Kids VT, February 2020
Childhood Friends Deliver Beds to Families in Need; Tips for Making Low-Waste Lunches; Libraries Loan More Than Just Books; Students Reflect on Their Screen Use; Summer Camp Guide
Get Psyched for Summer With These Camp-Themed Reads
It’s February, and that puts us smack-dab in the middle of winter. We eat breakfast in the dark, walk the dog in the dark, eat dinner in the dark, burrow into bed, then do it all over again. It’s hunker down, layer up, shovel the walk, wipe your nose and watch your step season. With…
An Adventure Forest for Kids at Rutland’s Pine Hill Park
My 9-year-old son, Jack, stood at the Pine Hill Park trail entrance in Rutland studying the sign welcoming us to an interactive trail called the Pine Cone Adventure Forest. A map showed the locations of 12 kids’ play stations, including the Five Giants, a troll bridge and something called a Badge Hunt. “I want to…
Winooski Middle Schoolers Share Their Feelings About Screens Through Art and Words
When it comes to voicing opinions about teens and screen time, adults are often the ones doing the talking. But how do young people feel about social media, texting and video games? How do they think technology affects their lives and the lives of those around them? At Winooski Middle School, seventh- and eighth-grade students…
Get More from the Outdoors: Look for Patterns in the Trees
If you’re looking for a way to become more aware of nature, one simple thing can completely change the way you see the world: Look for patterns in the trees. Vegetation patterns repeat across the landscape wherever specific environmental conditions occur; ecologists call these “natural communities.” Many factors — including the type of bedrock, the…
Ditch the Single-Serve Snacks for Low-Waste Lunches
My 3-year-old and 5-year-old go to preschool Monday through Friday, so packing lunches is a frequent occurrence in my home, one that sometimes feels like a grind. (“Wait, my kids have to eat lunch every day?” I find myself joking.) In addition to catering to their food preferences and needs (one of my kids is…
South Burlington Kid Named Semifinalist in NASA “Name the Rover” Contest
Eight-year-old Max Gurtman, a third grader at Orchard School in South Burlington, was recently named a semifinalist in NASA’s Name the Rover essay contest. K-12 students were tasked with coming up with a name for NASA’s Mars 2020 Rover, a 2,300-pound robot that is able to search for signs of past microbial life, record data…
Mealtime: French Onion Soup
What’s better on a cold winter night than a steaming bowl of French onion soup? With roots in ancient Rome, the dish became popular in the United States in the 1960s thanks to Julia Child. With rich, luxurious flavors created from simple ingredients, this restaurant favorite is worth making at home. The only difficult part…
New Guide Offers Tips for DIY Art Supplies
“Beets are basically made to be printed with,” writes East Montpelier artist, naturalist and author Nick Neddo in the Organic Artist for Kids: A DIY Guide to Making Your Own Eco-Friendly Art Supplies From Nature. The advice reflects Neddo’s practical approach to creativity. His February 11 release, a children’s companion to his 2015 release, The…
Contest Invites Kids to Illustrate Duck Stamp
Students in kindergarten through 12th grade are invited to submit artwork in a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service-sponsored contest to design the next junior duck stamp. Any student can enter, though the contest was created as the culmination of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s art- and science-based curriculum that teaches about wetland and waterfowl conservation.…
Mom Takes Notes, February 2020
When my niece was born nine years ago in Helsinki, and I became an aunt for the first time, I was 29 years old and 3,900 miles away in Boston. I’d had my heart broken and was doubting my ability to finish my PhD. The distance between us — both geographic and situational — left…
Connect More, Fight Less: Nurturing Your Relationship After Kids
I stood at the kitchen sink, slowly washing and drying the pile of dishes in front of me. Our toddler was finally asleep, and the nightly ritual of getting everything ready for the following day could commence. Prior to the birth of our daughter, my partner, Stephanie, and I ended most days snuggling on the…
A Nova Scotia-Born Mom on Composting Before It Was Cool
This July, it will be law in Vermont that food scraps can’t be thrown in the trash. For some, that might feel like an impossibly difficult adjustment to daily life, but I’ve never known anything else. I grew up in the 1980s in Nova Scotia, a beautiful coastal province on the east coast of Canada.…
Wonder Woods, New Exhibit for 5 and Under, to Open at Montshire Museum
Montshire Museum of Science will open a new permanent exhibit designed for its youngest visitors on February 29. Wonder Woods — a 600-square-feet, multilevel learning space — is designed to spark interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) while igniting curiosity, instilling confidence and fostering a love of learning in children ages 5 and…
A Valentine to My Kids
In honor of February’s most notable holiday — no, not Groundhog Day, silly — I decided to think about what I love most about being a parent. After going through the mental highlight reel I’ve amassed from my 12 years and nine months of being a mom, my mind settled on a strange thought. When…
Creating Hygge with Herbal Tea
Hygge, pronounced “hoo-guh,” is a Scandinavian lifestyle approach that promotes happiness through sensory experiences. Think soft lighting, heaps of pillows, comfort food and hot drinks. This word is derived from an Old Norse term, hygga, which means “to comfort.” Hunkering down during the dark and cold winter months provides families an opportunity to connect at…
Vermont Libraries Loan Unconventional Items, From Telescopes to Tennis Rackets
Wish you owned a telescope so you could spend a winter evening checking out the starry skies? A sewing machine to stitch up a child’s Halloween costume? Hula hoops for a 6-year-old’s birthday bash? Before you buy these items, ask if you can borrow them from your local library. Vincent Livoti, the Vermont Department of…
Longtime Friends Deliver Beds to Children in Need
At 8:30 a.m. on the Saturday before Christmas, the temperature hovers in the single digits. It’s the kind of morning that lends itself to sleeping in, or at least lingering under the covers a little longer than usual. But Bob Brosseau is already up and at ’em — loading a trailer hitched to his red…
