Volunteering is a great way to teach children about appreciating what they have and helping others. It is also a great experience for families to do together to strengthen bonds. A guaranteed outcome will be meeting new friends and feeling more involved in the community. Children will learn new skills and get to explore different activities. Youth who volunteer are more likely to do better in school and less likely to engage in risky behavior. I may be rushing things a bit for our readers, but students who volunteer are 19% more likely to graduate from college. By encouraging your children to do community service now, you are making it more likely that they will continue to do so as adults. One study showed that adults who started volunteering as children donate to and volunteer for charitable organizations more often than those who did not. Studies even show that volunteering increases happiness! Who doesn’t love an extra dose of happy?
Check out Red Tricycle’s article What Gives? Volunteer Opportunities for Children for a list of some family-friendly charities in Atlanta for you and your children to become involved with. Fur Kids is an animal shelter that lets children help take care of the animals waiting for homes. Help your children put together a “Hero Box” for service men and women who are overseas. Piedmont Park’s Clean and Green program teaches kids as young as five how to keep their parks clean, as well as basic gardening techniques. Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta has a program for little ones to do service projects around the hospital. Gather meals and toiletries with your children to donate to the Ronald McDonald House. There are also lots of walks raising money for different illnesses throughout the year for kids to become involved in.
You can visit handsonatlanta.org for even more organizations to become involved with. On the left there is an option to refine the search to “appropriate for children” which is super helpful. Tons of opportunities will pop up, such as helping at farmer’s markets, working with senior citizens, and assisting under-served children in the city.
Happy 2015! We’re half-way through the first month of a new year and this month is traditionally the perfect opportunity to try new things and improve on others. “New Year’s Resolutions and Kids: A different approach to traditional goal-setting” on mom.me is a great guide to opening up a discussion with your little ones, if you haven’t already. The article encourages posing questions to them such as:
Am I a kind person?
How do I treat my friends, siblings, people I don’t know?
Are all people as lucky as I am?
What should I be thankful for?
What am I good at?
What do I struggle at?
These questions will help them reflect on “who they are and who they want to be” and create self-awareness. This will help them learn about appreciation, empathy, and compassion.
Here are some ideas of little resolutions for youngsters, aka preschoolers:
-Clean up my toys after I play with them.
-Wash my hands after I use the bathroom.
-Play nicely with my brother/sister.
For children a little bit older:
-Always wear my helmet while riding my bicycle.
-Turn off the TV and read a book.
-Practice (my instrument, sport, etc.).
-Trade an unhealthy snack for a healthy one.
-Do my chores the first time I am asked.
We decided to ask some of our little guests at the Museum for their resolutions and they came up with some gems:
-Plant more flowers! (especially pink ones)
-Recycle (which is perfect for our new exhibit, Super Kids Saves the World)
-Hug mommy more!
You can even make this process into a craft project by helping your kiddos make their own vision boards! Cut out pictures from magazines and draw pictures illustrating the resolutions. Decorate with stickers and glitter, and then hang up the board as a fun reminder to keep up with the resolutions. This also makes for a great opportunity to have a talk about accepting setbacks, getting back on track, and rewarding yourself for sticking with it.
The Georgia Dance Alliance teaches modern dance and hip hop to children ages 4-12, who are given professional opportunities to perform at a variety of venues, from festivals and sporting events to dance competitions. The dancers at GDA have won many awards at different competitions. Founded by a former Atlanta Falcons Cheerleader with almost two decades of dance experience, Melissa Cox wanted to create a space for young dancers to have fun while receiving professional training. The mission of her organization is to create a nurturing and encouraging environment in which children can learn to dance and share their talents with others. The GDA dancers will be visiting the Museum to perform for guests on Saturday, November 15th at 12:00 PM.
One thing we can learn from these little dancers is that physical activity is very important for children. Studies show that while structured, team sports are important to be involved in, free play activities should be part of every child’s daily routine. Physical activity helps children both physically and mentally. Physically, children develop muscle strength, keep their bones strong, and decrease body fat, leading to a steady, healthy weight. Mentally, these activities can help with self-esteem, concentration, mood swings, and even decrease anxiety and increase happiness. Games with toddlers can also help in a variety of ways, such as learning to take turns, counting, and listening, as well as developing gross motor skills.
As the weather gets colder, it is even more important to keep your children active, since they might not be playing outside as often. Outdoor activities can still be fun, such as bike riding or hiking. Taking along a healthy picnic lunch will help make a day out of it. If it is a little too chilly outside for your family, many community centers offer classes for parents and their children to take together. Parents are the best role models, so if you want to keep your child active, why not show them the way?
On days when the family is stuck in the house, there are tons of activities for you and the kids to do to have fun and get some exercise. Remember Freeze Dance? Put on some fun music and dance! When you pause the music, the little ones have to freeze in whatever position they are in. You can raise the difficulty by asking the children to freeze in poses such as animals, or for a real challenge yoga poses. Another classic is Simon Says. The leader says a command such as “Simon says hop up and down,” and the rest of the players must hop up and down. If the leader doesn’t say “Simon says” and a player does the action, he or she is out. The last player left is the new Simon.
A fun game that can be played indoors is Lava Floor. Pretend that the carpet or flooring is lava, and the children have to get around the room without touching it. Put down construction paper or set up pillows as areas the children can jump on. If you have a competitive family and some space, why not create an obstacle course or race? Set up furniture and pillows that have to be run through and around. In open areas have races, which are made more challenging by having to do so in tough positions, such as wheelbarrow and crab-walk, or hop like a bunny and waddle like a duck.
Another great idea for keeping your children active is to bring them here to The Children’s Museum! Hours of play in which they learn and move around is beneficial to them. Why not come when the dancers of Georgia Dance Alliance are here to perform?
Halloween is approaching quickly and you might be a little bit stumped for costume ideas that are “outside the box”. The new trend is homemade costumes, which can be a challenge for those who don’t sew. So why not try one of these fun, homemade costumes that puts your kiddo inside of a box?
This hot-air balloon costume is beyond adorable! It’s a little complicated but Country Living has really good instructions. You can customize it to go with a classic movie such as The Wizard of Oz or Up, or make it totally unique!
Want a super easy and inexpensive costume? This article has over thirty ideas, but one in particular caught my eye. To make a Rubik’s cube all you need is a square box! Cut holes for the head and arms, cut off the bottom side, and use construction paper or paint to color each other side. Then use black tape to make horizontal and vertical lines to create the 3×3 grid on the sides.
“24 Halloween Costumes to Make from a Cardboard Box” on www.popsugar.com has some amazing creations. I really enjoy the candy box costume for something a little bit simpler, but there are plenty of dinosaur and transportation examples for something a little bit more challenging. Pick your child’s favorite candy and turn him or her into a movie theater candy box. Cars, boats, and trains are loved by girls and boys and make for fun costumes they can play in later. Their juice box costume is a great idea, how cute is the straw?
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
If your kiddo loves trains and you love a challenge, check out ArtfulIdentity.com. The directions, with photographs, are great, but this costume is going to take some time and a lot of work on the grown-up’s part. Here’s a look at the almost finished costume, which would definitely win first prize in a costume contest.
And how about a costume for you and your baby? Check out WomansDay.com for details on this King Kong costume for your little one and Empire State Building costume for you.
I hope these ideas and articles help to inspire you to create homemade costumes for your kiddos and yourself. It will be a fun project for you all to work on as a family. Don’t worry about the little details or it being perfect, because the kids are going to love it regardless.
Diwali is the five day Hindu Festival of Lights. It is believed to have begun thousands of years ago as an agricultural celebration, to be grateful and merry for the good harvest. Northern, Southern, and Western Hindus have different stories and traditions for the holiday, even though the theme is the same. Light is significant in Hinduism because it is believed that light reveals the beauty of the world and is considered a symbol of positivity and knowledge. Darkness is connected with ignorance and negative forces, such as violence, greed, and injustice. Lighting lamps is a symbol for destroying this negativity. Although it is a Hindu holiday, most of India now celebrates it regardless of religious affiliation.
The first day, Dhanvantari Triodasi, and the second day, Narak Chaturdasi, are when homes and businesses are cleaned and then colorfully decorated in order to be welcoming to Lakshmi, the Goddess of Wealth and Prosperity. Rice flour and vermillion powder footprints are drawn around the house to indicate her arrival. Evil spirits are kept away at night by the lighting of clay diyas, or oil lamps. One tradition of the first day is for women to buy gold or kitchen utensils!
Diwali is actually the third and main day of the festival, when families pray to Lakshmi, which is followed by feasts, festivities, and fireworks. Songs of praise are sung and sweets are offered to the goddess, while dressed in their best silk garments and gold jewelry. On farms, cows are decorated and worshipped, because they are considered to be the incarnation of the goddess.
The fourth day is called Annakoot, which means mountain of food. This is also the first day of their new year. Family and friends gather to exchange gifts, wish each other the best, and eat. In some temples, on this day, the deities are bathed, dressed, and adorned with diamonds and pearls. After praying, sweets are given as offerings to the deities. The fifth and final day of the celebration is called Bhratri Dooj and is when married women are visited by their brothers for whom they prepare an elaborate meal.
There are tons of fun crafts for kids to create to decorate for the holiday. Rangoli, an art form in which colored rice, sand, and flower petals are used to create patterns on the floor, is done for good luck. Here is a kid-friendly way to make rangoli at home. Draw, or have your child draw, a pattern on a piece of construction paper. Fill sections one at a time with a layer of glue, and then sprinkle on colored rice or sand or even glitter. Repeat until the pattern is filled in and then you have a rangoli! The website DLTK Kids has pattern templates as well as instructions for making your own colored rice. ArtsyCraftyMoms.com also has some great craft ideas, such as Noise Free Fire Crackers. Using foam shapes, pipe cleaners, and star stickers, the kids can create a rocket-shaped fire cracker to decorate the house with.
Diwali is a unique holiday that encompasses many familiar traditions and beliefs, such as being grateful for the harvest, lighting lamps, exchanging presents, setting off fireworks, gathering with loved ones, decorating the home, and celebrating the new year.
“Tuesday” is coming to the Children’s Museum of Atlanta this Friday! Don’t know who Tuesday is? He is the golden retriever featured in the new nonfiction children’s book “Tuesday Tucks Me In: The Loyal Bond between a Soldier and His Service Dog” by Luis Carlos Montalván. Montalván is not only a New York Times best-selling author, but a speaker and an advocate as well. He spent seventeen years in the military and received numerous awards for his service. Suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as other physical wounds, Montalván met Tuesday, a service dog trained to assist the disabled, who changed his life. He said “Tuesday brightens my days and calms my nights.”
Often referred to as a “tail-wagging ambassador,” Tuesday narrates this children’s book, which follows a day in his life with Montalván. Training since he was three days old, Tuesday can do almost 150 commands, including turning on lights, helping Montalván put on his socks and shoes, and reminding Montalván to take his medicine. “It’s not just his understanding of me, although that’s part of it. With a word, Tuesday can guide me to dozens of places. He can be my surrogate or a mirror to my heart,” says Montalván. One of the amazing things that Tuesday does is pay attention to Montalván’s heartbeat, so that he can prevent panic attacks from happening!
Recommended for 4-8 year olds, the book is illustrated with full page photographs of Tuesday and his best friend. Written to be understood by children both young and old, the story is both humorous and realistic about the difficulties Montalván faces. By the end of the story, you’ll understand what Montalván means when he talks about him and Tuesday and says, “We aren’t just service dog and master, Tuesday and I are also best friends. Kindred souls, Brothers.”
Come to the Museum on Friday, September 19 and with your general admission ticket you will be able to attend a special story time with Montalván and Tuesday at 11 am. You can visit http://www.tuesdaytucks.com to learn more about this amazing pair and download activity sheets for the kiddos to complete.
Ch’usok, also known as the Korean Harvest Moon Festival, is celebrated on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month, which means the date changes yearly on our calendar. It is marked by the rising of the full moon and celebrates families’ ancestors for giving them a good harvest. While most people see this holiday as the Korean Thanksgiving, there are many ancient traditions, some thousands of years old that are practiced on this day to honor ancestors. Families gather from around the world to perform Jesa or the ceremony to the dead, dressed in traditional Korean clothing.
The ceremony begins with an offering of food and wine to ancestors at a memorial shrine put together by the family. Stones and food are stacked in front of the shrine, which is a form of prayer. Before being offered to the ancestors, the food must pass over burning incense. There are many traditions in this ceremony, such as bowing (sometimes 108 times) and food being laid out in rows of five. The fish is placed on the eastside of the table, with their heads facing east, which represents good fortune and eternal life. Until recently only men could carry out this ceremony, but in more modern families women are allowed to perform the ceremony as well.
Following the ceremony is a meal of fish and the harvested vegetables and grains, including rice cakes (ttok) and taro soup (toran-t’ang). The most well-known food associated with Ch’usok is songpyon which is a rice cake in the shape of a crescent which is cooked on a bed of pine needles. The making of songpyon is passed down from grandmother to mother to daughter, as the females of the family gather to make them, tell stories, and spend time together. Another popular food is the Korean Sesame Cookie, which is a bit easier to make than songpyon. The recipe below is for five dozen cookies, so you might want to try halving it!
Ingredients:
¾ cup toasted sesame seeds
1 cup real butter
¾ cup brown sugar
¾ cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp hot water
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 ½ to 3 cups flour
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Toast rinsed sesame seeds in a frying pan or wok over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. When they are browned and puffed, remove them from heat to cool. Cream the butter with the brown and white sugars. Then add the eggs and beat well. Next add the baking soda, hot water, and vanilla. Mix well before stirring in the flour and sesame seeds. When the dough is stiff, cover and refrigerate until firm. Heaping teaspoonfuls need to be rolled into balls and placed on a baking sheet, two inches apart. Slightly flatten the balls. Bake for 10-12 minutes.
After the meal, graves of relatives are visited, where more ceremonies are performed, which include bowing, offering food and drink, and piling up food and stones. This holiday also includes gift giving, dancing, and playing music. There are even athletic events, such as tug of war, archery, and sirrum, a Korean form of wrestling, to strengthen the community. One tradition is called Kobuk-nori or the tortoise game. Two men are covered with a straw shell to resemble a tortoise. Going through the village, from house to house, they entertain with dances and antics until they playfully collapse from hunger and exhaustion. Then they are given food and drink, and everyone sings and dances.
The Harvest Moon Festival is full of tradition, family, and community. Many cultural beliefs are carried out through the ancient ceremonies. Relatives travel from all over so that families can spend the time together preparing for and celebrating the holiday. The traffic can get so bad in Korea that a five hour car trip might take 20 hours! But, most importantly, the community comes together to play games, dance, and give thanks during Harvest Moon Festival.
Visitors to the Museum this month will learn about three masters of art while creating their own masterpieces, all the while becoming Box Masters. The works of Josef Albers, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Louise Nevelson will be used to teach color, structure, and sculpture, inspiring the creation of crafts, science, and architecture, with boxes!
“Homage to the Square: Apparition”, 1959. Josef Albers
Falling Water; built in 1964; designed by Frank Lloyd Wright
“Untitled” 1964. Louise Nevelson
German-born artist Josef “The Square Man” Albers created over 1,000 paintings, drawings, and prints of squares between the 1950’s and 1970’s. While some may look at these works of art and just see squares, there is both mathematics and color theory (such as the effects that colors have on one another) behind each piece. The series Homage to the Square explores what happens when different sizes and colors of squares are placed upon one another and how they create optical illusions. His experimentation inspired artists and movements, such as Geometric Abstraction, Color Field, and Op Art. In the Craft Maker Space, your little artists will channel Albers by doing a sugar cube project.
Frank Lloyd Wright, named the greatest American architect by the American Institute of Architects, started out as a draftsman in the 1880’s. Inspired by the flatness of the prairie, he created an American style of architecture which became known as the Prairie Style. This style is known for its one-floor horizontals, with rows of windows that strengthen the horizontal theme. Wright is another prolific artist who in seventy years drew over 1000 designs, half of which were actually constructed. He became a major influence on the architects that have come after him. In the Craft Maker Space, a model making project will be done to show the principles of Wright’s Prairie Style.
Russian sculptor Louise Nevelson came to America as a child in 1905. She considered herself the first recycler because she used discarded wooden objects to create her works of art. Her use of individual pieces to create one monumental sculpture is known as assemblage or “a work of art made by grouping found or unrelated objects”. Nevelson paved the way for female artists, who were not previously known to make large, sculptural pieces of art. In the Box Lab, your little sculptors and architects will be led by the Imaginators in constructing structures inspired by Wright’s buildings and sculptures encouraged by the works of Nevelson.
Don’t think we forgot about your little scientists! In the Science Maker Space, arches and triangles will be explored to see how they can strengthen bridges and buildings. Binoculars will be made using colorful gels that will show what happens when colors mix. The Lab Coat Kids Science Show will focus on light and color, by teaching your curious kids about prisms, while also learning how primary colors (red, yellow, and blue) become secondary colors (green, purple, and orange).
Who knew that boxes could inspire so many artists and works of art? We hope that everyone gets creative this month and uses what they’ve learned about boxes to make some masterpieces!
Thankfulness, joy, generosity, and gratitude are the focus of the Islamic holiday Eid al-Fitr. The three day celebration, pronounced eed al fitter, is the Festival of Fast-Breaking. It starts on the first day of the month of Shawwal, following Ramadan, a fasting holiday. Eid al-Fitr is so significant that in Saudi Arabia the civil service minister declared that it would be celebrated for 12 days this year!
Since the lunar calendar is followed, it is hard to put an exact date on which the holiday will fall, but most believe it will be the 28th or 29th of July in 2014. The confusion with the lunar calendar is that the new crescent moon will be sighted at different times in different parts of the world. Some believe that when it is sighted in a Muslim country that is the sighting for all Muslims around the world. Others believe that each individual can sight the moon for themselves to begin the holiday. Then there are some Muslims who are okay with using scientific data to determine the beginning of Eid al-Fitr.
Similar to many other holidays, one of the most important parts of the celebration is the sadagah al-fitr or the charity of fast-breaking. It is typically done before the holiday begins, and includes giving different types of food from cheese to fruit to barley. Each family donates food to the poor on behalf of every member of the family, including the children. This is done so that everyone will be able to eat the traditional holiday meal, celebrating the strength it took fasting for Ramadan.
The day begins with the whole family dressing up in their nicest clothes and decorating their houses with lights. Greeting cards are given to family and friends with the message Eid Mubbarak, or blessed Eid. A morning trip to the mosque is made where special prayers are done and sermons are read. Then families visits their friends and family to give thanks and eat together. In some countries there is a tradition of gift-giving, mostly to children. There are also parades and outdoor activities where members of the community can come together to celebrate and give thanks.
The holiday meal has a particular emphasis on sweets and varies by country, with each one having their own traditional special sweet. In Pakistan it is Zarda, a rice dessert with sugar, nuts, and dried fruit. In Bangladesh one is Jalebi, a pastry filled with sweet syrup in the shape of a pretzel. Dates, cardamom, and yogurt are commonly found in the holiday meal. In America, some say the meal is similar to a Thanksgiving meal, with turkey, collard greens, and macaroni and cheese! A quick search on the internet can find you Eid al-Fitr recipes to try at home, such as this Jalebi recipe from www.epicurious.com that makes 8 pastries:
Ingredients:
1 ½ teaspoons active dry yeast
1 tablespoon plus 2/3 cup water
1 ½ cups maida flour
2 teaspoons Bengal gram flour
1 ½ tablespoons ghee, melted
1 ½ teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
4 drops yellow food coloring
2 cups ghee for frying, melted
1 ¾ cups lime-saffron syrup
To make the batter:
Dissolve the yeast in 1 tablespoon of the water and let sit for just 10 minutes, and no longer. In a large bowl, combine the maida flour and Bengal gram flour. Add the yeast, melted ghee, sugar, lemon juice, yellow food coloring, and remaining 2/3 cup water and mix until there are no more lumps.
To fry the jalebis:
Melt enough ghee in a heavy-bottomed pot to fill it 1 inch deep. Line plates with paper towels for draining the fried cakes. Pour the lime-saffron syrup into a saucepan over low heat, to keep it warm. Fit a pastry bag with a small writing tip, and pour the batter into the bag.
Squeeze 2-inch round whorls of batter into the hot ghee, working closely from the center out. Fry until golden brown on the bottom, then flip to fry on the other side until it’s golden brown. Remove the jalebis from the oil and set on paper towels to drain. Transfer the hot cakes to the lime-saffron syrup and let soak for a minute or two.
To serve:
Serve the jalebis warm in small bowls with syrup. Or you can remove the jalebis from the syrup and set on a rack to dry for 3 to 4 hours, until the syrup has formed a hard shell.
I know some of those ingredients have brought up questions and worries, but the Atlanta area has many Indian grocery stores, such as Indian Bazaar and Cherians. Why not take a family trip to one? Pick up some groceries while learning about another culture!
Did any of these Eid al-Fitr traditions sound familiar? This holiday is a great example of how we all celebrate and give thanks in similar ways. Parades, gifts, charity, decorations, and food are central to this Muslim holiday as well as most of the holidays that we are more accustomed to.
Learn more about Eid al-Fitr this weekend at The Children’s Museum of Atlanta. We will celebrate with storytelling and crafts on Saturday, July 26 at noon and 3:00 PM and Sunday, July 27 at 3:00 PM.
Growing Into the World 