From “Miserable” to “Manageable”

On Saturday March 28^th, we are celebrating our annual Healthy Kids Festival at Boston Children’s Museum. There will be many hospitals and health organizations providing activities to teach our visitors about healthcare in fun ways. But let’s face it. How many kids do you know who absolutely LOVE going to the doctor? Healthcare settings are often scary, and we don’t have a lot of control over what happens there. For young children, their fear that is fueled by imaginary thinking, lack of prediction, and previous negative experience can make the healthcare experience even more difficult.  I’ve written about how to make the doctor’s visit easier before. This time, I want to focus on distraction techniques to get through possibly difficult hospital visits!

Sick of Snow? Get Creative Inside.

SURPRISE! Weather reports predict it may snow again in Boston. This is good because we can still see the very top of our fence and a few more inches of snow should cover it completely. Goodbye fence! I guess we’ll see you in the spring.

As everyone in the greater Boston area knows, we’ve had record snowfall this winter, schools cancelled throughout MA, RI, NH and beyond, and at times the snow has forced the MBTA to slow down or shut down completely. Being cooped up inside for days can be frustrating for everyone. For parents and children it can be very challenging, as we reach a whole new level of “stircraziness”. (Is that a word? It should be!).

Kids of all ages need to move their bodies and they need to be challenged to think and learn every day regardless of the weather.

Happy Smiles With Healthy Teeth

Did you know that February is National Children’s Dental Health Month? Children are encouraged to visit the dentist regularly starting by age 1 because good dental hygiene habits that are developed at an early age are likely to remain in adulthood.  However, although it may be easy to say “Everyone, brush your teeth!”, some children struggle with tooth brushing. Here are some suggestions on how to develop healthy dental hygiene habits:

A Good Choice

Philosophers have theorized about how and why humans make the choices we do for hundreds of years. These days it seems like more choices are sprouting up in all aspects of our lives. From hundreds of television channels to dozens of varieties of toothpaste, Americans have a huge range of choice in what we wear, what we eat, even where we work and live.

Museums are great places to practice making choices. In fact the term “free-choice learning” is used by museum professionals to describe the museum environment. Children especially need places where they can practice making choices.

Give a High Five For Your Health

How would you evaluate your family’s health from the previous year? Is there anything you think you did really well? Can you think of something you could have done better?

A new year is a good time to think about your own health and make your new year’s health resolution! Below are some suggestions for good health habits that you can incorporate in 5 minutes or less to improve your family’s health routine for this new year. I hope you can give yourselves a high-five for your health achievement at the end of the year!

Snow Globes

Want a fun (and easier-than-you-think) activity to try with your kids while they are on break from school?  Let’s make some snow globes.  Few things spark creativity in kids more than some interesting materials and the promise of creating something wonderful. It is likely that your kids will have come in contact with snow globes before…but also likely that they never imagined they could create their own at home.This activity is adapted from Boston Children’s Museum’s Beyond the Chalkboard website, a free resource for afterschool and other educators around the world.  Visit the Website by clicking here.

UN-Shopping Day

On the day after Thanksgiving, one of the busiest shopping days of the year, Boston Children’s Museum celebrates UN-Shopping Day. Families are invited to avoid the mall madness and come to the Museum to make their own fun, enjoyable do-it-yourself art projects; to make music with instruments created out of recycled materials; and spend time savoring each other’s company.

Try your own UN-Shopping Day. Here are a few do-it-yourself seasonal projects that are rewarding to make, give and receive.

The Development of Appreciation

Thanksgiving is traditionally a celebration of the harvest, but also a good time for us to reflect on what we are thankful for in general. Teaching children to be grateful can sometimes be more difficult than you think, as young children are developmentally egocentric and are still learning empathy. Gratitude is part of our emotions, and connecting the unspoken feeling to the expression “thank you” is an important step in children’s social-emotional development.  Here are some tips on helping your child to develop a sense of appreciation and to practice expressions of gratitude:

Costumes All Year Round

Nate as Spiderman

Costumes are unique toys, if you even want to call them that. They’re playthings you don’t play with, rather, they support and inspire play – they’re play facilitators. You’ve likely seen it for yourself that there’s something very compelling for children about re-envisioning everyday objects, assembling ensembles, or pretending to be somebody else. But did you know it’s also good for their brains?

According to the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) (click here for article), playing with costumes can build imagination, help children discover new things about themselves, and can be a powerful tool for self-expression. But I wasn’t about to take NAEYC’s word for it, so I took my questions to an expert: 8-year-old costume-enthusiast Nate Hill.

Thank You, Mr. Mayor

Boston Children’s Museum is deeply saddened by the passing of Mayor Tom Menino. In his twenty years as Mayor he was a warm, familiar, personal presence in the lives of children and families across the city. He frequented Boston Children’s Museum where he was a regular attendee at our celebrations and events. He especially loved the annual Countdown to Kindergarten Festival every August, where he personally greeted the city’s incoming kindergarteners with a warm hug. His support of the Museum extended to his collaboration on our early childhood initiatives, education programs, and his help with our renovation and expansion in 2007. We will always remember his love and leadership of the city of Boston, evidenced by this quote from him: “I want to help people, help one individual a day. Just to make their life a little bit better.” He definitely accomplished this and so much more. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We will miss you.