New Experience #17: Community Clean Up

Posted on May 9, 2013 by

community clean upWhen I looked at this week’s calendar, I realized we weren’t going to have much time to do a New Experience.   I needed to think of something that would not require much travel time and could be done on a weekday afternoon.  I had been in contact with Sheila from Pennies of Time to coordinate her guest post here and realized my children and I could do an act of service as our New Experience.

The Pennies of Time concept is simple:  You don’t need tons of time to complete an act of service.  A “penny” of time– just 15 or 20 minutes– is all you need.  This way of thinking is so liberating.  I have been feeling guilty that we haven’t volunteered at the Food Bank since Christmastime because our time is so limited.  With the penny of time concept, I know that just a small amount of service on a regular basis can be just as meaningful as a large amount of time done sporadically.

With this idea in mind, I asked the kids how they would like to help our community.  Earth Day was still on their minds, so they said they wanted to help the Earth.  We brainstormed a few ideas, and the kids chose to pick up litter at our favorite park.

community clean upAfter some time on the playground, we donned disposable gloves and walked around the park looking for litter.

Luke pointed out Canadian goose poop on the sidewalk.  Leah was relieved when I told the kids they were absolutely NOT allowed to touch it.  We were only cleaning up litter from humans!

While the park appeared pretty clean at first glance, once we really looked around on the ground, we found lots of cigarette butts and water bottle caps.

We worked for about 15 or 20 minutes.  I was so surprised the kids did not complain once.  They were actually quite cheerful and enthusiastic.  I asked why they enjoyed picking up litter so much, but complain the minute I ask them to pick up their toys.

“Mom,” Luke said matter-of-factly, “We are not just picking up trash.  We are helping the Earth!”

I am so proud that my children performed a simple of act of service so enthusiastically.  Now I just wish they would pick up their toys!

If you enjoyed this post, you’ll also like:

New Experience #12:  Volunteered at the Food Pantry

 

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Walk for CF: A Guest Post by Pennies of Time

Posted on May 6, 2013 by

Please welcome Sheila, from Pennies of Time, to 52 Brand New.  If you haven’t checked out Pennies of Time, I really hope you will.  This wonderful family completes an act of service every day.  They are truly an inspiration.  In fact, we just completed an act of service that you will read about later this week *just* because I read Sheila’s latest post.

Pennies of Time CF WalkI am from Pennies of Time and am thrilled to be a guest here at 52 Brand New!  I am impressed by the varied and meaningful experiences that Danielle takes on with her kids

At Pennies of Time, I am a mom of two young boys (4 and 6 years old), and we complete an act of service each day. We are excited to share with you our NEW experience in completing a 5k Walk for The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Recently, as a family, we walked 5 kilometers to help raise money for two friends: brothers Tanner and Caleb.  Both boys have cystic fibrosis. This was a new service act for my boys. They had never taken on such a distance to help a young friend!

Here are a couple of numbers about cystic fibrosis that may help you understand why we think it is important to help:

2 – The number of times each day that the boys get vest therapy.

3 – Caleb’s age. He was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at birth.

5 – The number of breathing treatments each boy goes through each day.

6 – Tanner’s age. He was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis at birth.

24 – Tanner and Caleb take 24 pills per day.

37 – The life expectancy of a person with cystic fibrosis is 37 years.

70 – Approximately 70,000 people worldwide are affected with cystic fibrosis.

Clearly, the day-to-day routine in managing cystic fibrosis is more than any child should have to experience just to stay healthy. This is a cause that we felt strongly in supporting!

We were so excited on the morning of the walk. The weather was EXTREMELY cold and windy for a spring morning in Texas! We bundled up, packed our picnic lunch, and were off to the park where The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation was set to have a Great Strides Walk.

Our team, the “J” Walkers had quite a turn out with 29 walkers! “J” Walkers comprised almost a third of the entire group that showed up to support The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation that morning. A great turn-out to support these two kids!

Fun music played in the staging area, breakfast was available for munching, and the walkers were excited! Excited to turn in the money they had raised, excited to gather together for a meaningful and “close to home” cause, and excited to get moving and WARM!

pennies of timeAs balloons were given out to all who wanted one, we gathered at the starting line. The kids were huddled at the front, so excited to begin . . . and, once released to start, the kids very quickly out-distanced the rest of the walkers.

pennies of time guest postFor my 4-year-old, he lasted, um, about 1 kilometer before he asked his dad for a piggy-back ride. And, his dad did oblige with that ride. He wasn’t the only dad providing support for the younger walkers so that they could finish the entire 5K with the rest of the group.

My 6-year-old ran the enter 5 kilometers. He was determined to do it and do it well! (Just one small break to wash his hands after he stopped to pick up a DEAD turtle he found and carried a distance before I realized, gag!)

As is my habit now, I looked for those doing the good, reaching out to others during the experience. My heart was touched by the following:

  • The family that always had a balloon ready to give up when a young walker inevitably lost his or her balloon. Someone in that family would RUSH to the young, forlorn walker to give a replacement balloon. I overheard someone in that family say to the other: I just can’t bear it when kids are sad!
  • The 4 employees from Old Navy that volunteered their time to help cheer on the walkers at the event. They stood out in the cold to clap, cheer, and hand out bottled water. Such a delight to see how the children LOVED having someone on the sidelines cheer for them as they struggled to run the distance! (yes, it was a WALK but many kids RAN the distance)
  • The different teams that had gathered friends and loved ones to raise money and show support. Each one had a name to unite them in the cause to raise money and fight this life threatening illness.

The most touching, and sobering, moment was when a family, walking in memory of a loved little girl who had passed away due to CF, finished the walk and then all stopped and gave each other a quiet, simple, giant group hug. In that moment for me, the entire park was just one huge . . . well, quiet hush . . .

. . . In one of the largest states in the US, in a suburb of a large city, in the middle of a national park, standing in a huddle, a family took a few moments to unite in memory of a little girl that they remember and love. A moment to support one another, to love another, to honor their little girl, and to share in the grief that they still experience.

For me, it was the perfect illustration of why we serve. We serve to let go of that natural tendency to focus on ourselves. We serve to teach ourselves about things we don’t experience every day. In all, though, we serve to support and love one another.

Our family enjoyed this new act of service. On the drive home, my six-year-old said that it was one of the best service acts that we have done so far! (And, no, I don’t think that it was because he found that really cool turtle!)

For more information on cystic fibrosis, check out The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

To see more of our service adventures, visit Pennies of Time.  Need ideas on service acts or random acts of kindness?  Check out the Pennies of Time Pinterest Boards.

 

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New Experience #16: Field Station Dinosaurs

Posted on May 5, 2013 by

036 (1)Many of our New Experiences are free.  This one was not, and I am still a bit cranky about it.  We spent an enjoyable afternoon at Field Station Dinosaurs in Secaucus, New Jersey, but I’m still trying to decide if it was worth the money.

Field Station Dinosaurs describes itself as a “world-class family attraction” and markets itself to New York City tourists since it is just one train stop from Manhattan.  I just don’t see how this attraction could possibly compare to tourist attractions like the American Museum of Natural History or Times Square.

But enough crankiness…. Here is how our day went:

digging for fossilsAfter paying $10 to park and $65 for admission for 1 adult and 2 children, we entered the park.  The kids were slightly apprehensive as they have a love and a fear of dinosaurs.   When we reached the first dinosaur, they realized they didn’t need to be scared.  The dinosaur models were realistic but they were not so real that they looked scary.  Luke pointed out that its roars were actually coming out from a small speaker near its feet.  Each dinosaur had a placard with some information about it, so we learned about each one we saw.

After we strolled around for about 15 minutes, we found the Fossil Dig Site.  The kids were given their choice of paleontologists’ tools such as paint brushes and shovels to uncover dinosaur fossils buried in a large, sandy area.  Both children loved this part, but they approached it differently.  Luke wandered around, helping different groups of children find a fossil.  Once they found the fossil, he was off to look for another one.  Leah stayed with one fossil, digging and brushing it off with another girl until the entire thing was uncovered.  She said it was her favorite part of the day.

After we spent about forty minutes digging for dinosaurs, we decided to walk around the park again.  It just happened to be Boy Scout Day while we were there, so there were additional activity stations set up for everyone to enjoy.  We found an Orienteering Station run by Orienteering Unlimited, Inc. and picked up a topographical map of the park.  We could use the map to find markers hidden around Field Station Dinosaurs.

T Rex and view of NYCThis was Luke’s favorite part of the day.  He was so excited to follow the map and find the markers that I actually had to remind him to look at the dinosaurs!

The orienteering course took us about an hour and led us through the entire park.  As we exited, the kids chatted about their favorite parts of the day.  We really did have a good time, but we were only there for 2 hours and my wallet was $75 lighter.  I shouldn’t complain.  A sunny afternoon with my children is priceless to me.

If you enjoyed this article, you’ll also like:

New Experience #14:  Hunted for Tigers in Princeton

New Experience #23:  Walked Across the Brooklyn Bridge

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New Experience #15: Historical Reenactment

Posted on May 1, 2013 by

historical reenactmentWhen many people think of New Jersey, stereotypes of crowded highways and tacky reality shows come to their minds.  Historical sites are probably not at the top of someone’s thoughts about my home state.  But New Jersey is steeped in American history and has lots of great historical sites to visit.

Due to its location between Philadelphia and New York City, New Jersey was literally the crossroads of the American Revolution.  Many important battles were fought here, and Washington famously crossed the Delaware River on Christmas Day in 1776 to reach Trenton.

One interesting historical site to visit in New Jersey is Jockey Hollow, part of Morristown National Historic Park, where Washington and his troops spent the harsh winter of 1779.

My children and I have hiked there a few times, but we really didn’t spend much time learning about the history of the place.  So, when I heard that the Jockey Hollow Encampment was being reenacted, I decided it was time to learn a little more about the place.

Since my children are only 7 and 5, they really don’t know much about history at all.  I tried to explain about Jockey Hollow, but I knew it was a bit beyond their level of understanding.  I was concerned that they might not find the Encampment interesting, but I had no need to worry.

When we pulled into the parking lot, we saw white tents in neat rows across a field. The kids were immediately intrigued.

While walking from the car to the field, we got our first glimpse of the reenactors.  Luke had a million questions.  I was able to answer only a few.

colonial gamesWe walked around a bit and talked to some of the reenactors, all of whom participate in reeanactments as a hobby.  I was impressed by their knowledge of the time period.  Leah was impressed by their costumes.  And, Luke was impressed by their muskets and bayonets.

We wandered into a tent where Colonial games were set up, and a friendly volunteer taught us a few of them.  We enjoyed playing Shut the Box and Nine Man Morris- games the Revolutionary War soldiers might have played while camping here, waiting for the snow to melt and battle season to begin.

covering our earsAt 3:00, the soldiers reenacted a training exercise.  In Colonial days, they would have practiced formations but would have never wasted gunpowder on a training.  However, the reenactors used real gunpowder for effect.  The kids held their ears while they watched.  They were both very interested in how the commands were called and guns were loaded.

After the reenactment, we wandered around the camp a little more.  We heard stories of how some soldiers marched with no shoes or coats and others walked for weeks to join up with the Continental Army.  The volunteers were great at explaining things to the kids on their level, so we all learned a lot.

On the way home, we talked about how lucky we are to live in the year 2013, and how grateful we are to the soldiers who gave up so much to fight for our freedom.  We also felt grateful to the reenactors who shared their love of history with us and made it come so alive.

If you enjoyed this article, you’ll also like:

New Experience #40: Paid Respects at Arlington National Cemetery

New Experience #4: Wrote Letters to the President

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New Experience #14: Hunted for Tigers in Princeton

Posted on April 14, 2013 by

hunting for tigers in princetonNo, of course, we didn’t hunt for real tigers.  What kind of people do you think we are?  We went on safari at Princeton University, where we searched for the university mascot, the tiger.

The campus is one of my favorite places to stroll in New Jersey, but my children are not very excited about strolling.  They’ll willingly walk around downtown Princeton, if we stop  at Halo Pub- the best ice cream shop in town.  Sadly, they don’t share my interest in strolling around aimlessly.

But, for New Experience #14, we weren’t just strolling through one of the most beautiful campuses in the country.  We were hunting for tigers.  I found this little gem of an idea in New Jersey Family, a free little magazine that has lots of original ideas I have used.

So, armed with ice cream and a map of the campus, we began our search on a warm spring afternoon.

palmer square princetonWe didn’t even make it to the campus when we spotted our first tiger statue.  We were only in Palmer Square, across the street from the campus.  At that point, we decided to take a guess of how many more tigers we’d see in Princeton.  Luke guessed 80, Leah guessed 20, and I guessed 10.  I thought I had an unfair advantage because I had already read this guide on the tiger statues of Princeton and marked up our map with a few spots to look.  I figured that we’d make it to a few buildings and find about 10 tiger statues before our ice cream melted.

blair arch steps princetonI was very happy to be the one who was farthest from the actual number.  Luke and Leah love scavenger hunts of any kind, and this was no exception.  They found lots of tigers proudly perched in front of buildings and crouching over doorways.  They noticed small tigers in places where a gargoyle would typically stand.  They even went beyond looking for statues and found tigers on the many flyers tacked up on bulletin boards and lamp posts.  They even spotted one on a T-shirt!  It’s amazing how a little scavenger hunt can turn a stroll into a fun-filled adventure for my kids.

princeton tiger statue with a bookIt was a lovely and leisurely afternoon walk.  The kids really enjoyed looking for tigers, and I appreciated their enthusiasm.  After we found 58 tigers, we headed out of the jungle…oops, I mean campus… and back to our car parked downtown.

If you enjoyed this article, you’ll also like:

New Experience #2:  Visited Princeton University Art Museum (2012)

New Experience #9:  Pie Eating Contest (also took place in Princeton)

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New Experience #13: The Simplest Circuit

Posted on April 10, 2013 by

circuit with battery bulb and wireDid you know it’s possible to light a small lightbulb with just one battery and one wire?

When I taught fourth grade, I introduced our unit on electricity by having my students figure out how to do just that.  It is actually very simple, and some students figured out in minutes.  It took other students a half hour and a few hints to get it.

So, when I introduced this idea to Luke and Leah, I wondered how it would go over.  I’m glad to report it was a huge success.

kids simple circuitI set the materials on our kitchen table and told the kids to see if they could make their lightbulb turn on.  Since I am their mom, and not their teacher, the kids expected me to just give them the answer.  I didn’t cave in.  I let them experiment for a few minutes.  Once they got a little frustrated, I reminded them to think of how our Snap Circuits work.  Everything must be connected or nothing will happen.

When that hint wasn’t enough, I told them to think of the word circuit.  The beginning of the word sounds a lot like the beginning of the word circle.  I prompted them to think of a circuit in the shape of a circle, plus use the other hint that everything must be connected.

In another minute or two, both kids got the lightbulb to glow.  Their smiles were wide and proud.  They had done it all on their own.

In kid-friendly language, I explained how this circuit worked.  I needed to use kid-friendly  language because my understanding of electricity is not much more advanced than a fourth grade level!  Here is how I explained it to them:

When the battery, bulb, and wire are connected, energy leaves the negative end of the battery, travels through the wire, hits the metal part of the light bulb and finds the support wire.  It then goes into the light bulb by traveling up the support wire, crosses the filament, which gets so hot that it glows.  The energy doesn’t stop just because the light is on.  It continues to move down the other support wire, out of the bottom of the light bulb and back into the positive end of the battery.

033 (1)I drew a crude diagram to explain how this works.  We also took apart one of the light bulbs, so that the children could see how one support wire leads to the screw part of the bulb, and the other support wire leads to the very bottom.  That is why the bulb needs to be touched on the side and the bottom.  I also explained that electricity only travels through certain materials.  That is why the support wires and filament are metal. It’s also why we cover the wire in plastic - so we don’t get shocked.

We experimented with putting the light bulb on the other end of the battery, to see if it would work.  (It does.)  Then I left the materials out for the kids to play with whenever they want.  (Often!)

This is such a fun introduction to electricity.  Luke and Leah really learned a lot from this little experiment.  If you want to try it, you can find detailed directions here.  Some other things you could explore are why parts of the circuit feel warm to the touch.  (Escaping energy.)  You could also try bigger bulbs or different batteries to see if the circuit will still work.  I know we’ll be moving on to more complex tasks, such as building a series circuit and parallel circuit soon!

If you enjoyed this article, you’ll also like:

Experience #1:  Starting 2012 With a Shock

New Experience #51: Ivory Soap Experiment

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New Experience #12: Frisbee Golf

Posted on April 4, 2013 by

Disc GolfA few weeks ago, I had heard someone mention that they took their children to play frisbee golf at a course in a park by their house.  When I was a kid, we played Frisbee golf in gym class.  Since I was never athletic as a child, I always looked forward to Frisbee golf days.  All we had to do was hit a pole or tree with a frisbee.  Really, there could not be an easier game.

So, I thought it was odd that the person took their child to a course to do this.  Couldn’t they just throw Frisbee at a tree in their own backyard?

Oh, how naive I was.  Apparently, Frisbee Golf has come a long way since I played it circa 1985.  There are now courses with pars and baskets and lots of rules.  If you don’t believe me, check out this Wikipedia article about Disc Golf.  See, they even call it something official sounding:  ”Disc” Golf.  If the name is not official enough, there is even a Professional Disc Golf Association that makes rules and governs tournaments.

disc golfSince Frisbee Golf is a legitimate sport now, I thought we’d give it a try as New Experience #12.  I found a beautiful course in Chimney Rock Park in Bridgewater, New Jersey.  We arrived with our dollar store Frisbees and were ready to go.

There was another group of golfers on the course.  They were very serious about their Disc Golf, and I had to try not to laugh.  I suppose you can get competitive with just about anything, but being competitive about Frisbee Gold seems so silly to me.

The kids were excited to get started despite the cold weather and biting wind.  Our Frisbees were lightweight and easily carried by the wind, but we didn’t mind.  Each basket was 300-400 feet away from the starting point, so we had lots of opportunities to throw our Frisbees.

Disc Golf 2The kids made up their own rules.  Whoever threw their Frisbee the furthest had to wait for the others to catch up before that player could go again.  If a Frisbee went into the woods, everyone had to help look for it.  And, my favorite rule: if you are the first one to get your disc into the basket, your job is to hand the Frisbees back to everyone.

Luke can be a stickler for the rules, and Leah likes to break them.  So, I was part player, part referee for the game.  Luckily, we had lots of funny moments as well.  As we walked from one basket to the next, the kids sang funny songs and tried to make each other laugh with goofy faces and body parts humor.  I didn’t find it funny, but I admire my children’s ability to laugh at the most ridiculous things.

Our game took less than 45 minutes.  If it were a sunnier day, we probably would have played again.  Instead, I promised we’d go back again soon.  Luke said New Experience #12 was his favorite one this year!

If you enjoyed this article, you’ll also like:

New Experience #46:  Indoor Trampoline Arena

New Experience #38:  Family Yoga Class

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