Field Trip-Kids Cafe

Like most of you mommies we are trying to raise our kiddos to care for others.  Its not always an easy task, but it is a worthwhile one.  There a multitude of ways to give this holiday season, but I wanted to share with you a way that we have used to try and help this concept sink in with E. 

We have a local ministry in the area called Kids Cafe.  Our cafe is run by a local church in connection with Feeding America.  Kids Cafe is a program that provides transportation and meals to children in need from the community.  Our current chapter feeds about 130 kids each week, and gives them food to take home, too.  It functions completely on the generosity of donors and volunteers!   Our youth group has gone several times to help serve these kids, and we have started taking E with us when we go. 

E was really excited to get to go with the youth:

Because of privacy concerns I can’t post any pics of the kiddos there, but I can tell you the impact this has on your kid.  E got to sit and play with the kids, some of which were her own age.  She was more than happy to play and eat and fellowship.  Serving was FUN, and because of the joy she got out of it, she is more that willing to go back again. 

If you would like to find a program like this in your area you can check out this list of local Food Banks by State.  Contact the one in your area and they will let you know how you can get involved.  If a Kids Cafe isn’t in your area, visit a food bank and make a donation.  I am sure the volunteers there will be happy to show you and your kiddo around.

Dinosaur Field Trip

This week we are creating some fun dinosaur printables for you.  We can’t wait to share them.

 

As Amber and I were discussing the unit, I was reminded about the dinosaur field trip that my family took last year.  My husband and I took the boy to see some life size animatronic dinosaurs that had been on display at our local zoo.  When we got home, my husband and I had a blast working together to create this little slide show.  

Although, we didn’t capture any pictures of the boy’s wonderment, he really did enjoy looking at these extinct animals.  Of course, he preferred to view them from the comfort and security of his daddy’s arms.  As long as Daddy was holding him, he was fine. Well, except when one of the dinos decided to surprise them by spraying water at them.   All in all, it was a fun trip.

Do you have a dinosaur exhibit in your area?  Please share.  Another reader may not have realized there was one so close to them.  Thanks.

Summer Fun!

This unit offers a wide range of possibilities for field trips.  Summer in general is all about vacations and water. So, we headed to a near by splash park to get cooled off from the 90 degree weather!

   

The boy was a bit timid about really getting in there.  I’m not sure why.  Last year we were all over the splash parks.  But, one thing he couldn’t get enough of was the “mini” water slides.  If the line hadn’t gotten longer as the day went on, he may have never stopped going down them.

Here are a few other “field trip” ideas:

• Go to $1 Movies. Our local Cinemark is offering a morning movie a week for $1.  So, make sure to check your local theaters to find out if they have any special summer programs.
• Visit a city pool.
• Head out to the nearest body of water. Trips to the lake, river and even the ocean are a summer must.  (Highly jealous of all you that will have access to a beach this summer.  My CA roots longs to hear the crashing of the waves again.)
• If you’re looking to save money by staying at home, then running through sprinklers was always one of my favorites.  Don’t forget the old timer,  slippin’ slide.  Last, but surely not least, water balloons are bound to make a splash with your kiddos.

We want to hear what you do in the summer to stay cool!  We know you all are full of fabulous ideas, so leave a comment and share your awesomeness with all of us.

Field Trip to a Pond

As I’m sure you can guess from the title, this week we are learning all about the pond- animals that we might see there and even the plants.  This week’s unit offers the best kind of field trip- a no think or plan field trip!

Since my mom is in town, we took a little trip to a large pond in the area and did some fishing. 

The boy was actually the only one to get any nibbles.  Unfortunately, it freak him out just a little bit.  You see, he was just holding his little Mickey Mouse fishing pole, minding his own business and winding up his reel, when a little fish happen to be enticed by the little plastic grub attached.  All of sudden we heard a little whimper and saw two little feet begin to stamper with fear.  Quicker than Daddy could get there to help, that little fish got away. However,shortly after his little Mickey Mouse pole caught another one…this time Daddy was able to reel it in.  The boy was pretty much done with catching fish after the first incident.

After we posed for pictures, we returned this little fish back to his watery home.

We were so glad to get outside and soak up some vitamin D after all the rain we’ve had here.  

Tots Around Town- Easter

Oh my goodness.  Can I just tell you that I’ve been sneezing, my eyes are itchy and watery and I’m seriously contemplating stuffing Kleenex up my nose like a plug.  Seriously, people I went through a whole box of Kleenex today because my nose just won’t stop. I hate allergies.

Thanks for letting me have that little rant, now on to some field trip ideas to get us egg-cited.  =)

An easy one is to go to your local mall and visit the Easter Bunny for a quick hello and snap shot. 

Of course, if this is too scary for your kiddo then maybe a movie would be more up your ally.  Hop comes to theaters tomorrow.  Now I don’t know much about this movie, except what I saw on the trailer and its PG rating.  So, as we always say: Use your discretion on what is appropriate for your child.  This movie is merely a suggestion and you should read and consider reviews of these movies before watching them.

Finally, if you don’t like any of these options then you can always fall back on one of our favorites…store scavenger hunts!  =)

Alright, my peeps! (He, he…get it?) I’m off to take some more meds in hopes to dry out my sinuses and knock me out for a restful sleep.  Praying you are allergy free this spring season.

Tots Around Town-The Garden Center

This week we are focusing on several aspects of Spring.  One of them is gardening. 

For Tots Around Town this week we went on a scavenger hunt at the garden center of Target!  Can you tell Madonna and like that place?  Anyhoo, you could do this scavenger hunt at any gardening center, we were just at Target so I was multi-tasking!

I showed E the list and we named each item as she pointed to it.  I told her to look around and see if she could find any of the things on our list!  If she was missing the obvious, as toddlers sometimes do, I would drop a couple of hints.  When E would find an item we would talk a little bit about what it was used for. 

We looked for water hoses, and soil, which E just called dirt bags…..I kind of giggled at that one. :)

 
A giant Buddha was not on our list.  E however kept returning to him and asked if we could take him home.  The garden gnomes were on our list, they are right above her head in this pic, but she was quite oblivious.  She also had a difficult time deciding which flower pot could be the one that was on our list. 

In this shot, my darling and creative daughter was explaining to me that we could buy this watering can and grow puppies…I tried explaining that puppies don’t come from gardens.  She was not convinced.   

That was our trip.  E really loves doing these scavenger hunts when we go shopping, so you’ll have to let us know the fun you all have when you do them!  Until then! 

Tots Around Town- The Zoo

Well, it never fails.  Every time Amber and I head to the zoo we forget something.  This time it was all me! I found the perfect activity (Zoo Bingo from A Child’s Place), but leave it to me to leave it at home. 

Zoo Bingo

At least this time, we both had our cameras.

Despite my forgetfulness, we had a fabulous time seeing all the different animals.  I don’t know if it was the beautiful weather or the lack of people, but all the animals were up close and personal.

 

If you don’t have a zoo nearby then take a virtual field trip.  Here are some great websites:

• The Online Zoo- offers lots of fabulous photos
• The National Zoo- offers some live animal cams

Get out and have some fun looking at all God’s wonderful creatures.

Valentine Scavenger Hunt

Usually we post a weekly devotion today, but we wanted to let you know about our Tots Around Town activity, while there was still Valentine’s stuff up in the stores, so pardon the switcheroo.  Our weekly devotion will go up tomorrow.

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For Tots Around Town this week we went on a scavenger hunt at one of my favorite stores, Target!  This scavenger hunt isn’t store specific by any means, I just needed to get a few things at Target, so that’s why we did it there. 

I showed Lil’man the list and we name each item.  I told him to keep his eyes open while we were shopping, so we could cross them off our hunt if we saw them.  I nudge him in the direction of the greeting cards to get the ball rolling.   Once we crossed that item off the list, there was no stopping him. 

He spotted the box of chocolates right off the bat.  He knows the good stuff when he sees it. He’s going to be a catch for all your daughters out there. Surprisingly, a cupid was difficult to locate. The only one we could find was rather hairy.

With Valentine’s right around the corner finding something pink was no sweat.

 

Without a floral department, I thought he would struggle with finding flowers, but Lil’man spotted some with no trouble at all.  Balloons, however was a different story.  I pretty much had to point those out to him in the party supply section.  (Another store may actually have Valentine balloons.)

 

All in all, it was a fun trip that the boy truly enjoyed.  We will definitely have to do it again.

Tots Around Town-The Zoo

Ok, so we had this GREAT idea for a field trip this week…THE ZOO!  We know that its winter, but we figured we could bundle the kiddos up and go see some polar animals! 

Ok, so we were literally THE ONLY people at our zoo.  There apparently was a class meeting somewhere on the campus, so we were fooled by the cars in the parking lot.  Observe this shot of the normally bustling entrance…..

You get the point.  The plus to being the only people at the zoo?  You have the run of the place, and the animals, having been deprived of visitors willing to brave the cold, are VERY attentive!  The seals put on a show for the kiddos for quite a while!

Now, I brought my camera, but I forgot the memory card.  Madonna completely forgot her camera, also.  Step in cell phones.   The kids were not amused…

Now, the cameras drain the battery on your phone, so we didn’t get many pics. Our Polar Bears were off exhibit, but we did catch some shots of the seals, who were SUPER CUTE!!  

I highly recommend visiting the zoo in the off months.  The animals are much more active in cooler weather, and the smaller crowds (or the lack of any CROWD) means you can stand and stare at whatever animal you want without feeling like your in the way!  Check out this crazy goose! 

Okay, I know, that was totally random, but I had the pic.  The big cats, the llamas, and the wolves were also very active.  In addition we also had full, uninterrupted access to the indoor exhibits, which were heated ;)

If you can’t make it to the zoo, you can check out this on-line matching game with polar animals.  There is also this tic-tac-toe game on-line, which your kiddo might not be able to win, but they can click, and E liked doing that :)  They might give you something to do if you don’t want to, or can’t make it to the zoo!

Hope you all have a great week!

Tots Around Town-Nature Walk

This weeks field trip can be your own backyard, or a nearby park.  I confess that I am not a huge outdoorsy person, so to me winter provides an excuse to stay indoors.  That being said, E loves to be outside, so for that reason I am more than happy to adapt and learn to love nature!! 

      I figured we would go out and see what we could find on a little bit of a nature walk.  We talked about the trees, and how they don’t have leaves right now, because its winter.  We also saw some trees that didn’t lose their leaves, and we talked about how evergreen can live all year long. 

We found a pine cone, which for some reason E wanted to cook and eat.  I vetoed that idea. :)

When we got back home I had E draw a picture of what we had seen out on our nature walk.  It looked like scribbles to me, but when I asked E she told me that she drew a pine cone, a tree, and a leaf.  We saw all that, so here’s to recalling information! 

For you mommies who would like it, you can download this observation sheet.  It can guide you on your walk, or serve as an activity when you back home and are able to remember what you saw and did on your day out!

I hope you enjoy the activity, and of course, the time with you kiddos!

Questions?  Post questions or comments on our Facebook Page.  You may have the same question as someone else.  If you don’t have a Facebook account, feel free to email us.