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Chipper - Into the Great Outdoors
Chipper - Activities
Chipper - Get Ready to Fly
Leaping Luna - Beyond the Moon with Luna

Be it a day in the backyard, a neighborhood park or a weekend in the wilderness, the first step in reducing stress is planning an age-appropriate experience. Children need regular breaks, so remember to keep your hiking and exploring pace at their level.

Here are a few more quick tips:

• Children under five or first time explorers: Your own backyard is a great place for sleeping under the stars and the best place to practice pitching your tent. Build confidence now for future adventures.
• Dress appropriately: Long, lightweight pants and sun protective shirts, hats and sunscreen, along with properly fitting shoes. Open-toe shoes are great for the water but chaparral hikes need good fitting closed-toe shoes or boots. Remember, warm days turn to cool nights so always have extra layers — and extra clothes for mishaps.
• Great finds are only a few steps away: Don't focus on the destination of your hike but enjoy the journey. Ants, bugs and other insects are found in moist areas so turnover leaves and rocks …gently.
• Exploration Games: Look up and discover amazing characters in the clouds.
• Make an Earth Pie: Combine dirt, leaves and water in a bucket or bowl. Form into a pie or cake for a great tactile experience.

Before you go camping:

• Get the mindset ready. Discuss the location, how long will it take to get there and how long you will stay.
• Discuss what to do if someone gets lost. "Hug a Tree" but more importantly, "You can play, but don't stray" ... always be within eyesight or voice.
• Make sure you research the area you are visiting. Know the types of bugs and animals present, and any foliage. Create a checklist that is appropriate for your destination.

The following resources offer additional information for planning your adventure.
http://www.nps.gov/
http://www.sierraclub.org/
http://www.roadandtravel.com/adventuretravel/2005/campingcoolforkids.htm
http://www.calparks.org
http://www.koa.com

Share your ideas with us and we'll update in future newsletters.

Nature Walk and Craft Project

Chipper Playfully Teaches: Earth and Space Science, Creative Arts and Fine Motor Skills.

Explore the great outdoors with young children and use the natural materials as craft supplies for creating creatures from the children’s imagination or animals identified on the walks.

Timing: One Hour
Explore and collect: 15 minutes
Craft Time: 30 minutes
Extra 15 minutes: Travel time and padding because projects with young children will always take longer than you plan!

What you need:

• Reusable tote to carry found treasures
• Cardboard bases from recycled boxes and scrap paper and materials for accessorizing crafts
• Glue and string
• A partner or chaperone
• Imagination

Chippers Tips:

• Explain the rules of staying together “you can play, but don’t stray” and the project
• Check off that everyone has their tote for collecting items While exploring, be it in the backyard of a school facility, house, or childcare center, to beyond the yard keep children on track by talking about what they might find; the colors, shapes, texture and more.
• Assist young children with glue or glue gun and string assembly
• Welcome conversation while exploring

Upon returning, sit down and talk about the items in the bag and what can be made; a butterfly from leaves, a nature cake, a boat from sticks, a car from rocks and bark. Welcome the conversation and encourage the creativity.

Collect with a partner

Create a crocodile

Getting bit by nature...creatively!

Nature Bouquet

Chipper Playfully Teaches: Earth and Space Science, Creative Arts and Fine Motor Skills.

Stop and smell the flowers on your next walk then give each other a hand to create a nature bouquet that can last forever. This is perfect for city kids!.

Timing: Approx 1 hour
Explore and Collect materials:
Twigs, long and short but a few per child
At least two leaves for each twig
Recycled Paper Bag
Markers
Glue or tape

Chipper’s Tips:

• Have each child collect and count their twigs and leaves as you explore the backyard, trees planted in the sidewalk or during a visit at your local park. You can create an addition game with the materials: two leaves plus one twig equal how many?
• Talk about the texture of the found leaves, the brittleness of a twig. Look past the tops of trees and talk about the shapes of clouds if you see them and how far away they are.

Directions:

• 1. Trace and cut out the child’s hand from the recycled paper bag.
• 2. Decorate the cut-out hand with colored markers or crayons
• 3. Wrap each paper finger around a pencil to soften and give a curl like a petal
• 4. Tape or glue the cut out hand onto the top of the twig
• 5. Glue the leaves on the twig to create a bouquet

Explore and Collect leaves and twigs

Color then curl the paper fingers around a pencil

Say “hello” to your nature bouquet

Don't let the stress of "getting there" ruin your vacation when traveling with young children. There are a few simple steps you can take to make sure everyone has a smooth flight. From what to pack to how to play on the airplane, let these simple suggestions guide the way when traveling with children.

Quick Tips:

Packing to Check-in:

3-1-1: It's simple and will help you flow through security stress-free. Just remember, 3 ounces or less for liquids, 1 quart size, see-through bag for easy content checks and 1 bag per traveler placed in the check-in security bin. This ensures all items are screened and released quickly, and you're on your way.

For young travelers, wear slipon or Velcro-closure shoes with socks to make security checks stress free.

Extra Clothes and Snacks: Little accidents can happen so keep an extra outfit in your carry-on and have plenty of healthy snacks for the flight. If your child is old enough for a lollipop, bring one to help with ears as the plane descends. "Pressure Pops" are the perfect reward for a well-behaved traveler.

Games, books, toys and stuffed animals: Make sure they are easy to pack and bring them out one at a time so there is always something new when needed. Look for travel games that are easy to carry.

Let Your Child Guide the Way: With pre-planning and your Get Ready to Fly Chipper story, you can prompt young travelers for what's next and let them guide the way through check-in, security and boarding.

Remember It's an Adventure: Let your child's imagination fly, look out the window and find shapes in the clouds, guess the names of the flight attendants or pilots and talk or write about where you will go and what you will see.

These are just a few women who dared to leap for their dreams. They paved the way for you to do the same.

Lucy Stone was born in 1818, a time when women were not allowed the same rights in life and education as men. From an early age, she persevered; working to pay for her own education. Lucy Stone is most known for being the first woman in Massachusetts to receive a college degree, and a prominent leader of the women's suffrage movement and abolition. She founded the Woman's Journal. In 1968 the U.S. Postal Service celebrated the life of Lucy Stone with a 50 cent postage stamp.

Elizabeth Blackwell was born in 1821 and is the first woman to graduate medical school-and at the top of her class - and the first female doctor in the United States. Ms. Blackwell was supported by her family at a young age to leap for what she dreamed; she founded the first infirmary for women and children in New York in 1857 and in 1869 opened the Women's Medical College with Florence Nightingale in England.

Rachel Carson could be called the 'queen of green.' Born in 1907, Ms. Carson was an American marine biologist and nature writer and is celebrated for advancing the global environmental movement. She wrote the book the Sea Around Us and her subsequent book, Silent Spring drew attention to the environmental implications from synthetic pesticides. Ms. Carson is said to be one of the inspirations of the Environmental Protection Agency. Ms. Carson received the Presidential Medal of Freedom posthumously.

Margaret Chase Smith paved the way for many female politicians today. Born in 1897, Ms Chase Smith was the first woman elected to both the U.S. House and the Senate ...and the first woman to have her name placed in nomination for the U.S. Presidency. Her path in life included teaching, working as a telephone operator, circulation manager at a newspaper, and an executive in a textile company. Her support, like many women before her, came from the local women's clubs and organizations. She passed in 1995 at the age of 97.

Bessie Coleman took women to new heights becoming the first African American female pilot. Born in 1892, Bessie persevered through tough economic times and, socially, particularly tough times for African Americans. She worked hard picking cotton to support her family and ultimately to pay for her college in Oklahoma. Ms. Coleman dreamt about what it would feel like to fly like a bird. She had to learn French so she could train in Europe as no females were allowed training in America. She presented many air shows in life. Known as 'Queen Bessie,' Ms. Coleman is the 18th in the U.S. Postal Service Black Heritage Commemorative stamps.

http://www.girlscouts.org
http://www.ninety-nines.org
http://www.iwaswondering.org/
http://www.firefightercentral.com/history/first_woman_firefighters.htm
National Women's History Project