It’s time for Screen-Free Week (April 30-May 6, 2012), the national celebration where children, families, schools, and communities spend seven days turning off entertainment screen media and turning on life. It’s a time, as the organizers say, “to unplug and play, read, daydream, create, explore, and spend more time with family and friends.”
Are you up for the challenge. Here’s how it works in our family…
We don’t always associate springtime with tradition, but every season is an opportunity. Here are 5 ways to celebrate create spring traditions with your family. Pick one of these or make your own.
1. Food. Is there something you make every spring to celebrate the season or special holiday (Passover and Easter are right here, but Mother’s Day is on the horizon, as well as May Day)? Share its origin with your children by creating a special recipe card including a photo, the recipe and where the recipe originated from (e.g. family member, friend, etc.). Ask your child to share a memory about eating the food.
Welcome Spring! Edible Rhody Kids is created in partnership with Kidoinfo. Grab this season’s copy of Edible Rhody, available at various locations around Rhode Island. Read about how kids can learn to grow their own food followed by a list of resources, activities and books to share with your kids. Click on the chef’s hat for a theme-related recipe!
Ever wonder where the tomatoes in your taco come from?
Here is my list of things to learn and do in honor of St. Patrick’s Day. My favorite is taking the kids to the park in search of leprechauns.
Read a good book with your children first, like Leprechauns Never Lie by Lorna and Lecia Balian; then find a park near you and take a hike in search of these mischievous characters. If it’s a nice day and you don’t find any, you and your kids may still enjoy the walk looking for early signs of spring. Check our events calendar for local parades and other happenings.
Visiting an art museum can be magical at any age. Sharing the experience with our kids offers the opportunity to see the world in new ways, engage our senses, share our opinions, and possibly inspire us to make our own art. I have fond childhood memories of visiting the Albright-Knox Art Gallery in Buffalo with my family. I was mesmerized by Amedeo Modigliani’s portraits, I laughed at Andy Warhol’s Tomato Soup Cans and was intrigued by George Segal plaster life size model of himself with Cinema. I thought walking inside the Lucas Samaras’s Mirrored Room was the coolest place to be. I remember Sunday jazz on the lawn and art workshops for kids. I made art every chance I had.
