Au Pair Chatter

July 24 is Amelia Earhart Day

Amelia Earhart became the first person, man or woman, to fly solo across the pacific. Another famous flight was her nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic in 1932, the first for a woman.

College Park Aviation Museum is a great place to take the kids for hands-on learning about aviation. Visit their website for hours and upcoming events.

Many years ago people had to use the sun to tell him. Learn how people told time before the invention of watches and clocks by making a sun clock.

What you need:

• paper plate
• plastic straw
• sharpened pencil
• crayons
• ruler
• pushpins
  

What you do:

1. Start this project on a sunny day just before noon.
2. Use the pencil to poke a hole through the very center of the paper plate. Write the number 12 on the edge of the plate with a crayon. Using the ruler as a guide, draw a straight line from the number 12 to the hole in the center of the plate.
3. At noon, take the plate and the straw outside. Put the plate on the ground and poke the straw through the hole. Slant the straw toward the line you drew. Now carefully turn the plate so that the shadow of the straw falls along the line to the number 12.
4. Fasten the plate to the ground with some pushpins. Have your child predict where he/she thinks that the shadow of the straw will be pointing in one hour.
5. One hour later, at one o’clock, check the position of the shadow along the edge of the plate and write the number 1 on that spot. Continue each hour predicting the position and then checking and marking the actual position and time on the edge of the plate.
6. At the end of the day you and your child will have a sun clock. On the next sunny afternoon you will be able to tell time by watching where the shadow of the straw falls on your clock.

Note: Observation, prediction and communication are all very important science skills. This activity helps to develop them. Be sure to have your child talk about why he/she thinks the shadow is moving.

Photo: NWF

Dehydration The little ones, especially, forget to drink or to tell you that they need to drink. If you find the children not looking well and/or getting cranky toward the afternoon, it might be because they’re tired, or it might be because they’re dehydrated. Remember: By the time a person feels thirsty, he’s already partly dehydrated, so drink to prevent thirst, not to quench it. Common symptoms of dehydration are crankiness, headaches, aches in the joints and weariness. And don’t allow your child to fill up on juice or soft drinks; these are dehydrators. Water or child-appropriate hydrating drinks are best.

However, if you or your child has severe dehydration (dry mouth, sunken eyes, reluctant to drink, unable to pee or cry, high fever, lethargy), call for emergency help and have your child sip an electrolyte-replacement fluid (such as Pedialyte).

Hot Cars: Don’t EVER leave children alone in the car — not even for a moment. Besides the danger of abduction, the temperature in a car can skyrocket in minutes. And, if you see an unattended young child in a vehicle, please call 911, the police or other emergency personnel. Your call could save the child’s life.

Drowning: Always actively supervise children in and around water. Infants and children can drown in bathtubs, swimming pools, ponds or almost any other water. Toddlers aren’t strong enough to lift themselves back out of a toilet, bucket, container or wading pool.

Sun Protection: Children’s skin and eyes are more sensitive to ultraviolet rays. Babies should be protected from direct sun entirely. Toddlers, preschoolers and older children should be covered well in sunscreen (SPF 30 or higher) at least one half hour before going out in the sun. Sunscreen should be reapplied every hour or so, and it should be reapplied after the child has been in water. Don’t forget ears, hands, feet, lips and under the eyes. Also, make sure your child wears a hat and sunglasses when out in the sun for any length of time.

July 18th is National Ice Cream Day! Celebrate by enjoying a few scoops of your favorite flavor or by making your own ice cream at home. Here is a simple recipe. You can change it up by adding a little chocolate syrup, a few chocolate chips, or using a flavoring other than vanilla.

In a quart size zipper baggie, combine…
1 cup of whole milk or half and half
2 tablespoons of sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract

In a gallon size zipper baggie…
Fill ½ way with ice cubes
Add 1/3 cup of rock salt (if you don’t have rock salt you can use table salt or kosher salt)

Seal the small baggie carefully and place the inside of the large bag. Seal the large bag and shake the bags until you can see the mixture thickening (about 5 minutes.) It will be cold to hold, so you may want to carefully pass it back and forth between yourself and a partner.  Remove the small baggie and wipe the top off (to remove salt water,) unzip and enjoy!

I thought this video was a nice explanation of how to make the delicious summertime treat known as s’mores. If you really want to live it up, try replacing the Hershey Bar with a Reece’s Peanut Butter Cup! Yum

From the Newseum website:

July 1 through Sept. 5, 2011, youth visitors 18 and under get free admission to the Newseum with one paid adult admission. Offer is limited to up to 10 kids. This promotion is not valid in combination with other discounts. Summer Fun Deal tickets, like all Newseum tickets, are valid for two consecutive days.

Ranked by TripAdvisor as the No. 1 attraction in the nation’s capital, the Newseum has something for everyone.

The Newseum offers a wonderful experience for everyone in the family. From the Pulitzer Prize Photographs gallery, Elvis, the 4-D theater to the Newseum’s interactive exhibits. There is a lot to explore and a lot to learn at every age level.

When the kids are out of school for the summer, one place to cool off is at the movie theater. Below are three theaters in different parts of our cluster area that are offering $1 or free kid’s movies each week of the summer.

Tips to maximize your free movie enjoyment:

After the movie, do activities related to the movie:

BOWIE STADIUM 14 (Movies are $1)

15200 Major Lansdale Blvd, Bowie, MD 301-262-9133
Doors open at 9:30 am, movie starts at 10 am

6/21-6/22 – ASTRO BOY (PG) & MEGAMIND (PG)
6/28-6/29 – DESPICABLE ME (PG) & HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON (PG)
7/5-7/6 – BARNYARD (PG) & CHRONICLES OF NARNIA (PG)
7/12-7/13 – MARMADUKE (PG) & YOGI BEAR (PG)
7/19-7/20 – RAMONA & BEEZUS (G) & SHREK FOREVER AFTER (PG)
7/26-7/27 – ALPHA AND OMEGA (PG) & KARATE KID (PG)
8/2-8/3 – NANNY MCPHEE RETURNS (PG) & TALE OF DESPEREAUX (G)
8/9-8/10 – DIARY OF A WIMPY KID (PG) & OPEN SEASON 3 (G)
8/16-8/17 – CLOUDY W/ MEATBALLS (PG) & PIRATES WHO DON’T DO ANYTHING (G)

MAJESTIC STADIUM 20 (Movies are $1)

900 Ellsworth Drive, Silver Spring, MD  301-565-8884
Doors open at 9:30 am, movie starts at 10 am

6/21-6/22 – ASTRO BOY (PG) & MEGAMIND (PG)
6/28-6/29 – DESPICABLE ME (PG) & HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON (PG)
7/5-7/6 – BARNYARD (PG) & CHRONICLES OF NARNIA (PG)
7/12-7/13 – MARMADUKE (PG) & YOGI BEAR (PG)
7/19-7/20 – RAMONA & BEEZUS (G) & SHREK FOREVER AFTER (PG)
7/26-7/27 – ALPHA AND OMEGA (PG) & KARATE KID (PG)
8/2-8/3 – NANNY MCPHEE RETURNS (PG) & TALE OF DESPEREAUX (G)
8/9-8/10 – DIARY OF A WIMPY KID (PG) & OPEN SEASON 3 (G)
8/16-8/17 – CLOUDY W/ MEATBALLS (PG) & PIRATES WHO DON’T DO ANYTHING (G)

Harbour 9  (Movies are FREE)

2474 Solomons Island Road, Annapolis, MD 410-224-1145
Doors open at 9 am, movie starts at 10 am

6/21-6/22 – MEGAMIND (PG)
6/28-6/29 - YOGI BEAR (PG)
7/5-7/6 – DIARY OF A WIMPY KID (PG)
7/12-7/13 – MARMADUKE (PG)
7/19-7/20 – RAMONA & BEEZUS (G)
7/26-7/27 - PERCY JACKSON & THE OLYMPIANS (PG)
8/2-8/3 - CHRONICLES OF NARNIA (PG)
8/9-8/10 - GULLIVER’S TRAVELS (PG)
8/16-8/17 - SHREK FOREVER AFTER (PG)

Looking for some cool summer fun indoors? Bass Pro Shops (located in Arundel Mills Mall) is offering a variety of free craft activities Tuesdays & Thursdays from 4-6 pm and Saturdays and Sundays from 2-5 pm, now through July 10.

Click here to see the full list on the Bass Pro Shops website

Bass Pro Shops has a large indoor fish tank that my kids always enjoy checking out. For older kids, there is a rock climbing wall (for a charge.)

Additional activities are available. Check with your host parents before taking the kids to participate in these or any activities.

Arundel Mills also has a Lego Store, movie theater and Dave & Busters Game Arcade.  It’s not right around the corner (30 minutes from most parts of our cluster,) but worth the drive, if you plan to make a day of it with the kids.

Step 1
Encourage your child to drink plenty of water. On hot days, children should drink significantly more water than usual, as they are losing more due to the heat.

Step 2
Do not wait until your child is thirsty to give him water. By the time they feel thirsty, they are already becoming dehydrated.

Step 3
Have other liquids on hand for your child to drink throughout the day. Juices also help with hydration.

Step 4
Be alert to changes in behavior.  A child may act confused or more irritable when they are becoming dehydrated/overheated.  Get them into cooler temperatures and drinking more fluids.

Step 5
Dress your child in lightweight clothing in the summer months, particularly if she’ll be playing outdoors in warm weather. You may also consider clothes that are well ventilated as they do not trap heat close to the body.