If your family is looking for some outings and adventures during vacation week, click here. You’ll see a list of “useful websites” on the right hand side. Scroll down to the event listings.
Looking for some special books this holiday season?
31 Days, 31 Lists: Day Thirteen – 2017 Picture Books With a Message BY ELIZABETH BIRD
Some discuss death and loss. Others social issues like poverty, inequality, or pervasive fear. Still others just inform readers on important topics in an interesting way….but one thing’s for certain. They all do a darned good job…
One of the books on the list is by local author Karen Rostoker-Gruber! Maddie the Mitzvah Clown by Karen Rostoker-Gruber, ill. Christina Grove
I’m all about the female empowerment, but I am PARTICULARLY into that empowerment when it involves girls finding their strength and voice through humor. So you can imagine how thrilled I was when this little number from Apples & Honey Press rolled across my desk one day. Maddie suffers from shyness but discovers that by becoming a clown at her Grandma’s senior center she’s able to become another person entirely. I think Kirkus said it best when they wrote, “A different way to give back to the community (and help oneself), this cheery outing should not be confined to its Jewish context.”
Here’s a list of holiday titles that celebrate gifts AND giving!
Wondering whether recess is worth the time lost in learning? Research is showing that school recess not only leads to fewer disciplinary incidents at school but could make better employees as well. Listen to this report about how recess — yes, that 10-20 minute or so break kids have at school — might help children develop the skills it takes to succeed on the job market.
A related article:
Flash Cards or Finger Paints: Should Academics or Play Be the Goal of Preschool?
Speaking of play – you can Make Math Fun. Bedtime Math offers an interesting problem every day! Here’s a fun idea to do with your holiday baking supplies. Also check out these ideas if you are interested in learning more about Escher and other imaginative artists.
It's National Bake Cookies Day, which means we'd better bake some cookies soon, or at least eat some! You could make your usual circle-shaped chocolate-chip cookies, or make other shapes using a cookie cutter. We're loving these math-y cookies made by computer science professor Francesco De Comite. The birds lock together perfectly with copies of themselves, like puzzle pieces. They're from a drawing by a famous artist named Escher, and Francesco made his own cookie cutter to match those shapes. As you can see on the Moebius Noodles website, he also made puzzle-piece lizards, and lined up chocolate-cookie fish mixing with sugar-cookie geese. So now you have ideas for your own cookie puzzles...if you can hold off long enough from eating them.
Wee ones: How many points does each of those bird-shaped cookies above have?
Little kids: If you stack 2 goose cookies, then 3 fish, then 4 more geese, how many cookies do you have? Bonus: If you eat 2 of the cookies, at least how many geese do you have to have left?
Big kids: If the 1st lizard faces up, the 2nd faces right, the 3rd faces down and the 4th faces left, then the 5th starts over facing up, which way does the 19th lizard face? Bonus: If you have enough dough to make 3 more chocolate fish than vanilla geese, and you can make 47 cookies in total, how many of each can you make?
Answers:
Wee ones: 4 points.
Little kids: 9 cookies. Bonus: At least 4 geese, even if both cookies you ate were geese.
Big kids: Down, since the 20th will face left like all multiples of 4. Bonus: 22 geese and 25 fish. If you set aside the 3 extra fish, you'd have 44 cookies evenly split.
More Ways to Get Bedtime Math!
The app: An archive of math problems, with colorful animations and cool sound effects. Check it out here at the App Store for iPhone and iPad, Google Play for Android!
The website: www.bedtimemath.org.
Facebook: Get your daily BMP fix and help spread the word about Bedtime Math!
Morris Museum 6 Normandy Heights Road Morristown, New Jersey
Kid-friendly, winter fun while school is out!
Wednesday, December 27, 2017, 11:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Museum Members: FREE
Non-Members: FREE with Museum Admission
Embrace the spirit of the season with a day of indoor winter fun at the Morris Museum. Make winter-themed crafts and see a performance of No Elves! No Elves! in the Bickford Theatre.
When your family has some down time from school it's great to come to the Morris Museum and play! We've got big trains to see, fun winter crafts, a sweet show in the theatre, and some cool exhibitions for the whole family to experience. Spend a fun day with us!
Children’s Theatre - No Elves! No Elves!
Two show times: 11:00AM and 1:30PM
A highly interactive, music-filled adventure for children who must help the elves save Santa's workshop.
Museum Members: $10
Non-members: $12
Combo Ticket: $15 (includes general Museum and theatre admission. To purchase call 973.971.3706) get tickets
More Children's Theatre
Bubbleology
Thursday, December 28
Two show times: 11:00AM and 1:30PM
As seen on Discovery Channel's Time Warp and National Geographic TV, Keith Michael Johnson reveals the magic, unfolding the "how to" like a mystery, making Bubbleology an unforgettable experience for the entire family.
Tickets:
Museum Members: $10 Non-Members: $12 get tickets
Exhibitions that both children and grown-ups will enjoy!
Season of Wonder
What would the holidays be without toys? Every generation remembers that favorite doll, toy car, or truck...Check out the Morris Museum's collection through some unique displays.
Test your skills with some puzzles and try out the life-size checkerboard!
Mega Model Trains
The Mega Model Trains Exhibit is back on display!, An intricate model train set that meanders across a 288-square-foot landscape replicating a bustling city and pastoral scene, it is equipped with a waterfall, planetarium, and even a sasquatch!
Museum Detectives: What is It?
View unusual and intriguing objects and get clues as to how, when or even why these objects were made. Use your observation and problem solving skills to classify objects and draw your own conclusions.
Storybook Style: A Selection of Works from the Minds of Living Illustrators
Featuring the extraordinary art of illustrators,this exhibition presents the whimsy of established and emerging artists whose works will literally jump off the page before your very eyes!
Image Credits: Mega Model Trains at the Morris Museum. Bubbleology. Photo courtesy of Keith Michael Johnson. No Elves! No Elves! Photo Courtesy of Gemini Productions. Mother Goose Alphabet Blocks, 1906 United States, Wood. Gift of Mrs. John Wardle. Permanent collection of the Morris Museum.
Happy Holidays! --Carol Simon Levin
No comments:
Post a Comment