FALL / WINTER Brought to you by Carebridge Corporation!

Transcription

1 Carebridge FALL / WINTER 2011 KidsFUN! DATES TO CELEBRATE CRAFT PROJECTS: Construction Creativity Paper Mask Fun GAMES: Capture the Snow Flag What s Wrong Here? PUZZLES: What s Different? Word Search Geography Quiz RECIPES FOR FUN: Make Your Own Rust Soup in a Pumpkin Oatmeal Twist Brought to you by Carebridge Corporation!

2 A Note to Parents from Carebridge Corporation Carebridge recognizes that in today s busy world parents benefi t from a variety of entertaining ideas to use in connecting with their children. In the Fall/Winter 2011 issue of KidsFUN! you will fi nd puzzles, games and celebrations to enjoy together. These activities are meant to be used with parental guidance. Children need to be supervised, particularly when cooking or doing craft projects, so we ask that you use all appropriate safety precautions based on the ages and abilities of your children. For assistance with educational, parenting or child care issues, as well as many other life management and behavioral health issues, remember that Carebridge has highly qualifi ed, specialized counselors available to aid you in the management of personal and family concerns common to contemporary living. Carebridge Can Help! Carebridge Counselors are professionals skilled in your area of concern. Contact Carebridge by calling or ing clientservice@carebridge.com. In addition, the Carebridge website contains over 130,000 resources on more than 2000 problems and concerns. Log onto your informational support system at Your access code is FTN59. Page 2

3 DATES TO CELEBRATE! Calendar Activities You Can Do! October: 16-22: National Chemistry Week: How does rust form? See the activity in this month s magazine. 27th: NYC s first Subway Opened in How do your parents go to work? What other ways of transportation are there to get around the city or town where you live? November: Family Stories Month: Ask a family member to tell you a story about when they were your age th: Geography Awareness Week. Spin the globe and randomly pick a country. What continent does it belong to? What else can you find out about that country? December: Write to a Friend Month: Create a homemade card and snail-mail it to your friend! 5th: International Volunteer Day: Volunteer at your local food bank. Continued on Page 4 Page 3

4 Dates To Celebrate Continued from Page 3 January: Oatmeal Month: Bake oatmeal cookies with a family member or friend. 21st: Squirrel Appreciation Day. Tree squirrels do not hibernate. Can you see any squirrels in your backyard or at the local park? February: National Heart Month: Put some dance music on and have a family dance-off! 26th: Grand Canyon National Park was established in What states encompass the Grand Canyon? March: Women s History Month: There were many women involved in the Civil War. Who were Clara Barton, Harriet Tubman and Harriet Beecher Stowe? 11-17th: Bubble Gum Week. How big of a bubble can you blow? How small? April: Mathmatics Education Month: Math is everywhere! Create artistic patterns using triangles and hexagons or write a poem about math. 22nd: Earth Day. Join your community Earth Day Celebration, or create your own. Find out more about your environment at Page 4

5 crafts Toothpick/Tongue Depressor Construction Creativity Craft Materials: Box of toothpicks or Tongue Depressors/Craft Sticks for younger children, Glue, Markers, Manilla folder Start off by drawing a design for your construction idea on a piece of paper. Be as creative as you can. Use markers to color the sticks.glue toothpics/craft sticks together to complete your construction. Place your completed construction onto the manila folder and display it somewhere in your home. What do you call your creation? Materials: paper Mask fun! 2 inch x 9 inch construction paper, any color Wooden tongue depressor Scraps of paper, yard, fabric, feathers, etc. Scissors, paste, glue Steps: 1. Fold the 2 x9 piece of construction paper in half, widthwise, and draw on half the mask in the shape desired. Remember to draw eye holes. Cut out. 2. Glue or paste wooden tongue depressor to one side of the mask. 3. Decorate the mask with scraps of paper, yard and fabric, etc. Page 5

6 Capture the Snow Flag All you need for this game is a piece of white cloth and a wooden spoon. Tie the cloth to the end of the spoon. Mark off a set area to play your game, and have one person hide the flag by placing it anywhere in the snow within your set area, making sure to press the spoon into the snow so only the white cloth is visible. Time how long it takes to find the flag each time it is hidden. Whoever is able to hide the flag for the longest time wins! What s Wrong Here? GAMES Directions: Kids love activities that challenge them to figure out what s misplaced in a picture. Here is a way to play the What s Wrong Here? game while you cook. When you have a free moment, your child covers his or her eyes or leaves the room, and you put something in the wrong place. When your child returns or opens his or her eyes, you ask, What s different in the kitchen? Then your child hunts around the room looking for the errant object. For a young child, keep it simple, like putting a banana in the silverware drawer. For an older child, try something more subtle, like slipping a box of rice among the boxes of cereal, or interspersing a can or two of cat food among the cans of tuna fish. If your child is having trouble finding the location of the misplaced object, you can direct him or her by saying, What s wrong with the cabinet? Also, to add an element of suspense, set the timer and see if your child can figure out the puzzle before the buzzer goes off! Page 6

7 What s Different? Playground Play Time! Look at these two pictures. Can you tell what s different? Page 7

8 GEOGRAPHY WORD SEARCH Directions: Answer the questions to find each word in the word search puzzle! 1. Which state is North of New Mexico? 2. Which state is East of Indiana? 3. Which state is West of Texas? 4. Which state is South of Georgia? 5. Which state is North of Arkansas? 6. Which state is South of North Dakota? 7. Which state is North of Oregon? 8. Which state is East of Vermont? 9. Which state is North of Pennsylvania? 10. Which two states do not border any other state? Page 8

9 American Geography Circle the correct answer. 1. The nickname for the state of New Hampshire is: Vacationland The Pine Tree State The Granite State 2. The most populated U.S. city is: New York Los Angeles Chicago 3. The Coyote State is: New Mexico Nebraska South Dakota 4. The largest state is: Texas Alaska Hawaii 5. The highest mountain is the U.S. is: Mt. McKinley Mt. Shasta Mt. Logan Page 9

10 RECIPES FOR FUN A Science Recipe: Create Rust Materials: Steel wool, paper, pencil, water, shallow pan Directions 1. Pour water into the pan until it is about one inch deep. 2. Place the steel wool in the water. 3. Make a chart with days one to five down the left side and the heading What the steel wool looks like on the right side of your paper. 4. Each day, describe the appearance of the steel wool on your chart. Can you explain the changes? Note: Iron is the main chemical in steel wool. In the presence of water, it oxidizes and forms iron oxide, or rust. That is why old cars rarely have rust in dry climates and often have rust in wet climates. Soup in a Pumpkin Ingredients: your favorite soup, small pumpkin With the help of an adult, cut pumpkin top off. Scoop out the seeds and pulp. Rinse well. Heat up soup in saucepan. Pour warmed soup into pumpkin bowl and serve. Oatmeal Twist Ingredients: cooked oatmeal, peanut butter or low fat yogurt, dried fruit Top oatmeal with 1 tablespoon peanut butter or low fat yogurt and 1 tablespoon of your favorite dried fruit like raisins. Mix and serve. Both recipes are from the Carebridge Staff Kitchen Page 10

11 ANSWERS! American Geography Answer Key 1: The Granite State 2: New York 3: South Dakota 4: Alaska 5: Mt. McKinley What s Different Picture Puzzle Answers: The kids on the swing are reversed. The soccer ball is a different color. The girl on the hobby horse is facing the other way. The girl on the slide has a different colored shirt. The numbers on the hopscotch game are reversed. The girl on the seesaw has no backpack. The girl jumping rope has different colored shoes. The girl playing hopscotch has a different colored flower on her shirt. One boy playing soccer has a different nunber on his shirt. The seesaw girl s braids are down instead of up. Geography Word Search Answer Key: 1. Colorado 2. Ohio 3. New Mexico 4. Florida 5. Missouri 6. South Dakota 7. Washington 8. New Hampshire 9. New York 10. Alaska 11. Hawaii Page 11