School is already out or almost out in a lot of places. This means that Grandparents may be preparing for what my own folks like to call “Camp Grammy”. Camp Grammy is where the grandparent look after the grandkids, giving the parents a small break. This break may be an hour, an afternoon or a week, depending on the situation in your family, but whatever the time period, what you do is up to you!
Many Grandparents take on their camp counselor role with gusto – planning events, beach outings, city trips, and more. But, other Grandparents may not be so able. So I thought it would be nice to get a small list together of things you can do with your grandchildren that won’t leave you (too) exhausted by the end of the day.
Indoor playgrounds or children’s museums – Many people are lucky enough to live near a local children’s museum or play center. While the big city Children’s Museums are great fun, they can sometimes be too big to experience in a day or at a leisurely pace. Local Children’s Museums usually offer fewer rooms of activities (imaginative play, live animals, science discovery, etc) and have places to sit and watch the children while they have fun learning and exploring. To find one near you, visit the Association of Children’s Museums website.
Arts and Crafts – The best camps have the greatest arts and crafts activities, now so can Grandma and Grandpa. There are vast resources on the Internet for making crafts using just about anything you have at hand. Collect materials from your office supplies, your backyard, even your kitchen, and you have everything you need to make some fun and interesting art. The best thing is art can be done anywhere! Inside when it’s raining, outside when it’s nice. Collect seaweed, seashells and rocks at the beach and make a beautiful collage on the sand! Here are two sites with some great ideas! FamilyFun: Crafts Childhoon 101: Playopedia
Gardening or Pot Planting – If you will see your grandchildren several times throughout the summer, consider planting something with them that they can watch grow! Kids love to play with the dirt and help you plant. Then just wait until you see their faces when the flowers, vegetables or fruits start growing! Priceless! An added bonus: picky eaters may even be willing to try whatever vegetable they spent all summer watching grow!
Local Library – The local library is a great place to go with kids of all ages. There are often events planned throughout the summer to keep children engaged with reading (reading throughout the summer is proven to help kids maintain or improve their school reading level). Many libraries have fun story times for young children and entertaining reading programs for older children. Sign up your grandchild for a reading program that encourages and even rewards them for reading during the summer with the knowledge that you are preparing them for success in the next school year!
Let them play! – You remember just playing right? When you would go outside and just discover things, find interesting leaves, dig holes, play hopscotch, run around in circles? Many parents are under the impression that they have to keep their kids busy 24/7, but guess what? With just a little encouragement (or a little boredom), kids will come up with great games, find something to investigate, or just lie down watching the clouds go by all by themselves.
These are just a few ideas to help you keep the children in your life entertained without over-exerting yourself. There are so many great ideas out there if you are willing to give a little time and effort.
So You Think You Can Dance is one of those reality TV shows you can get addicted to. It relies on the same old formula, except there’s an introduction of some differences that sets it apart from other reality TV shows.
We start with the basic ingredients, talented dancers, judges that annoy and impress with their comments, a lovely hostess and lots of drama. There’s the introduction of new, gifted choreographers too, giving them a great opportunity to showcase their talents.
There are quite a few more ingredients, but the one that lets me enjoy the drama of elimination nights is the presentation of professional dancers as an introduction to the different styles and strengths dancers have. Though this is season 8, I am still a big fan, especially of last night’s program!
One of the professional dancers they chose to present was from the AXIS Dance Company, a fairly large ensemble of professional dancers, some with disabilities. The dance was with a wheelchair user and an ‘able-bodied’ dancer. It was marvelous. Completely changes the dance vocabulary you’ve come to expect, incorporating the wheelchair in as a prop, a vehicle, and an integral part of the dance. Instead of strong male leaps, we saw interesting balances, twists and angles that could be performed no other way. Just as partnered professional performers are expected to excel, this pair was fabulously strong and fluid. The choreography was interesting, modern and tough. Altogether, it was fabulous to watch.
The wheelchair was not the focus, but not left out either. The dancer in the chair was every bit an elegant athlete, tempting the fates with daring moves that an untrained dancer simply couldn’t do.
I can’t exude enough passion about what I saw. As a dance fan I was thrilled, as a disability advocate I was ecstatic!
I love living in New England! I was born and raised here and while I’ve visited some very lovely places in my travels- I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. It has a certain charm that you fall in love with and every spectacular season it surprises you with something new to offer.
My latest adventure in mommy-hood is my rather novice attempt at exposing my six year old daughter to the love of the great outdoors. We have started slow, both for her benefit as well as mine, with going on small hikes that have now evolved into daylong explorations into areas of our state that I’ve never heard of before. We’ve determined that State parks with waterfalls are our favorites. Not only is it a really inexpensive and incredibly educational activity to get out and experience Mother Nature at its best, but it is fantastic exercise that is actually fun. Not to mention an incredible bonding experience with your child.
But it got me to thinking as the trails that we’ve been on are not accessible by any stretch of the imagination. How do people who use a mobility device get to enjoy being in the depths of nature? I began researching and was pleasantly surprised to find lots of information!
In my home state of Connecticut I was unfortunately not able to find much other than one park with fully accessible trails, Centennial Watershed State Forest. There are a few other state parks that I’ve visited and have seen wide partially paved or gravel paths, but it will require some strength and agility to maneuver around as many of them are not maintained well.
Nationally, there are lots of Nationals Forests that are accessible! A quick search on Google found this page which groups the parks into regions: National Park Service: Accessible to Everyone
In Connecticut we have the “No Child Left Inside” initiative to get kids outside, how about one for adults of every ability too? I challenge you, even if you use a walker, rollator, wheelchair or other mobility device to get out and experience the natural beauty around you this summer. Call your state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and find out what your state parks offer or check out one of the accessible National Parks! Happy Trails! (We’d love to hear your experiences!)
Yes, summer is here!
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