By Val Drapeau

Did you know that each November UNICEF’s annual World Children’s Day is celebrated?  This holiday is an annual day of action for children, and one that marks the Convention on the Rights of the Child being adopted.  What kind of action do we mean?  Issues that matter to our youngest generations.  I am a mom of four kiddos and when asking them what issues of the current day matter the most to them, here is what they said:

Bullying, mental health and helping children cope with anxiety and depression, and safety in our community, were just some of the things that they shared.

So how can we help our children stand up for their rights and for the causes that are most important to them, to create a better future?  Here are some ideas:

• Take the time to listen!  Children are very observant of their surroundings and may have a lot to share about what they see in their community.
• Put the “act” in activism!  Find a service opportunity in your community that you and your family can participate in together.  Even our youngest friends can help to make a difference!  Maybe you can safely pick up trash together in a neighborhood park or encourage them to look for a friend at lunch who might be sitting alone, where they can step out of their comfort zone to make a new friend by sitting with them.
• Keep the conversation going!  Talk and encourage your child to ask questions that they may have about their school or community and sometimes even the tough things that they may see or encounter.  Ask them what they could do to help make a change in that situation!

Another way to acknowledge this exciting opportunity is to turn the world blue!  On November 20th show your support for World Children’s Day by wearing something blue.  Many organizations around the world will light up their buildings blue for this cause as well!  Here at Explore & More, we are always looking for ways to help children and families learn and grow by highlighting causes like this.  Join us in the museum this November as we play into possibilities and seek to make a difference together!

This month, we will “feed the turkey” as a two-for-one craft and sensory bin! Here are the materials we’ll need: 

1. Clean plastic water bottle 
2. Multi-color feathers (paper or craft)
3. Eyes for your turkey 
4. A beak & wattle for your turkey 
5. A bin full of pom poms 
6. Jumbo tweezers (optional) 

Steps: 

Glue or tape the feathers onto the bottle
Glue the eyes onto the turkey 
Glue the beak and wattle onto the turkey 

Now that you have a perfect little turkey, It’s time to feed him! Fill a bin with pom poms, and let your little one fill him with pom poms through the bottle’s opening. This activity will build your child’s fine motor skills- strengthening their hand-eye coordination and pincer grasp. Both are essential pre-writing skills. For an extra challenge, use jumbo tweezers!

Happy crafting, 

Ms. Jackie

By Will Kawalec

This November I will be diving into the event most synonymous with the month, Thanksgiving. As a historian specializing in American history, there are few topics in elementary education that are taught incorrectly more often than Thanksgiving.

Factual education about this event is something that is needed, and it is my hope to set the record straight, for children and adults alike! I will provide some key facts and fictions of Thanksgiving, though to understand the real history I will attach some key resources for parents or caregivers to check out! With this brief background it is my hope that readers will receive a foundational education in the real history of Thanksgiving.

Facts: 

•Thanksgiving was a 3-day feast, between English colonists and the Wampanoag people, who were native to Eastern Massachusetts.   
•The colonists were seeking money and wealth, while some were religious outcasts looking to practice their faith.
•Wampanoag people already had many interactions with Europeans, at least two Wampanoag’s spoke English prior to the arrival of the Mayflower.  
•The Wampanoag were devastated by diseases before the Mayflower anchored.  
•The Wampanoag were enemies with the Narragansett peoples and fought for control of Eastern Massachusetts.  
•Wampanoag partnered with the colonists because of necessity, for they wanted to help secure their territorial claims as disease (from Europeans) decimated their communities.
•The Wampanoag taught the English settlers how to farm and cultivate local crops and wildlife.  

Fictions:
•The Wampanoag gave up their land to the colonists, on the contrary, they assisted the colonists in their survival, and allied with them out of necessity.  Eventually losing their land during King Philips War years later.  
•Indigenous Peoples didn’t understand land as property. That statement is false.
•Turkey was the main item for the feast, False, although turkey and duck were present, deer was the most prevalent food item at the feast.  

Resources: 

Harvest Study Guide
Thanksgiving Booklet
5 Ideas to Teach Thanksgiving

There’s a chill in the air, October is here! At Explore and More we are celebrating October with so many fun classes. Our Pre-K class Explore Even More and our Toddler Time class will be on the 21^st with fun Halloween activities and trick-or-treating! Wizards from Wonderland Character Entertainment are visiting the museum on the 22^nd for a magical themed STEAM class. The whole museum will be celebrating Spooktacular with crazy Halloween activities the 25^th – 29^th, and The Salem Sisters from Wonderland Character Entertainment will be visiting the museum on the 28^th and 29^th.  Be sure to pre-register for our special classes, you don’t want to miss out!

With all that in mind, let’s pretend to be witches, wizards, or ghouls and paint a spooky cauldron work of art. You can make this as complicated or as easy as you want. I can’t wait to see what you come up with!

Recommended materials:

• Cauldron PDF, printed
• Watercolors
• Paint brush 
• Water 
• Glue 
• Cotton balls

Steps: 

1. Print out this nifty Cauldron template; you don’t need it but it helps!
2. Begin painting- I used a lot of layers to make my painting extra beautiful.
3. Layer along with me if you’d like: purple, blue, then very diluted black. 
4. Put a circle in your cauldron for the opening.
5. Paint in your cauldron. 
6. Paint the ground.
7. Add some colorful steam rising out of your cauldron.
8. Add any additional layering- I added some spooky trees.
9. Add glue onto the steam and inside of the cauldron.
10. Disperse your cotton balls as needed- I only used half of one.

Voila! What a spooky masterpiece! 

Happy crafting, 

Ms. Jackie

by Mara Gordon

Greetings, cosmonauts! October has so many fun holidays to celebrate, though as an educator I wanted to highlight World Space Week (WSW), which goes from October 4^th– 10^th. This international celebration of the cosmos has been around since 1999 and this year, WSW is about “Space and Entrepreneurship” recognizing all the potential opportunities that space has to offer.

Even though we are unable to celebrate World Space Week together at Explore & More, due to our temporary closure, there are many opportunities at home and in the community to provide children with hands-on experiences.

The best way to start learning about space at home is to spend some time outside! With something as vast as outer space, start with what we can see from Earth, the Sun and the Moon. Since it is never safe to stare at the sun directly, try a nighttime observation of the sky. Make your own “telescope” by decorating a cardboard tube to help focus on the moon and discover the constellations. Constellations are groups of stars that early astronomers connected to form a pattern. There are over 80 official constellations that represent mythological figures or stories such as the Little Dipper, Hercules or Pegasus (Farmers’ Almanac 2023).

As stargazing becomes a new tradition, grab a notebook or drawing pad to begin tracking the star positions each night. Use the North Star, or Polaris, to orientate yourself north and record the locations of the stars overhead to find constellations or to make your own pattern. Over time, the rotational journey of the Earth will reveal more of the night sky and new constellations to discover! 

We are greatly looking forward to reopening and exploring space together with activities like making Pipe Cleaner Constellations in the Tinkering Tank and preparing for the Solar Eclipse of 2024! Stay tuned for more information about this monumental event.