Are you ready for an engaging snack? Let’s go fishing for something yummy in our kitchen.
What you’ll need: fishy crackers, pretzel sticks, and cream cheese or a sticky substitute like peanut butter.
Steps:
Step 1: serve half a portion of fishy crackers, half a portion of pretzel sticks and a serving of dip.
Step 2: Dip your pretzel stick into your cream cheese or substitute.
Step 3: Dip your pretzel stick into your fishy crackers, how many did you pick up?
Step 4: Munch!
This snack is delicious, nutritious, and is a fine motor skill activity! You can even incorporate math skills and discuss counting and subtraction. I hope you make the most out this special treat!
I hope everyone is enjoying their summer! Although back to school ads are everywhere, most kids are not ready to think about school just yet. Parents on the other hand, can definitely use this time to start planning for the transition. Verywellfamily.com has back-to-school tips for parents who have children with disabilities. Below are a few highlights and resources.
Connect early with your child’s new teacher and service providers to make sure everyone is on the same page with goals and accommodations for the upcoming year.
Make a “home to school” notebook. This is a great way to communicate with your child’s teacher and service providers to proactively address any issues that may arise. It also helps to build a positive relationship with the teaching team.
Share tips or tools that were helpful in the past with the new teaching staff. If a visual schedule, sensory fidget, or scripted story was successful last school year, it may be worth utilizing them in a new classroom.
Did you know that August 13, 2023, is National Left Handers Day? Lefties across the globe celebrate the annual event, which was launched in 1992 by the UK-based Left-Handers Club to increase awareness about the left-handed lifestyle.
Here are some interesting facts about left-handedness:
On average, 12% of the world is left-handed, 87% right-handed, and 1% ambidextrous. However, the percentage of lefties worldwide is slowly growing as being left-handed becomes more socially accepted.
The brain is cross-wired, meaning that the right side controls the left side of the body and vice versa. The right-hand side of the brain is thought to coordinate the left side of the body and control tasks to do with the arts and creativity.
5 of the last 9 Presidents were left-handed. Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, George H. W. Bush, Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford were some of our left-handed presidents. Ronald Reagan was born a leftie, but teachers converted him to a righty when he was young.
Many sports stars are left-handed like tennis champ Rafael Nadal, golf legend Phil Mickelson and boxing star Oscar de la Hoya.
Check out this neat TED Ed lesson on why some people are left-handed:
No matter what hand you use to draw and write, we would love to have you and your families come create in the Art Studio and Tinkering Tank at Explore & More this summer!
It’s time to talk about books! With school around the corner, the month of August is a fantastic time to discuss reading and children’s books.
Explore & More has always emphasized literacy, reading comprehension, and cognitive growth. There are countless books all throughout the museum floor spaces. Each play-zone has books representing the play area that they are in; Learning, Caring, Healing, has books about medicine and the human body, while the Treehouse has books about nature, and animals, and so on and so forth.
Also, the Book Nook and both Sensory Rooms have a multitude of books for more relaxed or extended reading time. Reading for children has been proven countless times to be one of the most beneficial activities one can partake in. In a recent PBS article, the benefits of reading (specifically reading aloud) are highlighted with the following excerpt:
“Reading aloud to kids has clear cognitive benefits. For example, brain scans show that hearing stories strengthens the part of the brain associated with visual imagery, story comprehension, and word meaning. One study found that kindergarten children who were read to at least three times a week had a “significantly greater phonemic awareness than did children who were read to less often.”
Books at Explore & More have been reviewed by the Education Team, ensuring their educational benefits. Explore & More’s books also encapsulate the diverse world of cultures, ideas, and topics that children’s literature encompasses. It is our hope that with the books we have every guest of our museum finds some representation within the pages, as this truly makes a difference in the lives of those children flipping through the book’s pages. Our books are regularly updated and there are always new titles being put out, so keep your eyes open for your child’s next favorite story. On your next visit, encourage your child to read a book, or read a story to your little one! These books will enhance the experience of playing and more importantly, learning at Explore & More.
Summer is the perfect time for students of all ages to relax, but it’s also a time when summer learning loss can occur. This learning loss is called the “summer slide,” and happens when children do not engage in educational activities during the summer months. Have no fear! Although we are entering the month of August, it’s not too late to focus on making playing and learning so much fun.
As parents and caregivers, we may not realize that learning opportunities are everywhere. Kids can read cereal boxes, menus, recipes, and signs as they go about their summer activities. You can play a game in the car or on the bus where your child reads all the words that they can see to help them practice their reading skills and grow their vocabulary.
Young children also begin to read by use of pictures, so encourage them to make that “picture-print connection.” You can also practice math skills when dining out or shopping by having your child be responsible for paying and counting the change.
Consider taking community field trips this summer to create opportunities for learning. For example, you can go to sporting events to discuss the strategy and rules of the game. There’s another perfect place to do this. In case you haven’t heard, Explore & More is offering Free Play Fridays outdoors on the Pierce Lawn at Canalside from 11am-1pm until August 25th. We provide sports equipment and coaches, and it’s FREE!
Use your imagination to give your child fun learning experiences for the remainder of the summer. You’ll find making small efforts now will yield big benefits for them in the future.
