“Mom, I’m bored!” “Mom, the Wi-Fi isn’t working!!” “Mom, is it cool if we surf down the stairs in sleeping bags?” For those moments during Summer Break when you need to bust their boredom, when the Wi-Fi goes out, or when their imaginations highjack all common sense, busy bags to the rescue! So, what exactly are Busy Bags?
Category: Summertime fun
Defiance Ohio FREE Splash Pad OPEN for the season!!!
Safe, Fun, & FREE! This Splash Pad checks all the boxes! Located at Bronson Park which is roughly 45-50 minutes away from Toledo, the Defiance Splash Pad is a mom’s dream come true! You can bring in food, the equipment accommodates an entire family (baby-adult), and you can sunbathe or chill in the shade!
Read moreFREE things to do with Kids Summer 2023 in Toledo
Grab your calendars & tag your friends, mommas! Here’s this year’s list of fun, free, kid-friendly activities going on this Summer in Toledo & surrounding area!
Read moreArt Supplies You Need To Try This Summer With Your Child
Summer is the perfect time to spend quality time with your child while they’re out of school. Doing arts and crafts together is a great way to bond and help you both grow your creativity. Using art supplies that require different techniques will inspire extra creativity and give you the opportunity to learn more about art. Keep reading to learn about the art supplies you need to try out this summer with your child.
Read moreExciting Pool Party Ideas for the Summer
Summer coming around can feel overwhelming as you realize that the kids are here to stay. Of course, having everyone at home is exciting, but finding activities to entertain them throughout the thick of summer can feel stressful. However, if you have a pool, you are in luck! The best part is that these exciting pool party ideas for the summer are kid- and adult-friendly, so feel free to invite your friends.
Read moreCOSI with Teens: MARVEL Exhibit has been extended through the Summer!
Center of Science and Industry (COSI) has been a long-time favorite in our family. The kiddos and I have been visiting since they were toddlers. So when I told them COSI would be the first thing we’d be crossing off our Summer 2022 Bucket list I was a bit shocked when I heard complaints. Apparently, they feel it’s only for little kids. Boy were they wrong! To be fair I had a bit of a surprise up my sleeve.
Read moreHow To Prepare Your Home For Your Summer Activities
Summer is the time to enjoy good weather in the comfort of your home and make your vacation plans while preparing for your family to spend quality time together. For many people, summer comes packed with many activities, especially at home. With this summer season just around the corner, you can only enjoy your activities if you start preparing your home. The following tips can help you get your home ready for your summer activities.
Read moreHow to make the most out of your kids summer break
As parents, we just want the best for our kids. But how can we make the most out of the holidays? Read on for some ideas to keep your kids happy and amused all summer.
Read moreWill you accept the Summer Reading Challenge?
It is officially day 1 of summer break! Bring on the long days at the pool, meeting up with friends at the park, roasting marshmallows & making s’mores, catching fireflies, watching fireworks, lazy days at the lake, and so much more. Eeee!! Parents we have the POWER to make it a SUPER FUN summer!! But let’s be honest, WITH GREAT POWER COMES GREAT RESPONSIBILITY. It is important that parents take the necessary precautions so that their children don’t fall prey to VILLIANS such as ticks, sunburns, dehydrations, and brain drain!!
Did you know…
The statistics on summer “brain drain” are grim. According to Dr. Harris Cooper, professor of psychology at the University of Missouri- Columbia, students returning to school after a lengthy summer break will have lost one to three months’ worth of learning. Studies show that on average, teachers end up spending four to six weeks re-teaching things their students learned during the previous school year. That means that if students come back to school on August 1, they will spend all their time until September, at the earliest, reviewing. They might be reviewing until Halloween comes around.
https://www.sciencenaturally.com/files/1.Summer.Brain_.Drain_.June_.2013.pdf
Don’t let your child fall into the hands of the evil VILLIAN, brain drain. Be their SUPERHERO; DEFEND them against brain drain by signing them up for the SUMMER READING CHALLENGE today!
Books to the RESCUE!! But that’s not all! This year’s Summer Reading Program is the best one yet! It will have your little one contemplating awesome SUPERHERO POWERS, writing a note to their favorite SUPERHERO, reading aloud with a friend; allow their imaginations to soar and loss track of both time & space in a book, and so much more! Click here to learn more about the Kids Program.
This year’s program comes with an awesome activity book filled with coloring options, crossword, word search, etc. perfect boredom buster!!
The Library also has fun FREE activities going on throughout the summer that coincide with this year’s Summer reading program theme….click here for summer events guide.
And I almost forgot the best part, PRIZES!! Your SUPERHERO will win prizes with each challenge they complete!! Including, Chipotle coupon, finger puppet, pick from the treasure box, stickers, etc.
GRAND Prizes…once your SUPERHERO completes Challenges 1-4 they are entered in the grand prize giveaway to win one of the following….
An iPad Air or Kindle Fire HDX
A 4-pack of tickets or a membership to The Toledo Zoo or Imagination Station
A $30 gift card for Barnes & Noble, Toys R Us or the Toledo Mud Hens
*Scouts can earn a badge if they complete challenges 1-4
The best part, the SUMMER READING CHALLENGE is open to Teens & Adults too!! And yes, you could also win prizes!!
So what are you waiting for? Use your SUPERHERO POWERS and ZOOM on over to your local library & accept the CHALLENGE TODAY!!!
FREE Play Time exhibition at the Toledo Museum of Art
When you hear the words Art Museum what comes to mind? Quiet, old, cold, boring!? (Or at least that’s probably what my husband would say). And the thought of bringing the children along just sounds, well, expensive!! Let’s be honest, there is decorum to follow when touring the Art Museum’s galleries. Things they frown upon include, breathing near the art (again, something my husband would probably say, ha-ha!), touching the art, standing too close to the art, climbing on the art, sitting on the art, and playing with the art. But not this summer! This summer the Toledo Museum of Art is hosting Play Time!!!
“As we grow up we tend to trivialize play and relegate it to childhood, but it’s an important element of life that we wanted to explore in this exhibition,” said Halona Norton-Westbrook, the Museum’s Mellon fellow and associate curator of contemporary art. “This show is not only about play in the traditional sense, but also the idea of being in the moment, of inspiring wonder, of invoking your natural curiosity.”
Invoking your natural curiosity, that statement is spot on! Our adventure in Play Time began downstairs where we contributed to the community art project featuring interactive components designed by Varujan Boghosian and Werner Pfeiffer. How it worked?
There was paper provided and directions for making a paper cube. Full disclosure, it took me WAY too long to try and figure out how to make that cube. Haha!
That exercise did a marvelous job of setting the tone for the rest of our Play Time tour. What tone? One of lightheartedness, fun, we were definitely forced into the moment! I loved it! And the coolest part is we can now say that we contributed to an instillation at the Toledo Museum of Art….that’ll look great on my résumé. (wink, wink).
Then we made our way upstairs to what I can only describe as pure awesomeness, Harmonic Motion!! Harmonic Motion, by, Toshiko Horiuchi Macadam and Charles Richard MacAdam is a hand-crocheted textile installation. It is huge, colorful, just a sight to behold!
As we entered they requested that we take our shoes off before climbing in. What!? It was difficult to wrap my head around the fact that I was not only taking my shoes off at the Art Museum but was also climbing on, in, around, and breathing ALL over the art!! Finally an exhibit my husband will happily accompany me too!! Talk about a FUN date night!!
Next stop, Swing Space! Swing Space, by, Jillian Mayer was a really cool idea; you literally sit and swing into the clouds which are projected onto the wall. It was a neat experience. I can finally cross off swing at the Art Museum from my bucket list!!
Ground Control by, Edith Dekyndt was our next destination on our Play Time adventure! This one was a little eerie. You walk into an empty room that contains a huge floating black ball. The ball is filled with a combination of oxygen and helium and the reaction is surprising. I won’t give it away, this one you will have to check out for yourself!
Anything Can Break, by, Pinaree Sanpitak was one of our last stops. Truth be told, we have already visited this installation a few times but it is one of our favorites!! There are motion sensors in the ceiling of the installation that trigger various sounds as you walk underneath. It is so much fun to walk around and see what kind of music you can make.
There are so many more instillations in the exhibit. There are also fun hands-on activities placed throughout the museum…gone are the days of old, cold, and boring!
Fun events are going on throughout the summer at the Toledo Museum of Art. Click here to view the calendar. Also, be sure to check out the Toledo Museum of Art’s amazing Family Center while you are there!
Now, if you’ll excuse me I have an awesome date night to plan….It’s Friday at the Toledo Museum of Art!