Plus, outdoor schools, your Olympics, making ice cream
|  | Sunday, July 26, 2020 | | | | |
 | | PHOTOGRAPH BY BELINDA HOWELL, GETTY IMAGES | | By Rachel Buchholz, KIDS AND FAMILY Editor in Chief
I’ve always had a busy family life, juggling all the things that busy families juggle. In the “before times,” dinner was usually eaten out, picked up, or scarfed down on TV trays in front of streams of Friends or Buffy the Vampire Slayer. But now we’re doing something I haven’t really experienced since childhood: eating together at the dinner table pretty much every night.
It seems like since the pandemic began, a lot of families seem to be throwing back to simpler times: cooking their own bread (if you can find flour), frequent family bike rides and picnics, actually talking to friends and relatives instead of emailing or texting. According to James Zahn, senior editor for The Toy Insider, sales of classic board games like Monopoly, Pictionary, and Sorry! “are selling as if they’re brand new.”
Maybe harkening back to simpler days is a way for parents to get kids off their screens at a time when everything seems to be screen-based. Or perhaps the lack of face-to-face connection we’re all feeling now means we need that connection even more from those we’re locked down with. But the joy I get from being reminded of childhood family dinners is something many people are likely experiencing from their own “retro” activities. And that joy can transfer to your kids.
Take one mom who’s been roller skating with her two daughters and telling them about the roller-skating birthday parties she had as a child. “I think we are bonding differently, probably because these are activities I’m familiar with and I have good memories of myself,” Jamie Salimi tells Nat Geo in an article about trying out throwback activities with your family. “They can probably filter in the happiness.”
So break out those board games, Rubik’s cubes, roller skates, and whatever else might be lurking in your basement or garage. (Tell us what old-school activities your family has been dusting off.) And don’t worry too much about those inevitable initial eyerolls. Kids will adjust—and eventually find the fun. “Believe it or not,” Zahn says, “hands-on play is a new thing for kids.”
Just wait till they get hold of your Rubik's cube.
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 | | PHOTOGRAPH BY BLUE JEAN IMAGES, GETTY IMAGES | | Let the games begin … at home. Friday was supposed to be the opening ceremonies of the 2020 Summer Olympics—until the pandemic changed all that. You can still expose your kids to other cultures, though, by playing these traditional games from around the world. Jegi chagi (above), from South Korea, is a bit like Hacky Sack, while Costa Rica’s El Gato y El Raton engages children in a fun game of cat-and-mouse. One from Germany even ends with a chocolatey reward!
What fall might look like. The CDC’s recommendation on Friday that K-12 schools reopen in the fall has parents yet again scrambling for answers. As Nat Geo’s Sarah Gibbens writes in this article about what parents should know about kids and COVID-19, scientists are still struggling to understand how the virus affects children and whether kids can spread it to their older caregivers. But does that mean it’s safe for them to return to class? Regardless of where your kid learns from this year, masks, hand-washing, and social distancing are still key in keeping them—and everyone else—safe.
School outside? It's not an exotic idea in Scandinavia, and Americans did it a century ago when tuberculosis was ravaging American cities. Schools distributed "Eskimo sitting bags" and heated soapstones is to keep the outdoor students warm. A 1907 experiment in Rhode Island "was a success by nearly every measure—none of the children got sick," the New York Times reports. "Within two years there were 65 open-air schools around the country."
To vacation or not to vacation? There’s still time to embark on a virtual journey around the world with National Geographic Education during its summer learning series. This week, get your sunblock ready to explore the Amazon! Kids can explore activities, videos, maps, quizzes and much more. Learn about the incredible rainforest ecosystem with a fun infographic, discover conservation efforts underway to protect this natural wonder with a Rainforest 101, and join Gisele Bundchen as she meets one of Brazil’s top climate scientists to dig deeper into the world's largest rainforest.
Maybe a road trip instead? Today marks the 117th anniversary of the first ever cross-country road trip by car, from San Francisco to New York City. (The trip took some 63 days!) If a loooong car ride is in your future, consider these four fun road trips that explore aliens, pirates, and other kid-pleasing roadside attractions. The Ultimate U.S. Road Trip Atlas—with fun facts, games, and activities—can make the time fly by.
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This week at Nat Geo Family Camp … kids got back some of their lost independence with these two STEM activities: making their own ice cream (we're talking mentally healthy) and building a solar oven (perfect for s’mores!). Next Wednesday, foster environmental stewardship with nature collages and animal track crafts. Parents can also join our Facebook event to find out what other at-home campers are doing.
For better or for worse: No question, this may be one of those “worse” times for couples to navigate. Writer Amelia Nierenberg offers these five tips in a story about tackling choices these days:
1. Remember you are on the same team
2. Stay away from “right” and “wrong”
3. Don’t assume you can read your partner’s mind
4. Find a way to do “this” AND “that”
5. Don’t forget, this is a pandemic | | | |
| TRY THIS: BOREDOM BUSTERS FOR KIDS | |
 | | PHOTOGRAPH BY BELIVE …, GETTY IMAGES | | Talk about the dog days of summer. Friday is National Mutt Day, and Saturday (Dogust 1 … get it?) is the universal birthday for shelter dogs. Have children check out this photo gallery of woofers, or see which family member is barking up the right tree with a fun quiz about canines. Kids can even get their dog’s help with these pet-friendly science experiments to learn more about their furry friends.
Introducing an icon: An easy way for your kids to learn about just departed civil rights leader John Lewis might be to read his young-adult illustrated trilogy about his life, for which he won the National Book Award. At the 2016 ceremony, Lewis recalled trying to get a public library card as a kid in South Carolina. He was told: "The library was for whites only, and not for coloreds ... But I had a wonderful teacher ... who told me to read, my child, read. And I tried to read everything." Lewis also appeared in animated form on this episode of Arthur, where he said: "There's nothing more important than following your conscience. If you can do that, you're always going to sleep well."
This newsletter was edited and curated by David Beard and Rachel Buchholz. Have a healthy and a sane (as possible) week ahead! | | | |
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