Summer Lovin’ Fun: Shine’s Top 10 Cool Things to Do in the Summer with Your Kids

Summer Lovin’ Fun: Shine’s Top 10 Cool Things to Do in the Summer with Your Kids

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When the weather outside reached ninety-eight degrees or higher, my daily summer routine as a seven year old was wake up, eat and go outside in just my underpants. It never occurred to me to dig out my swimsuit and actually wear it. After I went outside, I turned on the sprinklers and waited for my slip-n-slide to get wet. Once the plastic yellow strip glistened and sparkled from the sunshine, I knew it was time to run, flop on my belly and glide. I did this for hours. Run. Flop. Glide.

The only time I took a break from slipping and sliding was to eat lunch or when my dog Oreo jumped into our hot tub to cool off. Of course I had to jump right in after him! Swimming with Oreo in our own private miniature pool is one of the most vivid and sweetest memories I have as a child. When I close my eyes, I can still picture our deck, smell the air filled with wet dog, feel the texture of my pruney fingers and the sun slightly burning my skin. It was magic.

That’s the beauty of kids. It doesn’t take much for them to have fun. Their intuitive creativity will always kick in and they will make it fun. One way or another, fun always wins.

Shine’s Summer Fun Top Ten List:

Outdoors

1. Make a giant slip-n-slide with a painter’s tarp and shaving cream. Of course there is the option of purchasing one.

2. Make hard-to-pop bubbles with 1 cup of distilled water, 2 tablespoons of dish soap and 1 tablespoon of glycerin.

3. Let kids paint each other with washable tempera paint, then wash it off in the sprinklers or hose them off!

4. Make a sidewalk, driveway or patio chalk mural.

5. Set up a tent in the backyard to use as a summer playhouse.

 

Indoors

IMG_64626. Practice your origami skills and make objects to hang from the ceiling.

7. Make paper flowers using different tissue paper. Here is how to do it.

8. Set up a tent in the living room and camp out… or in!

9. Make an indoor rock garden using colored rice: mix 4 cups of rice with 3 tablespoons of rubbing alcohol and a few drops of food coloring and let dry overnight. Place colored rice sand and arrange rocks in wooden box or glass bowl.

10. Forget cooking! Set up an ice cream sundae buffet for dinner – pizza pie optional.

By Claudia Chung, Assistant Teacher

Create a Sustainable Arts Lab at Home!

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As a part of our continued effort to stay green and reduce, reuse, and recycle, we love using household items to create art and as loose parts in our play. While not everyone has the space for an art studio, we suggest creating a mini Sustainable Arts Lab of any size in your home!

In addition to some basic art supplies (paper, glue, scissors, paint, etc.) the following items help to inspire imagination and play, but most of all turn waste into something that can really shine!

  • IMG_6211Berry Baskets
  • Biscuit/Cookie Cutters
  • Bottle Tops
  • Brownie/Baking/Muffin Pans
  • Bubble pack
  • Buttons
  • Cardboard
  • Caps of old markers
  • Clothespins
  • Coffee Cans
  • Coffee Filters
  • Dish Tubs
  • Egg Cartons
  • Funnels
  • Grocery Bags
  • Ice cube Trays
  • Large Piece Styrofoam
  • Marbles
  • Measuring Cups/Spoons
  • Meat/Produce Trays
  • Old Crayons
  • Paper Boxes
  • Paper Towel/Toilet Paper Rolls
  • Paper Plates
  • Pie Pans
  • Pitchers
  • Plastic Milk Bottles
  • Plastic Tubs (butter, yogurt, etc.)
  • Popsicle Molds
  • Ribbon
  • Rubber Bands
  • Scoops
  • Shoe Boxes
  • Sponges (unused)
  • Spools
  • Squeeze Bottles
  • String/Twine/Yarn
  • Styrofoam popcorn
  • Textured/Wall/Wrapping Paper
  • Tiles/Gems/Stones/Shells
  • Unbreakable Shaker Bottles
  • Wide Jar Lids
  • Wood Bits

Shine’s Spring Gardening: Let’s Get Dirty!

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To most people, spring is when the birds starts to chirp, flower buds manifest, and the sun rays dial up to warm.  But for me, from the time I can remember, spring was when I got dirty!

From spring to the end of summer, I was always dirty. My shirt was stained from the constant popsicles dripping from my mouth. My knees were scabby or bloody from rolling down the hill in our backyard. And my face was permanently smeared with dirt from trying to grab the pesky gopher that lived in our vegetable patch (I turned him into my pet and named him Bucky). After a while, my parents just gave up and never dressed me in nice clothes unless it was for a special occasion – preferably one that would keep me indoors, or when it was time to go to school. You could say that for a few months a year, I was the girl version of Pigpen, but loved a stuffed monkey instead of a blanket.

Growing up as a California girl, I thought backyards with mini-fields of happy white daisies were the norm. Fresh strawberries, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers that I’d pick and eat off the vines were just part of my day. For some reason, once my mother cooked them, they lost their appeal. But if they were warm from the sunshine and covered in dirt, they were delicious! To this day, I prefer almost green, under-ripe peaches and nectarines, as I was never patient enough to wait for them to mature on Pinksy, our nectarine tree.

One of my fondest memories involves my whole family planting in the spring and harvesting their goodness throughout the summer. Those thoughts are vivid and clear, recalling each year I got to play with dirt, watch our plants grow, and taste the fruits of our labor.

So by all means, if you have a yard, plant something! But for all the city parents and kids, you can experience a similar pleasure by making a little window garden of your own. No grass needed. All you need is a little moxie and creativity.

Here is Shine’s guide to creating the simplest windowsill herb gardens with your kids!

IMG_2870What you’ll need:

Young starter herbs: Available at garden centers and some supermarkets, herbs such as oregano and basil for spaghetti or pizza sauce, cilantro to add to tacos and salsa, and lavender for the pretty flowers to make into potpourri.

Containers with Drainage Holes: They can be planters from garden center or you can make them from colanders or coffee cans! Just avoid plastic that might break or melt in the sun, and anything that might contain lead paint. Make sure the containers have enough room for the plants to grow. Once the containers are bought or found, punch or drill holes in the bottom for drainage and you’re set. (Make sure you put a plate under the pot to catch the excess water!) Then kids can paint and decorate the containers before they start planting. Let paint dry before handling soil.

Potting Mix and Plant Food: Available at garden centers and some supermarkets.

Sunny Spot: Most herbs need about six or more hours of sunlight a day to thrive.

With your kids, add potting mix to container and plant your starter herbs, leaving plenty of space between each plant to grow. Also be sure to check the information that comes with the plant for spacing requirements. Then mix plant food and water and place in a sunny spot.

Continue to water according to the instructions that come with each plant. Kids can harvest the herbs continually through the summer once the plant has enough foliage to sustain growth. Then get cookin’!

By Claudia Chung, Assistant Teacher

All Kinds Of Love: Shine’s Picture Book Picks for Valentine’s Day

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At the tender age of four, I fell madly and deeply in love. His big brown eyes made my heart pitter, and his round button nose made it patter. My guy was warm, tender and fuzzy. And yes – he was a stuffed monkey named George. No relation to Curious George.

When George had to take a spin in the washing machine and dry out in the sun, I often sang to him knowing that the process of getting clean was a dizzying ordeal. Love is comforting. When the mischievous boy down the road tried to steal George away, I bit him and ran as fast as I could with George in tow. Love is fearless. And finally, when his plastic eyeballs fell off his face, I stuck them back on with black electrical tape and pretended they were super cool shades for my super cool guy. Love is blind.

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New Year’s Eve Traditions

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It’s the last week of 2015! When I was a child, a few days before New Year’s Eve, I never quite understood why my parents would be running around more so than usual. My mom always said they were “preparing” for the new year. Growing up we had some quirky yet fun traditions that are now happily being passed onto my nephews. While many are not unique to Filipino culture, some are rooted from my parents’ experiences growing up there and I thank them for instilling them so they will carry on for generations. Ring in 2016 with some of these or create your own!

A10885579_890605027630727_8292622434494028880_nn abundance fresh food – down to filling the salt and pepper containers!
Having the cupboards, refrigerator, and freezer stocked with new groceries signifies having prosperity and good health in the New Year. Make grocery lists together so food shopping with children is more of a scavenger hunt rather than a task.

A bowl of round fruits
In my family it’s considered auspicious to have bright-colored round fruit displayed in bowls around the house to help ring in the New Year. Since you’ll already be stocking the kitchen, raid the fruit department with your children and make some delicious good-luck fruit bowls! Even better, spread some cheer – make one as a gift for a neighbor or relative too!

Clean out, clear out
We clean out everything from kitchen shelves, storage bins, and closets at this time of year. Everything in good, clean condition that is no longer needed gets donated to a local charity. Teach your family that the spirit of giving doesn’t always equate to a perfectly wrapped gift and that there are people who would appreciate something that they aren’t using anymore. Take some time to help them go through their belongings and donate one item for every new gift they’ve received. Take some shopping bags or storage bins and draw fun signs that say “donate” or “recycle / trash” and make it a sorting party! Who knew cleaning could be so entertaining?

Resolution List vs. Gratitude List = Do both! 
While it’s important to focus on goals, what we want to work on and talk about them with children, it’s also important to take time to realize what’s already good and what we’re already succeeding with to propel us in a positive direction during the New Year. My mother continues to remind us all that we need to be grateful for each day.  We can make laundry lists of things we want to “fix” but reminding our little ones to be thankful for the everyday things is just as important.

Jingle, Jingle
We make sure that there is money in our pockets and wallets when it rings midnight to represent good fortune and success. During our gigantic Filipino parties I remember being a little kid and getting dollar bills and quarters from my parents, titas (aunties), and titos (uncles). We’d jingle the coins in our pockets during the countdown!

Float your way to the top! 
My mother grew up cooking these with her Lola (grandmother) and she continues to cook them now that she is one herself! Palitaw is a Filipino sweet dessert made of sticky rice flour that are formed into patties then put in boiling water. You know they’re cooked when the patties float to the top of the water’s surface which signifies rising above the previous year and ascending to a new and fresh chapter.

Open up the windows and make some noise
In the Philippines it is common to open the windows to allow fresh energy to enter your home and life. As an East Coaster, it is always freezing yet I continue to do this even on the coldest of New Year’s Eves. Children are usually given firecrackers to light up but make sure you assist and monitor these!

When it comes down to it, spending time with family and friends is the most important, even if it’s just watching the Times Square countdown on television together! Wishing you and your loved ones a happy, healthy, and joyful 2016!

By Christina Soriano, Shine Educator

A Plucky Snowplow Becomes the Rocky of Trucking

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Yesterday, I saw a man riding his bike wearing red and green Bermuda shorts. That’s the kind of winter we are having in New York City. People are still working on their tans in Central Park, commuters are sipping ice coffee while riding the subways, and parents are opting to do their holiday shopping in real stores—not the internet, because it’s so warm outside. It feels like a California kind of winter. And while I love a good sunny day, I still cling to the hope that New York will get a white Christmas.

9780763670740_p0_v1_s192x300The first snowflake has yet to come, but I did find an adorable little picture book about snow that got me believing that the holidays are coming. Written by Lora Koehler, The Little Snowplow is an underdog’s story of being dismissed as a pipsqueak but later proving he has the right stuff. Think The Little Engine That Could mixed in with the movie Rocky and you have Snowplow.

When a little snowplow joins the Mighty Mountain Road Crew, the big trucks, including a dump truck, a cement mixer, a garbage truck and a utility truck, don’t think the little snowplow can handle the job when the snow comes. “Leave the heavy lifting to us,” they tease. In true underdog fashion (insert the song Eye Of The Tiger), the little snowplow starts to train hard. Each night he does his “reps” (raising and lowering his plow ten times) and pulls blocks of concrete, “just in case.”

Unfortunately when the snow finally does arrive it’s a blizzard—fast, intense, and heavy. The storm is too much for the little snowplow to handle alone, so he has no choice but to call for back up. But when one of the big truck gets buried in the snow, the little snowplow is the only truck that’s small enough to dig it out and to save it. He becomes the hero.

The end of the book is a tiny bit lackluster. The little snowplow is pooped out from the adventure-filled day and welcomes sleep. The illustration by Jake Parker is simply charming, however, playful and whimsical. It takes a special artist to be able to draw trucks with faces that evoke reaction and portray emotions. Also, they are mighty cute. It anchors the book.

The Little Snowplow is a familiar tale and the lesson is a good but traditional one. Believe in yourself, even when others underestimate you. Work hard and somehow, some way it will pay off.  If only the book ended with the little snowplow finding a little girl snowplow named Adrian to help celebrate his victory.

By Claudia Chung, Shine PR and Marketing Manager and Assistant Teacher

The Cutest, Littlest Feminist Madeline

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51KAYSyY03L._SX346_BO1,204,203,200_By the time I could walk, I was an epic troublemaker. I jumped, broke and tore my way through my young and uninhibited existence. Once, I even lead a group of neighborhood kids to a construction site and convinced them that it was a good idea to hurl our tiny bodies on to a huge pile of sand. Later, our mothers found us, like a flock of humming birds blindly ramming their tiny heads against a windowpane, but we were throwing our entire bodies into the dirt and calling it “fun.”

This is probably a parent’s worst nightmare and I would never ever condone such behavior from a child, but from what I remember, I had the time of my life! It was freeing to be fearless, exciting to do something out of the ordinary, and I felt brave. Did I mention I was a bit odd as a child? In my eyes, this was the kind of thing that my personal heroines like Pippi Longstocking or Eliose would do — wild, off beat and a little bit naughty.

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Shine’s “What Pet Should I Get?” Book Review

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Is What Pet Should I Get By Dr. Seuss the kids’ rendition of Harper Lee’s Go Set A Watchman?

The first Dr. Seuss book I ever read was How the Grinch Stole Christmas. I can’t exactly remember my initial reaction, but I am fairly certain it went along the lines of, “What the heck! Whoever wrote this is a big fat weirdo.” I mean, let’s face facts. It’s a terrifying tale about a sinister loner with “a heart two sizes too small” who wants to take away Christmas!

And while there is some redemption in the end, as the Grinch has an epiphany and realizes he was acting like a jerk, why did the Whos reward him for misbehaving in the first place? Shouldn’t he have gone to Whoville’s County Correctional Center for stealing, identity theft of Santa Claus, and animal cruelty towards his dog Max? Where was the justice? Of course these ranting questions were coming from a five year old whose English was her second language.

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Shine’s “Brief Thief” Review

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We at Shine love books. Early literacy and creating a foundation for the love of reading is one of the main missions of our work with children. Beginning this month, our teachers and partners in publishing will be offering reviews of some of our favorite children’s books. For our first installment Shine PR and Marketing Manager and Assistant Teacher, Claudia Chung, reviews one of her favorite books: Brief Thief by Michaël Escoffier. We encourage you to let reading take you and your family on a lifelong adventure.

Continue to shine your light and keep reading –
Aaron Goldschmidt, founder & director

Brief ThiefAn import from France, Brief Thief by Michaël Escoffier, has been around since 2013, but this quirky picture book was an obvious choice for me to review for Shine as after two years it still makes me laugh out loud every time I read it.

Brief Thief is the tale of Leon the lizard, who is having a lovely morning of eating breakfast and sunbathing when has to go poo. After finding a place to go on a nice tree, he discovers that he’s out of toilet paper. He looks around, but all he sees are prickly leaves and messy grass. That is, until Leon discovers a pair of old underpants hanging on a nearby branch. With no one around, and the underpants full of holes anyway, he uses them to wipe himself and throws them back into the bushes. No harm done, right? Wrong.

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Spreading the Love of Music

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 “Music is a world within itself, with a language we all understand. With an equal opportunity, for all to sing, dance, and clap their hands…”

– Stevie Wonder, Sir Duke

 

These lyrics are all encompassing when it comes to understanding children, their love for music, and why it is so important in their lives.

IMG_2853 (1)Children are inherently musical beings. They love to sing, dance, shake, rattle, and roll! Adults who provide developmentally appropriate learning environments for children incorporate music as a major component of a healthy and natural daily experience. Teachers, caregivers, and parents must do so by offering playful and creative music experiences in both structured and unstructured settings. Healthy and natural encouragement in engaging children in musical play is essential to their musical development. Listening and observing a child’s spontaneous musical play, such as invented song, helps adults around them (parents, teachers, caregivers, etc.) better understand their methods of learning, communicating, and awareness of their place in society. More importantly, it gives children a fun outlet to express their feelings, wants, and needs!

Parents and caregivers:

By playing music in your home during homework time, dinnertime or while getting ready in the morning, you can naturally expose your children to different genres of music. Music also affects mood so starting your day off right with an upbeat tune will positively affect the chemical make-up of your child. Turning on some smooth jazz during homework time or before bedtime is proven to naturally help concentration and winding down.

Classroom teachers:

IMG_2853 (2)Turn on some background music during the school day. This might fit into free art time, reading, reflection, and/or journaling. This would, of course, be an addition to your regularly scheduled music class 😉

One of my most important and sacred ideals is making children feel comfortable in a given learning environment. Although music is the universal language of the world, it is not understood and received the same way by all. Thus, customized programming is essential in the musical development of children, beginning from birth through the adolescent years. My mission is to provide my students with the capacity to go out into the world feeling special, loved, and confident shining their inner light.

Spread the love of music!

By Taylor Feygin, MA, Music Education & Shine Music Specialist

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