Stay at Home Family Fun: Scavenger Hunts

By

-

February 4, 2021

By Jan Pierce

Most of us have spent a great deal of time in our homes during the pandemic. We long for the days when we can roam our neighborhoods and take part in normal social activities, but unfortunately we are nowhere near that point.

Families need diversions to keep the days fresh and fun, like a family scavenger hunt. About half of the fun of doing a scavenger hunt is the hype you create to go along with it. Once you determine the kind of hunt you’ll do, figure out the best scenario for your group: Will you work individually, in pairs, as a whole-family free-for-all?

Then find ways to engage the kids. Maybe you’ll decide on an outdoor nature hunt and you can ask the kids to help brainstorm the items to be hunted. Or select one child to be your helper and keep the others in the dark about the hunt to come. You can then create multiple hunts and rotate through helpers if you have more than one child.

For younger children, think of ways to use picture clues or have them work with an older partner. Be sure to think of a big pay-off for both participants and winners. The reward might be control of the remote control on the television for an evening, a movie pick, or a particular favorite meal/treat.

Now it’s time to decide on the type of scavenger hunt you want to do. Kids love to hunt for treasure, and so the more you can make the hunt seem like a noble quest, the better. You may even spring for costumes or other props to make the hunt more legit.

Here are some great choices:

Muffin tins with pictures of the items to be found in each one. Fill the tins to win.
Hunt for things that are certain colors, shapes, or patterns. For example: “Find something red. Find three things that are round, or find something with polka dots.” Tech savvy kids can take screenshots, or you can have hunters draw their findings.
Create a bingo-like card with items to be found in the neighborhood. Hunters can X off their findings. You might want to play black-out.
Compete with other households in a set amount of time. Gather on a Zoom call to report your successes.
Create a grid on a piece of paper, creating ten or twelve spaces. Use this as the place for hunters to draw their findings.
Use the letters of the alphabet. “Today’s hunt is finding things that begin with vowels” or “Today we’re finding things that begin with the letter ‘S.’”
Make a list of things around the house, such as salt and pepper shakers, stuffed animals, and whatever you don’t mind being moved around the house in a mad hunt.
Go on a hunt for items found in books. You may include certain characters, settings, or objects.
Hunt for things each family member is thankful for. Create a list with a fill in the blank format. I’m thankful for _____(a food item). The hunters can draw a picture of the item or you might use phones to take selfies of each hunter with their item.
Hunt for Something that rhymes with ____. Draw it. Create fifteen or twenty clues and set a timer. Hunters may not be able to find all of these.
Spend a little time online searching for free printables of scavenger hunt games. You’ll find some good ones at Buggy and Buddy. Search printables.

Scavenger hunts are great fun for all the family. Remember to get into the spirit of the fun with good clues and prizes.

StoryWalk in the park

By

Erin Schoen Marsh

-

January 27, 2021

Sylvania’s Olander Park has found a way to add literacy and whimsy to outdoor exercise. This newest addition to the park is the StoryWalk Trail, which begins at the north end of the park near its recently constructed playground.

This charming trail first featured The Mitten by Jan Brett in large, spaced out pages throughout the span of the walk. If you aren’t familiar with this wintery tail, it involves a little boy named Nikki who loses a mitten in the woods, only to have creatures ranging in size from mice and moles to badgers and bears take up residence in its tiny recesses. The book is beloved for both its humor and imaginative ending. A new story will be on display every four weeks.

The concept of StoryWalk Trails began in Vermont, but has taken root in parks worldwide as a way for families to pause and reflect on creative storytelling while enjoying a walk through nature. You can share your strolls through Olander Park’s StoryWalk Trail on social media with #TOPSStoryWalk. Happy trails! —EH

Little Free Libraries foster community connections in Old Orchard

By

Erin Schoen Marsh

-

January 25, 2021

Old Orchard neighborhood is littered with Little Free Libraries, small houses filled with books for whomever passes by, and residents Heather Meyer and Brooke Padgett were the first to start the trend in their much loved neighborhood.

Meyer says, “On a roadtrip to Milwaukee a few years back, we came across our first Free Library in a neighborhood similar to our own in Old Orchard. I made a mental note that it was something we had to try. Fast forward to the summer of 2014. With our friends Brooke and Dave Padgett–who lived in Old Orchard as well–we set out to get them built and up before that summer was over.”

Padgett, who is an elementary special education teacher, mentions, “I first heard of the Little Free Libraries from my friend Noelle, who lives in Atlanta. She asked if I would want to do something like that because she knows my passion for children [and] reading, [as well as] my tendency to do creative things. A year later, Dave and I actually did it–procrastination at its finest!”

Both Padgett and Meyer feel strongly about reading and early literacy, but they also wanted to foster connections within their community. The two moms agree the neighborhood response has been overwhelmingly positive. Padget exclaims, “Our community loves it, so much so that…Old Orchard now has 6 in our neighborhood alone! It makes my heart so very happy when I look out and see people sitting on [the] bench in our front yard, with and without kids, taking a break to read. We have even added a little fairy garden and a chalkboard to sign when [people] visit.”

Meyer expounds, “I worried a bit that the concept would lose its luster. It hasn’t, and in fact, [it] has encouraged a handful of other Free Libraries to pop up in Old Orchard. You will see folks walking with bookbags on library tours from time to time.” Grove Patterson Academy, where Meyer’s daughter Ella usd to attend, also has a Free Little Library right outside the main entrance, thanks to a joint venture with Washington Church on Central Avenue.

The Free Little Libraries have provided numerous intangible benefits to their small community. Meyer explains, “[The Library] gives us a reason to connect with folks. It reinforces the concept of sharing with no strings attached. It is showing our young daughter that books are so important to us that we built a funky little house for them and perched that house in our front yard.” Padgett adds, “[We] wanted to add to our incredible sense of community that we have in Old Orchard.”

The motto behind Free Little Libraries is “Take a book, leave a book,” so the genres vary. Meyer tries to keep an even selection of children and adult books, but depending on what (and if) people leave books, the ratio may change. Her current selection includes Socks by Beverly Cleary and Midnight in Peking by Paul French. Padgett has Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain and Junie B. Jones by Beverly Cleary, as well as several children’s chapter books and toddler reading.

Padgett jokes that she does, however, have to keep a close eye on their library selections: “We have some jokester neighbors [who] enjoy leaving interesting reading material, so I check often so that there’s nothing too off-the-wall for kids to find!”

Campbell donates to NWO Girls on the Run

By

Erin Schoen Marsh

-

January 25, 2021

The local arm of a charity aimed at keeping young women active has received a $10,000 grant to bolster their efforts. Girls on the Run of Northwest Ohio announced the donation from the Campbell Soup Foundation on January 11. The money is part of a larger grant from Campbell aimed at offering strategic support during the fight against COVID-19, aimed at helping girls around the country and in “Campbell Communities,” including Napoleon. Girls on the Run is a program that works to encourage preteen girls to maintain healthy lifestyles and grow self confidence through running.

Has COVID Killed Women’s Rights?

By

Erin Schoen Marsh

-

January 24, 2021

The Adams-Brewer family. Photo by Brenna Adams.

A recent article from The New York Times highlighted the discrepancy between the amount of homeschooling, childcare, and household duties that mothers are taking on versus their male counterparts.

Nearly half of men claim they are doing most of the homeschooling; 3% of women agree. The fact that 80% of women say they are doing the majority of homeschooling, combined with past research that reveals men consistently overestimate the amount of work they do, insinuates that women are taking on the lion’s share of the work.

Megan Lutz, an OB/GYN in the Toledo area, read in a medican journal that a majority “of male physicians have someone else taking care of most home tasks: bills, yard, laundry, groceries, kids. [A small percentage] of female physicians have [those same forms] of support.”

In a study of married physicians with children, men reported that 82% of “all or most” household duties were performed by their spouses, as opposed to only 5% by the spouses of women physicians.

The majority of child rearing and household responsibilities still fall on women, even if they are physicians, and research shows that 40% of women go part-time or leave medicine completely within 6 years of completing their residency. Women, who are often left with the majority of child-rearing and household duties, subsequently look for jobs with flexibility that allows them to work from home or call in when there is a snow day, a sick day…or a coronavirus pandemic.

When you combine the statistics above with the fact that 55% of the 20.5 million jobs lost in April were women, earning this recession the nickname the “shecession,” it’s clear that women (especially nonwhite women) are taking the brunt of coronavirus job losses.

More women are losing their jobs than men, female doctors don’t have the same level of household and childcare help as their male counterparts, and most women–even when still working full-time from home–are taking on the job of teacher.

It’s no surprise that moms everywhere are burnt out and overwhelmed.

Tonia Davies wrangling her three little ones.

Sylvania mom Tonia Davies and Toledo mom Kelly Flenner, who are both taking on the majority of homeschooling, laugh instead of complaining, joking that the “definition of ‘doing’ and ‘done’ are completely different depending on [which parent] you talk to.”

Bridget Adams-Brewer takes the same stance, using humor to lighten the situation, saying, “[My husband] does the dishes one time a week but talks about it three times. As you can imagine, we do 2-3 loads/day.”

While about ¾ of women are taking on the task of homeschooling, a chunk of couples say they dedicate about the same amount of time to homeschooling, and a small percentage of women say their husbands are taking on most or all of the household duties.

Jen Linehan, who owns Beautiful Blooms by Jen in Sylvania, exclaims that her husband, who is a high school teacher, “does 100% while I’m at work!” The percentage of men taking over all household duties plus homeschooling may be small, but they are out there.

Whether women are juggling work plus homeschooling or full-time mom plus homeschooling, it’s a huge–and oftentimes thankless–added responsibility with little or no resources to help ease the burden.

Moral of the story: help out the women in your life. Women have fought for equal rights for centuries, and just as we reached an equal level of employment as men (although benefits and salary were still less), COVID-19 hit and women across the country lost their jobs. If you can’t give us a job, at least help us out with our new and unexpected roll: full-time teacher plus mother.

Deadline for TSA lottery extended

By

Erin Schoen Marsh

-

January 23, 2021

Parents and students interested in applying for the Toledo School for the Arts (TSA) lottery for the 2021-2022 school year should take note: The application period has been extended through February 26 of this year.

As TSA is a public charter school, enrollment is determined by lottery, with any Ohio student in grades 6-12 eligible to apply. All applicants will need to submit a required checklist of documentation by Friday, February 26 to qualify. The lottery will be held on Friday, March 26, 2021.

The process to apply is completed through the TSA website at ts4arts.org. For more information, visit the website or contact the enrollment department at [email protected] or call 419-246-8732, ext. 250.