How to Stay Active and Healthy in the Summer Time

Summertime is the best time to start becoming more physically active. With all the extra time your child has its important to make sure they have fun during summer vacation but also that they stay happy, active and healthy.

Here are some ways to stay active and healthy in the summer:

Keep them Hydrated:

It’s obvious that staying hydrated during summer time is important, but it is not always easy to get them to drink as much water as they should. Here are some tips that can help you:

• Fruit Infused Water: By letting delicious fruits soak in water it makes a plain drink more delicious! You can also purchase cool looking fruit infused water bottles made just for kids!
•  Schedule more drink breaks: Get your child in the habit of taking water breaks throughout the day and it will soon become routine. This is especially important if your child is participating in a lot of physical activities throughout the day.
•  Popsicles: Try to get some with low sugar so your kids can stay hydrated with less sugar. You can also make popsicles fun by looking up recipes to make them with your kids!

Engage with nature:

Marla and her Falconry bird Mack from The New England Reptile and Raptor Show

The Children’s Museum in Easton recently had Bigfoot summer drop in day, which focused on nature and ways to have fun in your backyard. The New England Reptile and Raptor show had an interactive performance where children learned about the cool creatures that live right in their backyard. They even got the chance to meet the animals up close!

 The performance also taught visitors about bones and how they differ for each animal. Their new found knowledge about  nature helped children create amazing Bigfoot dioramas that Bigfoot himself would love to call home! Visitors also made a Bigfoot expedition kit which would help them catch Bigfoot and many other creatures that may be nearby. The Bigfoot obstacle course was also a huge hit because it allowed children to literally “walk in Bigfoot’s shoes”!

 

All these activities promoted learning about nature and inspired creativity. The Bigfoot drop in day allowed Children to learn and be active in ways that they enjoyed. Children were able be active while exploring their surroundings and learning.  Many children left the museum happy and eager to continue their search for Bigfoot.

Attending Bigfoot day isn't the only way to have your children engage with nature. Make every day an adventure and start exploring wherever you can, which leads me into our next tip for staying healthy and active in the summer.

Make sure your child gets daily exercise:

It may seem like something obvious, but the summertime is when children become less physically active. On hot days it can be tempting to stay inside and sit around all day, but there are many ways to make sure your child gets daily exercise in the summer. Here’s what you can do:

•  Take walks to the local store to buy Popsicles and cool down.
• Go for a swim to stay active and cool down.
• Go on at least three bike rides a week.
• On rainy days instead of staying in and watching movies turn on some music and get your groove on!
• Visit your local park and play games such as, Frisbee, basketball, or soccer.

Hopefully all these tips help you and your children have a healthy and happy summer and remember you can always stop by the Children’s Museum in Easton to have a healthy and happy summer!

*Written by Love Boussiquot, PR Intern

Curious Creatures

This past Friday there were animals, feathered, scaled and fluffy at the Museum courtesy of Curious Creatures.  Not only did visitors have the chance to see the animals and learn about them, but they also had a chance to pet the animals as well.  Some of the many awesome animals that were at the Museum were a skunk, boa constrictor, chinchilla, bearded dragons and a flying squirrel.  Everyone in the audience had a chance to touch the animals during the show as well as the chance to spend time with some of the animals after the show as well.  The children helped hold up the boa constrictor, played with a fluffy bunny and provided a perch for the parrot.

Animals from every continent but Antarctica were present at the Museum on Friday.

• Macaw's (parrot) can be found in South America.
• Flying Squirrels can be found in North and Central America.
• Alligator's can be found in North America and China.
• Chinchilla's can be found in the Andes mountains in Peru and Chile.
• Bearded Dragons can be found in central Australia.
• Boa Constrictors can be found in North America, Central America, South America and the Caribbean.
• Scorpions can be found on every continent besides Antarctica but are not native to the United Kingdom and New Zealand.
• Tarantula's can be found in the U.S., Mexico, South America, Africa, Australia and lower Asia.
• Tropical frogs can be found in Central and South America.
• Bunnies can be found in Southwestern Europe, Southeast Asial Africa, South America, Japan, Sumatra and in your own backyard.
• Tortoise's, Skunks and King Snakes can all be found in North America.

There was a lot of fun and educational information in the show on Friday.  In case you missed the event, here are some of the many fun facts that we learned about the many different animals present.

• A parrot’s jaw is so strong that it can break a human finger and crack open the hardest nuts.
• Parrot's lose feathers every day.
• Blue and gold Macaws from South America are as smart as a 3 year old. 
• Bearded Dragon's are shades of yellow and tan to camouflage themselves in their habitat, the desert.
• Bearded Dragon’s have no teeth and spike up when they feel threatened.
• Aside from crocodiles, alligators have the strongest jaws of any animal.
• Despite how hard a tortoise shell might seem, a jaguar can bite through it.
• Tortoise shells grow in rings from the cracks on their shells.
•  Skunks dig in the dirt for bugs to eat; the more bugs they eat the stinkier they get.
• After a skunk sprays it can’t spray for a week.

Is your child curious about lots of different creatures?  If they are, don’t be afraid to encourage their love for animals.  Share these fun facts with them, take them out to explore at the zoo or on a farm and take them to the library to find books that can teach them more about their favorite animals.

For some more photos from Curious Creatures you can check out the slideshow below.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

Chinchillas and Bunnies and Frogs, Oh My!

The Children's Museum was thrilled to welcome Matt of Animal World Experience on Thursday. After several weeks of voting for our favorite animals, the votes were counted and Matt brought in the winners!

Including:
Rudy - A Chinchilla whose breed has become endangered because they have the softest fur in the world and have unfortunately been used for fur coats. This lucky chinchilla spends her days in a safe home, enjoying raisins.

Kiwi - An Australian White's Tree Frog whose slimy skin makes him hard to hang on to. He's a great jumper and climber and was happy to take a rest on the heads of a few volunteers at the Museum!

Peanut - A Guinea Pig who was dropped off at a pet store when her owner couldn't care for her anymore. Luckily she was taken in by Matt and his wife Melissa where she is a "chatterbox," squeaking and squealing her days away.

Scooter - An Alligator Snapping Turtle who took a bite out of some celery in front of his audience and cut just like a knife! Don't be fooled by his 2" long body at birth because Scooter may one day grow to weigh over 300 lbs!

Oreo - A Bunny that was found on a campground in Connecticut. She was not supposed to be let loose in the wild, so Matt spent 8 hours trying to coax her to come out from under a deck. He was successful and now Oreo spends her days munching on apples and helping Matt teach kids about responsible pet ownership.

Angel - Oreo's sister who is known as the "Queen of the House." She is a quirky little bunny who is litter box trained just like a cat.

Hulk - An Emperor Scorpion who is the 2nd largest kind of Scorpion in the world. When Matt shined a special flashlight on her she turned green! Hulk was cool to look at, but not to touch. From her sharp claws to her venomous tail, she's not as nice to pet as a Bunny!

Matt taught the children that welcoming a new pet into your home makes it a part of your family. It's important to never set your pet free in the wild if you can't care for it anymore. There are plenty of options for a shelter to keep them happy and healthy!

"We hope that through our animal presentations people will develop respect and awareness for animals of all kinds." - Matt and Melissa

Click here to learn more at Matt and Melissa's Website or Facebook Page!

-Kerri, PR Intern

Best of Winter 2010

My name is Andrea Servidone, and I am a photographer who focuses on family and child portraiture as well as wedding photography.

I recently volunteered at the Children's Museum in Easton, where I had the extreme pleasure of photographing children and their families enjoying the many programs and exhibits the museum has to offer. Being a kid at heart myself, I had a blast covering events like Animal Happenings, Friday Frolics, the annual Kids' Holiday Shop, and a few others. It actually wasn't unusual for someone to come up to me and tell me that it appeared I was having as much fun as the kids; truth be told, I was. Most of these events and programs are held on a reoccurring basis, and if you haven't participated in any yet, I would highly encourage you to bring your kids and grand kids, as it truly is fun for the entire family.

As you've probably gathered, the Children's Museum in Easton completely charmed me, and the people that work and volunteer there are a big part of the reason why. I sincerely want to thank them for making my photographic experience at the Children's Museum a wonderful and memorable one.

Warmest regards,
Andrea Servidone
www.servidonestudios.com

Birds and Bees and Ice Cream .. oh my!!

Wow! What a busy day we've had at the museum! As some of you might know, every Thursday and Friday of the summer we have a different themed Drop-in-Day. Today was called The Birds and the Bees!

Right from the start Joe Joyce, meteorologist from NECN gave a really informative talk about the weather and all the things that go along with it.

As New England weather would have it, as soon as he started talking about thunder and rain it started to pour!! We had to put our events on hold for about a half hour and then it passed. Gotta love New England!

Thankfully the rain passed and soon we were all back outside with Jeani Warish from the Bristol County Beekeepers Association learning all about honeybees! She had a sample of bees from her own personal hive in a observation glass, busy at work. Jeani was super informative! We learned all about the differences in bees, how they work and what they do!

Here's some quick fun facts:

- Sugar water is the closest thing we have to nectar, that's what beekeepers feed their honeybees!

- Honey stays good forever!

- If you take one teaspoon of LOCAL (it's important that it's locally produced/colonized honey) everyday starting in February you will notice a decline in your pollen allergies. Wow! A spoonful of honey is also good for coughs and sore throats ... and it tastes good!

- A honey bee takes 21 days to hatch.

- Male honey bees are called drones and their main purpose in life is to mate.

- Every fall the female honey bees kick all the drones out of the hive!

- In the wild, bees make their hives into what is called Burr comb and it usually takes only 24 hours!

There was a taste test too for anyone that wanted to try it. Which do you prefer: acacia honey or blossom honey? I liked the acacia honey the best, and so did mostly everyone else! It was not as strong as the blossom honey, but if you really want some kick to your honey I would definitely recommend blossom! It's super sweet!

Some of the museum volunteers and interns were helping the kids make their own bees and pinwheels to take home out of everyday, household materials. There were some pretty creative bees flying out of there!

The best part of the day was when we got to see four honey bees being hatched!! It was so cool and takes about 20 minutes for the whole process. The queen bee puts the eggs into the little caves of the honey comb and the other bees (called nurse bees) cover them up and keep them safe until it's time for them to hatch. When their 21 days are up they eat their way out of the cave and then out they come! It was amazing! Thanks Jeani for bringing them to us :) Thanks also to Haagen-Dazs for donating free seed packets for everyone to take home and plant their own bee-friendly flowers!

That's not all though (I told you we were busy today!)! at 1:00 Marla Isaac from the New England Reptile and Raptor Exhibits came and gave an en"rapture"ing presentation about Birds of Prey!

We learned all about the different kinds of birds of prey there are (owls, falcons and hawks were at this presentation!). And we got to meet some pretty cool birds, like Rufus the red-shouldered hawk and Mo the red-tailed hawk.

Here are some more fun facts:

-Raptors are a type of bird of prey that has talons.

-All birds of prey are protected by law ... which means you, CANNOT hunt them, hurt them, or capture them.

-A short-winged hawk only eats birds that are diseased or dying.

-Once a bird of prey learns something (like in falconry) they don't forget it.

-Vultures can smell up to 12 miles away!

-Turkey vultures only started showing up in Massachusetts 10-12 years ago! Now they stick out the winters on Martha's Vineyard!

After all that the Museum gave out some free, delicious ice cream and Italian ice! Yum!!

It's been such a great day at the museum! Tomorrow is A Pirate's Life for Me!, which promises to be just as exciting! Thanks for dropping by and until then, don't forget to check out our website for more information on all the Drop-in-Days!

And The Winner Is...

Last week was finally the results of the intense voting that has been going on for the past couple weeks. The monkey came out the winner, with the bunny coming in a close second. What should me name our newest friend at the Museum? I think I feel a new contest coming on! Make sure you keep your eyes open for it! How much do you know about monkeys? Well did you know that most monkeys live in forests and Savannah’s or equatorial Africa? Monkeys don’t just love bananas. They also east ripe fruits, young leaves, stems, roots seeds, bark and insects. Ew! I couldn’t eat what a monkey does! Sadly most are nearing extinction because of deforestation and commercial hunting for bush meat. Monkeys are pretty cool animals. I was rooting for the bunny but I’m glad that the monkey won. They’re pretty cute…I guess.

I wonder if monkeys eat ice cream? Hmmm.During this week in the Fetch! Lab we made ice cream! We didn’t use any blenders or freezers, just our muscles! We did a whole lotta shaking. I never knew that I could only make ice cream by using cream, sugar, vanilla, ice and salt! I’m so glad I figured out how so now every time I want ice cream I don’t have to get up and go to the store! It was a yummy week in the Fetch! Lab. Next week is going to be pretty cool as well! We are experimenting with the forces of energy! How cool does that sound?! I hope to see you stop by!

It's Not Over!

Not by a long Shot.

Join us this week as we bring in two of our most popular Drop In Day activities ever! Curious Creatures will visit us on Thursday 8/28 for two shows at 10:30am & noon. Stop by and get up close (or maybe not so close) to a baby alligator, snakes and other creatures during these hour long "hands-on" presentations.

Per Ruff's request we are rolling out the red carpet. That's right, this Friday 8/29 we are throwing a premier party for season 3 of FETCH! starring everyone's furry friend, Ruff Ruffman. Stick around for some cake and a question and answer session with FETCH! cast members at 11:am & 1:00.