Snow Cool!

Who said snow has to be white?? (ok, ok... please hold your yellow snow comments...)

Snow can be a rainbow of colors! Fill up a few squirt bottles with water dyed with food coloring or liquid watercolor paint (be sure it is non-toxic!) and send your children out to liven up your yard!

Squirters can write their names in the snow, make a painting on snowplow mounds or add colorful details to a snowman. What fun!

Makin' a Stink!

During a recent "nature treasure hunt" with preschoolers here at Cantigny, the youngsters scampered around the prairie and trees surrounding our beautiful new Education Center, happily picking up leaves, bark, nuts and petals to fill their bags. They ran up and down the paths around the building- darting in to the grass when something caught their eye. They covered most of the ground around the building, all the while giving a wide berth to the row of ginkgo trees.

While intrigued by the cool fan shaped leaves and the height of these great trees, they all acknowledged the same fact..."These trees STINK!", and avoided them like the plague.

"It smells like puke over here!", "Peeew!" and "UGH! What is THAT smell?" were shouted as the treasure hunters passed the ginkgoes.

The short, 4 year old friendly, answer is "The smell comes from the seeds of the ginkgo tree. They have a strong smell don't they? (smile)"

These seeds, affectionately called "stink balls" or "puke balls", are not only scattered outside the Education Center, put also across a staff parking lot in the park. I have to laugh as I look out my window and see that NO cars are parked in the three spots nearest the ginkgo tree. It only takes driving over the seeds once, and getting them stuck in your tire treads- or heaven forbid, stepping on them- and driving home with the smell of vomit in your car to realize you shouldn't park near the tree in October!

BUT, each fall, I also observe park visitors gathering up these horridly stinky seeds! WHY??!! I couldn't image why anyone would want a bag full of stink, so I did some investigation. Knowledge is power.

Ginkgo seeds contain butanoic acid (also known as butyric acid) which is also found in butter, Parmesan cheese and well...puke. Who's hungry! :} The smell really lets loose once the seeds have fallen...and especially when they have been run over by novice parkers.

Okay...so now we know why they smell. WHY do people want them??

The seeds are actually a traditional Chinese food. (Ginkgo is the national tree of China!) Ginkgo nuts (the hard part inside the stinky seed coat) are used in many dishes, and are often served at special occasions. In Chinese culture, they are believed to have health benefits, and even aphrodisiac qualities. (ugh.) The fleshly seed coat is not recommended for eating due to ginkgotoxins which can cause seizures. Yikes!

I know I had heard of ginkgo being used as a memory enhancer- you've seen those ginkgo biloba pills in health food stores etc right? Well, those attributes mainly come from extracts from the LEAVES- not the seeds. There is a LOT of info out there about ginkgoes being used for medicinal purposes, so I have included this fact sheet from the Department of Health to give you the basics.

So, stinky story short....yep, it DOES smell like puke by this tree. But, stand upwind and just appreciate the tree for it's natural beauty. And, if you are so inclined, pull on some gloves (please), pick up a few seeds and explore them yourself.

September 22

Delicious autumn! My very soul is wedded to it, and if I were a bird I would fly about the earth seeking the successive autumns. ~George Eliot

Happy First Day of Autumn!

Float Your Boat

All the rain we've had this summer left plenty of puddles.....which I find are good for a handful of things.

A. Stomping in. Obviously.

B. Stomping in hard enough to splash your brother, sister, mom, or dad.

C. Heroically saving a drowning worms life. You'll feel good about yourself all day if you fish those guys out and drop them safely in the grass- I guarantee it.

D. Floating handmade boats.

This summer I somewhat mastered the art of paper boat making during Cantigny's Wild Wednesday program. And when I say mastered, I mean I can make three basic kinds of boats, I am not an origami guru by any means. Please don't ask to see an intricate flower, or crane, or gorilla.

But these three boats, look out- I've got them down!

My favorite- the canoe- is illustrated step by step below. By the time you scroll to the last picture you too will be a nautically themed origami wizard....at least when it comes to little paper canoes. And with a little patience (on your part) and a little practice (on their part) your children will be folding and sailing boats by bath time!

So, grab a square of colored paper- the bigger the better for your first try ( I recommend using actual origami paper that is colored on one side) and start to scroll...

Start with your paper colored side up.


Fold it in half.


Fold it in half again, to create a square.


Unfold the entire paper so that you have a windowpane of creases.


Fold in one side to meet the center line. Repeat on the other side.




Fold up each corner to meet the middle line.



Fold each edge up to the middle line to form shallow a triangle. It is okay if they overlap in the middle.



Fold the top and bottom points in to the middle line.



Pinch the boat in half so that you see the colored paper through the center line.


Carefully turn the boat inside out so that the color is on the outside. Slowly shape the folds into the general boat shape.



To make the folds crisper and to help your boat stand up, refold the colored edges back down and press the boat flat. At this point, your children can also add some details- crayons work best as they will not run when wet.



Pop your boat back up, shape it and take it sailing! (I advise adding a tow line in case your little boat sails out of arms reach.) Don't leave your canoe in the water too long or the water will soak through the paper and capsize your vessel.



It's also fun to craft little boats out of natural materials. Collect nutshells, pinecones, sticks, leaves and flowers with your children then piece together a fleet of rafts, sailboats and cruisers. Half the fun is the sink or float test when you first set them in the water!

As Mark Twain put it, “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

So go, grab your kids and set sail.