Alex and Jen are pretty average kids, and I try to get them outside running around as much as possible. Otherwise things go pear-shaped pretty quickly with excess energy. Thankfully both are now old enough to run and do activities independently.
So here are some random pictures of them flying their kites. Running for a whole hour. Woot!
Childhood obesity is a national problem, and the White House has an actual task force and separate program to address related issues. The Let’s Move! campaign is aimed at all sectors of the community (since all are needed to come together to make a difference for our children).
I am a huge advocate of outdoor play, and even though I do let my children watch some television, I really try to have them be outside for at least two hours each day. Sometimes that’s a lot of hard work.
I have been following the Let’s Move! website, which has ideas for eating healthy, staying active, and resources for:
The most recent campaign was to celebrate the Olypmics. There was a national call to host a meet-up to celebrate, honor athletes and of course to do lots of running, jumping, throwing,…
Somehow I ended up being the Stoneham coordinator. (I’m not sure how these things happen either) and we had a very pleasant, low-key event on the Stoneham Town Common last Saturday. We had a bunch of medal crafts, mostly involving stickers, though I had a lot of fun with glue, paper, cardboard, salt-dough, and glitter paint the night before. I brought along our soccer balls, baseballs, bats, diving sticks to serve as relay batons, face paint and stuff to make competitor bibs.
There were 15 of us, and I’ll let the pictures do the talking. I’ve been vaguely thinking of turning “this” into regular events to help me get motivated to get outside even more. If you are interested, please contact me at angelika@playgroundhunt.com and in the meantime you can visit the Let’s Move! website (http://www.letsmove.gov), the Meetup.com page (http://www.meetup.com/Lets-Move/Stoneham-MA/) or my regular blog at Playground Hunt (http://www.playgroundhunt.com/blog/).
Here’s an excerpt from the Let’s Move! website about their mission:
Let’s Move! aims to increase opportunities for kids to be physically active, both in and out of school and to create new opportunities for families to move together.
- Active Families: Engage in physical activity each day : a total of 60 minutes for children, 30 minutes for adults.
- Active Schools: A variety of opportunities are available for schools to add more physical activity into the school day, including additional physical education classes, before–and afterschool programs, recess, and opening school facilities for student and family recreation in the late afternoon and evening.
- Active Communities: Mayors and community leaders can promote physical fitness by working to increase safe routes for kids to walk and ride to school; by revitalizing parks, playgrounds, and community centers; and by providing fun and affordable sports and fitness programs.
Originally published by Angelika on Stoneham.Patch.com at this link: http://stoneham.patch.com/blog_posts/stoneham-moves
At this point I’m almost certain I’m certifiable. I just accidentally signed on to host the Stoneham Let’s Move Olympics Meet-up.
About Let’s Move! Meetups Everywhere
- 3,608 movers
- 953 cities
Let’s Move! has a national goal of solving the problem of childhood obesity within a generation.
We want to spark face-to-face meetings and activities to find local solutions. A Let’s Move! Meetup is flexible — i.e. a discussion, a physical activity in the park or a healthy cooking class — just be sure to include the details in the event notes.
It’s going to take all of us to tackle the challenge, so Let’s Move! to end the epidemic of childhood obesity together.
So that sounds great, right? Well, the next event is THIS SATURDAY in honor of the Olympic Games starting.
Let’s Move! Olympic Fun Day Meetup
233 communities and 314 Movers
First Lady Michelle Obama is leading the U.S. Delegation to the 2012 Olympic Games and she’s calling on families around the country to support Team USA, not just by cheering on our athletes, but by getting active in their own communities.
Saturday, July 28 is the first day of competition in London. Meetup with family, friends and neighbors for your own afternoon of soccer, hoola hoop, relay races — whatever gets you moving and having fun!
RSVP for an Olympic Fun Day Meetup near you and then help spread the word! We’ll feature our favorite Let’s Move! Meetups on the Let’s Move blog.
The Stoneham Let’s Move Meet-up can be found at http://www.meetup.com/Lets-Move/Stoneham-MA/ . I’ll be loitering on the Stoneham Common with my children on Saturday, at about 12pm. I’ll have some olympic themed crafts to share, and a couple of relay races, and a torch relay.
Hope some other folks come. AND THAT THEY WILL BRING MORE CRAFTS AND ACTIVITIES TO SHARE. hint
We did a spontaneous kayaking expedition in June – here are some pictures and info, because it was so easy, simple, enjoyable and a huge success for us.
One afternoon we just drove over to Spot Pond Boating (website here) and asked to rent a kayak. No booking required. They fitted us with lifejackets and had us in a double kayak in about 15 minutes. It was $20 for an hour on the lake and the staff were super helpful, safety conscious, and friendly.
Came back from our first overnight camping trip in one piece!
We joined the Mass Audubon Family Campout on Saturday, which included a canoe trip on the Ipswich river, a WHOLE LOT of s’mores and more wildlife than we could shake sticks at. It was also the first time I had taken Alex and Jen camping. They had a great time! – hurray – and didn’t want to leave. It was a really good trial camping actually, because Angela and Cheri from Mass Audubon had plenty of activities.
I suspect that’s the secret to a good camping trip with preschoolers
Also, no cooking was required. I’m a bit nervous about breaking out the old hiking stove and actually cooking a dinner when we go for a longer trip. Anyway, no cooking, just snacks and Angela and Cheri put on a nice breakfast with several pots of coffee – bliss.
So we set up our tent and played with the roughly 3 bazillion dragonflies before heading down the path to the Ipswich River. Jen got the cutest little life jacket, and both Jen’s and Alex’ Elmos got to help with the paddling by holding onto the paddle. Next time we apparently have to bring lifejackets for the Elmos. Angela did most of the work in the canoe, and since she was the front leader, we got see see a lot of wildlife (before we scared it away for the others). White birds, blue birds, geese, ducks, logs, cardinal flowers – and I didn’t bring my camera because I don’t have a water-proof bag.
While canoeing:
Alex “Mama, this is the most beautiful place on the WHOLE earth. I love all the birds and dragonflies and beaver lodges.”
Mama: GRIIIINNNN!
Alex (two minutes later): “Mama, I’m bored. Can we go back?”
Mama: SIGH
We got back to land just as the sun set and I carried Jen all the way up the hill to the farm buildings, Alex bravely ran through the bugs. And I have to say that those big black flies that take big chunks out of your skin really HURT! I used a whole bottle of mosquito repellent on us during the night – the mosquitoes were definitely out in force.
But so were the marshmallows. 
Jen passed out mid-sentence sprawled across the tent at about 11pm. Alex finally put down his tremendously fascinating glow-stick about midnight. And then both woke up screaming about 5:30am. Sorry camping neighbors! That’s how my kids deal :-S Angela and Cheri put on that aforementioned excellent breakfast, we stayed and played on the grass until about 9am. At 9:03am both children were passed out in the car on the way home.
Success!
North Point Playground (Cambridge - map) – big water feature, superb playgroundS near Museum of Science (read my review at this LINK)
Springs Brook Park (Bedford - map) – man-made lake with sandy beach, playground, and huge sprinkler park, concessions (read my review at this LINK)
Grimmons Playground (East Somerville – map) – separate fenced toddler area, big kid playground, sprinklers – beautifully designed (read my review at this LINK)
Cedar St Playground (Cambridge - map) – shady playground with sprinklers (read my review at this LINK)
Simond’s Park Playground (Burlington – map) – large playground with structures for all age groups, wading pool (read my review at this link)
Lederman Park (Boston - map) – by MGH/Museum of Science – never made it but it looks awesome from Storrow Drive.
Bradley Palmer Wading Pool and Playground (Topsfield - map) - wading and sprinkler park – this will be the summer we make it!
Spy Pond (Arlington – map) – large fenced playground with structures for toddlers and older kids, sandbox, and by a couple of little beaches for wading in Spy Pond (read my review at this LINK)
Albion St Playground (Somerville – map) pleasant playground with a fun sprinkler/water feature – not sure why I never wrote a review, but this playground made for a nice couple of days last year
Since the couple of photos I posted on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/PlaygroundHunt) got so many questions about the where, what, and when, I figured I better write a slightly longer post about the awesomeness that is Springs Brook Park, or possibly Spring Brooks Park. Who knows? The GPS address is 171 Springs Rd, Bedford MA 01730
Ignoring various spelling on various locations, all I can say is that Alex, Jen and I have thoroughly enjoyed this place for the last three summers.
It is a public, man-made beach with sprinkler park, lake, playground, and a very reasonable concession stand. It costs money to get in, but the maximum per day per family is $25. Bedford residents can get a season pass cheaply. They only take cash.
The staff are superb, there are lots of very attentive lifesavers, the place is clean, the people are friendly.
We bring a picnic blanket, snacks, lots of sunscreen, and swim stuff. I’m looking into buying a beach shelter thing, just because the trees shade the side of the lake away from the sprinkler park, and I like to plop down in between.
What happened to playgrounds as neighborhood hubs? – a guest post by Jean Oram
As the national nonprofit KaBOOM! kicks off its 2012 Summer Playground Challenge — which challenges families to explore as many playgrounds as you can this summer and offers prizes for your playground visits — playground lover Jean Oram shares how people can revitalize playgrounds and bring them back as neighborhood hubs.
Playgrounds used to be a social hub for neighbourhoods, particularly in the summer, but are less so nowadays. However, you could argue that playgrounds are even more important now when it comes to building healthy, playful neighbourhoods. With tall backyard fences and attached garages, neighbours are less likely to meet each other or their kids. Do your neighbours look out for your kids? For your house when you are away? Are they someone you know well enough to call on in an emergency? Playgrounds can serve as a way for neighbours to meet each other, unwind, and socialize. Not to mention all the great benefits to the kids playing in them! Below are some ideas for ways to revitalize playgrounds as neighbourhood hubs:
How Can We Revitalize Playgrounds and Bring Them Back as Neighbourhood Hubs?
But the biggest thing we can do for playgrounds and our kids is to use local playgrounds this summer. So, let’s get out there! I’m the one inventing playground fun such as Under Whales (Under Ducks on the swings, only more swooshy). Come say hi. I’m always looking to meet other moms and dads.
Jean Oram is a mom, writer, skier, hiker, and playground lover. Her daughter loves the more challenging playgrounds while her son is most content in the baby swing. You can find her playing on her blog at www.itsallkidsplay.ca as well as pinning fun and games (literally) on Pinterest, sharing fun stuff on Twitter as @KidsPlay, and on Facebook. Let’s play! Get motivated to visit more playgrounds with your kids this summer by joining the 2012 Playground Challenge! The three top Challengers will win a trip for two to DC and all participants can win great prizes throughout the summer.
North Point Playground (Cambridge - map) – big water feature, superb playgroundS near Museum of Science (read my review at this LINK)
Sgt Connelly Playground (Wakefield – map) – by Lake Quannapowit beach (wading, no swimming) (read my review at this LINK)
Spring Brook Park (Bedford - map) – man-made lake with sandy beach, playground, and huge sprinkler park, concessions (read my review at this LINK)
Grimmons Playground (East Somerville – map) – separate fenced toddler area, big kid playground, sprinklers – beautifully designed (read my review at this LINK)
Cedar St Playground (Cambridge - map) – shady playground with sprinklers (read my review at this LINK)
Simond’s Park Playground (Burlington – map) – large playground with structures for all age groups (read my review at this link)
Lederman Park (Boston - map) – by MGH/Museum of Science – never made it but it looks awesome from Storrow Drive.
Bradley Palmer Wading Pool and Playground (Topsfield - map) - wading and sprinkler park – this will be the summer we make it!
4th July Fireworks – Lake Quannapowit
Ocean Beach – Nahant Beach, Wingaersheek Beach,…
Boating Wakefield – kayak rental
Mass Audubon Drumlin Farm - Friday Evening Hayride and Campfire
Mass Audubon Ipswich Family Campout
Mass Audubon Joppa Flats exploration
Franklin Park Zoo – Zoorassic Park and Wild Adventures Class
Stone Zoo – Birds of Prey and Wild Adventures Class
<– where I post all the crafty stuff I plan to make
Some recent pins:
Last week’s visit to Drumlin Farm was a bit odd. We talked about opossums, which are a huge pest in New Zealand (where I’m from), but protected in Australia and here in the USA.
But this possum actually quite cute it didn’t scream at me like the last major experience I had with an opossum – which is a whole story in and of itself
This last event occurred in New Zealand on New Year’s Eve 1999. Josh and I had hiked into the Rock of Ages in Aspiring National Park in New Zealand. We had made an accidentally unusually spicy curry for dinner and had left the pot outside with the food. This you can actually normally do in New Zealand. You might get some opossums coming by to investigate, maybe they will try to take something, but nothing dangerous every happens. This time however the possums apparently really dislike the curry. They started screaming and hissing and smashing into the side of the tent. And we were surprisingly scared by this. But maybe it was because we had watched the Blair Witch Project a few months earlier. Suddenly what we thought was a funny, cheesy movie seemed quite plausible…
Anyway the opossum at Drum Farm just wanted to eat some grapes and go back to sleep.
We did look in on the chickens and the tiny piglets after a walk around the forest. The pigs were still very cute and a little bit bigger.
And for the second week in a row, we scored some of the supremely free-range eggs from Drumlin Farm. Woot!
