ParTea Like a Royal

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April 1, 2016

Princess Winifred invites you to Central Catholic High School Glee Club’s Royal Tea and a special preview of Once Upon a Mattress, a musical adaptation of The Princess and the Pea. All attending guests will have the opportunity to take pictures with the Royal Family, the Jester, Wizard, Minstrel, Knights and Ladies. Those who attend will be gifted with a special goody bag to prepare them for the actual show. Reservations required. $6.

The special sneak preview, tea, and special desserts takes place on Sunday, April 24 from 2:30-4pm.
Central Catholic High School Front Gym, 2550 Cherry St.
419-255-2280 ex. 1052 | centralcatholic.org
The production of Once Upon a Mattress at the Valentine Theatre
(410 Adams St.) is Friday, May 6-Sunday, May 8.
419-242-ARTS | valentinetheatre.com

Summer Camp Guide 2016: Part 1

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Digital Media

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April 1, 2016

Sunshine Summer Barn Camp

7223 Maumee Western Rd., Maumee. 419-779-0756
Day Camp. Ages 6+. $100.

Staff/camper ratio: Roughly 1:1, with volunteers.
Camp focus: Health and care for barn animals, horsemanship skills, daily riding lessons.
Most anticipated activity: Riding on any of our four horses.
Most popular activities: Riding and painting.
Camp rumor: You know it’s a going to be good day when Noah the donkey opens up the morning with his loud bray.

Hunter’s Run

9241 Secor Rd., Temperance, MI. 734-856-2404
9:30am-2pm. Ages 4+.
$150/three day camp, $210/four day camp.

Camp Focus: Children get a hands on experience learning proper care for their horses, how to tack up their horses, how to give a horse a bath, how to make horse treats, along with various crafts to take home.
Most anticipated summer activity: A mock horse show on the last day. 4 day campers have a pizza party on the last day.

Toledo Zoo Summer Safari Camp

2 Hippo Way. 419-385-5721. toledozoo.org/camps
Day Camp. Ages 4-15. $135-$340, member discounts apply.

Staff/camper ratio: 1:10, for most camps; 1:7, for ages 4-5 and experience based camps.
Program length: M-F. 9am-3pm, for most camps. 9am-noon, or Noon-3pm, for ages 4-5.
Camp focus: Animals, environment and fun.
Most anticipated activity: Meeting animals up close.
Most popular activities: Watermelon Wednesdays, Zoo Tours and animal games.

Notre Dame Summer Academy

3535 W. Sylvania Ave.
Day Camp. Ages K-12.
Cost, and staff/camper ratio varies by camp.

Most popular activities: We’re very excited to bring back popular “Discover” Camps such as Safe Sitter, Baking, Fused Glass, Voice and Audition and Theater Mania. We offer many new camps such as Scrapbooking, Etiquette, Italian Cooking, Card Making, Self-Defense, Sewing/Crochet and Crime Scene Investigation (CSI). We also offer Academic camps in Study Skills and 7th/8th Grade Math/Writing Tune-Up. Summer at NDA would not be complete without our ever-popular Sports Camps including Basketball and Fencing.

First St. John Lutheran Day School

2471 Seaman St.,
419-691-6480 | firststjohndayschool.org
Day Camp. $64-$160. 6am-6pm, June 6 – August 5.

Staff/camper ratio and ages: 1:8 (age 2 ½), 1:12 (ages 3-5), and 1:18 (ages 6-12).
Camp focus: Preschool – Keeping children safe and having fun! School Age – Keeping skills sharp to return to school prepared
Most anticipated activity: End of summer Talent Show.
Most popular activities: Field trips.

Rosenbloom’s Farm Camp

2738 Shetland Rd. | 419-346-1363 | rosenbloomsfarm.weebly.com
Day camp. Ages 3+. $125 per week, with early bird discount.
Talk to Linda for any special requests.

Staff/camper ratio: 1:7.
Program length: 9am-noon, Monday-Friday, plus option for extended day.
Camp focus: Nature and farm related activities.
Most anticipated activity: The hayrides and scrambled egg breakfast.
Most popular activities: Having fun with all the animals, including goats, chickens, horses, llamas, bunnies and more.
Camp rumor: The wildlife secretly has a party at night with all the animals in the barn!

Sunshine Studios

305 Conant St., Maumee | 419-891-8877
Day Camp. Ages K-3, grades 4-6 $90

Staff/camper ratio: 1:6.
Program length: Two week-long sessions: 10-11am for K-3, 1-2pm for grades 4-6.
Camp focus: Throwing, hand-building and extruding clay; surface techniques.
Most popular activities: Making miniature houses. This year, we’ll make fairy cottages.

YMCA Storer Camps

517-536-8607 | ymcastorercamps.org
Overnight camp, Kids entering grades 3-12
$619/1-week, $1129/2-weeks. Discounts available.

Camp focus: Plug-in to the Outdoors
Most anticipated activity: Nature Room, tree climbing, campfire and paddle sports.
Most popular activities: Swimming, kayaking, horseback riding and ziplining.
Camp Motto: “I’m Third” as in “God first, others second, I’m third.”
YMCA Day Camp options: Preschool Day Camp, Sports and Specialty Camps, Gymnastics and Cheer Camps, Summer Child Care for Preschool-8th Grade. Cost varies. Ymcatoledo.org

St. John’s Jesuit Summer Camps

5901 Airport Hwy.
419-865-5743 | sjjtitans.org
Day Camp. Grades 5-9 in Fall 2016. $55-$80/two-five day camps.

Camp focus: Fun, enrichment and sports.
Most anticipated activity: Sport Camps include: Baseball, Basketball, Football, Lacrosse, Soccer, Total Athlete and Wrestling. Fun and Enrichment Camps include: Archery, Build Your Own Arcade, Chess, Fishing, Adventure, LEGO Robotics I & II and Science Enrichment.
Most popular activities: LEGO Robotics, Fishing and the Adventure Camps were extremely popular. LEGO Robotics II is a new addition. Basketball and Football are always popular. We are expecting the two new camps— Titan Basketball Elite and Football Combine— to be extremely popular.

Toledo Ballet Dancing

Dolls Camp
5327 Monroe St. | 419-471-0049. | toledoballet.net

Session dates: June 27-July 1 & July 11-July 15
Two age groups: (1:00-2:30pm) Morning session for 4 & 5 year olds
and an afternoon session (2:30-4:30pm) for 6-8 year olds.
Camp focus: Aspiring ballerinas will learn about the storybook ballet Coppelia, about a doll who comes to life. They’ll learn some ballet basics, and do doll related arts and crafts. Campers are encouraged to bring their favorite doll or stuffed animal. They will put on a small performance on the last day.

Toledo School for the Arts

Enrich your child’s life through the arts this summer,
and where better to be creative than at the award-winning Toledo School for the Arts.
Downtown Toledo at 333 14th St. To register call Letha at
419-246-8732 x291 or visit ts4arts.org/summerartscamp
Day Camp. Students ages 10-14. Early registration is $330 by April 30th, a 20% savings!
Registration includes supplies (the glass class requires an extra supply fee), and a camp T-shirt.

Staff/camper ratio: 1:12.
Program length: Monday, June 6 – Friday, June 17, students will have four art experiences daily.
Camp focus: Art classes, choices include: Art + Words, Art of Fantastical Creatures, Glass, Puppets, Let’s Make a Movie, Dance, Creative Writing, Costuming, Sewing, Piano, Singing Broadway, Ukulele Basics, and Let’s Put On a Play, where students perform portions of “A Walk in the Woods” by Debbie Metzler.
Most anticipated activity: Families are invited to attend a TSA style concert and exhibit the last day of camp.

Maumee Valley Country Day School

1715 S. Reynolds Rd. | 419-381-1313 | maumeevalleysummertime.org
Day Camp. Ages 2 through high school.

Weekly Cost: (For incoming first grade through high school) $120/half day, $228/full-day. (Preschool camp $195/full-day week, $110/ mornings, $95/afternoons
Staff/camper ratio: 1:16, or less
Program length: June 13-July 1, closed July 4-8, back open July 11-22.
Hours: 9am-3:30pm. Half day: 9am-noon, or 12:30-3:30pm. Free before/after care, 7:30-9am and 3:30-5:30pm.
Camp focus: We offer weekly half-day classes (that can be combined for a full-day) in academics, athletics and the arts (performing and visual) for incoming grades 1-12. Our preschool (ages 2-5) camp runs weekly themes for half-day or full-day.

Imagination Station

419-244-2674 ext. 250 | imaginationstationtoledo.org/SummerCamp
On and Off-Site Day Camps. Ages 7-12 (2nd-7th grade in fall). $165/for members, $195/non-members.

Program length: 9am-4:30pm, Monday-Friday. (Extended Day: 8am-5:30pm).
Camp themes: Super Splatter Science!, where kids have fun with the biggest and messiest experiments; Young MacGyver, for creative fixers, tinkerers and makers; Taste of Tinkering, a new camp with an electronic focus; Behind The Mask: Superhero Science, where campers learn how superheroes get their powers.

St. Ursula Academy Summer Camps

4025 Indian Rd. | 419-531-1693 | toledosua.org
Girl’s Day Camp. Age 4-6th Grade.

Camp Focus: Either a Sports Camp (soccer, volleyball, dance, golf, lacrosse and basketball), or Enrichment Camp, which includes a wide-range of high-energy, high activity, focused programs. Every girl can find a summer she loves.

Gateway School

4650 W. Bancroft St. | 419-536-6503
Children’s Literature Day Camp. Ages 2 ½ – 6 years. 8:30am-11:30am.

Staff/camper ratio: 10:1
Mr. Men and Little Miss: Personalities (May 31-June 3), Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood: Talents (June 6 -9), Silas and Opal: Cats and Dogs (June 13-16), Knuffle Bunny: Stuffed Animals (June 20-23), Nonfiction: Machines (June 27-30), Olivia: Dress up (August 1-4), Skippyjon Jones: Science (August 8-11), and Create a Book: Music (August 15-18).
Most anticipated activity: Outside play.
Most popular activities: Daily music.

Beads, books and more

By

TiAnna Anderson

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April 1, 2016

Want to help kids learn a new hobby, find local and international beads, or find a treasured book? Beads and Books wants to help by providing classes, party options, options to earn the Girl Scout jewelry making badge, materials, and a large collection of beads and books.

Carmen Smith, co-owner, has been beading for the past 11 years and has worked in several local bead stores from Toledo to Bowling Green. Working in small local shops really peaked her interest in entrepreneurship, and led her and her husband, Eric Nedrow, to open their own store that holds their biggest interests. Her beads come from all over, even regionally, from Glass Beads and Paper Beads from Cleveland. She loves having birthday parties and Girl Scout Troops come in to bead. There’s so much excitement because whatever you create, you get to take home and wear in the future.

Carmen suggests beginning with the basics, such as, a single strand design and then expanding from there, maybe a crochet technique with wire or the popular scrapple technique where you take leftover beads of several different designs and make something unique.

Class Schedule:

Basic Brick Stitch ($20 + materials, ages 15+): 3-5pm, Wednesday, April 13

Beginning Stringing ($15 + materials, ages 10+): 6-8pm, Friday, April 15,

Herringbone Bangles ($20 + materials, ages 15+): 3-5pm, Tuesday, April 19

Funky Fun Bracelet ($20 + materials, ages 15+): 2-4pm, Saturday, April 23

Parents can also bring their tweens in to make a memory bracelet or necklace using beads from the trays. ($5-$8)

Beads and Books, 4925 Dorr St. | 419-350-1087 | [email protected] | beadsandbooks419.com

The Natural Science Technology Center trains future horticulture workers

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Digital Media

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April 1, 2016

The Natural Science Technology Center gives high school students the coursework and hands-on training to prepare for a variety of careers related to plants. For those who dream of working as floral designers, greenhouse managers or interior plantscapers, or students who want to pursue careers as landscape contractors, landscape designers or golf course superintendents, the Center is the spot to train.

Floriculture and greenhouse classes provide training in designing and creating floral arrangements and other decor for adding and other events. Landscape and turf grass instruction includes learning how to operate state-of-the-art landscape equipment and constructing and maintaining outdoor spaces for residential, public, and commercial purposes. The students have use of 10 acres of land with a 20-acre botanical garden, two greenhouses, and a variety of commercial mowers, stump removers, etc.

The 2-year career-specific curriculum is approved by the Ohio Department of Education. Students who complete the program earn eight elective credits and two Applied Biology credits. Classes meet 7:30-11:40am, five days a week, with students spending the rest of their day at their respective high schools, home schools, or online schools. Competitions, volunteering, job shadowing and internships enhance the learning experience, and free busing is available from any Toledo Public Schools high school to the Center and back. The programs are open to any student over age 16 in Ohio.

More details are available in a video at www.tps.org/112general/video/663-natural-scinece-technology-center, at toledonaturalsciencetechnologycenter.com, at 419 671-1800, or at 5561 Elmer Dr. in Toledo (next to Toledo Botanical Garden).

NW Ohio Photographer Encourages Families to Find Beauty in their Scars

By

Athena Cocoves

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April 1, 2016

For children— who often bear scars from medical conditions or other trauma— scars are normal parts of everyday life.

Capturing the beauty in scars, and the glow of the children who wear them, nurse Brittany Decker, from Elmore, Ohio, has been a photographer since 2012 and first started taking maternity, newborn, early childhood and family portraits. Decker recently began a new project, #prideinyourscars, featuring children and adults who have scars from medical conditions.

“A lot of people are ashamed of their scars, but they’re a part of us,” said Decker. “They are a testament to the road travelled and a big part of [someone’s life] story.”

All in the family

The series began when her sister, Ashley, and brother-in-law, Danny, became pregnant with their first child. Danny, a non-smoker, was diagnosed with lung cancer and doctors told them that they only had one chance before he began chemo to have a child. After their miracle baby was born, they went on to have another child. Shortly after, Decker took a photo of Danny with his two daughters.

After this first photo, Decker reached out to her second sister, Amy Slates, whose son, Carson, has a scar from two separate Cystic Fibrosis surgeries performed when he was an infant.

“He came at 31 weeks. It was a very stressful and difficult time for us,” said Amy Slates. “We call him our miracle baby. He doesn’t mind the scars at all— they’re his battle wounds.”

Joy and awareness

Brittany began the project to encourage and empower people with scars to take pride in their bodies. Brittany didn’t anticipate that the photos would help raise awareness for conditions or diseases that are often extremely rare.

After taking photos of Ethan who suffers from Prune Belly Syndrome— a rare disorder that is characterized by partial or complete absence of the abdominal muscles— she received messages from people (previously unaware of the syndrome} who had viewed the photos.

“All of the little kids with scars have been the happiest kids. They come in with all smiles,” said Decker. “It reminds me of how fortunate we are to have our lives— there’s always someone going through something so much worse.”

To see Brittany’s photos, and read
the amazing stories of the featured
children, visit her Facebook page,
“Brittany P Photography”.

A Special Solution to Sibling Strife

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Digital Media

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April 1, 2016

They'd barely tumbled in the door from school when it started. "Mom! I called that seat first!" "Mom! She took two cookies and I only got one!" And there I was, jumping in to play referee…again.

If your house is anything like mine, you probably feel like you spend much of your time with your kids trying to solve spats and silence the bickering. But you also probably keep holding onto the hope that one day there might be harmony. Guess what? There is hope! It comes in the form of one simple word: "special." Here are three ways focusing on "special" can increase the peace in your home:

Parents to Kids: Treat each one as special

Maybe we think this should go without saying, but kids like to feel they're special. Even though we know it, we sometimes confuse our desire to be fair to our children with treating them equally. But they're not equal.

Dr. Scott Turansky, co-author of Say Goodby to Whining, Complaining, and Bad Attitudes..in You and Your Kids! (with Joanne Miller), suggests that parents try instead to treat kids independently. He notes: "parents inadvertently encourage competition by treating them the same. Kids look for inequities." Turansky often reminds parents that "fair doesn't mean equal."

We know we should treat our kids differently from each other because they are different from each other. But framing it as treating them "special" creates a more positive environment. It makes those differences a good thing. When each child in a family can feel valued, there's less chance for conflict to develop due to competition.

Look for ways to engage each of your children in an activity all their own, that you don't share with any of their siblings. Maybe you can play chess with one child and scrapbook with another. Or include one of them as your biking buddy, while you save time for doing jigsaw puzzles with the other.

Point out the strengths of their particular temperament and ways each one adds to your family. You might say, "Susie, I appreciate how much you love being around people. You do such a good job making our friends feel welcome when they visit." Or, "Daniel, you make a good leader. I like how other kids look to you to help decide what to do when you're playing."

Parents to Conflict: Address issues individually

When bickering and fights take place, it's our tendency as parents to tackle the offenders as a unit. Instead, Turansky advocates separating children. "Work with one kid at a time. Give each one a separate plan, particular to them."

With this concept in mind, once we've deciphered the nature of the issue at hand, we can move on to addressing the conflict one-on-one with our kids. This allows us to observe each child's role in the conflict and helps isolate the factors involved. Then we can tailor the problem-solving strategy to the individual child's age, personality and strengths. As we do this, we should emphasize the unique solutions each particular child brings to the situation. Making them feel special as peacemakers empowers kids to become more effective at resolving their conflicts.

For example, sometimes arguments ensue when one child wants to be left alone, while another craves attention. Taking them each aside gives you the chance to draw their attention the positives of the interaction. You can say, "Jane, your younger brother really looks up to you. Do you think maybe he's just wanting to be with you because of that?" And you can suggest to the younger one that his enthusiasm might be overwhelming to his sister and propose that he find a creative way to invite her to do something fun after she's had some time alone.

Kids to Kids: Teach them to value each other

Parents also need to cast a vision for their kids of having a loving home environment where everyone treats each other as special. Make it a habit to take time to celebrate each other's accomplishments. Talk with each child about ways they could do something unexpected for their siblings. Encourage them to speak well about and to one another. Then praise them liberally when they do any of these things.

When kids begin developing a pattern of displaying these behaviors, the level of conflict in the home subsides. After all, it's hard to be angry with someone who has done something kind for you.

We saw the benefits of casting this vision one year when my then seven-year-old daughter, Evelyn's, birthday approached. Everyone in the household grew tired of her (hourly) exclamations of how many days were left until her celebration. At first her sisters hounded her to stop and fights erupted over her right to have a birthday countdown. Then one day my eldest daughter found a solution. She began announcing each morning the number of days remaining for her sister. Evelyn loved the recognition and her excessive counting down stopped. Being made to feel special by her sister solved the struggle they'd been having.

Turansky points out that the key element is remembering that we're trying to teach our child how to relate to other children. "It's your child's first class in relationship school," he says. "They're building the skills necessary to be successful."

Look for ways to implement these three approaches to bickering in your family. Because when "special" becomes the byword in your home, your family life will be exceptional indeed.

Lara Krupicka is a freelance writer with a passion for helping moms make choices that transform their lives. She especially loves her husband and three girls (who also love each other… most of the time).