Warmer weather is here for many of us, and for those of you “up North”, the days will soon turn balmy for you as well (I promise!).  With warmer weather we get to enjoy budding plants, more outside playtime, and (our favorite) BUGS!

Exploring the world around us should be an integral part of growing up and learning.  Studying nature and the outside world allows children the opportunity to learn more about how we, as humans, work and live with and in the environment, taking care of our planet and the inhabitants thereof.  Through nature, children can explore patterns and solve problems.  They can learn to make decisions based on how that decision affects others around them, and they can observe life cycles of other creatures to learn more about themselves.  And, nature is simply COOL.  Bugs included!  Just ask any child what a worm or a beetle is, and they can certainly tell you!

WonderBrains offers a variety of products to promote observation of living creatures in a safe way - safe for children as well as the creatures!  Products, such as the Bug Explorer, are perfect for safely “catching” a variety of insects and observe them in a non-threatening way.  And, the insects can be released back into their natural habitat.  Or, look into products such as an ant farm or ladybug farm to bring insects that might be more difficult to capture into a safe observation area.  One of our favorite insect-toys in our family is the butterfly habitat.  With it, my boys can send off for caterpillars that the boys then watch as they grow and metamophosize into beautiful butterflies.  We then release them in our own back yard, where they can be spotted for quite some time afterward. 

Whether using store-bought product or making your own collection system (jars with holes in the lids, plastic containers, nets), bugs can be easily observed and recorded.  Even little tikes love to draw pictures of what they see.  Simply stapling a few sheets of paper together to make a journal or record book can open up many doors and opportunities to learn.  Encourage your child to ask questions, to look for answers, and to write or draw what they see.  Keep a journal of types of bugs found in your backyard, and encourage your child to keep track of the numbers of each kind they see and find.  Take photos of different insects to use as a reference when looking for more information at your local library or online.

As with any type of creature, teach your child some safety tips when handling living things.  Try not to touch any creature so as not to harm the animal (or have the animal harm your child!).  Always ask an adult before attempting to capture an animal/insect in order to make sure that the child is being safe and aware of the surroundings.  Try not to disturb the animal’s habitat, and be sure to release the animal back at the same place it was found so as not to confuse it.

Bugs can offer a multitude of learning opportunities and adventures!

Winter weather means it is time for one of my most favorite science activities - ALL THINGS STATIC ELECTRICITY!  What causes static electricity to be so prevalent in the winter months?  It is primarily based on two facts:  wintertime is typically drier than summer, when the air is more humid.  Electricity needs the dry air in order to hold the charge.  And, we tend to wear things (such as wool hats and scarves, jackets and socks) that increase the presence of static electricity.

Without bogging down on how static electricity is formed, it simply needs two “insulators” to rub together.  Insulators are things made of plastic, cloth, or glass.  These can hold charged atoms, called ions.  When they come into contact with a “conductor”, such as metal, the energy is transferred (and we get a shock!).  Here are some great things to try on a cold, dry day to experiment with static electricity.

• Take a piece of dry cereal, such as an “O” shaped cereal, and tie it to a thread about a foot long.  Tape the thread on the side of a table so that the cereal hangs loosely without touching anything.  Next take a clean, dry comb and rub it on a sweater or comb through dry hair.  Now, hold the comb close to the cereal.  What does the cereal do?  When the cereal is hanging loose again, recharge the comb and place it near the cereal again.  Are the results the same or different?  Why?
• Rub a dry, clean comb on a sweater or through dry hair and hold it near a running faucet (run the faucet in a slow, steady stream, not full-blast).  Watch what happens to the stream of water.
• This is my favorite, but it definitely requires an adult to do it.  Take a fluorescent light bulb into a dark room.  Rub a dry, clean comb on a sweater or through dry hair (do this a lot to build up a good charge).  Touch the comb to the light bulb and see what happens.  Try touching the light bulb in different places and see if the results change.

These experiments can be done with balloons that are blown up and tied as well.  Try it both ways and see which way works best!

Halloween doesn’t have to be all about candy and costumes.  It can be creative fun, full of imagination and role-playing.  What child doesn’t like to create his or her own creature or play in a new world with puppets?  What about exploring and making your own slime or other fun science-related products?

WonderBrains has pulled together an amazing line of products geared towards promoting the fun and educational side of the season.  Let children explore their imaginative side with puppets, from wizards to doctors, princesses to chefs.  Or, for the older group, invest in a science lab kit to make gooey concoctions, play foam (that glows in the dark!) and slime.  Little kids will enjoy the bumblebee hand puppet and the lightning bug flashlights.  And, for kids of all ages, check out the make-a-mask kit!  Kids can create their own mask for trick-or-treating!

Halloween doesn’t have to be all about the chocolate and the lollipops.  Find a few things that will tantalize their creative side as well!

WonderBrains is offering a 10% discount on their Halloween toys and products!  Visit the online store, and use 10SPOOKY at checkout for your discount!

I got a terrific idea from my son’s teacher this week.  This idea can be used with just about any subject being studied.  Take a piece of posterboard (12 x 18 inches) and have your child decorate it with anything that is currently being studied.  For example, if your child is learning his or her multiplicaction facts, have him or her write them around the edges of the posterboard.  Or, if your child is learning to identify colors or letters, do the same with that information.  Maybe your older child needs to memorize a timeline or a set of dates or events.  Write whatever subject it is on the posterboard, then cover it with clear Contact paper.  Viola!  Your child has made an instant, teachable placemat to use at mealtimes!

When kids hear the word “summer”, their heads are filled with visions of swimming, trips, lazy mornings in jammies and playtime - all the time.  The last thing on their minds is anything school-related.  But, summertime can be a great time to keep up those academic skills as well.  And, all it takes is fifteen minutes.

In our house, we set a timer each morning for fifteen minutes, and during that time period, we find something school-related to do.  For our first week home, we kept a journal of our caterpillars and eventual butterflies that we hatched.  We spent fifteen minutes each morning, reading and learning about their development, recording observations in a spiral notebook and drawing sketches of what we saw.  It was an amazing science lesson while still making it fun for the kids (by the way, I did it with them - why should just the kids get to have fun and draw pictures every day?).

Some mornings, we take out my son’s old math workbook from school and find a page or two to complete in order to keep our math skills up.  We alternate math work with our piano practice.  Piano during the school year is a 30 minute-a-day schedule for us; in the summer, I cut my son back to fifteen minutes, every other day.  It gives him a break from the regular routine while still giving him the opportunity to keep his skills sharp. 

Other academic activities could be incorporated this way: reading (my son is an avid reader, so I don’t have to prod him each day to read, but a timer and fifteen minutes would work well for many kids), writing (writing letters, filling out a shopping list for Mom, making a birthday list), measurement, and even art can all benefit from a bit of practice over the summer.

By the time my son’s timer goes off, breakfast is ready and our day begins.  Fifteen minutes a day is all it takes.  And, that fifteen minutes flies by!

Our last day of school is quickly approaching here, and my 2nd grader is definitely in tune to that.  Each day, he tells us how many more school days he has left, and then he proceeds to name all the fun things he’s going to do over the summer, from sleepovers to trips to the grandparents’ house to swimming and playing with the neighbors.  He also knows that many of the things he does in school now will be carried over to the summer.

While taking a break from formal learning environments can do everyone a world of good, it is equally important to maintain those skills learned during school in order to be prepared for the following year.  Personally, I’m a scheduler and a planner, and thankfully, so is my child.  We have a schedule of sorts that we set up for the summer (not set in stone - we must allow for those great trips to Grandpa’s house!) that is generally pain-free and can be fun for all of us.

No matter what age your child, spend some time this summer refreshing those learned skills and taking time to get to know the academic side of your child.  Here is a sampling of what we’ll be doing this summer:

READING:  My son and I hit the half-price bookstore a few weeks ago and chose books we wanted to read for the summer.  We have eight titles total that we plan on reading together and discussing.  I ended up buying duplicate copies of three of them so that we can each have our own book, and the rest I will hunt down at the public library when we are ready to read them.  The point is to READ, and READ CONSISTENTLY.  I’m not as strict on his book choices during the summer, although we do decide on titles together.  My son is a morning person, so we will dedicate about 15 - 30 minutes each morning before breakfast to reading time.  Then, over breakfast, we can discuss what he’s read for the day.  It is a great way to connect with my child, learn more about his reading preferences, and give him some much-needed practice in reading and comprehension.

MATH: The easiest math for us to work on during the summer is money.  This is about the time of the year that we re-evaluate my son’s allowance and make any changes that are needed.  My son is a part of that process.  We set up a budget for the summer, breaking down his weekly allowance into savings, church offering, and any special purchases he would like to make during the summer (a new video game or a special toy he really wants).  We set up a chart to track his money, and he is responsible for completing his chart each week. 

Another fun math activity my son does each year involves road trips to the grandparents’ houses.  We spend several days at each grandparents’ home during the summer.  My son is the navigator for the trip.  We equip him with a state road map, markers, and a ruler.  Together, we calculate how many miles total we will be driving, then we break our trip down into increments with rest stops.  We look for interesting places to stop along the way and work those into our itenerary.  He keeps a written log of our trip as well as the map, and it makes the trip far more interesting to him than simply sitting in the back seat!

SCIENCE: From cooking to water play, involving your child in some fun activities is a great way to bring science into the home.  Have your child help prepare a special meal or dessert, and find out what different ingredients do in the recipe (such as baking soda versus baking powder!).  When playing in the sprinkler, slip n slide or wading pool, give your child a variety of containers to explore volume and fractions.  Science is all around!

WRITING: Our son is responsible for writing one letter a week during the summer (although with the rising cost of postage, we may resort to email this year!).  His audience may be a grandparent, a cousin, a friend or even a former teacher.  We simply want our child to practice his writing skills, and composing letters is a great way to do it.  My son also loves to make “books”.  I simply staple paper together into a book format and he gets busy creating a story for himself, his brother, or even for a friend.  Our younger son will also be composing his own mail this year, too.  He is very excited about it!  Our older son helps create our shopping list at the store as well.  Any kind of writing a child can do is great practice.

By taking a look at the things you typically do during the summer months, it is quite easy to see where academics can be woven into the framework of the day without losing the actual fun.  Take a moment to find ways to actively and enthusiastically engage your child in learning this summer.  The payoff will be amazing when school starts again in the fall!

Last week, my boys received a package in the mail - it was an Aquasaurs kit I had ordered.  An “Aquasaur” is a crustacean (named by the company, Uncle Milton, I assume) that dates back to prehistoric times.  It is a tiny organism that thrived in standing pools of water and could withstand years of inactivity and dry conditions in its egg state.  These hardy water-dwellers can be “hatched” in the right conditions and will grow to be about two inches in length, provided the conditions are right.

And therein lies the catch - if the conditions are right.  Reading the instructions is a must with this set up.  Stock up on spring water - at least 2 gallons of it - so that the container and all the “parts” can be properly rinsed.  Another big condition is the temperature of the water.  Our home tends to cool down in the evenings, so we are supplementing with a small desk lamp next to the aquarium to keep the water between 72F and 80F. 

I must say, that probably the best part of this entire process was that everything (including the eggs and food) was included in this kit.  The only thing that is needed outside of the kit is spring water.  There is no certificate to send off for larvae or a vial of animals, no special food to purchase from a pet store, no additional accessories needed.  Everything is provided.  The instruction sheet also gives some background to the animals and even gives you ordering information should you choose to purchase even more eggs (which I am sure we will do). 

Aquasaurs make a great pet set-up for children who are fascinated with creatures of any kind.  For my dinosaur-boys, this was an ideal choice.  Each day is a learning experience with our prehistoric pals.

Aquasaurs are provided by Uncle Milton and may be purchased through Wonderbrains!

Thank goodness for fences.  Ours hides an inumerable amount of sins, from weeds to broken toys, a kite stuck in the stick of a tree we planted, and colored chalk on every flat surface.  It is my family’s outdoor haven, and last year, I made it a quest to make it an educational area for my kids as well.

We started small, with pots.  We had recently put in new landscaping, so the pots that the new plants were originally in became the basis for our container garden last year.  My boys put a small amount of dirt in an egg carton and germinated seeds indoors. We were successful with beans, carrots (amazingly enough), squash and canteloupe.  I bought small tomato plants and bell pepper plants for them.

Once the seedlings were large enough, we transferred them over to the pots.  The nice thing about the pots is that we could easily move them to make room for backyard adventures and didn’t run the risk of our little plants being trampled.  Our tomatoes grew and grew, and we ended up with about a dozen cherry tomatoes from them.  There would have been more, but a certain three year old loved to pick the pretty green ones. 

Our bell peppers fared well, too. We discovered that they were much more productive on our porch than in the yard, though.  So, yet another perk to container gardening, we moved our peppers to the porch .  The beans made huge bushes, but our Texas weather became too hot to produce too many beans.

The carrots were not so lucky.  To grow carrots, the gardener must possess an extraordinary amount of patience, something small children simply can’t stand at a young age.  Our carrots were orange and about 2.5 inches when we plucked them from the ground.

Amazingly, our canteloupe was the best-growing plant we had.  In fact, our canteloupe did so well that we started burying the seeds, guts and rinds after eating them.  And MORE canteloupe plants came up!  Canteloupe seem to be quite versatile, grow quickly, and are a fine example of the entire plant process, from seed to fruit and back to seed.

This year, we’ll continue with our planting, and we’ll include some measuring, charting and a little friendly competition between the pots.  Our plants will indeed be in pots again.  If for nothing else, they are great in an obstacle course!

Check out Wonderbrains’ fantastic collection of gardening tools and toys for children!