)

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By Michelle Riggen-Ransom

Lately I’ve been spending far too much time over at the Pop!Tech blog, blinding myself with science. I need more nature! Fortunately, I have a lovely husband and son who’ve been tending to our garden over these past few weeks, so I wanted to provide a mid-summer garden check-in.

Let me remind everyone that this was our first attempt at gardening (we’re no TJ Sondermann) and we’ve had some challenges. But that’s what gardening is all about, right? Experimenting with what works with your soil conditions, light, fertilizer, etc. Well, that and growing some major veggies!

I’ll start literally from the ground up: compost. We bought what in retrospect was a much too large compost bin and have been diligently feeding it our non-dairy, vegetarian table scraps. However, equally diligent have been the Night-time Creepers, who sneak into our yard, break apart the little side door on the bin and strew smelly, half-rotted food along our fence line. We finally had to duct tape the door shut, which so far has been successful. What can’t be solved with duct tape?

Another bummer is that every time you pop open the top of the compost bin, a translucent army of fruit flies zips giddily into your eyes and up your nose. With all that fly action, some very clever spiders have taken up residence and even laid eggs in there. Between the smell and the flies and the spiders, I’ve decided taking out the compost is an excellent chore for my son. Next step will be adding some soil or manure once we’ve got six inches of kitchen stuff piled up (which is taking a while since the bin is sooo big).

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By Michelle Riggen-Ransom

This “Meet a Parent” is a little different than usual. To kick off a summer of gardening, I interviewed my friend and avid gardener TJ Sondermann about his gardening habits. TJ is a librarian who is currently at home with his almost seven-month-old son. He’s also a committed urban gardener, a fount of techie and greenie information, and an all-around nice guy. Let’s meet him!

Where do live?
TJS: Providence, RI

What are you planting this year?
TJS: This year we’re removing lots of lawn to make room for perennials. In the veggie garden, we’re planting corn (which we grow mainly to make the dry stalks into fall decorations as the squirrels always eat all the corn), lots of assorted greens, eggplant, tomatoes, pickling cucumbers, our regular assortment of herbs, and we’re experimenting with Brussels sprouts.

We’re also planting a neighborhood BYOS (bring your own scissor) herb garden on the side of our house this year. Come on over for a sprig of thyme if you need it.

Where do you garden?
TJS: The first day we looked at the house that would become our own, my wife was asking all sorts of appropriate questions about taxes and heating bills. Me, I had my eye on about sixty square feet of space in the backyard that was screaming, “Clear me out and plant some veggies.”

I’m also volunteering a bit at the Mount Hope Community Garden this year. I can’t think of a better way to get your family involved in the fabric of your neighborhood than by standing shoulder to shoulder, knee-deep in compost with the diverse group of folks who generally make up a community garden.

Who do you garden with?
TJS: Generally with my wife and a small group of friends whose children range in age from 4 months to 6 years of age. We all pitch in (with advice or manual labor) from time to time at one another’s backyard plots and share the bounty either directly or through weekly dinners. Last year a few of us (kids included) plucked many pounds of basil leaves from stems and had a pesto making party. Everyone went home with a few containers of freshly made pesto.

What is your favorite thing about gardening with your child?
TJS: I’ve been hooked on gardening since my grandfather sat me on his lap at age 5 and showed me a cucumber that he had grown inside a beer bottle (Michelob, of course), and I cannot wait to do the same for my son.

Thanks, TJ! Happy Gardening to you and your family.

Nature/Nurture, written by Michelle Riggen-Ransom, is an occasional column with ideas and information to help kids and their families engage with the natural world in fun, interesting ways. Share your thoughts and explorations by adding your comment below, or contact us with your story ideas.

PHOTO CREDIT: From TJ Sondermann’s Flickr account

By Michelle Riggen-Ransom

CREDIT: Paper cutout illustration from the book, How Babies Are Made
By Andrew C. Andry and Steven Schepp.
“Mommy, how are babies made?” The question, of course, had been raised before, what with a little sister joining our household just over a year ago. My husband and I have staved off the inevitable from our curious boy with a deft combination of avoidance, generalities, and feel-good euphemisms. While I was pregnant, we talked to my (then) three-year-old son about the cozy place the baby was growing inside Mommy’s body, how she was developing week by week, and what would happen when she was born and my son would become transformed into the esteemed position of Big Brother.

We settled on a suitably generic-yet-factual phrase for how babies are made. “The mommies and the daddies put their bodies together in a certain way and that starts a baby growing” is what we ended up saying to him umpteen times as my due date drew nearer. This answer seemed to appease him. And once the baby came, we were all too busy and tired to think about much beyond getting dressed and fed on a regular basis.

So I was caught off-guard when, a couple of weeks ago, the question, “How are babies made?” came back with a vengeance. I started to give him our standard house answer, but he cut me off.

“I know they put their bodies together, but what parts of the body do they put together?” He looked at me with sweet, genuine puzzlement as I stammered, flailing around the room and crashing into walls like a wounded butterfly. We always explain EVERYTHING to him; why was this subject any different? It’s just science, right? Nonplussed, he pressed on: “Is it, like, their heads they put together? Or their tummies?” He was looking at me for honest answers in order to help him make sense of this crazy, crazy world, and what did I do? Giggled like a twelve-year-old and told him to ask his father. Aye! A grand mal, 1950s-style parenting failure!

But he didn’t ask has father; he asked me again a couple of weeks later. This time, he was in the tub, and as I cast my eyes wildly around the bathroom looking for some sort of an escape hatch, I happened to see a spider on the ceiling.

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By Michelle Riggen-Ransom

Last year, we had a little garden where we grew a couple of radishes, some peas, beans, a few tiny carrots and one very impressive zucchini. Now that our littlest one is walking, we’re kicking it up a notch and turning a big section of our yard into a lovely, suburban, organic garden. This year’s planting plan includes turban squash, corn, a strawberry patch, another attempt at Brussels sprouts (which got munched by something last year), pumpkins, lettuce, and various herbs, along with last year’s favorites.

We’ve spent the last couple of cool spring weekends keeping warm by loading rocks from the garden area into a wheelbarrow and moving them to another, less fertile location. Stacking the rocks into a loose, low wall makes for an interesting outdoor space in and of itself, which will inspire bug-hunting and possibly snake -finding fun.

Preparing the soil and choosing the right plants is an important part of planning your garden. If you’re starting your first garden, you’ll probably want to test the soil to find out what you’re working with, as soil can vary in its pH and nutrient content. Since our soil is sandy, we’re adding topsoil mixed with a little peat moss. Sites like Clean Air Gardening offer great products and tips for using natural fertilizers like bat guano, bone meal, and fish meal, as well as vinegar-based weed killers. (I’m sure I’ll be writing more about fighting weeds organically later in the summer!)

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By Michelle Riggen-Ransom

The Boston Museum of Science has always been a favorite place of mine. Their classic science-class exhibits span the interest of generations: space capsules, a giant lightning-generating machine, and a room full of dinosaurs, including a life-size model of everyone’s favorite carnivore, T-Rex.

The museum recently unearthed a fabulous display from the bowels of their permanent collection: curiosity cabinets. Curiosity cabinets, also called Wunderkammer or Cabinets of Wonder, are collections of flora and fauna that are categorized and displayed in glass cabinets, domes, or glass-lidded drawers. Dating back to the seventeenth century, curiosity cabinets are sort of pre-cursors to the Internet in that folks without access to certain species could view and marvel at them (albeit it in a decidedly unnatural setting, since nothing is alive. And therefore not, um, mating). The Science Museum’s collection is vast and well documented. There are even interactive games budding naturalists can play that allow them to sort and categorize objects by size, shape, and color. Montessori babies take note!

Another great place to view these natural, eclectic collections is the RISD Edna W. Lawrence Nature Lab (see above photos) in downtown Providence. Imagine the Addams family’s overstuffed attic: every corner and crevice is stuffed with the cool and slightly creepy from pickled baby rats to boxes of beaks and bones. The space itself is surprisingly light-filled, allowing RISD students to photograph, sketch, and otherwise examine specimens. The general public is welcome as well, as long as you call ahead (phone number and hours listed on their website). A visit with a sketch pad in hand could be a great activity for an older child who’s interested in science (they even have microscopes!) or art.

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By Michelle Riggen-Ransom

Snowshoeing is a great winter activity for getting outside and keeping active. More convenient (and cheaper!) than downhill skiing or snowboarding, and easier for little kids than cross-country skiing, snowshoeing is something the whole family can enjoy with just a little preparation and investment.

Last winter, my husband and I bought these nice “step-in” snowshoes from L.L. Bean, which means you can use pretty much any snow boot with them. Since we were only planning on being occasional users, we opted not to get poles (although I could see poles being handy for more hardcore enthusiasts). That meant that the snowshoes were the only equipment we needed before heading out into the great snowy wilderness, aside from the usual winter layers of clothing, hats, and gloves.

For my four-year-old son, we originally purchased a pair of Snow Paw children’s snowshoes. While my son loved the cute bear prints these shoes left behind on shorter trips (read: around the backyard and down the driveway), I found the straps difficult to adjust and rather flimsy. A longer hike down a snowy beach left me exhilarated, but my son fell a number of times and ended up facedown in a drift of snow sobbing about returning to the car. Not exactly what I pictured for our wintertime family fun.

I would definitely recommend choosing substance over style for kids’ snowshoes. For our next excursion, we upgraded to these Little Bear Spiderman snowshoes: they still looked cool but stayed on a lot better and felt much sturdier. My sister got the L.L. Bean Winter Walker snowshoes for her two-year-old, and both mom and babe have been happy with them. Each brand adjusts to fit up to 50 to 60 pounds, so the kids should be able to wear them for at least a few years.

The best thing about snowshoeing is that once you have the snowshoes, pretty much all you need is snow. Mother Nature’s been a bit fickle about that recently but when it does snow, you should head out as soon as possible. There’s something incredibly peaceful about walking atop fresh snow, feeling the winter sun on your face, and thinking maybe, just maybe, you heard the first robin tentatively calling out for spring.

Nature/Nurture, written by Michelle Riggen-Ransom, is an occasional column with ideas and information to help kids and their families engage with the natural world in fun, interesting ways. Share your thoughts and explorations by adding your comment below, or contact us with your story ideas.

By Michelle Riggen-Ransom

Since the holiday season is breathing its pepperminty breath down our be-scarved necks, I thought I’d write a bit about one of my obsessions: buying things with birds on them. Lucky for me, birds are very trendy right now. If you’re frantically looking for a gift for a bird-lover, or perhaps just want to feather your own nest, maybe this list can help you.

Anna’s Aviary, owned by a Massachusetts artist, has gorgeous bird-themed art, clothing, cards and prints. The art can be personalized, too, for that special woodpecker or sandpiper lover in your life. My daughter’s middle name is Robin, so I predict I’ll soon be ordering one of these myself.

Barrington-based á la mode designs has several bird-themed switchplates (like these two snuggling black birds) that really cute up a hallway, kid’s room or kitchen.

Beehive kitchenware has lovely hand-crafted metal kitchenware, lots of it with birdies on it. My favorites are the pewter bird candles (pictured). They’ve also got the same birds on fridge magnets, key chains and measuring spoons. Any of those would fit so nicely in a stocking.

Don’t want to chance it with on-line ordering at this late in the game? Head to local kids’ shop Mod Mama (16 South Angell St., Providence) for this cute little toddler top featuring a fat sparrow or other birdly-decorated items for posh tots.

The Audobon Society of Rhode Island has a great Nature Gift shop, and members get a 10% discount on all items. In addition to their Smithfield and Bristol locations, they’ve also got an online store where you can buy a sweet plushie kingfisher, chickadee or other bird, which each play their actual recorded birdsongs.

I love the glassworks at Happy Owl, such as this Night Owl Nightlight. This artist, as well as 150 others, is at craftland through December 22nd. I predict there will be birds aplenty at this excellent show, which features local crafters and artists.

Lastly, no round-up of cute bird-related items would be complete without mention of uber craft site etsy.com. At last count, almost 20,000 items came up when I did a general search for “bird”. I would recommend narrowing down your search to “jewelry” or “children” before trying to look at bird things or your going to feel like you’re in a Hitchcock movie.

Always double-check availability and shipping times before placing any orders online if you want something to arrive before Christmas. Although giving gifts with birds on them is also great for Valentine’s Day, at least in my house.