Life is a Challenge

Several years ago my children were really into the Fetch with Ruff Ruffman show on PBS.  The host, Ruff, would give the contestants “science challenges” to complete.  It was always entertaining to watch how the contestants went about completing their challenge.  At home we would often complete our own science challenges downloaded from the PBS Kids website http://www.pbs.org/parents/fetch/activities/act/index.html .

One day during that same time period I was pushing my middle child, who was always very particular about the way everything was done, on the swing.  She kept pointing out what I was doing wrong, and giving me very detailed instructions on exactly how she wanted to be pushed.  Finally, exasperated, I said, “If you are going to be difficult I am not going to push you at all.”  She replied, shocked, “But mom, this is your challenge.”

Turns out she was not trying to be difficult, just trying to make up a challenge for me.  Her statement made me do a reality check…I did choose to be a mom and strive to be a good one.  And nothing we strive for is without its challenges.  Quite often now when parenting throws its curveballs I try to put on a Ruff Ruffman smile and remind myself, “This is your challenge.”

Drop-in Days Week 3: FETCH! and Move It! AKA Ruff Ruffman and the Case of the Free Ice Cream!

Week 3 of Summer Drop-in Days was filled with TV characters, animals, cake and ice cream, and cool dance moves. An interesting mix of entertainment, right? Well that's how we like our Drop-in Days- full of variety! This week is no different. Today pirates will be walking the plank, and tomorrow we will be taking the Gentle Giant Staircase Challenge! Come on over and experience it firsthand! If you couldn't make it to our Drop-in Days last week, then here is what you missed!

On Thursday our favorite furry pal, Ruff from FETCH! with Ruff Ruffman, came to visit us! Throughout the day, Ruff bopped down in The Wild Place to take pictures and hand out awesome stickers, bookmarks, and tattoos! He loved meeting his biggest fans, like Hillary and Ashley Browne (left)- some of them even made him cool crafts at our Crazy Concoction Station (right), where we made some coffee ground fossils and puff paint creations!

After you finished up your crafts, you could've headed over to the gazebo for some tasty Ruff Ruffman cake. I have to admit that I had a big piece my self...it was delicious! And what goes better with cake than ice cream? The Mix 104.1 Street Team (below) was nice enough to help us out. They handed out delicious Turkey Hill ice cream to everyone. It was the perfect way to cool off in the summer heat! If you missed out on the ice cream, then you can come next Friday, August 6th for another scoop from Mix 104.1!

It was a great day at the Museum: our favorite PBS friend, Ruff Ruffman, came over, we got to make some kooky crafts, and we were able to satisfy our sweet tooth with cake and ice cream! What more can you ask for?! You are probably thinking "another awesome Drop-in Day like this one!" Well, we've got you covered. Don't miss Ruff on our last Drop-in Day of the summer. On August 27th he will be back to wrap up another great summer at the Museum!

So after indulging in (maybe a little too much!) cake and ice cream, we definitely needed to work it off at our next Drop-in Day! On Friday we busted some funky moves with Nicole, a dancer who trained at the Boston Ballet School! She showed us fun games that got all of our body parts to bend and move. She also taught us some awesome party dances, like the Macarena and the Funky Chicken. I will definitely be breaking those moves out at the next dance party that I go to!

If you braved the rain, then you got to see Matt from Animal World Experience (right) show us how animals move during Locomotion Commotion. He brought along a snake, possum, rabbit, and other wiggly creatures to teach us why these animals move the way they do. Matt's different spin on an animal show made it a huge hit with our visitors. If you love animals, then you are in luck! We still have a few more Drop-in Days in August that will be a hit for animal lovers. Make sure to check out Dog Days of Summer II and Miss Candy's Petting Zoo for more animal fun!

We had another exciting week at the Museum. One day we met our favorite TV character and the next we learned some new dance moves! There's always something fun happening at our Drop-in Days. Be sure to check out our August Drop-in Day schedule to see what we have planned for next month!

-Ashley Balerna

Public Relations Intern, The Children's Museum in Easton

Summer Drop-In-Days

Looking for something educational yet fun and totally awesome to do this summer? Drop in to the Children’s Museum in Easton for some summer fun every Thursday and Friday July 8- August 27! Each day features a different theme with a combination of special guest performances and hands-on, interactive activities. Some of our favorite themes you will see most often are animals, fitness, movement and music. That’s not to say there isn’t more, so you will have to come on down to check out all of our Summer Drop-In-Days throughout the summer.

If you like animals then you should check out one of our many animal themed days! You can see lots of awesome animal shows and even meet your favorite furry (or even slimey or scaly) friends! Whether you like farm animals or something a bit more exotic there is a day for just about any kind of animal. We start the summer off with a day for dog lovers with Dog Days of Summer I, on Friday July 8th with guest appearances by some of your favorite friends including Apache from the Beagle Brigade, Catie Copley of the Fairmont Copley Plaza and much, much more! Hmm…But, maybe you like something a little more exotic? Join us the following week for two days of wild animal fun! On Thursday, July 15th Go Wild! With Robb’s wild puppet friends and learn all about birds of prey from Marla Isaac of the New England Reptile and Raptor Exhibits. Or, come Friday, July 16th and get to pet a snake, a baby alligator and even more reptiles in our Creature Feature Program. If you were lucky enough to see him in here the spring at our Spring Fling, then come back for more of Matt from Animal World Experience as he shows us how to slither, crawl, hop swim, and climb like some of our favorite animals on Friday, July 23 as part of our Move it! Program. Matt will be joining us again on Friday, August 13 giving you the chance to BEE a POOP detective and meet some “super-poopers” for yourself. These are just a handful of the programs featuring animals so you better check out our schedule just to make sure your don’t miss your favorite animals and the chance to meet some of them right here at The Children’s Museum in Easton!

Not interested in meeting a real live animal? Well kids, we have your favorite Ruff Ruffman from the PBS show FETCH with Ruff Ruffman here not one, but two days this summer! Come on Thursday, July 22 for some crazy concoctions and eat as much cake and ice cream as you want! Or, come end your summer on Friday, August 27 with a special guest cast member from the show. If you love FETCH! and can’t get enough of him, we’d love to have you both days.

Not an animal lover at all? That’s ok we’ve got plenty of other fun activities you can enjoy. So maybe you like sports. Which is your favorite, soccer? Come meet a player from the Boston Breakers women’s soccer team during our Sports, Health & Fitness program on Friday, July 30th. If you like lacrosse, or maybe you’ve never even played, well this too is your day. The Boston Blazers will have a goal set up all day for you to shoot on and will also be giving away lots of free stuff. The Gentle Giant will be there all day too, so try your luck on the Staircase Challenge!

What kid hasn’t wanted to join the circus? There are clowns, acrobats, animals and lots of magic, everything you love! Well you don’t have to travel to the Big Apple to join this circus. Just come to The Museum on Friday, August 20 for Under the Big top and see Awesome Robb perform Magic and try your hand at juggling, hoola-hooping and more of your favorite circus tricks, who knows? You might find your future here.

After you come to our first Drop- In- Day on Thursday, July 8 (which happens to be tie-dye) we know you’ll never want to miss another! If one day of tie-dye isn’t enough, because we know how much everyone loves it, then come back on Friday, August 6 for more! This time Mix 104.1 will be there handing out ice cream! What more could you want on a hot summer day? For a complete schedule of the Summer Drop in Days check out our website, www.childrensmuseumineaston.org/summerdropindays.asp.

- Alex Langway
Communications/PR Intern

A "FETCHing" Friday!!

Friday was a very special day at the Museum- from FETCH! we had Ruff Ruffman and Season 3 "FETCHer" Harsha came to visit! It was one fun-filled day here!

There were all kinds of things going on including a Q&A with Harsha. She told us a lot of interesting things like how it was to audition for the show. Harsha said that the key to auditioning is to be yourself and to not worry about the camera, advice she gave to anyone out in the audience who may be thinking of auditioning for an upcoming season. She also told us what her favorite challenge was: scavenger hunt in Boston!

A lot of those in the audience agreed that scavenger hunts were fun, and when asked if they would join a scavenger hunt club a lot of hands were raised! Looks like a lot of kids want to have their own scavenger hunting adventures like Harsha does too!

While Harsha was not the grand champ of the season it was ok since she had such an awesome experience and made friends with the rest of her cast of "FETCHers!"

After the Q&A kids got to meet Harsha and Ruff himself as they signed autographs and took pictures! Not to mention we got to have cake, before lunch too! Talk about a cool day! Meeting a tv star and cake! What could be better!?

There were also other fun activities going on in the Wild Place! There was coloring activities where kids got to color and decorate pictures of Ruff, which he then signed! Other fun activities included making a kaleidoscope! It was a great day!

Be sure to check out FETCH! when Season 4 premieres with a very special, almost all animated, episode on the 11th of September on your local PBS station.

Also this was our last Summer Drop-In-Day, we hope you have enjoyed them as much as we have! Be sure to look for some fun fall activities coming your way, like the Scarecrow Stomp or the Halloween Romp!

Come Visit Us for Valentine's Day!

We've been awfully busy down in the FETCH! Lab this week. The FETCHers have returned from a dangerous space mission and their space capsules have fallen into the bottom of the ocean! Our visiting inventors have come downstairs and designed some creative devices to help retrieve the fallen capsules. It has been a little tricky to come up with the best hook, but everyone has done a terrific job. We've had some great minds here showing me their best designs for a rescue device. Shaila, Eliza and I will have to keep working at it for the rest of the week to make sure there are no abandoned capsules! Come stop by and help us out!

I know next week Ruff Ruffman will have us investigating something new, but you'll have to drop in and find out what we're experimenting with!

Cupid has been flying around the Museum getting us ready for his favorite holiday! On Friday, February 13 from 11- 4pm the Children's Museum in Easton will be having our annual Valentine's Day Celebration . I'll be on hand down in the Fetch! Lab as usual, but we'll have a fantastic heart-filled day throughout the Museum. We'll be making chocolate lollipops for a sweet treat to take home to your Valentine, as well as some fancy heart-shaped arts and crafts to make upstairs!

In addition to all of our great activities, I'm really excited for the visit from the Mix 98.5 Snowbreak Tour during our Valentine's Day celebration! The station will be raffling off lift tickets for different ski mountains as well as a bunch of other goodies! Free gifts and chocolate lollipops all in one day? Sounds like a great Valentine's Day to me!

A Great Start To An Even Greater Summer!

What a perfect way to begin our Summer Drop-in Days! After a visit from Ruff Ruffman , some absolutely yummy cake from Shaw's, FETCH! kite activities, musical instruments with Jane MacAuslan, karaoke, dancing, and making musical instruments, we have drawn quite the crowd! It is so nice to see kids of all ages (and their parents) enjoying some summer fun in the sun. What a hit the past two days have been! I've included a fun photo of our very good friend Ruff Ruffman's visit!

I already cannot wait for next Thursday (the 17th) when we will be having our first Tie-Dye Drop-in day! Come back on Friday (the 18th) and get messy as we make all sorts of Crazy Concoctions! From playdough and gak, to snot and slime, we'll be using everyday ingredients to make your favorite messy creations. Stop by anytime between 10:30 am and 3:00 pm.

I also wanted to thank those of you who voted for the Children's Museum in Easton in the Parents' Picks Award Contest, we really appreciate your votes!

Slainte

Well, I have to post early this week because one of the perks of going to a Catholic college is that they overdo Catholic holidays. I have FIVE days off for Easter. Yep. I normally post Friday, but won’t be here, so I’m posting today. It's only been four days since my last post, but I'll make due.

Well since this blog is family-oriented I’ll discuss my own family. This past Sunday we had a small surprise party for my mom, who was born on St. Patrick’s Day. Being 100% Irish and being born on St. Patrick’s Day is pretty sweet I imagine. My mom and I both share an astrological sign (Pisces) as I recently turned 22. Sunday was a good time, especially when my mom arrived at the house and I jumped out and yelled, “Surprise!” scaring the daylights out of her.

You can be sure that Stonehill College also celebrated St. Patrick’s Day. We had an Irish band called “The Barleymen” play (the bassist is a Stonehill biology professor, and you should check out their myspace page if you like traditional Irish music). I am a huge fan of trad Irish music and they played the usual classics (“The Wild Rover” which you may know as “No Nay Never”) but also other gems some don’t know about (“The Leaving of Liverpool” and “Whiskey, You’re the Devil”). The last St. Patrick’s Day event for me, I guess you could say, is tonight. I will be seeing my favorite band of all time, The Pogues, at the Orpheum in Boston. The Pogues are known for being the first popular British band to incorporate traditional Irish music, the first ever Celtic-punk band, and led by legendary Irish frontman Shane MacGowan.

On a more museum-related note, I will be back next Wednesday with a new post on Friday. I’m glad spring is coming both personally and for the museum. With the outdoor play area soon opening (April 19), I will be able to do some Fetch! ™ labs outside (such as making a boat). Kids really don’t get outside enough, and spring always makes way for new activities and new possibilities.

I put some links on the left such as Fetch! and other PBS Kids related sites. There are some fun games and info about my friend Ruff Ruffman. Check it out!

Well, the February Vacation week is over for me. The Ruff Ruffman™ scavenger hunt was a hit. I’m guessing it was because of the wonderful storyline that I wrote. We had a whole lot of guests this week including two police dogs, a motorcycle police officer, an FBI agent, and Secret Service agents. The metal detector we were loaned was also a hit. Even kids who didn’t participate in the scavenger hunt wandered around testing to see if anything in my presence was metal. At this point I’m inured to loud beeping noises.
Many kids were attracted to the FETCH! ™ aspect of the scavenger hunt because they were fans of the show. The CSI episode of FETCH aired about a thousand times this week so I could probably quote it word for word. One boy was the highlight of my week with a project he designed in the woodshop room. He asked, “Do you know Ruff?” I responded, “Absolutely I do.” So he gave me a sign that read, “Dear Ruff, Sorry about the girlfriend,” referring to the Whodunit? story I wrote (see entry below).
I just finished watching the Secret Service presentation and the kids loved seeing gas masks, wires, badges, and bulletproof vests. I was fascinated myself, and I have to admit I’m wearing the novelty badge each child received at the end of the presentation right now.The museum was mentioned on New England Mamas. It was an accurate review, and it can be seen here.

The Marshmallow Towers were a blast this week, even though mine kept falling over. Kids not only made towers but also houses, pyramids, boxes, octagons, and some more abstract designs. But the museum is mostly gearing up for next week’s big Whodunnit? Mystery. The February vacation week brings many visitors so we always put on something special. This year’s theme is a forensic/detective skills, so I wrote a storyline along with the planned activities to incorporate Ruff Ruffman. Here’s “The Case of the Anti-Valentine”:

“Sweet biscuits!
I’ve been framed!
Charlene, the poodle next door and the
object of my affection, has received a nasty Valentine’s letter.


The card reads:
‘Dear Charlene,
I don’t like you. Don’t
ever talk to me again.
Signed, Ruff Ruffman.’

Someone has committed a forgery to slander my good name!

Alright FETCHers, grab your badge and suit up, your assignment is to get to the bottom of this mystery. You have one piece of
evidence: a footprint was left by Charlene’s mailbox. You must hurry and bring the
perpetrator to justice, or Charlene may never talk to me again! Using the footprint as a clue, a keen wit, and a good eye, you must solve the Case of the Anti-Valentine. Go FETCH!

I’m at my wit’s end, but I have faith in you FETCHers. Help me catch this fiend and win back Charlene’s love!”





Kids will have to use their junior detective skills to notice clues, draw sketches, test their memories, and follow leads to solve the crime and catch the one who did this to Ruff. The scavenger hunt will also incorporate a real metal detector and I’m quite excited about that. There’s going to be a million different activities every day next week so you should definitely bring your children in as it’s going to be the best week of the year. There won’t be a FETCH! Lab due to the Whodunnit? but the week after we will be taking Stroop Tests. That’s a psychological test you’ve probably taken before where are asked to name the colors of each word aloud. It looks something like this: RED BLUE GREEN YELLOW. It’s interesting to see how hard it is for adults and how it can be easier for kids who do not read very well.
Have a fun February Vacation!