fun

Buttermilk Falls (Ithaca, NY)

/ Marjorie Sanpietro / Leave a comment

Buttermilk Falls is in Ithaca, NY near a busy shopping area. Our trip here was Eh…

We stayed Wednesday night to Friday morning due to campground availability – weekends are heavily booked at the state parks right now. I overheard a park employee describing it more like a city park and while that didn’t feel exactly true, it was funny to see store building tops from our walks. I imagined sneaking away to Starbucks a couple of times (especially on Thursday when I had the boys alone).

I could have made it a little better with more planning – like calling the park to see what was going to be available.

Swimming will be available starting July 4th and is only open on Fri, Sat, and Sun. We went on July 1st – 3rd. The bathrooms are not open in the lower park until sometime in the late morning as far as I can tell. The ones in the campground are closed from 11-12 and 4-5 for extra cleaning. I know most of this is because of COVID-19 precautions so I can’t really complain.

The campground was nice but very stony. We bent our stakes trying to get them in the ground and sort of worried about our tent caving in or a strong wind blowing it away. It did not blow away. We appreciated that the site was shady and near the bathrooms.

We definitely did some hiking – going from the campground to the lower park entrance twice and back via the Owl Creek trail. We also hiked to the scenic overlook via the same trail. It’s amazing! You can see across to farms on the other side…of something 🤣 (maybe Cayuga Lake?). Near the overlook is also a huge rock wall presumably created by glaciers which people have signed by scratching their names with a rock. That’s where we saw our first snake. We saw our second snake on the portion of the Rim trail that leads to the park entrance. I had the boys make a list of everything else they saw.

  • lots and lots of chipmunks – these guys were everywhere!
  • squirrels
  • several different varieties of butterflies
  • frogs and tadpoles (learn more about frogs here)
  • dragonflies

It was a hot few days – we kept hydrated and took lots of breaks when we needed to.

Another hiking option is the Rim Trail/Gorge Trail loop. These are two seperate but connecting trails – currently they have them operating in a loop due to COVID-19. They describe them as fairly challenging so I didn’t attempt without another grown-up but I saw other families doing it.

Other nice things to do included a playground and large playing fields. My 6 yr old gave the playground two thumbs up!

The park was beautiful and I would visit again on a day trip during the week. I’d camp on the weekends if it was available.

Amenities: fairly nice camping, swimming, bathrooms, hiking, playground, large picnic area, ball fields

Rating: ☆☆☆ 3/5

Pokemon Go fans: We didn’t have a chance to play! But I checked a map and there doesn’t seem to be any pokestops or gyms at this park.

7+ Fun, Quick and Inexpensive Father’s Day Gifts…with *two* free printables

/ Marjorie Sanpietro / Leave a comment

These gifts are perfect for your kids to give their Dad, Grandpa or any awesome men in their lives! I’m using this list at home for my boys to choose from.

1 – Craft a book for Dad about all the reasons they love him! You can make an adorable book out of paper lunch bags. You need 3 paper lunch bags (if you’d like a larger book, experiment with adding more bags), some string and a hole punch OR a stapler, stickers or other decorations and some extra paper (any color or design would be fine).

Flip the bags every other way and fold them in half together. Then either staple or hole punch along the spine. If you use a hole punch – you tie the book together with string. A great idea to hide the staples is to use washi tape. A pretty awesome feature of this  book is that you’ll have little pockets to tuck things in !

One thing you could do is use the extra paper to make pull out notes – use washi tape for pull tabs. They can decorate it anyway they would like but some great ideas include photos or drawings that show things they like to do with Dad. It could also include one of those cute “All About Dad” interviews! Some great questions are:

-What does Dad always say?

-What does Dad do at work?

-What does Dad do for fun?

-How old is your Dad? (this is especially funny when they are younger)

2. Make a sharpie mug! If their Dad is anything like my husband – he drinks a lot of coffee. This is a fairly easy craft and it will make him smile every time he sees it. You need some oil-based Sharpies which you can find here on Amazon but should be available in the craft supply aisle as well. You will also need a ceramic mug…it’s time to visit the Dollar Tree!

Have the kiddos draw or write on the mug, let it dry for 48 hrs and then bake it in the oven @ 250 degrees for 2 hrs. Start with a cold oven and let the mug cool before you remove it. This should set the sharpie and make it hand wash safe. I used the general directions from Feeling Nifty and bonus, she has a lot of great design ideas to get started and more detailed instructions to make sure that his mug turns out great!

3. Make a Scrabble tile key chain! Use E6000 glue (available here on Amazon or in the craft store) to attach the tiles that spell Dad, Papa or another short name (Mike, Joe, Tim, Tom, Ben, etc…) together vertically and put an eye screw in the top and attach to a keyring.

You could even add the kids’ pictures to the back or have them write their names with a Sharpie. If you do this, I recommend sealing the keychain with something that will make it at least water resistant like acrylic spray sealer.

4. Create a comic strip featuring Dad! There are tons of printable layouts on the web and I tried my hand at making something fun on Google Docs – it’s available for free here! Imagine Dad as a super hero or just make a visual reminder of an important time they have had together. If you use standard sized printing paper – you can frame it! For even better results, use card stock – it will hold up better with markers or other mediums. Have them sign their art! 

5. Write an acrostic poem – using Dad, Daddy, Father, Papa, Grandpa etc. Have the kids think of a word to describe him or if they are a little older have them write a line corresponding with each letter. You can search for lists of adjectives for each letter.  This could be handwritten or typed and would also be suitable for framing. I made a nice printable on Google Docs for this activity, too.

For example:

D – Dependable

A – Awesome

D – Dynamic

6. Make a gift that ROCKS! I have seen two adorable ideas that really stand out. One is rock art or arranging and you can find it here from Doodle and Stitch. The other is painting the rock to look like Dad and you can find a really great example from AlphaMom. Rock crafts are easy, accessible, and fun! Two other decorative ideas are a short quotation/meaningful word or a design showing a hobby that Dad likes. 

7. The Ultimate Classic – hand print and footprint gifts! Paint your kids’ hands, stamp them on paper (or canvas or cardboard or wood) and use a cute saying like “Hands down, you’re the best Dad ever”! I found quite a few blogs offering printables to get you started if you are not a fan of handwriting. 

Or paint a foot, steal a shoe and title it “Walking in Daddy’s Footsteps”! Frame it! I don’t think these gifts ever lose their sentimental value because those babies grow up and you wonder how their hands could have ever been that small.

Here’s the plus part – you can combine several of the above ideas!

For example:

  • write the acrostic poem over the hand prints
  • use the scrabble tiles as your first letters for embellishment on the acrostic poem
  •  put your poem on the back of the tiles for the key chain 
  • use the poem for the book or a part of it
  • draw the comic on the mug
  • write the poem on the mug 
  • make your own frame or add some pizzazz to a store bought one

…there are so many opportunities to customize and expand on these ideas!

PLUS – count on my oldest to think of something else! We used WeVideo to make a special project for his dad! It was fun AND free!

Marj

p.s. comment below and tell us what you did or what you are planning for next year!

25 + Bored Jar Activities

/ Marjorie Sanpietro / Leave a comment

Everyone is panicking over what the kids are going to do this summer and while Pinterest is FULL of ideas like this – I thought I’d add my contribution.

Our Bored Jar – crazy stickers and some blue cardestock!

I wrote ideas that incorporate several areas of learning and will appeal to my target audience (school age kids). Most of my ideas can be done independently but some might require adult guidance. I’m planning to join the boys for many of the activities because I included things that will also appeal to me….shhhhh….it’s not cheating!

One thing that I recommend is that you have the materials handy for any activities you include. Many of the ideas I wrote can be done with practically anything you have around the house. The general idea is to write out or type a bunch of ideas – so that when the children say they are bored – you can send them to the jar.

The jar can be decorated and it doesn’t even have to be a jar!  Use a shoe box, a Ziploc bag, or a Tupperware container – it’s all up to you. I used a jar and some funny stickers I had around the house. Cut out the ideas and put them in the jar. If you’d like to reuse your ideas – you can attach them to card stock or craft sticks for added durability.

The mess I make when I cut things out…

Feel free to use some or all of my ideas from the list below for your “Bored Jar” – and if you’d like to share some of your ideas, email me. I created the original list in Google Docs and it is available to print here.

  • Draw your favorite animal in different color than you usually see it.
  • Design a tree house for you and your friends. 
  • Draw a self portrait using only squares.
  • Write a new story featuring your favorite character from a book or TV show.
  • Design your dream house in 3D – use legos, cardboard, recyclables or anything else you can think of!
  • Make a gift for someone.
  • Make a birdhouse or a yard decoration.   
  • Make an item for a fairy garden. 
  • Create a magic wand.
  • Hide a treasure and draw a map.
  • Design a spacecraft. 
  • Draw a  blueprint for a new machine.
  • If you made a robot, what would it do? Write, draw or build a model of your robot. 
  • Make a list of things that you are grateful for.
  • Write a thank you letter to someone who has helped you.
  • Ask an important question you have been thinking about.
  • Who do you admire? Write a letter telling them why.
  • Think about a play made from your favorite book. What would some props be?
  • Read a poem and then draw a picture about it.
  • Look at a famous piece of art. What does it make you feel?
  • Draw a picture of two animals combined together.
  • What do you want to do when you are older? Find out 5 facts about it.
  • If you were the president, what are three things you would do and why?
  • Make your own desert  island with clay, blocks, or recyclables.
  • Make a list of your 10 favorite toys, games, movies, or books.
  • Read about someone who is doing a job you’d like to do when you are older.
  • What are three things that help you when you are feeling sad?
  • Draw a picture of your family using only circles. 
  • Paint or draw or make a collage using your favorite color only.
  • Pick a historical event and share 5 new things you learned about it at dinner.

Do you think this will help keep the kids occupied this summer? Comment below with your ideas!

The Family’s Favorite Podcasts

/ Marjorie Sanpietro / Leave a comment
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

We typically listen to a rotation of 3 podcasts at bedtime that both my kids agree on (they are 6 and 11). I’m going to provide a review of each and you’ll also get their opinions.

Wow in the World – hosted by Mindy and Guy Raz with appearances by a giant pigeon named Reggie and produced by NPR.

Guy Raz plays the neighbor on the straight and narrow while Mindy lives in a gingerbread castle and sells burgers made out of bugs occasionally.

There is a lot of comedy but it’s such a “smart” podcast. They focus on many different science disciplines and explain current scientific studies to kids. For example, they discussed genetics while on a time machine journey to find the first human being with blue eyes.

They just wrapped up their 4th season but they also added a shorter show that they release several more times a week – Two Whats and a Wow that has a gameshow-like format.  Full episodes air on Mondays.

Wow in the World is their favorite podcast – but I sometimes think it’s not bedtime appropriate because it is very high energy. I get lots of pushback when I try to suggest something a little more peaceful and they go to sleep fairly well with it – so it stays in the rotation.

I’m excited to keep listening to this show – they have other resources available on their website and have a membership program with exclusive content. A book is being released on June 30th titled Wow in the World: Two Whats?! and a Wow! Think & Tinker Playbook: Activities and Games for Curious Kids which is the #1 New Release in Children’s Science on Amazon. You can find other places where the book is available on the Tinkercast website here.

The Kids Say –

11 yr old:  “It’s a great podcast especially if you want to learn about science, some episodes that have gross jokes might not be great for bedtime. Overall, it’s a great podcast!”

6 yr old: “It’s a good show to listen to at night time. My favorite part is that it kind of inspired me about other things.”

What If World – hosted by Mr. Eric, and self produced by Eric and Karen O’Keefe – brings you to a world of imagination inhabited by wizards, dragons and anything else kids from all over the world suggest.

Meet the president- Fred The Dog, who has sometimes been a zombie.  What if World is in its third season. Mr. Eric incorporates important life concepts such as tolerance, kindness, and honesty. Episodes are released on Mondays.

My boys both like this podcast but I feel it is more appropriate for my youngest. He has sent in a couple of suggestions and while they did not make it in the show – he has received a personal reply both times. I like the focus on imagination and I have fun listening to the voices. This is very good for bedtime. What If World can be found here if you’d like to visit and find out more.

The Kids Say –

11 yr old: “What if World is just a great overall podcast, great for listening, especially with a lot of imagination. I just really like all of it.”

6yr old: “I like everything about it, almost.”

Story Pirates – produced by Gimlet Media, it is both a serial type story and features submissions by kids that have been turned into “sketch comedy and song”. Currently in its third season, the story pirates are in space meeting aliens and have recently been the subjects of an intergalactic reality TV show.

They often have special guest appearances by well known actors and actresses. The podcast has produced three books and offers a Creator Club with exclusive content. The kids like this podcast and we definitely listen when new episodes are released on Thursdays. Visit the Story Pirates here to find out more!

The Kids Say –

11 yr old: “Story Pirates is very fun and I like how they do kids stories but sometimes the continuing story is hard to follow.”

6 yr old: “Same for me.”

Other podcasts we have tried out: The Two Princes (features two princes who travel together to break the curse that affects both their lands), Circle Round (stories adapted from other cultures and retold), Science Adventure Stories for Kids (featuring Simon – the mindful frog).

Comment below if you have any podcast favorites that you think we should try!