October 13, 2009
From an email I received today , here are some good words to get our kids playing ouside:
For many of us, childhood memories are synonymous with outdoor moments like climbing trees, skipping stones, or gardening. But today’s kids spend twice as much time indoors as their parents and grandparents did, missing out on the simple pleasures and lasting mental and physical health benefits of daily outdoor time.
Studies show that children who spend time in nature are healthier, happier, and become better stewards of the environment. National Wildlife Federation (NWF) is launching
Be Out There, a national movement to return to the nation’s children a connection to the natural world around us and the joy and sustenance it brings.
– Want to play “Wild Things Bingo”? Check out our Activity Guide for Kids — adults can play too!
– Get ideas for planning your own Wild Rumpus Day.
– Start your Be Out There adventure by heading outside to watch for animals near you with help from Wildlife Watch.
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Nature Activities, Places to Explore | Tagged: Be Out There, child, children, family, fun, grandchild, grandchildren, granddaughter, grandma, grandpa, grandparent, grandson, kids, National Wildlife Federation, nature, nature study, NWF, Places to Go, Wildlife Watch | 
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Posted by mygrandmasue
October 11, 2009
Giant Corn Mazes are getting more and more popular as an October or Halloween family activity. Grandson Austin and the rest of the family went to the pumpkin patch and giant corn maze this weekend. I did some more research and came up with some fun Giant Corn Maze websites. So here they are below!
Visiting Corn Mazes with Kids – Photos as well
Corn Mazes and Pumpkin Patches in the State of Oregon
Portland, OR Family Fun Mazes and Patches
The Corn Maze Pumpkin Junction 10 acre maze – Train Ride & a Maze!
Kackleberry Farm in Louisville, GA
Depner Farms in Caseville, Michigan – Haunted Dino Maze and Maze-O’-Saurus
Cows-n-Corn 9 acre maze, Washington, DC
Kelley Farms in Lexington, KY – giant corn maze & pumpkins
Past Mazes at Pendleton’s Country Market in Lawrence, KS – Pumpkin Patch this weekend
Corn Mazes in the US
Corn Mazes in Canada
Corn Mazes in the UK
1 Comment | Nature Activities, Places to Explore | Tagged: Canada, child, children, England, family, Family Fun, fun, Giant Corn Maze, grandchild, grandchildren, granddaughter, grandma, grandpa, grandparent, grandson, Green Hour, Halloween, Hay Rides, kids, nature, October Activities, Oregon, Places to Go, Pumpkin Patch, United Kingdom, Washington DC | Permalink
Posted by mygrandmasue
October 10, 2009
I love AUTUMN! I love the swirl of color of reds, golds, yellows and greens! I remember raking the leaves into a pile and then jumping into them! It’s a great time to do some family hiking in National Forests or National Parks or reserves or city parks or along the river or …..! The mixes of color are different at every curve in the path.
I found some really fun sites of additional information for you – For my niece Michele here is The Chemistry of Autumn Colors. Google images of fall colors are totally beautiful! The Wikipedia cornucopia of knowledge is bountiful. Here are color cams of colorful foliage. This New England Travel site has several webcams to cyber-watch the New England fall colors. Here is the Mono County, CA fall foliage guide. The Eastern US fall color guide is full of info, too! Any arboretum or park will be gorgeous, but here is a beautiful site from Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. Iowa fall colors are described in USA Today. Mount Rushmore is also awesome! The Smokie Mountains are also changing color. In Alaska, Denali National Park is awesome in autumn, according to Margaret Bauman. The Western Michigan Tourist Association offers 26 different scenic driving tours for enjoying the autumn colors. Also a very decent website on autumn color is Total Escape on California off the beaten path.
Here is a science project for kids on Autumn Leaves.
Leave a Comment » | Nature Activities, Places to Explore | Tagged: Alaska, Autumn, Autumn Colors, Autumn Foliage, Autumn Leaves, Autumn Photographs, Autumn Photos, California, chemistry, child, children, Denali National Park, Eastern US, Fall, Fall Colors, family, fun, grandchild, grandchildren, granddaughter, grandma, grandpa, grandparent, grandson, Green Hour, hiking, kids, Longwood Gardens, Michigan, Mono County, Mount Rushmore, nature, New England, Pennsylvania, Places to Go, Science Project | Permalink
Posted by mygrandmasue
October 8, 2009
I really, really dislike spiders – but I do know that some kids (little & big ones) are fascinated by them. The Los Angeles Natural History Museum has its annual Spider Pavilion going on now through November 8th – what a great (educational) Halloween adventure! Check it out! Here’s the Activities and Programs page.
Leave a Comment » | Indoor Activities, Places to Explore | Tagged: child, children, family, fun, grandchildren, granddaughter, grandma, grandpa, grandparent, grandson, LA Natural History Museum, museum, Places to Go, rainy day, spider pavilion, spiders | Permalink
Posted by mygrandmasue
October 6, 2009
What a string of kites last Saturday! Jonathan Smith, Staff Writer for the Long Beach Press-Telegram, and Stephen Carr, Staff Photographer, had a great article “Winds of tradition” in Monday’s paper. The front page has a super photo of Grandfather Tony Kwon helping his grandson Clay fly a kite. Here is the link for all the pictures. Here is also The Orange County Register version by Jaimee Lynn Fletcher with photos by Michael Goulding. A blog post by Long Beach Family covers the festival. (This blog covers local family things to do.)
The festival was sponsored by The Japan America Society of Southern California (JASSC) and the Up Up & Away Kite Club. It’s free to the public and attracts around 10,000 visitors a year.
Japanese Kite Master Mikio Toki visited from his home and kite workshop in Chiba, Japan, to share his kites. Mattel sponsored workshops where kids could build their own paper kites. The Japanese Taiko drumming corp Daion Taiko performed a traditional drumming show to excite the crowd.
In spite of the strong wind, it was a lot of fun!
Leave a Comment » | Places to Explore | Tagged: 13th Annual Japan America Kite Festival, beach, child, children, Daion Taiko, family, flying kites, fun, grandchild, grandchildren, granddaughter, grandma, grandpa, grandparent, grandson, Jaimee Lynn Fletcher, Jonathan Smith, kids, Kite Flying, Kite Master Mikio Toki, Michael Goulding, Places to Go, Seal Beach, Stephen Carr, Taiko Drumming, Tony Kwon | Permalink
Posted by mygrandmasue
October 5, 2009
Linnea Linkus has a very special exhibit called ‘Healing’ of 35 portraits of children with special needs displayed to benefit The Steel Magnolias, the fundraising group of Stramski Children’s Developmental Center at Miller Children’s Center in Long Beach, CA. I read about it in the Long Beach Press-Telegram in an article written by Sue Manning of The Associated Press. Linnea Linkus’ photography is absolutely beautiful. Do explore her website and her blog! Perhaps consider purchasing her special book Healing which will also benefit The Steel Magnolias.
The ‘Healing’ exhibit opened last Friday, October 2, at the Carpenter Performing Arts Center in Long Beach. On October 10 the GLOBAL public debut of ‘Healing’ will be at the Phantom Galleries LA, 390 E. 3rd St in Long Beach at 8 pm.
Leave a Comment » | Indoor Activities, People Who Make A Difference, Places to Explore | Tagged: child, children, children with special needs, daughter, family, grandchild, grandchildren, granddaughter, grandson, Healing Exhibit, Linnea Linkus, Long Beach, Miller Childrens Center, Photography, portraits, son, special needs children, Steel Magnolias, Stramski Children's Development Center | Permalink
Posted by mygrandmasue
October 3, 2009
Today’s read from the Long Beach Press-Telegram had a great little story by John Canalis, a writer for the Long Beach Press-Telegram, about soccer as a bond between the generations. John gave me permission to reprint it here for your enjoyment. He explores his daughter’s love of soccer in comparison with his and his dad’s passion for the game.
Leave a Comment » | People Who Make A Difference, Sport Activity | Tagged: child, children, family, grandchild, grandchildren, granddaughter, grandpa, John Canalis, kids, Long Beach, Long Beach Press-Telegram, organized play, soccer | Permalink
Posted by mygrandmasue
September 29, 2009
The grandparents.com website has a great article here on starting new family traditions. Remember what your favorite things to do were with your grandparents? Create some memories now with your grandchildren!
Share your memories on this page!
1 Comment | People Who Make A Difference, Routine Activity, Special Moments | Tagged: child, Childhood Memories, children, family, fun, grandchild, grandchildren, granddaughter, grandma, grandpa, grandparent, grandson, kids, Making Memories, Memories | Permalink
Posted by mygrandmasue
September 27, 2009
Daredevil Ryan Capes successfully jumped 316 feet between metal ramps with his motorcycle in Reno, NV, as part of the Street Vibrations celebration. First he broke the world record of 252 feet with 287 feet. Then he did a second jump to try to clear 300 feet, his stated goal to the crowd. Here are the Reno Gazette-Journal front page story, sports page story, photo and video. Our Grandson Austin totally LOVES motorcycles! Lots of grandparents and parents were at the ramp jump with their grandkids and kids. In the RGJ front page article, Frank Greenwood of Reno brought his granddaughter to watch the attempt. He explained the dangers involved on the drive over to the Grand Sierra Resort and is quoted as saying: “She [granddaughter] has already asked me about the possibility, and I explained to her just how dangerous this would be. So she understands.”
The event celebrated the grand opening of the Xtreme Sports Bar + Lounge located inside the Grand Sierra Resort. Some estimated the crowd to be more than 20,000 people, to make this event the largest held at the resort ever.
Leave a Comment » | Places to Explore | Tagged: child, children, family, fun, Grand Sierra Resort, grandchild, grandchildren, granddaughter, grandma, grandpa, grandparent, grandson, kids, motorcycle daredevil, motorcycle jumping record, motorcycles, Places to Go, Reno, Ryan Capes, Street Vibrations, Xtreme Sports Bar | Permalink
Posted by mygrandmasue
September 17, 2009
I taught my daughter to read when she was three. Now she has a three year old and she wants to teach him to read. I think we started out just reading her favorite books over and over again and later we got workbooks to do, too. I did find some interesting websites that have suggestions on how to go about it now:
The Well-Trained Mind
starfall.com
Reading Buddy 2.0
Succeed to Read
Preschool Express
WowzaBrain
If you have a suggestion, feel free to add a comment!
1 Comment | Routine Activity | Tagged: child, children, daughter, family, grandchild, grandchildren, granddaughter, grandma, grandpa, grandparent, grandson, kids, learning games, learning to read, prereading activities, preschooler reading activities, reading, Routine Activity, son, teaching reading, teaching reading at home, Toddler, toddler learning | Permalink
Posted by mygrandmasue
MyGrandmaSue 