Summer Fun With Kids: Letterboxing

I'm really excited to have Monica, from Monica's Mom Musings here today to share a fun post for the Summer Fun with Kids Series.


Monica is a SAHM to four children ranging in age from toddler to teen. She lives in CT with her husband of 12 years. Monica blogs over at Monica's Mom Musings about her thoughts on parenting. She also shares the struggles of each of these different stages of childhood (toddlers, preschoolers, preteens, and teens) and works really hard to keep everyone entertained. Not always an easy task with such a huge age gap and capabilities of each of her children.

  Letterboxing? What is that? When letters fight each other? Or maybe capturing letters in boxes? I know when I first heard of this I was curious about it. What it is though is a wonderful past time which combines navigational skills with rubber stamps. Basically, you go out into the world (most likely the woods) and search for boxes with the given clues and then you stamp a log book when you have found it.

My First Time

The first time I did this was with a friend a few years ago. We had gone to a local state park for some swimming and fishing. She was very into Letterboxing and had found out that there was a letterbox in this state park. So after we spent some time swimming we went for a hike into the woods. In our flip flops mind you not realizing that we were going to be taken on a trek up a mountain and through some very precarious situations. I remember thinking at the time I'm glad my son (who wasn't even 2 yet and still very unsure on his feet) stayed with my husband and went fishing because pushing the stroller would have been next to impossible. We came stumbling out of the woods filthy, physically exhausted, bug bitten, but proud. Proud because we had accomplished something we didn't think we could when we were about halfway through this excursion. And let me just clarify, that this particular letterbox was one of the harder ones. Usually people mark the difficulty in finding the boxes, but this one didn't say.

What You Need To Letterbox

There are a few things you should have with you when you go letterboxing. Before you start you need to know where to find the letterboxes to begin with. So check the letterboxing website for that. Once you have that here's a list of other helpful tools when letterboxing:

• A book to put stamps in.
• A pen to write notes under the stamps
• A compass (sometimes you are given directional coordinates to follow)
• Your camera because you are sure to find something beautiful along the way that you need to take a picture of
• An ink pad
• Your own stamp
• A small bag to carry all of this in

I do not yet have my own stamp for letterboxing. Even though I had done this with my middle daughter and my girlfriend a few years ago I haven't been able to convince anyone else to try it with me so we haven't done letterboxes regularly. However, when I was invited to be a part of this summer fun with kids, I knew that I had to do letterboxing and I had to do it on our vacation this past week. So when I did it this time we just wrote in the log books who we were and where we were from. I think my new project for this week is going to be to find my instructions on how to make my own rubber stamp and create something with the family because in spite of their apprehension to try this last week, they had a lot of fun with it and want to do more. So we need a stamp.

Letterboxing In New Hampshire

So last Thursday we had a nice sunny day that was a little too cool to go swimming. So armed with our sneakers and our clues we headed out to a letterbox. This one only had one box. Some will have more boxes for you to find or mini boxes with a final box at the end that has a log book, but since everyone was hesitant about this to begin with I wanted to go easy.

Woods Walk Letterbox

I scoured the letterboxing site for something local to where we were staying that said it was going to be easy to do. After all we were trekking into the woods with a 17 month old and a 4 year old. I found the perfect one which even instructed us to check out this look out before we actually started.
Lookout at the canoe launch for the Woods Walk Letterbox.
 We began our trek through the woods. Over the bridge and through the woods a letterboxing we go...
It did end up being a longer walk that I anticipated it would be, but it was a relatively easy walk and everything was panning out as it was saying it would including this hand lettered sign
"Welcome to Nature's Cove"...
And just beyond this point was the final clue and hidden in the trees was this box...
Inside was a stamp and a log book along with a stamp pad so we were able to place the stamp on our note paper. On the top of the box it says:

THIS IS NOT TRASH! You have found the woods walk letterbox. Please do not destroy any of the contents and replace where found hidden from view. Learn more at letterboxing.org.

Most letterboxes you will find in a Tupperware container like this. Best way to keep them protected from the elements. While we were in this spot on the trail we also got a chance to explore the river a little more.
 

Denmark Memorial Fitness Trail

The very next day was another cool day and since everyone enjoyed letterboxing the day before so much we did it again. This time I found one that had 5 boxes. Four mini boxes and then the final box had the log book. This one was on a fitness trail... [caption id="attachment_1267" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="13 year old and 4 year old ready to start"]
 We even got to do some exercising on this letterbox.

Shortly after this we found the first mini letterbox...We only ended up finding one more mini letterbox. Two of them were missing which is very frustrating, but when we got to the final letterbox that had a log book we found that we weren't the only ones who had trouble finding the other mini letterboxes. It happens. But here were our stamps from all of the letterboxes we did while we were in New Hampshire last week...
"Stamps from New Hampshire Letterboxing"

 Writing around them like this so you know when and where they were found help to keep everything remembered. What a great memento we have now from our vacation and the best part is this was completely free to do. It doesn't get much better than that. Oh and in case you were wondering how my 17 month old did, well I wore her on a baby carrier for both of these. So there was no struggling with strollers or a toddler who would have had a difficult time walking along the trail. It was a wonderful time. Are you ready to give letterboxing a try?

Summer Fun with Kids: Guest Post: Out and About

As part of the Summer Fun with Kids event I wanted to take our children to somewhere they have never been so their experiences would be completely new.  Given the intense heat, and have four young children I knew that we had to go somewhere indoors. We decided that the Chicago Children's Museum would be the perfect place; it was indoors, a place we had never been, and it is on Lake Michigan at Navy Pier (how cool is that?).

We live in Central Illinois so it was about a 3 hour drive, but I think anytime driving to Chicago is always worth the ride when you first start seeing that beautiful Chicago skyline.

The Chicago Children's Museum is located inside Navy Pier. It has three floors: two floors of entertaining and educational fun with a fabulous gift shop on the lowest level. 

There are so many features at the Chicago Children's Museum that I was so impressed with:  they have huge changing tables in the bathrooms, child-size toilets, and step stools for child-size sinks, and a nursing room equipped with books and toys to keep older siblings occupied. Also, with our double stroller with the additional seat for Keeley, we put any space to the ultimate stroller test! The Chicago Children's Museum has plenty of room for our "train", even in the various exhibits and there are elevators to get from floor to floor.  If your kids get hungry, but they are messy eaters, no worries, just stop by the "Snack Spot" and use their tables and highchairs. And even though the twins are still a little young for crawling around, I love it that the Chicago Children's Museum has several areas set up just for non-walking babies!

In the Big Backyard exhibit you can "catch" butterflies, hang out with some glow-in-the-dark bugs, and explore a really cool shoe! There also was an area just for non-walking babies! I love that the littlest visitors are thought about as well.

There was this really cool section where you got build things; Landon and Keeley were working hard on building a house! And how awesome is it that if you get tired, you can sit on the bench and watch your kids playing and then take a look out the window and see Lake Michigan?

In another exhibit your kids could drive a bus, wash a car, build a pipeline, and shop the produce section. I love the imaginative play that each exhibit encourages. 

One of my favorite exhibits featured inventions by kids. Throughout the exhibit items invented by kids were displayed. The kids, or should I say TJ, really liked the area where you get to build your own plane, send it up to the very top of the room, and then turn on the timer and see how long it takes for your plane to land. There were learning games on computers, as well as building blocks areas. And Keeley loved the slide that made music as she slid down!

In "Treehouse Trails" kids get to go fishing, rock climbing, camping and play in one of the coolest treehouses I've ever seen.  This was another area that is very baby-friendly with there section specifically for non-walking babies. This was one of Keeley's favorite areas and it was difficult getting her to leave the fishing area.

 Luckily we were heading to the "Water Works" section. Kids get to pick out raincoats and then get ready to have some water fun. They get to create their own maze for the colored balls to make it through. Landon loved being able to control which direction the water flowed.  Keeley's favorite part was the section where you get to change where the water comes out by connecting different clear pipes.

 

"Circus Zirkus" is where your star performer will shine! Kids get to dress up and put on a real circus show complete with tightrope and trapeze acts. This is the perfect area to let your kids clown around!

The Chicago Children's Museum has activities around every corner; the main corridor upstairs was full of games and activities to play. There was bowling, chess, dominoes, checkers, bags, and my kids favorite....real life "angry birds". Landon and Keeley loved using the catapults to fling beanbags into buckets. 

No museum would be complete without a dinosaur exhibit, and the Chicago Children's Museum did not disappoint! In "Dinosaur Expedition", kids to get to don archaeologist gear and go digging for dinosaur bones! There's a great sitting area for parents to watch their children explore the prehistoric world. Landon said that this was his favorite area. No surprise there!

The Chicago Children's Museum really does have something for everyone, including all ages and abilities. I feel that they have taken special consideration to make sure that everyone feels included. Here are just a few of the great programs and activities that you can take advantage of:

Open Playgroup

Sunday: 1-4 p.m.

Monday-Wednesday: 10 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Thursday: 10 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., 5 – 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday: 10 a.m. – noon & 1 – 3 p.m.

Join CCM’s open playgroup every day in the Pritzker Playspace – it’s exclusively for babies, toddlers and preschoolers, and it’s a great place to meet other families, get inspired and play!

Summer Dance Parties

Fridays and Saturdays: 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.

A dance party for the whole family! Enjoy a variety of music, learn popular dance moves and

boogie the night away every Friday and Saturday at Chicago Children’s Museum. We’re open

late, so come join the fun!

Kids Create: Clay Days

July 4, 11, 18 and 25: 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Enjoy pounding, rolling and squeezing your fingers through beautiful, natural clay. Make

pancakes, snakes and other simple forms as you discover the qualities of clay. Then, paint with

clay and even play in clay mud!

Petite Chefs (Space limited; recommended for ages 4 and up)

Fridays in July: 11 a.m., noon and 1 p.m. and  Aug. 3 and 10: 11 a.m., noon and 1 p.m.

Our healthy food series will introduce your taste buds to new, wonderful foods. Join chefs from

the Washburne Culinary Institute as they share their delicious secrets.

Jump Up! Family Music with Dana McCarthy

Saturdays: 5:30 to 6 p.m. and 6:30 to 7 p.m.

Join us for a fun, interactive performance! All are welcome to dance and sing-a-long.

Stuffed Art

July 31, Aug. 3-7, 10-14, 17-21, 24-28, 31, Sept. 1-3: 1, 2, 3 and 4 p.m.

Aug. 1, 8, 15, 22, 29: 2, 3 and 4 p.m.

Aug. 2, 9, 16, 23, 30: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5:30 and 6:30 p.m.

Is it a stuffed animal or is it art? Yes and yes! Come create your own comfy creature to call your

own.

Play For All

Aug. 11: 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Join in the fun as CCM welcomes children and families with disabilities for an exciting day

of multisensory activities. Please note: first hour is for Play For All visitors only. Pre-

registration is required, and the first 100 visitors to register receive free admission (limit 6 per

family). To register, or to request additional information, please call (312) 321-6551.

For more information on specific dates and times and other awesome events please visit CCM’s website calendar.

Hours and Admission

Hours:

Sunday – Wednesday: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. (Open Sunday at 9 a.m. for members)

Thursday – Saturday: 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. (Open Friday at 9 a.m. for members)

Admission:

Children - $12.00

Adults - $12.00

Seniors - $11.00

CCM members - Free

Children under one – Free

CCM is open every holiday except Thanksgiving and Christmas days.

Kraft Free Family Night

Thursday evenings, 5 – 8 p.m.

Free admission for everyone

Target Free First Sundays

First Sunday of every month

Free admission all day for ages 15 and under

We did take a break half-way through to get something to eat. The Chicago Children's Museum is conveniently located right by the food court inside Navy Pier. There are several dining options at Navy Pier in addition to the food court, so there is definitely something for everyone.  Since the Chicago Children's Museum is located at Navy Pier, you can make an entire day of your trip. After we finished up at the museum we did a little window shopping, and then went outside to look at all the huge boats. And of course there are the ferris wheel and swings!

And while the Chicago Children's Museum is smaller than other museums throughout Chicago, I thought that its size was a plus; you can get through and see everything in the museum and not feel like you are being rushed because you don't want to miss anything. It is the perfect size for a great day getaway, and was definitely worth the drive up! 

Mommy and 4 Peas in a Pod Disclosure:  I received free admission for myself and my family in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are 100% mine and were not influenced in any way.  I did NOT receive any monetary compensation for this post.

This post was written by Sarah of Mommy and 4 Peas in a Pod. Sarah is a stay-at-home-mother of four children. She spends most of her time running around chasing after her kids (5, 2, and 5 month old twins), but when she gets a free moment she enjoys blogging, reading, and watching movies with her hubby. 

Summer fun with kids: getting pretty

Today was a special day for my little girl. When I told her what we were doing today she got so excited. As Tabitha calls it, we got our pretties on!

Today was beauty day at our house. I painted Tabitha's nails and chalked her hair. She loved chalking her hair.
Hair chalking is so easy an I never thought that it would be.
All you need to do is wet the hair, and pull the chalk through the hair. I actually used sidewalk chalk because that's what we had. I put the chalk in water and it made the colors really stand out.
We did it with Tabitha's friend Afton and her mom and both girls had a blast. We also put on the sprinklers and played with the water and chalk.
The girls had a blast and Tabitha keeps asking when I can chalk her hair again.
Just and FYI dark colors will take a few washes to come out. Pink came out right away but blue stayed in after the first wash.