FREE THINGS TO DO:
Experience Joyful Discovery at Home with
Online Resources from Boston Children’s Museum!
Though the Museum is closed, there are lots of opportunities for play and learning you can do at home.
Have you read a Sand County Almanac? Bear Paw will be discussing Aldo Leopold’s classic novel about land conservation at our first book club meeting.
Thursday, September 10th, from 4 to 5 pm.
They hope to meet in person, safely distanced on the big sunny lawn of one of the board members in Deerfield, or by Zoom if the weather is unfavorable. Find a favorite passage in the book to share and bring a lawn chair. Register here for directions to the in-person meeting or the Zoom link in case that becomes necessary.
Take a STEM Video Challenge
What better week to consider the unique gifts and roles that each species plays in our ecosystems? A rich variety of ecosystems abundant with a variety of species, or biodiversity, is a sign of health. You have likely seen evidence of unhealthy systems in which only a few hardy species can thrive. Spring is the perfect time to observe healthy, diverse habitats, many often humming with activity. If you are able, join our Earth Week BioBlitz challenge: upload your favorite species to our BioBlitz Storymap, and we will post our favorite pictures on SSC social media. Birds, mushrooms, insects, trees, plants, mammals, amphibians, invertebrates… your choice!
Laura is showing us how to make playdough at home incorporating materials from nature in honor of Earth Week. This is a fun, sensory activity to do in the kitchen with kids using simple household ingredients! Click here to try it out.
Composting is the process of decomposing organic matter like certain food leftovers into nutrient-rich soil. This soil can be used to grow healthy plants that don’t need chemical fertilizers, which are harmful to the environment. It doesn’t take much to start composting at your own house. In honor of Earth Day, Alissa is going to show you how it’s done! Click here to find out how.
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Earth Day, National Geographic is encouraging families to discover the planet through its amazing animals by creating a neighborhood safari. Click here to find out how it works.
Faith is showing us how to do rubbings using natural materials like leaves and bark. Click here to view video.
Planet Earth is a beautiful place full of incredible things worth photographing, from the smallest drops of water to the tallest mountains. In honor of Earth Day coming up this week, click here to view Lex teaching us how to be nature photographers! When you look out your window or take a walk around your yard, what do you see that you’d like to photograph?
Show us how yours comes out and what materials you used by emailing a photo to info@bostonchildrensmuseum.org
Genealogy on Ancestry Library access link at smythpl.org/catalog
Free Movies and TV on Kanopy (kanopy.com)
Free Cooking demos (https://www.thecreativefeast.com/index.html)
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LibraryThing is now free! Add, catalog, and organize unlimited books while stuck at home.
Cookbook authors are helping with what to cook during quarantine.
| #WeekOfTheYoungChild: Healthy Habits |
| On this Healthy Habits Friday, we’re continuing our celebration of Week of the Young Child with some ideas for cooking nutritious meals with your little ones. Check out this resource from NAEYC on supporting the learning that can happen in your kitchen and beyond….more! |
Take this quiz to find your next 500+ page read!
These closed-space book recommendations make for perfect quarantine reading.
Teens
Career Resources through UNH – great resources if you are looking for assistance with resumes, job search, etc.: https://www.unh.edu/career/career-resources
| Tumblebooks free linksTumbleBooks’ databases are easy to use, and feature unlimited access from home! Your patrons can read as many books as they want, when they want, and on any device. There are no check-outs, holds, or bulky downloads. Books are available instantly.
www.TeenBookCloud.com – gr 7-12 ebook database www.AudioBookCloud.com – all ages audio book database We want to help bridge the school-home & library-home gap during this challenging time. We are offering 450 FREE ebooks with no obligation! These are newly released titles which support state curriculum. Offer good through 6/30/2020. PW: keepreading | UN: sebco | ID#: 1 |
Children’s Specials:+
Every Thursday afternoon at 3:30pm, Marsha from Marsha and the Positrons is live streaming a free music and movement class right to your living room! Each week has a different theme and tomorrow’s is Health and Wellness. Click here to catch it on Facebook Live.
Gregory Bear was a Christmas gift to a 3-year-old girl named Ursula in 1939. Ursula’s hometown in East Prussia was under Nazi rule at this time, and her family soon fled. In Collections Coordinator Caroline Turner’s latest blog, click here to follow Gregory Bear’s incredible, heartwarming journey back to Ursula (and eventually our Museum collection!) in a time when hope was hard to come by. During the current days of uncertainty and struggle, do you have special objects that help you feel more comfortable?
From Seacoast Science Center, The Sounds of Spring and Seasons of the Sea
Even a marine biologist can’t help focusing on and enjoying the spring smells, sounds and flowers unfurling here on land right now. That being said, keep in mind that there are seasons of the sea too! Longer days and increased sunlight are warming the surface layer in the Gulf of Maine and we will soon be witnessing a different type of spring bloom — a phytoplankton (or algal) bloom! Unlike harmful algal blooms, the spring phytoplankton bloom is a healthy and important occurrence and one that kickstarts the highly productive Gulf waters and fisheries each year. Waters are turning from blue to green, and these algal blooms will feed huge numbers of zooplankton, providing energy for an entire food web.
Spring is stirring out in the Gulf and that includes lobsters, who, by the way, are great at social distancing. They love nothing more than backing their tails up into a nice rocky crevice, resting their claws and sheltering in place. Smart critters. We hope you all stay safe this week and enjoy the full pot of lobster fun below, including videos, activities and a great design challenge!
There are plenty of new coastal, ocean, and nature learning ideas below in this week’s newsletter, and you can find all our Your Learning Connection activities online. Look for your favorite themes: STEM, Art & Nature, Our Ocean, Get Outside! and follow the links to find the activities. There are plenty of new lessons, activities, and resources to support at-home learning, empower children to investigate nature, and help families find respite from today’s challenges.
New England is awakening from its winter slumber, and the air is freshening with spring smells and sounds. We hope you are able to get outside to enjoy spring’s beauty, and encourage you to help us spread our message of ocean health and ocean conservation with your children, students and friends.
FROM THE COLLECTIONS OF STRAWBERY BANKE: “DON’T GIVE UP THE SHIP!”
A carved and painted Bellamy-type eagle and shield
Much like Captain John Paul Jones’ immortal battle cry, “We have not yet begun to fight!,” the expression, “Don’t give up the ship!” is also associated with the early years of the United States.
During the War of 1812, a war with England on the matter of free trade and the impressment of American sailors into the British Navy, Captain Lawrence of New Jersey engaged in a sea battle off the shore of Boston. The English frigate HMS Shannon encountered the USS Chesapeake on June 1 of 1813 and the battle quickly escalated, killing hundreds of men within minutes. The accuracy of the British fire caused heavy losses among the American gun crews and quarterdeck staff. Captain Lawrence received a fatal gunshot wound and, as he was being carried below, called out, “Don’t give up the ship!” The phrase was a popular throughout the rest of the War of 1812, most notably as the motto on Oliver Hazard Perry’s battle flag at the Battle of Lake Erie, and remains an adage for the United States Navy today.
The carved eagle (1998.4) in the Strawbery Banke collection was created about 100 years after the War of 1812. Once attributed to artist and Kittery Point native John Haley Bellamy (1836-1914), the carving is now believed to be a copy done after his distinct style. Bellamy’s talent was celebrated in his own lifetime and continues today. Amongst his recognizable eagles are Bellamy-carved mastheads and stern boards for the Navy and private vessels, as well as eagles for both government buildings and private collections. His eagle carvings are distinguished by widespread wings, talons gripping a patriotic shield and an upturned wide-mouth with a banner, often reading “Don’t Give Up the Ship!” This example was clearly carved by an individual inspired by Bellamy’s design.
See all the fun things The Children’s Museum has to offer:
| Daily Activity Break Archive |
| The daily activities are archived on the Museum’s website. Did you miss one? Click here for the list. |
Children’s book publishers have such a wealth of online content that can be useful year-round in connecting kids with books. Activity kits, educator kits, discussion guides, graphic novels, and more are available for free in a wide range of topics and for hundreds of books.In an effort to make these resources easier to discover and use, publishers have shared them with us so you can find them all in one place online.The new CBC resource page is now available and contains links directly to publisher websites to easily access and learn more about the amazing children’s and young adult books and activities they have to offer.
| April is Financial Literacy Month |
| Check out this free video “Meet Your Money” created by FitMoney. Sort coins, learn values of different coins and paper money, and see if you can count. |
Free Government Resources:
Ben’s Guide<https://bensguide.gpo.gov/>
NASA Space Place<https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/>
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Picture Book Read Alouds<https://pernillesripp.com/2020/03/14/picture-books-read-aloud-videos-for-lesson-use/> – this is made up of authors reading their own work, including a list from the Indianapolis Public Library with over 100 titles, and titles in other languages.
Read, Wonder, and Learn<https://www.katemessner.com/read-wonder-and-learn-favorite-authors-illustrators-share-resources-for-learning-anywhere-spring-2020/> – this is a lot of authors sharing lessons, excerpts, etc from their books.
Authors Everywhere<https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCowhHSUaWp3KJDcuI0nR0vw?view_as=subscriber> – A YouTube channel with authors sharing their books and work, will also, hopefully, host panels and other discussions.
Jarrett Lerner’s Activities Page<https://jarrettlerner.com/activities/> – lots of print outs/activities that encourage creativity and story creation – I think a fun thing to do would be to pick a certain page and encourage all kids (and adults!) to work on it and then have them tag the library on social media in their finished work.
Lunch Doodles with Mo Williams<https://www.kennedy-center.org/education/mo-willems/> Mo Willems invites YOU into his studio every day for his LUNCH DOODLE. Learners worldwide can draw, doodle and explore new ways of writing by visiting Mo’s studio virtually once a day for the next few weeks. Grab some paper and pencils, pens, or crayons and join Mo to explore ways of writing and making together.
The NHPBS KIDS WRITERS CONTEST ihas been extended to April 30, 2020.
Rules, entry forms, and tips for writing a winning story can all be found at nhpbs.org/kidswrite
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We may be distanced socially but we can still get out and be engaged with nature. To facilitate this, we have created a scavenger hunt for children and adults to enjoy!
If you submit a completed scavenger hunt form (available on our website) you will be entered to win a prize. Share your scavenger hunt photos for a chance to be featured on our social media!
Strawbery Banke ideas!
Take a virtual tour of Strawbery Banke Museum’s gardens and historic landscapes! Use your smartphone or mouse to discover images that illustrate the rich history of this waterfront neighborhood. Listen to the Landscape opens Strawbery Banke Museum. The voices, sights, and sounds from the past will transport you and help you find your place in the unfolding story of an American landscape!
To begin exploring, click here!
Spending a great deal of time with your family while practicing social distancing? Perhaps that means helping prepare meals and lending a hand around the house with chores. Listen to Lucy Stavers share what children’s chores were like in 1777 and explore her family home and place of business, Pitt Tavern!
For other enrichment activities to help keep children learning and having fun, access Strawbery Banke Museum’s Virtual Classroom. The education department will periodically send ideas for activities and are available to answer any history-related questions that may arise!
| BOOK SPOTLIGHT: STORY OF A BAD BOY A fictionalized recollection of adventures/impressions of years spent in Portsmouth!Author Thomas Bailey Aldrich was born in 1836 in Portsmouth just a short distance down Court Street from the home of his grandfather, Thomas D. Bailey. While most of his youth was spent elsewhere, Aldrich returned to Portsmouth to live, from 1849 to 1852, with his grandfather in this house facing Court Street.Thomas Bailey Aldrich married Lilian Woodman in 1865, and they moved to Boston the same year where he later became friends with literary notables as William Dean Howells, Mark Twain, James T. Fields, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, and James Russell Lowell. It was shortly after the move to Boston that Aldrich began to record some thoughts on his own childhood. The result was The Story of a Bad Boy, a fictionalized recollection of adventures and impressions of his years spent in Portsmouth at his grandfather’s house.To find Thomas Bailey Aldrich’s Story of a Bad Boy for Kindle, click here! |
Free fun at The Children’s Museum of New Hampshire | 603-742-2002
questions@childrens-museum.org www.childrens-museum.org
Center for Wildlife Morning Meeting with Wildlife Ambassadors Facebook Live!
Join us for a Morning Meeting with Wildlife Ambassadors on Facebook Live each day at 10am EST where we will highlight one of our amazing wildlife ambassadors or neighbors! We would like to welcome you to an up and in (virtual) person opportunity to meet our wildlife ambassadors as well as be able to ask questions of their caregivers! We also post fun activities to do at home, as well as educational and entertaining content! Don’t have access to social media? No worries! All videos will be posted on our Youtube channel! We look forward to learning and laughing with you!