My contribution to Bottles, Barbies & Boys Tuesday Summer Tips.
I am a second generation Nana. . . .”What’s that?” you say. Well my mother was known as Nana to my children, she has now passed on so I took up the crown/harness of being Nana to my grandchildren. Don’t get me wrong. I take it on with pride.
You see my mother was totally blind, yet college educated and very VERY inventive. Her imagination was amazing, it had to be. She found wonderful things for us to do in the long summer weeks when most kids said. . .”I’m bored, there’s nothin’ to do around here.”
I recycled some of those activities with my children as I became a Girl Scout Leader and then. . . .in a separate group when I was a Children’s activities coordinator (aka Pied Piper).
The best part of this chain of inherited creativity is that I now see my own daughter adapting these activities to fit her modern day situations. I am so pleased to see her carry on for the 3rd generation.
Johnina of Bottles, Barbies & Boys has asked those of her readers to contribute on Tuesdays any Summer tips and tricks to keep kids happy and healthy. It is with pleasure that I join her and all the other moms on the blog list. I just give you forwarning. Some of these tips/tricks will sound old fashioned. . .but feel free to adapt, I did.
Mom (my mom), would get tired of the “I’m Bored” chant us 3 kids would start at about June 4th every year. So she started a rule. She would come up with 3 things we could do, not all of them were work (clean your room, rake the garden) she made sure it was a mixture of fun, educational and housework. But after giving us 3 choices. . .if we didn’t want to do any of them. . .then we had to come up with our own activity. And we weren’t allowed to say “I’m bored” that day. This made us responsible for our own entertainment.
JourneyScope;
Materials – 1 paper towel tube
1 aluminum pot pie tin (or something like it)
1 globe or map of the world
1 encyclopedia (adapted to modern day would be the internet)
1 blanket
We would make the journey scope which was a Sci Fi version of a telescope. Time was spent decorating it and in some case many were made so each of us kids had one. When we looked into it we could “wish” ourselves to someplace.
We sat on the blanket and one of us kids would spin the globe and another would point. When the globe stopped we would see what place we were going to journey too. Then we would search in the encyclopedia to find that place and learn about it. If possible we would make a meal or find the music for this place. The whole afternoon would develop into a live travel show. We often would share our journey with Dad when he got home.
Adaptation of JourneyScope:
Every Friday night is Family night at my daughter Cameron’s house. She has 3 kids ages 4,2 & 10months. They take all extra furniture out of the living room and put down sleeping bags. They make a dinner that is typical Campout food. They play card games (a version of Fish they call the Camping game) and tell camp stories. When it is time to settle down. . .they put on the TV a travel DVD or a previously taped travel show. The kids have been to the Sahara, Yellowstone, Arkansas diamond fields, Grand Canyon, Alaska just to name a few. They use Netflix a lot.
As they grow she is bringing in more parts of this travel, dude ranch films, cave hunting. They only watch documentaries on “Campout” night. The 4 & 2 year old have a favorite show. . ..the Blop Blops of Yellowstone. They love the mud pools as they bubble. Needless to say this sets up the family vacations for the future. Just like my mother’s JourneyScope did for me. Where she could not travel, I have. . .and I bring back all the stories that expand the encyclopedia descriptions we read years ago.
Now my grandsons look forward to the day the family has saved money for these trips. They will be well prepared and educated. And all in the guise of fun on a Friday night.
Nana Go
Aka
Mary
You see my mother was totally blind, yet college educated and very VERY inventive. Her imagination was amazing, it had to be. She found wonderful things for us to do in the long summer weeks when most kids said. . .”I’m bored, there’s nothin’ to do around here.”
I recycled some of those activities with my children as I became a Girl Scout Leader and then. . . .in a separate group when I was a Children’s activities coordinator (aka Pied Piper).
The best part of this chain of inherited creativity is that I now see my own daughter adapting these activities to fit her modern day situations. I am so pleased to see her carry on for the 3rd generation.
Johnina of Bottles, Barbies & Boys has asked those of her readers to contribute on Tuesdays any Summer tips and tricks to keep kids happy and healthy. It is with pleasure that I join her and all the other moms on the blog list. I just give you forwarning. Some of these tips/tricks will sound old fashioned. . .but feel free to adapt, I did.
Mom (my mom), would get tired of the “I’m Bored” chant us 3 kids would start at about June 4th every year. So she started a rule. She would come up with 3 things we could do, not all of them were work (clean your room, rake the garden) she made sure it was a mixture of fun, educational and housework. But after giving us 3 choices. . .if we didn’t want to do any of them. . .then we had to come up with our own activity. And we weren’t allowed to say “I’m bored” that day. This made us responsible for our own entertainment.
JourneyScope;
Materials – 1 paper towel tube
1 aluminum pot pie tin (or something like it)
1 globe or map of the world
1 encyclopedia (adapted to modern day would be the internet)
1 blanket
We would make the journey scope which was a Sci Fi version of a telescope. Time was spent decorating it and in some case many were made so each of us kids had one. When we looked into it we could “wish” ourselves to someplace.
We sat on the blanket and one of us kids would spin the globe and another would point. When the globe stopped we would see what place we were going to journey too. Then we would search in the encyclopedia to find that place and learn about it. If possible we would make a meal or find the music for this place. The whole afternoon would develop into a live travel show. We often would share our journey with Dad when he got home.
Adaptation of JourneyScope:
Every Friday night is Family night at my daughter Cameron’s house. She has 3 kids ages 4,2 & 10months. They take all extra furniture out of the living room and put down sleeping bags. They make a dinner that is typical Campout food. They play card games (a version of Fish they call the Camping game) and tell camp stories. When it is time to settle down. . .they put on the TV a travel DVD or a previously taped travel show. The kids have been to the Sahara, Yellowstone, Arkansas diamond fields, Grand Canyon, Alaska just to name a few. They use Netflix a lot.
As they grow she is bringing in more parts of this travel, dude ranch films, cave hunting. They only watch documentaries on “Campout” night. The 4 & 2 year old have a favorite show. . ..the Blop Blops of Yellowstone. They love the mud pools as they bubble. Needless to say this sets up the family vacations for the future. Just like my mother’s JourneyScope did for me. Where she could not travel, I have. . .and I bring back all the stories that expand the encyclopedia descriptions we read years ago.
Now my grandsons look forward to the day the family has saved money for these trips. They will be well prepared and educated. And all in the guise of fun on a Friday night.
Nana Go
Aka
Mary
1 comment:
That's an excellent idea!! I love watching travel shows!
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