With Summer in Western New York now in full swing, Explore & More’s Education Team is committed to continuing to create, present, and share educational programming throughout our community. With many children on summer break, or out of a classroom, it is still important to remember that summer can be a valuable time for learning and educational growth. This month’s Culture Corner newsletter will focus on ways parents and guardians can use the summer months as a time to enrich their children. Summer is a perfect time to get active in one’s community, as there are a plethora of events and festivals that celebrate, diversity and community.

July and the rest of the summer months can foster civility and help mold children into more active community members. This July, The Italian Festival, Polish American Arts Festival, Macedonian Festival, Buffalo Irish Festival and Disability Pride will all take place! Attending events such as those above, will demonstrate different cultural customs, and broaden the horizons of children and young people who attend. This month take advantage of the warm weather and use the Western New York environment to your advantage. Being in nature can improve academic outcomes, as it often assists in focus, problem-solving, and creativity. It has been proven that exposure to the outdoors will lead to positives in the classroom, so be sure to encourage outdoor exploration!

Apart from being adventurous outside and within the community, summer vacation is a fantastic time to encourage new scholastic learning. Encouraging the reading of books, watching educational videos and movies, and practicing the arts, are perfect out-of-classroom academic summer activities. Children will often gravitate to what their guardians encourage or enjoy, so keep in mind your interest can influence the children in your life! Inclusion in this learning can go a long way and lead to positive mental development. Ultimately, summer is a time to grow, it is our hope here at Explore & More, that we encourage this growth through continued learning in our growing community.

What’s your favorite way to cool off in a hot month like July? My favorite way is with an ice cream cone.

You can make your own homemade ice cream with an easy-peasy recipe that anyone can follow. What’s even better is that more hands make this activity easier! Grab the family and grab the materials:

• 1 quart plastic bag
• 1 gallon plastic bag
• 1 towel
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 3 cups ice
• 1/3 cup kosher salt

Optional

• bowls & spoons
• a timer
• a tall cup
• a large bowl
• toppings

Start by pouring your half-and-half into your quart plastic bag. This can be made easier by placing your plastic bag in a tall cup and folding the edges over the sides of the cup. After the half-and-half has been measured, add the sugar and the vanilla extract. Seal this bag very tightly and place that to the side and we’ll begin the next step.

Bring out your large gallon bag and fill it with the ice and salt. Place your quart bag inside the gallon bag, seal up the gallon bag, and wrap it in a towel. Now it’s time to shake your bag! This needs to be done for about 5 minutes, so it’s best to use teamwork!

Once your ice cream is the desired consistency, it’s time to scoop and eat! Be careful not to mix any of the salt into your vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!

-Ms. Jackie
Lead Play to Learn Facilitator

Dear Friends,

I must say, I am enjoying this summer! Buffalo has one of the best when it comes to weather! The longer days and warmer nights mean there’s so much to see, do, experience, and explore. Summer is the best time to make a family bucket list of things that you don’t want to miss doing together. Making a summer bucket list will help you avoid looking back in August and wondering where the time went! There are simple, free, and low-cost things that can fill this summer with fun for the entire family. Let’s make a summer bucket list together!

I was inspired to make a summer bucket list for my family. Sometimes things happen in life, and we can’t do fun stuff right away, so this is a great way to ensure you still do them later! What makes this bucket list idea so awesome is that it will evolve over time and kids can get involved in the planning in a way that helps them develop delayed gratification skills and gives them something to look forward to.

To make a family bucket list for summer fun all you need is slips of paper, a large jar, and a marker. When your children ask for something, they can’t do or have right now, write it down together and put it in the jar. This is your bucket list. It’s as simple as that! This is a great opportunity to work your way through the jar and be more grateful for the little things in our lives. In the meantime, the jar will fill up with so many wonderful and magical things that the whole family can look forward to.

Kids of all ages may have a hard time understanding why they can’t have fun right this minute. With work, school, and other things in life getting in the way, you can’t always have fun right now. Responsibility isn’t on their minds like ours, so a bucket list helps them know you aren’t ignoring them, but they can’t do the fun things they want just this minute, but you will do them later.

This will also give them something to look forward to, because let’s be honest, we could all use some motivation once in a while. Other ways you can help your kids understand: use phrases like “We can’t do that now, but here’s what we can do instead.” The bucket list activity is a concrete way of reminding them of what they can do right now (create the bucket list).

In the meantime, we can help our kids wait to do those fun things in our bucket list by creating a bucket journal! What is a bucket journal? Well, a bucket journal is a journal that you write down (or draw) the details and plans of those things you want to do. This would be a great activity to go along with your bucket list. Don’t know what to put in your journal? Here are some ideas:

List each activity you have done and write down details like:

• How fun it was
• Stuff you did
• People you saw
• Places you saw along the way
• How it made you feel
• People you went with
• Add a checklist of things you want to do or see when you get there
• Add photos you took
• Write down new ideas

You can purchase inexpensive plain journals, pens, and markers from the local Dollar Store. Let your children decorate their journals and fill the pages with details about each bucket list item you do out of the jar.

So, make this summer exciting! Add places to explore, see, and do and do them together as a family! A bucket wish jar and a bucket journal are a perfect way to make this happen!

What will you and your kids put on your bucket list? Perhaps, you will venture down to Canalside and take a break from the heat by playing and learning at Explore & More.

I hope to see you soon!

Lisa Chrapowicz
Director of Strategic & Community Initiatives

This June our Culture Corner will be focusing on the Juneteenth holiday; the reasons behind celebrating it, and what Explore & More will be doing to join in the celebration.

The origins of Juneteenth trace back to Galveston, Texas, on June 19th, 1865, this is the location and time that some of the last enslaved African Americans were set free, after the conclusion of the Civil War. A year later, the Black citizens of Galveston commemorated this monumental day by singing and gathering to acknowledge their newfound freedom. From its simple origins, the day of remembrance grew organically, across Texas, then throughout the South.  Once the 20th century began, the celebration made its way North, as did many African Americans.

Juneteenth itself grew too, as it went from a simple gathering and reflection of the past to an event that celebrates all aspects of Black American culture. For instance, it is commonplace to have Juneteenth parades, cookouts, and fairs. Juneteenth became a federally recognized holiday on June 19th, 2021, 155 years after its inaugural celebration.

Explore & More will be joining in the Juneteenth celebrations with activities and events both at our own site and across the WNY region. On Friday, June 17th, we will welcome the Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Heritage Center, and educators from their organization will be leading crafts in the Tinkering Tank. Simultaneously a representative from Explore & More will head to the Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Heritage Center site to help commence celebrations. On Saturday the 18th members from Explore & More will head to Martin Luther King Jr. Park, accompanying many other community organizations. Our staff will be bringing the Imagination Playground and Betty Lou Moo, which facilitate a focus on play. Explore & More is proud to be participating in Juneteenth activities both in our own walls and throughout the community. We hope you join us in celebrating Juneteenth!