Shale Hollow Preserve Metro Park

(Photo credit: Shale Hollow Preserve website)

     On my never ending quest to be an excellent babysitter, I recently stumbled upon Shale Hollow Preserve in the Lewis Center area.  I've taken the kids I watch to Highbanks and Alum Creek Dam, and they love exploring around and wading in the water.  But Shale Hollow Preserve is a brand new metro park and I was eager to see if it would meet the kids' standard for a good park.

     The park is located off of US-23, across from the Kroger and tucked back by a boat storage company.  I had seen online that it had some streams, so I was hoping it would be fun for the kids, who love water (RELATED: Babysitting and Boat Making).  There was a small parking lot in the entrance, surrounded by a grassy prairie area with a path that looped left and right.  We went left, down toward the woods and enjoyed a nice stroll among the large trees and green foliage.  We soon came to a stream and the kids eagerly looked at me, "Can we go in?"  I nodded, because I was thinking the same thing, and we wandered along the creek as we skipped stones.  We were discussing who had the stone-skipping record when we came to a clearing area that had very clean bathroom facilities and a picnic area.  Inside the bathroom, there was a map depicting the main loop (which we had just walked on) and the "off-trail exploration area" that was just beyond the clearing.
     I was so impressed with the exploration area!  It was perfect for kids.  There was even a small scavenger hunt that directed the kids from one area to another, giving clues in boxes.  At the fifth box, there was a nature stamp and a small booklet where kids could sign their name.  Although the stamp ink was dried out, I was still pleased with the scavenger hunt and the kids loved looking for the next clue-- such as "near a row of benches," which led them to an area with log pews by a campfire).
     After the scavenger hunt fun, we meandered along the creek, skipping rocks and looking for the perfect walking stick.  The creek seemed to be a very long one because we walked along it for at least half and hour and it still continued on.  It was flanked by a large, shale cliff on the left and beautiful rolling hills on the right.  The stream ebbed and flowed over the shale rocks and created many little waterfalls and deeper pools of water that the kids loved splashing in.

     All in all, I was very pleased with Shale Hollow Preserve.  The creek was a hit with the kids, the scavenger hunt provided a lot of fun and the trails and facilities were well maintained.  At first, the children were upset it wasn't the kind of park that had a playground, but they decided that it was pretty awesome by the time we returned to the car.  I would highly recommend packing your own picnic lunch and heading out to Shale Hollow Preserve.  It is a neat little park that is undiscovered, and an excellent location for childhood exploration and creativity.  Something tells me it won't be undiscovered for long.

(Photo Credit: Shale Hollow Preserve website)

 Check out my articles on other fun, free things to do with kids.  Whether you are in the central Ohio area or not, I've got plenty of ideas HERE!

The Life of a Summer Nanny: Week of June 2

This week, I watched the kids Tuesday through Thursday.  With varying weather and interests, we found lots of stuff to do in the area.  If you've got kids, watch kids or just act like a kids: Here are some child-friendly ideas in the Lewis Center area:

Orange Pool (photo credit: orangetwp.org)

Tuesday:  
The sun was out and the pool pass was renewed.  That meant one thing: The Orange Pool.  The pool is always a hit because friends, neighbors and other nannies are bound to be swimming and lounging on any given day.  I enjoy getting to catch up with friends as much as the kids do!  Though is was pretty chilly the day we went, the kids didn't mind.  I was a little grateful that I had forgotten my swim top and therefore had an excuse not to get it: The water is not heated FYI!  After the pool, we stopped by the adjoining park for half an hour of tag and hide-n-seek.  It was a fun day with lots of laughs!

(Photo Credit: Wikipedia)

Wednesday: I didn't let the rain deter my original plan to take the kids to the Alum Creek State Park for frisbee golfing.  That changed however, when we stopped at the nature center and I realized that the frisbee golf course is a bit farther than I'd remembered when running to it.  God had a better plan though because the nature center has a engineering-focused water feature that the kids loved!  Coordinating levers and gates on a mini dam kept them entertained for a good 45 minutes while we waited out the rain.  I practically had to drag them away, only successfully done with the guarantee that we'd return.  After that, we made our way down to the beachfront and hunted for shells after skipping a few rocks.  It was raining a bit harder by that point, so we drove down the the bottom part of the park for our picnic lunch under the shelter.  The kids played around in the rain for a bit before we piled back into the car and headed home.  Back at the house, we ended the day with indoor hide-n-seek and two square in the garage.  Both me and the kids were pretty tired out from our active rainy day  (RELATED: Babysitting Fun with Boat Making)!

Thursday-

Glen Oak Park: With a big hill perfect for
daredevil boys on bicycles! 

The weather was not warm enough for the pool but it was warm enough for the bike ride I'd planned, so we rode  down to a little corner market in Lewis Center that is at the end of the bike trail and past Glen Oak Elementary School.  It's a 25-30 minute leisurely bike ride from Orange High School, so the kids were ready for some popsicles-- only 49 cents-- by the time we got there.  We rode back through two parks before finishing the day with a dance party and dance-off in the living room!  It was a great way to spend the day (RELATED: Summer 2013 Comes to a Close)

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Keep following my Adventures in Babysitting posts for more activities, crafts and destinations for your own babysitting or childcare needs!  Some of the plans for this summer include: A visit to the fire station, the zoo, the skate park, the splash pad, making s'mores with foil and sunlight, helping at the animal shelter, playing baseball, doing another lemonade stand, producing at television news broadcast and visiting a couple of local farms.  I'll definitely be busy to say the least!

A-Z of Me: Letter "G"

   

What are my favorite games?

     As promised, I'm going to be more regular with my Saturday blog series (A-Z of Me).  This week, is letter G!  I love family games, board games, outside games-- you name it.  Here a just a few of the fun ones I've discovered:

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Board Games
     1. Life- A classic favorite involving the ultimate plan for your dream life. I always opted for the "split level" trailer and as many kids as I could possibly have.  And of course: the $100,000 salary if I was lucky!  If only job salary was like that in real life... *sigh*
     2. Awkward Family Photos- I've raved about this game before (RELATED: Favorite Games), but it's just as much a favorite as ever.  You will laugh your head off seeing the Kodak-moments-gone-wrong of these unfortunate families.

Word Games
     1. Bananagrams- This is another game I've already reviewed.  This fast paced sibling of Scrabble has been a hit at college.  I enjoy it because I get so bored with slow-paced Scrabble games.  Bananagrams is lightning fast!



Outside Games

     1. Shark Tag- This was a game we always played with my dad as kids.  Now, it's a hit with the kids I babysit when we're at the playground (RELATED: Babysitting Fun). The person who is "it"  (usually the sitter or adult) can't go onto the playground but must tag the kids by reaching up and trying to tag them from below.  If a kid is tagged, they help the shark and can go up on the extensions (ladders, slides, ect.) to tag others, but still can't go on the main platforms.  It keeps kids entertained for quite a while!
     2. Kickball- The game of my childhood.  Need I say more?
   



Other Games
     1. Snorta- If making obnoxious animal noises sounds fun, this one is likely to be a hit with your friends and family.
     2. Rummikub- I enjoy putting tiles together based on either their coinciding color or their number sequence.  It sounds a little confusing, but is easy to learn.  Plus, it's like a fun puzzle and is great for a large group of people!
     3. Scattergories- I became obsessed with this fun game a few years ago because it involves fast, creative thinking.  With a given list of items-- a book, a world city, a fruit, ect.-- and a set letter, players must come up with answers that start wtih the designated letter.  More about Scattergories can be found HERE.

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     Whether it's an evening with friends or a rainy day babysitting, I hope you'll check out some of these games as great options for entertainment and great memories.  Many, like Scattergories, Bananagrams and the outside games, can be played without the official game as well.  Get thrifty and look up the instructions online and makeshift your own game!  As you kick off your summer, be it with young kids or friends, keep these games in mind for the ever lurking: "What do ya' wanna do?"

Adventures in Babysitting: The Summer Comes to a Close

     Believe it or not, the kids are officially back in school and my job as summer nanny/babysitter has died with the fun in the sun.  During my last day yesterday, the kids and I made our Summer 2013 photo book.  Every day of the summer, I took at least one picture of the fun stuff we did together.  Our collection is comprised of photos from Lemonade Stands (RELATED: Lemonade and Popcorn Stand), made up games, crafts (RELATED: Melted Bead Necklaces and Candy-cala), trips to the zoo and skate park, fun at the splash park, minnow catching, boat making (RELATED: Boat Making) and just about every other activity I could brainstorm.
     Before we threw water-balloons at each other to end summer with a bang, we lined up our photos and decorated the book.  A scrapbook would've taken far too much time, but we did add some mementos in the back.  That way, the kids can look later and see our Olympic Game schedule, our summer fun flag, and our seashells from the beach.
     While the majority of my summer photos have the kids in them, I'm leaving those off the internet.  Barring those pics., enjoy a flashback at the babysitting fun I had this summer:

Boat Making.

Fun with colored clay: the one in the back is a skillfully made
lego piece.  The other two are lego-sized motorcycles.
I'm not exactly sure what the black one is...

The clay creations of the girl I babysit.  You can definitely
tell which of the clay items were from which gender
(black and blue vs. pink rainbow).

Mancala with candy.  Each player gets to eat the candy
in their "hole" at the end!

Making an extravagant card for someone who was sick.

My melted bead creation

Fun at the skate park.

A VERY bad, blurry picture of a snapping turtle at the zoo.

Adventures in Babysitting: Lemonade and Popcorn Stand

(photo credit: sheknows.com)

     Last week, I decided that it was high time for a lemonade stand with the kids I babysit.  It was something we didn't get to last summer, and something they hadn't done before!  I was amazed at how well it went.  First, we had to make signs for the stand.  We were in luck because the family had just purchased a new kitchen table, which meant giant cardboard signs to be imagined.  We spent an hour or so doing that, and then got to work on making the stand-- fashioned out of crates and covered with a double layer of cardboard-- and making the lemonade and popcorn.  See, after years of doing lemonade stands myself, I realized that popcorn might be a good seller.  I was right.  Popcorns where the money's at kids: especially if you make two kinds like we did last week.  Customers were crazy for both the Kettle Corn and Regular Popcorn.  The kids enjoyed making the popcorn baggies and being taste testers for our lemonade.

(RELATED: Adventures in Babysitting: Boat Making)

     Around noon, we officially opened shop.  I put out a message on Facebook, to see if we could get a few people to come out.  It was an overcast day, so I was a little worried that the idea would be short lived.  In the first five minutes, a woman stopped to buy lemonade.  But after that, we just stood with our signs for the rest of the hour.  Then, business began to pick up.  A couple of my friends stopped by.  One even brought the children she nannies, and they helped with the sign holding for a while.  Then, three of the neighborhood kids came to help out as well.  Before we knew it, it was 3:30 and we'd made...wait for it: $45!  Isn't that crazy?

(photo credit: commons.wikimedia.org)

     I think the key was letting the kids decide how they wanted to be involved.  Most days, they fight quite a bit, but on that day: not once!  Both of them were in their element.  They were dancing to get cars to stop, acting like little business-people, and taking turns handling the money and running the lemonade and/or popcorn to people in cars.  I could not imagine a more successful day!  Not only did they learn about teamwork, but they also learned about how business works, how to address adults and customers, and how to come up with creative marketing!  I love how they just kept telling me, "I love this!"  I'm so glad they had fun, and I did too!
     After doling out half the money to the Humane Society, we had the other half to give to our "workers for the day."  We told them they can either take their money or join us for a bike ride for ice cream in the near future.  All in all, it was an adventure in babysitting that I'm proud to say, was absolutely awesome!

Check out my other adventures in Babysitting:
- BOAT MAKING
- "CANDYCALA"

Adventures in Babysitting: Boat Making

     I am very fortunate to not have to have a "real" job.  In fact, I'm able to save up for college through nannying or babysitting a couple of kids on most weekdays.  The challenge however, is finding things that are interesting and fun for them to do, while not spending a lot of money.
     One of the biggest hits so far was boat making on the first day of summer.  With no ideas to mention, I looked at their family's recycling bins and had an immediate idea.  I started putting my boat together and let the kids ask me when they got curious enough.  Before long they dove in and began making their own boats.  We decided that we would take them to the creek behind the house and race them to see whose boat was truly fit for the water.  My boat was just a flimsy piece of cardboard with a plastic stick through the bottom that held my flag above the rest of the ship.  The best boat was the boy's, as he used styrofoam from an egg carton.  We learned that day that styrofoam floats much better than cardboard (shhh...don't tell them it was accidentally educational!)
     I hope to post periodically about my babysitting endeavors because I've personally found very little online about active, inexpensive, and fun things to do with kids during the summer.  Just to give a teaser, I'll post some of the things I've come up with like:

- The Summer Olympic games
- Tarp Slip N' Slide
- Bike ride with a picnic
- Kite Flying at the park
-Walking my dog
- Heading to local places near their house.

Adventures in Babysitting: Week of July 15

     Well, after a crazy packed wedding weekend (RELATED: Wedding Day: I Wear the White of His Grace), I was pretty tired when I woke up to run Tuesday morning and knew I'd be babysitting Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.  I've found that the key is keeping myself just as entertained as the kids.  It takes a lot of effort to be thrifty and plan ahead though!  Naturally, I took to Google.  Here's a look through our week:



Tuesday-  Pool fun!  Also, they are fascinated by playing school.  Do you know how easy it is to trick a kid to learn over summer?  I can't believe my cousin and I played school so much!  I taught the kids I babysit about aerodynamics, velocity, and 3 Spanish verbs and 2 Spanish nouns.  I'd call that a success!

Wednesday- Well, we were going to go to a dog beach.  That plan turned sour when the babysitter didn't map it out because I-- er...she-- didn't know where to go.  We ended up picnicking at a park, playing with water guns, and cooling down with Popsicles.  I got super creative when I saw the kids playing with my old Mancala set.  I don't know what possessed me to create "Candy-cala," but it was a hit!

This is the beautiful car ornament
I made today.

Thursday- Bringing over your old play things is always a hit when babysitting.  This is especially so when they are older versions of toys the kids play with!  For instance, I brought over my American Girl Dolls and we compared how my Kit Kitteredge was different from the girl I babysit.  I also brought over my little brother's old Rescue Heroes' ship.  Apparently, Rescue Heroes are now really tiny, so the boy I babysit was amazed at how huge the boat was!  The highlight was a walk to the park where we soaked the slides with squirt-guns and saw how fast we could slide down.  We also made some awesome crafts by melting plastic beads in the oven.  So easy!  I found instructions HERE.

     I hope this gives you a few ideas for your own Adventures in Babysitting, or child rearing...or just plain boredom!  If you want some more ideas, check out the boat making I did last week by clicking HERE.