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Capital Region BOCES
Tag: activities
The excitement of the holidays and first snowfall has passed leaving us with the reality of less daylight, cold temperatures, and, in some areas, snow and ice on the ground. Brrrr. Like much of nature, I just want to hibernate. If this happens to you, you can bet the next sunny winter day that it’s […]
My memories of physical education class consist of my classmates whacking me in the ankles with floor hockey sticks, my (poor) attempts to perform on the uneven bars and hitting tennis balls well beyond the top of the enclosure surrounding the high school tennis courts. Yours may be similar. But Abram Lansing Elementary School students […]
Sometimes, the best gifts are the ones that are unexpected, come from the heart and are homemade. This holiday season, instead of buying a gift from an overheated crowded store, consider these inexpensive, non-material gifts instead. Time Time is the one thing we all wish we could have more of. We are all busy, and […]
You can see them in communities across the country. There are two in one of the older parks my family frequents. Branches from aging trees have nearly grown into the tops of the metal-mesh canopies. What were once diamond-shaped dirt lanes have long since gone to grass. When was the last time anyone actually played […]
Vacations can be hard work. It seems like you spend days making lists; packing the car; rounding up kids; battening down your home; and inevitably forgetting something. Last year, we went to Cape Cod with another couple and their grandchildren. We had a lot of fun. But it wasn’t always relaxing. Kids get cranky whether […]
Have you heard about “summer slide”? Psst, it’s not nearly as fun as it sounds because it has nothing to do with water parks or playgrounds. And it’s not something any parent wants their children to ride. The first time I heard the term “summer slide” was in an end-of-year conference with my son’s second-grade […]
As a teenager, one of the best pieces of advice I ever got from my dad was when he told me to take a hike. Although I probably deserved to “get lost,” my dad was really telling me to go for a walk in the woods to calm down. I can’t remember what the crisis […]
When young children swipe their paintbrush up and down a blank piece of paper or canvas, scribble with crayons or markers, and cut and paste with scissors and glue, they are doing much more than creating their next masterpiece. Their brains are growing and their senses are sending messages to the brain about how things […]
If the year 2017 was an actual person, I envision he or she would have a fidget spinner in one hand, a smart phone in another while driving a car with his or her knees. It was a wild year for parents and at times even a little scary. But there were also some lighthearted […]
During the recent Thanksgiving holiday break from school, my two sons and I decided to do a game night and dusted off Monopoly. I realized shortly after we started to play that Monopoly is a goldmine for practicing math and reading skills. Adding the dice to figure out how many spaces to move, counting out […]