Tag Archives: children

Five Questions for Cambridge’s Monarch Nannies

Why are Monarch butterflies so special? We recently asked five questions of Martine Wong, Fresh Pond Reservation (FPR) Outreach & Volunteer Coordinator, and her Cambridge Mayor’s  Summer Youth Employment Program (MSYEP) intern, Shewit.  On August 6th and 7th, amidst some fanfare—kids and puppets—Martine, Shewit and other staff and volunteers released most of the butterflies that they had helped raise,Continue reading “Five Questions for Cambridge’s Monarch Nannies”

Screen Wise Cambridge’s Snow Day Challenge: February 2, 2015

Make something using these items only: 5-7 cylindrical household objects like cardboard tubes or water bottles 5-7 rubber bands (hair bands are ok), and 5-7 crayons or pencils. Your creation can be a building, a human or animal figure, an abstract sculpture, a machine, a tool, a poem or story, in fact anything at all! Use the above items only.Continue reading “Screen Wise Cambridge’s Snow Day Challenge: February 2, 2015”

Snowfall in the City

When children wake up with the outdoor world coated with even an inch or two of snow, the transformation of their world isn’t partial, as it is for the jaded among the rest of us, who’ve seen hundreds of snowfalls come and go. We have turned into the shovelers, the drivers, the schleppers, the planning-ahead experts.Continue reading “Snowfall in the City”

Be Iridescent

There’s nothing better than wearing something with a little iridescence to bring out a smile on your face. The Honk Festival’s parade will be graced by what may constitute a swarm of Wandering Gliders and Blue-Fronted Dancers, residents of our 162-acre urban habitat here in Cambridge, Mass. If you’re a resident of the vicinity ofContinue reading “Be Iridescent”

Off Trail in the Peppermint Forest

It’s time for me to leave the sidelines. It’s time for slow this-and-that. Slow Food. Slow Families. Slow Medicine, even. Unplug. Be in the moment. Pay attention. But to what? The “movement” to simplify has, in a way, come full circle. I like those nice two-word concepts, above. Actually, two-word concepts is about all I canContinue reading “Off Trail in the Peppermint Forest”

The Host-Parasite Thing, with Many Digressions

Ideas and facts aren’t bad just because we acquire them via social media. As a parent and self-teaching nature club guide* I’ll take what I can get from the Internet. Here’s an example. So am I a host or a parasite in the digital food chain? *I’ve been calling myself a “leader” of the clubContinue reading “The Host-Parasite Thing, with Many Digressions”

Mother Nature’s Child to Play in Somerville

Somerville Climate Action, Rep. Denise Provost and The Growing Center present a free film: MOTHER NATURE’S CHILD Mother Nature’s Child explores nature’s powerful role in children’s health and development through the experience of children of all ages. The film marks a moment in time when a living generation can still recall a childhood of freeContinue reading “Mother Nature’s Child to Play in Somerville”

Fire Up Your Engines: Screen-Free Week Starts April 29th

Screen-Free Week (April 29–May 5, 2013) gets a lot of flak, not to mention wolf-crying from some parties. Is it a slippery slope towards the denial of digital citizenship if we suggest kids should spend less time on computers, tablets, and e-readers? There are many good arguments for children to be educated in technology andContinue reading “Fire Up Your Engines: Screen-Free Week Starts April 29th”

Of Crows and Kids

“Children are beautifully adapted to learn about many possible worlds.” from The Wisdom of Not Being Too Rational – ScienceNOW. A psychologist at the University of Cambridge who studies bird cognition has looked at how crows solve problems, the latest in research showing they are rather intelligent. Two of her graduate students, Lucy Cheke and ElsaContinue reading “Of Crows and Kids”