Holidays are right around the corner which means students have some upcoming breaks from school. Did you know that Explore & More has just the solution for families balancing work and break schedules for their kiddos? Come check out our Day Camps and Break Week Camps! We have everything from Art Explorers Day Camp to a Drop & Shop – Stay & Play Camp day (parents, drop off your kids for fun in the museum while you get some early holiday shopping done!). We even have a Winter Kids Camp where students will explore a different theme each day related to “Holidays Around the World” that is guaranteed to shake off the winter blues and keep kids engaged during their winter break. Click here for more details!

Here are some other fun Thanksgiving facts:

• Did you know pumpkins are native to the western hemisphere and have been cultivated as a crop long before foods such as corn and beans?  Native Americans have been farming pumpkins for over 9,000 years.
• Did you know that an estimated 50 million pumpkin pies are consumed for Thanksgiving every year in the USA?
• Did you know that the largest pumpkin pie ever made was 20 feet long and weighed a hefty 3,699 lbs! It was made at the New Bremen Pumpkin fest in Ohio in 2010.

Now that’s a lot of pumpkin! We hope you and your little “pumpkins” will join us for play at Explore & More this November!

I love the colors of Fall- red, orange, yellow and brown! In our “Explore Even More” class we discuss the changing leaves, and how they fall from the trees. One activity we all love is to pull out our parachute and place leaves on it (felt, plastic, or real!) When we move the parachute up and down, the leaves follow. You can do the same thing at home, even if you don’t have a parachute. You can have a lot of fun with a simple bed sheet. We like to name the colors of the leaves, count them, then watch them fall up and down as we play and sing. Here’s a fun song to include in your activity if you’d like:

ALL THE LEAVES ARE FALLING DOWN

To the tune of “London Bridge”

All the leaves are falling down,

All around,

To the ground,

All the leaves are falling down,

Red, orange, yellow and brown.

A related activity that’s super fun is q-tip painting. You’ll need paper, red, orange, yellow, and brown paint, q-tips, and a brown marker. I started this craft by drawing a tree with bare branches using my marker. Then, I dipped q-tips into paint and dotted them across my canvas. It’s an easy art project and the results are very cute.

By Silvia Steele

November is the start to a busy season of celebrations and gatherings for many. Holidays with extended family or participating in community events can be joyful as well as stressful. Planning and being flexible can go a long way to help ease the stress, for everyone! Families with children with special needs may find it even more challenging if their children struggle with changes in routine, sensory issues or becoming overstimulated in large groups.

As much as possible stick to your child’s regular routine. Talk about changes that will be happening the day of a family or community gathering. Write out a schedule or make a visual schedule. Picture schedules can serve two roles, to help children understand a change in routine, as well as provide visual cues to alert them to what comes next. For younger children, role playing or rehearsing ahead of time helps make the day more predictable and may prevent meltdowns.

Incorporate toys or objects that they love. Familiar objects can help children ease into a transition that is new or that they may not be comfortable with. Your child’s favorite activity or game can be a great way to encourage them to initiate interactions or conversations with others. Children tend to feel more confident when they can talk to others about things that they love most, such as hobbies or their favorite topics. Always bring along any items that help with sensory issues such as headphones, fidgets, or a special blanket. Make sure you plan for a quiet space to go, if your child needs a break or is overstimulated in a larger group.

Set realistic expectations, especially with family, and be flexible! Your child does not have to participate in every activity or tradition if they are not comfortable. Make gratitude the focus for your family on these special days. Talk about what you are thankful for! Encourage and model this for your children. Gratitude can be taught to children at any age and throughout the year.

Here are some helpful tips to teach and practice gratitude at any age!

• Nightly expressions of what they were grateful for during the day
• Gratitude over the food they receive
• Share appreciation for others – compliments
• Donations of money, gifts, outgrown clothes, and time (volunteering) to those in need – giving helps foster gratitude in what we have
• Gratitude walks – appreciating the world around us
• Creating a gratitude jar – writing down anything that happens or comes to mind
• Showing gratitude through gift-giving to others
• Looking for the positive in every situation – teaching appreciation
• Writing thank you cards – not just for presents – also for actions
• Saying please and thank you – appreciating everyone through good manners

As we near closer and closer to winter, and colder temperatures and shorter days become the norm, few activities feel as perfect in the late fall as cozying up to a good book. The same can be said to those visiting here at Explore & More. A central focus of our organization is to highlight and emphasize the importance of literacy. Walking through our museum space you will notice that there are books accompanying nearly every exhibit. These have been curated to match the theme of the exhibit they have been placed within.

Reading these books while in the exhibit offers a tremendous learning opportunity as it is easy to connect what a child is experiencing to the words they are reading or being read. Apart from these connections, encouraging reading while playing can help make reading fun, thus making children even more likely to pick up a book for fun! Apart from the thematic books placed throughout our exhibit spaces, there are a few areas that are perfect for taking a few minutes to sit, breathe, and pick up a book.

Our sensory friendly rooms can be used by anyone needing a quick break from the noise and excitement of Explore & More and are equipped with several books and sensory-friendly manipulatives (these rooms are located on the 2nd and 4th floors). Reading in the Community Treehouse can be a truly rewarding experience as immersing oneself in the natural surroundings can help foster imagination. Lastly, please check out our new Book Nook, which is located on the top of the packet boat in the Moving Water exhibit. This area was developed specifically for reading, and you can find a variety of books that range from picture books to chapter books.

Cozy up in the beanbag chairs and participate in a reading adventure. Take some time and encourage children to read in the museum. Making reading a part of play will benefit development and assist in childhood literacy!

Dear Friends,

The holiday season is upon us, and most parents and caregivers find themselves dreaming of family gatherings filled with warmth and generosity, surrounded by children who are well behaved, polite and most of all, happy.

For many families, however, those picture-perfect images are often all too quickly replaced with the harsh realities of handling some of our children’s less than perfect behaviors. Parents can find themselves feeling frustrated, angry, and resentful, as our children seem to fall apart right when we most wish, and need, them to hold it together.

One of the best ways you can support your children is to take time to recognize and appreciate your children’s unique approach to the world. The holidays flow much more smoothly when you consider what each child needs to feel comfortable and successful in any given situation.

Being tuned in to your children’s temperament helps you to organize your children’s environment so that behaviors can flow more smoothly, and you can provide a more enjoyable experience for everyone involved.

For example:

• Children who have difficulty coping with changes in routines may need your help to forewarn them about those changes and they may need more time to adjust and transition from one activity to another.
• Children who are sensitive to lots of stimuli, like crowded malls and noisy parties, may need access to quiet places where they can unwind and calm down.
• Children who are shy around relatives they have not seen in a while may need your permission to slowly ease into family gatherings and may need your reassurance before they feel comfortable in new situations.
• Children with high activity levels may need to be given acceptable outlets for their energy.

Finding the balance between meeting your needs for creating a memorable holiday and your children’s needs to act like children can be tricky. By honoring the qualities that make your children special and understanding their unique approach to the holidays, you provide a gift that will help you and your family have a smoother and more enjoyable holiday season. Also, remember that no matter what occasion your family celebrates during the holidays, you’ll find the gift of learning through play all season long at Explore & More – Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Children’s Museum.

Best Regards,

Lisa Chrapowicz
Director of Strategic & Community Initiatives