Kids VT, February 2014
The Kids VT Guide to Some of Vermont’s Best Sledding Spots; Enosburg Falls Teens Fight Tobacco on Their Own Turf; Vermont Parents Sound Off About Sending Kids to Camp
Love Tree
Got a branch or two left over from your Christmas tree? Here’s a fun way to reuse them and spread the love this Valentine’s Day. Follow these instructions to make a mini tree adorned with heart-shaped love notes. It’s the perfect antidote to cabin fever. Materials Apple Acrylic paint Paintbrush Large sheet of white, red…
Elisha Otis, Inventor of the Modern Elevator
“Drawing on History” is a new monthly feature about a notable Vermont person, place or event from days of yore. Want to suggest a future topic? Email us at ideas@kidsvt.com. This article was originally published in Seven Days’ monthly parenting magazine, Kids VT.
Kids With Heart
As a kid, I kept a box of treasures in my closet. It was a small wooden case that I’d painted in bright acrylics. I’d adorned its lid with my name, in florid script, a yellow peace sign and a big, red heart. Inside, I stashed photos of my best friends and cats, good-luck trinkets…
Cooking for kids who swear off meat
“Why do people eat animals?” The question caught Kids VT designer Brooke Bousquet off guard when the older of her two sons, 5-year-old Noah, posed it during bath time a few months ago. Bousquet scrambled for an answer, rattling off something about protein, and about treating animals well during their lives before they end up…
How should parents deal with frequent bed-wetting?
Accidents happen, as parents of toilet-trained kids well know. But when the occasional wet blanket becomes a regular occurrence, it can create anxiety and stress for the entire family. This month, Lewis First, chief of pediatrics at Vermont Children’s Hospital at Fletcher Allen Health Care, reminds parents to just relax; don’t take it personally. Most…
What advice have you given your kids about dating?
Jamey Magowan, Winooski Job: Professional Announcer, WCAX and Hall Communications Kids: Daughter Brianna, 19 Early on, my daughter tended to gravitate toward boys just because they were popular. I was very involved in her school, so I knew the boys, and I felt like she tended to be attracted to how they were seen as…
The Art Of… Mindfulness
A calm, disembodied voice emanated from a computer in Katherine Grykien’s dimly lit fifth-grade classroom in Burlington’s Champlain Elementary School. “Breathe in and straighten your back. Breathe out and settle your body,” the voice instructed. Twenty-two students sat cross-legged on the floor and followed along, their eyes closed, their hands resting in their laps. Next,…
Seasonal Reads for Black History Month
In honor of Black History Month, Kids VT asked local educators to recommend children’s books that illuminate the African American experience. The Story Of Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles Ages 4-8 Coles tells the true story of Ruby Bridges, a 5-year-old African American girl integrated into an all-white school in New Orleans in 1960. Ruby…
Book Review Winners: February 2014
Each month Kids VT invites enthusiastic young critics to send us their reading recommendations for the Book Review contest. Here are this month’s winners; we’ve included excerpts from some of our favorite reviews, below. Each of these readers receives a $25 gift certificate to Burlington’s Crow Bookshop. Varsha Karthikeyan, 11, Williston recommends Wonder by R.J.…
Backyard Skating Rink
Outdoor fun isn’t always easy to find during the coldest, darkest months of the year. But Jeremy Sibold has a slippery solution: Each year, the dad of two builds a 1200-square-foot ice rink in his family’s Essex Junction backyard. To start, Sibold cuts sheets of plywood in half, making enough 4-by-4-foot panels to serve as…
