Swimming away in Story Art

"Swimmy," by Leo Lionni, has enchanted generations of children with its beautiful illustrations and celebration of differences. Today's Story Art project was inspired by this Caldecott Honor Book. Here's how to make your own undersea-scape!

You will need:
Water color paper (available at craft stores) or another thick paper
Crayons
Art tissue paper (must be "bleeding" so the colors run)-- shades of blue create the ocean effect best
A cup of water
A paint brush

Draw your undersea picture on the watercolor paper using the crayons. For a fun trick, try drawing things with the white crayon. It won't show up-- yet! We drew a black fish for Swimmy and red fish for his brothers and sisters. For best results, press hard with the crayon.

Tear up the tissue paper into medium size pieces and use them to cover the watercolor paper. Try layering the tissue paper for new color combinations.

Dip the brush in water and paint a layer of water on top of the tissue paper, wetting all the paper.

Peel off and discard the wet tissue paper to reveal your ocean scene!

Walk to Work Day and Stuffee Goes to Health Fairs!

April 1 is National Walk to Work Day! Since 2004, this day is held on the first Friday of April in the USA every year. Try to walk for all or part of your commute to work or school.


In helping to promote healthy habits, like being active and walking to work, Stuffee will be going to the Geyser Road Elementary School health fair on April 2, 2011 and the YMCA health fair on April 16, 2011 to give some healthy suggestions to families.

Start walking and join us for some healthy ideas to implement into your family's daily life!

An Evening with the Mad Hatter

Our fundraiser event, An Evening with the Mad Hatter, was held last weekend! Thank you to all who came and celebrated The Children's Museum at Saratoga with us. We had a lot of fun! In addition to thanking all who attended, we want to thank the following companies who have donated or reduced their costs for products or services in putting this event together. Thank you to Advantage Press, Sandra Capecci-Potenza Designs, Dehn's Flowers Inc., Hidden Gardens, Saratoga, Saratoga National Golf Club, and Toadflax Nursery of South Glens Falls. All of your contributions helped to make this event a joyous occasion.

                                                                                           

            

 

 

Thank you for a wonderful night!

Barefoot Books at The Children's Museum!

Do you and your child love reading? Have you been looking for some new stories to read? Join us at the Children's Museum at Saratoga on Saturday, March 19th for a Barefoot Books book fair! Thirty percent of your Barefoot Books purchase will be donated to the Museum. This is a great way to stock up on gifts for the children in your life and to support the Children's Museum! We love these books here at the museum. In the past, we have used We're Sailing Down the Nile in Story Art and My Daddy is a Pretzel for Stretching with Stuffee.

                         

Barefoot Books is an award-winning children's book publishing company, dedicated to bringing high-quality art and story to children of all walks of life.  It was started by two mothers who were seeking books that inspired children's creativity and imagination, while also instilling respect for other cultures and the planet.  Their books are printed on ancient forest-friendly paper, using soy or vegetable-based inks.

Throughout the month, if you order your books online, you will be supporting The Children's Museum. Go online now and explore Barefoot Books.

We hope you can join us for this fun event!

Special guests at the Museum!

This week at the Children's Museum at Saratoga we welcome special guests joining our programs. Jessica Riley from Kiba Kiba Books will join us for Story Art and Dr. Q from AAC Family Wellness Centers will join us in Stretching with Stuffee.

Jessica Riley, author of Kiba Kiba Books, will be joining us on March 17, 2011 from 10:30-11:00 AM for Story Art. Jessica has hosted a number of workshops in the area and beyond where children illustrate the text of a story she has written. During Story Art she will be reading one of these child-illustrated stories and then leading the children in an art challenge.

Our second guest that will be joining us in Stretching with Stuffee this week is Dr. Q from AAC Family Wellness Centers on March 18, 2011 from 10:00-10:30 AM. Dr. Michael Quartararo graduated from Palmer College of Chiropractic, where he received specialized training in pediatrics.

Hope you can join us for these events! Thanks to Jessica and Dr. Q for sharing their talents with us at the museum!

The members of AAC Family Wellness Centers are dedicated to educating our communities that proper spinal alignment and function promotes optimum health and wellness.

Correction: Parent Workshop: Multiple Intelligences with Professor Brent

Join us in the first session of our new parent workshop series! It will be held APRIL 5, 3:30-4:15 PM here at The Children's Museum. In the first session of our new parent workshop series, Professor Donna Brent of the Skidmore College Education Studies Department will give a talk on the theory of multiple intelligences in children. Museum staff will provide supervised play and care for children, age 18 months and older, of workshop participants during the session. The workshop is $10 for members and $15 for nonmembers. This includes museum admission for one child and one adult. Don't miss out on what is sure to be a very interesting and insightful talk!

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

Today is the birthday of Theodor Seuss Geisel, also known as Dr. Seuss! Thank you to everyone who joined us for our Seussian Celebration in his honor, where we read stories with Thing 1 and Thing 2, made bookmarks, and fished for one fish, two fish, red fish, and blue fish!  Inspired by The Lorax, we made Truffula Trees from pipe cleaners and pom-poms.

Today is a great opportunity to enjoy one of Dr. Seuss' many classic books. Happy reading!

Have fun with your kids from home!

By now, many of us are going crazy with cabin fever. How can you keep busy at home while making your child feel special? Here are some different activities you can do with your children to have some fun and make them feel good about themselves.

1. Send your child a funny greeting card by mail. You can make it, or you can buy one especially designed for kids.

2. Ask your child's opinion of the solution to a problem. A child's judgment needs to be exercised, starting with simple matters such as the dinner menu.

3. Make handprint cookies. Cut around your child's hand on cookie dough with a blunt knife, and after the cookies are baked let him or her decorate the "hand" with a frosting tube.

4. Make your child's interest a family hobby. Following his or her lead in rock hunting, ice hockey, or coin collecting can open new interests for all while quietly emphasizing the significance of your child's ideas.

5. Create a special bedtime ritual that you follow in addition to reading a book or sharing talk about the day. Consider a silly good-night rhyme such as: Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite, and if they do, grab a shoe, and hit them till, they're black and blue. (Ouch!)

6. Bring a snack with you when you pick up your child from school or daycare - it's a visible sign that you were thinking of your child.

7. Look at old snapshots with your child, taking advantage of the opportunity to sit close together. Talk about your childhood - children love to hear about "the old days." (Encourage this activity with extended family members such as visiting grandparents, aunts, and uncles, too.)

8. When you are shopping together in the grocery store, let your child "decide" which item to buy by giving him or her a choice of two items - "this one or that one?" - either of which would be acceptable to you.

9. Outline your child's body on a long sheet of white or brown paper for cutting out and coloring. Then hang it up for all to see. (Write name, date, and age on the back).

10. Give your child an award ("BEST DISH WASHER OF THE WEEK," for example) on occasion. Make a small ceremony out of it.

All of these activities and simiple gestures are sure to put a smile on both your face and your child's!