I was slightly disgusted, but mostly intrigued today. The kids were clustered around little packets of aluminum foil. I politely suggested that they take this activity outside. It was an attempt to move them off of the kitchen table, because they were dissecting owl pellets.
Owls swallow their prey whole, more or less. The gizzard compresses all of the parts that are not digestible into pellets, that they then spit out. Lovely, right? My daughter received these owl pellets as a birthday gift, from my parents. Admittedly, not every 7-year-old girl receives owl pellets for her birthday, but my parents were right on target with this one. She loves anything creepy crawly and I can't believe it has taken this long to unwrap these little gems. Fortunately, they came as a pack of three, so she could share with her brother and sister.
Inside, is compressed bone and fur. As they explored, the kids were able to identify quite a few different bones.
The area surrounding our campsite offers lots to do for families. My very favorite place we stopped was the Crystal Grottoes, a cavern that has been owned by the same family for 3 generations and offers daily tours. We pulled up to a picturesque old storefront. Cows were grazing across a stream. While we waited for our tour to begin, the kids were completely entertained by the small trickle of water that flowed from the building into the nearby stream.
When it was time for the tour, we filed down a narrow staircase into what would normally be a basement. Instead, we found ourselves standing in a cave. Our tour guide was amazing. He switched effortlessly between scientific discussions about geology, to telling us which rock formations looked like a king, or an alligator, or an elephant...
He explained how the caverns were discovered in 1920, and how they have been digging it out ever since, bucket at a time, sometimes with shovels, but just as often by hand. Yesterday alone they removed 25 buckets full of dirt and clay, to expose still more formations.
We learned about the critters that live down here too, but they were hiding. There are a few bats, frogs, and lizards. But the thing that astounded me the most is a honeysuckle root that our guide points out. It has burrowed 70 feet underground.
My cave explorers look happy, don't they? We wandered from room to room, down windy hallways that were fortunately quite well lit. On this particular day (after an amazingly hard rain) it was a little wet down there. One room is under water, but the rest we can get too quite easily. We traveled to a final depth of about 80 feet underground. It was cool, and quiet, and peaceful. After a while, I had no idea where we were. Our tour guide pointed us to different paths, where he tells us it's about a 6 hour trek back. No thanks. We'll stick with the tour.
How's that for a title? I've been on the lookout for good activities. Not just fun stuff. Fun is good. Fun is great. But I'd like to throw in a few educational things too. Here are a few recent submissions that might just fit the bill.
WHEN: January 14-16, 2011 (see show times below)
WHERE: The Music Center at Strathmore in Bethesda, or Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in Baltimore
Icarus at the Edge of Time – The World Science Festival has partnered with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra to present the family-friendly orchestral work and accompanying film "Icarus at the Edge of Time" based on the book by noted physicist Brian Greene. The program also includes music from "Star Wars." The BSO will present three concerts in the DC area - an evening performance at The Music Center at Strathmore in Bethesda on Saturday, January 15 @ 8 pm, and an evening performance and matinee in Baltimore on January 14th @ 8 pm and January 16th @ 3 pm at Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall. Children 6-18 are half price for non-premium seating!
Physicist and author Brian Greene will be on hand to introduce the piece at each performance.
Towson University's Saturday Morning Science covers everything from rainforests to fireworks to space travel. Presentations are (most) Saturdays at 10:00 and noon. No reservations are required. All ages are welcome. FREE!
AVAM Celebrates MLK, JR. Day A celebration in honor of the life and dreams of one of the greatest visionaries in recent history. Join us for guided tours, birthday cake, special performances by Abu the Flutemaker and Batala (all female percussion ensemble) & other fun stuff (like AVAM's popular Shrinky Dink Bar!) at a FREE day at the museum! Museum is open 10AM-6PM. A special invitation extended to educators and all the wonderful people who help to empower the next generation! Teachers, come pick up our educational materials and discover the opportunities available for you and your students.
MLK DAY SCHEDULE:
11:00am – 3:00pm: DIY "I Have a Dream" Shrinky Dink pins and magnets in the AVAM's classroom 12:00pm: Happy Birthday MLK cake cutting 1:00pm: Abu the Flutemaker performs 3:00pm: Batala Washington - All women's Brazilian percussion band performs
No advance registration required, Museum is FREE & OPEN to the public, 10am – 6pm! For questions, call the museum at (410) 244-1900.
Photo by: Patrick Kolts
WHEN: Sunday, February 13, 2011
WHERE: Gordon Center
SteveSongs at Gordon Center. Ages 2 - 10. 3PM. Come sing and dance along with SteveSongs, a.k.a. "Mr. Steve," cohost of the PBS KIDS preschool destination. Shows will include award-winning favorites as well as songs from the band's upcoming album. Gordon Center, 3506 Gwynnbrook Avenue, Owings Mills, MD, 410.356.SHOW.
My twins have been asking for their very own pets for ages. I used the old "when you are old enough to take care of it," excuse for a while. They held firm. Asking patiently. Again and again and again.
Now, while I think there is plenty to be gained by having the responsiblility of taking care of a pet, I also have seen the flip side enough to know that any pet requires occassional adult supervision. In other words, their pet = my pet.
They were open to pretty much any animal we would allow, as long as they each had their very own. I ruled out fish, just because we already have 2 fish tanks in the household and six year olds can't really handle the water changes themselves. Hamsters/gerbils/rats? Too smelly. Birds. Ditto, plus loud. Lizards? Too fast. Snakes? Too snakey. Tarantulas? Never.
Hermit crabs? Perfect. They don't smell. They can't run away (well, I did hear this one story...). The kids can clean the tanks. And if you don't think of them as big spiders with fancy shells, they are actually kind of cute. Added bonus: your kids get to pick out a few extra shells for when the crabs get bigger, kind of like fashion accessories.
A month and a half later I am happy to report that both crabby friends are alive and well. Speedy (pictured above) is beginning to earn his name; and Pattern, a tinier version who wasn't cooperating during the photoshoot is doing fine too. So what's not perfect? One pinched finger so far, but that's it. It was probably justified. Afterall, a hermit crab can't be expected to tolerate tea parties and dress-ups all day, right? I figure a pinch or two is their way of saying enough is enough. We all have our limits.
All in all, I think we chose well, but I am sure there are some other good options out there. I'd love to hear what worked (or didn't) for you. So let me know, what was the perfect (or not so perfect) pet for your kid?
Six is big, big, big. And while part of me is in complete denial that my babies are so grown up, the other part of me thinks, wow, they are becoming such neat little people.
Definitely time to celebrate. Lucky for me, they quickly agreed on a theme: animals. And I, always ready to hand over part of the responsibility to another willing adult, ran to the phone and booked Val Garcia, from Wildlife Adventures, for a 45 minute animal show. See how easy that was? Now all I had to do was deal with cake, balloons, party favors, pizza, drinks, invitations and (ugh) cleaning the house. Still, the pressure of entertaining a dozen wiggly bodies was off of my shoulders.
Miss Val arrived at our house with covered crates, full of mystery animals. She started off with a lop-eared bunny, giving each kid a chance to touch or hold him, but only if they wanted to.
The tiny hedgehog was a definite favorite. What a sweet little face!
I truly was amazed that my kids were brave enough to have a tarantula on their hats. Does he look nervous? I would be.
It was hard to tell which end was the front of these geckos. They store extra fat in their tails, but their strange shape also confuses predators who can't tell which end to attack. If they grab the tail, it drops off, leaving the rest of the gecko (relatively) unharmed.
And the biggest of the snakes Miss Val brought was this boa. Can you believe that's my little princess?
Happy Birthday, kids! Now don't get any crazy ideas about any new pets.
One of our last hurrahs of summer was to take the kids to the Maryland Zoo. The day was perfect. The crowd surprisingly light. And I can't quite figure out why we don't do this more often. Everyone knows what the Maryland Zoo is all about, so I won't dwell on all the great animals or lovely paths to stroll on, just a few quick comments on how to get in and out and leave without tears.
Always take the tram down (and back up) the hill. The walk is long, and little feet will need to save their energy.
Always pack a lunch. There are plenty of shady picnic tables, and it will leave more time for hanging out with the animals.
Stop to feed the giraffes. Totally worth the $2 to have a giraffe lick your fingers.
Wait... for the polar bear. He does an amazing back float/swim back maneuver, again, and again, and again. On a day full of nice surprises, he was the perfect finale.
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