Resiliency is one of the most important attributes for a meaningful life, yet parents today are unwittingly sabotaging it in their children by smoothing out the bumps in life for them. Discover how to encourage a child's confidence and belief in the future with a little boredom, a few mistakes, and healthy dose of benign neglect.
The link between our sense of well-being and choice is complicated. As parents we want our children to have an abundance of choices, but research has shown that too many choices can be paralyzing and actually diminish happiness and ambition. Explore the reasons why it is important to shape the world for our children into manageable pieces.
This lively speech, studded with anecdotes and the latest research on the creative process, covers the three necessary ingredients for a creative home: time, materials and most of all--tolerance. Blakey will offer parents concrete ways to inspire creativity, including examples of resource boxes parents can put together themselves.
“...(Blakey) is a superstar! We thoroughly enjoyed her speech. She is a true motivator..” --Susan Wall (President Bellevue Community College PAC Board)
Ask an adult for a childhood image or memory, and 90% of their recollections will have taken place outdoors. Learn how the landscape and territories of our childhood help to shape the adults we grow into, and why it is critical for children to spend time outdoors. Includes ADD and ADHD research on unstructured outdoor time enhancing children’s ability to focus.
The home is the seed bed of learning, and in as little as 15 minutes a week, you can enhance your child’s science aptitude. This speech offers an informal approach to home science projects using Piaget’s stages of development as a guide. Includes several hands-on science projects and demonstrations.
“Nancy made me feel that I was not only capable of doing science experiments with my children, but that there was real joy and love of discovery (in) doing it with them...” --Marti V.
What do you do with the growing pile of art your child produces every year? There is only so much space on the refrigerator door. This speech covers concrete ideas and many examples of ways to honor the best of your child’s art, and diplomatically reuse or cull the rest.
We live in a culture of rush and hurry with no end in sight. Our children are dragged along at the same pace, with little unstructured time for family meals and conversations, or for integrating new information into their lives. This speech is full of insight and ideas for slowing your family’s life down. It will help parents claim the hours in a day and invite an unhurried pace to their lives where the most delicious things can happen.
Think creativity is for someone else? Think again! “Recipes for Fun” offers a potpourri of hands-on projects adults will make themselves and take home to their children, along with the instructions. Includes Slime, Cinnamon Dough, OOblek, Foot Paint, and Play Clay.
“..If she (Blakey) can make slime with 60 people and have fun, I think I could do it with my 2 kids!...” --Mary D.
All workshops are approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour Fees include transportation and all materials.
We will explore the pop and fizz in several science experiments including film canister poppers, dancing raisins, capturing carbon dioxide in a balloon, and eating a volcano! This workshop will thrill youngsters, entertain them, and best of all, open their eyes to the fun in science.
Make several wondrous yet simple creations that really fly! The workshop includes kites, parachutes, a straw glider, and a balloon trolley.
What is an earthquake? How do we measure it? What is a sedimentary rock formation? How do seismic waves move? We will make a sedimentary sandwich (from peanut butter and jam), create a seismograph, listen to a p-wave (primary wave), and explore motion through sand in this fascinating 60 minute workshop.
Create the silly and the sublime with found and salvaged materials. This workshop encourages children to use their imaginations to make art and be kind to the environment at the same time!
Learn about the elasto-viscous properties of slime by making your own! Each child will go home with the recipe and a batch of their own slime.
These science projects use hearing, smelling, tasting and seeing in surprising ways. A lively and fun workshop for children 6 and older.
This workshop encourages children’s writing skills. I share my books with them and talk about the importance of making a project sound clear, but most of all, fun. They begin by doing a simple hands-on project. The next step is to try and find the words to describe it step by step. Even children who have difficulty with writing enjoy the integration of a kinesthetic experience with the art of explanation. Ages 7 and up.
Kids can learn about the environment in the most delicious way. Each child is give 2 types of chocolate chip cookie, along with a toothpick to “mine” the chips. Damage to the cookie world is estimated and assessed. We talk about the importance of not rushing, how the type of earth around the chip impacts the damage. We count the number of chips and the environmental costs of mining them.
Have a wall you need to fill with color? Want to create a trail of personalized pavers for landscape beds or gardens? This workshop can be customized to fit your needs. Projects range from a colorful batik blanket made from tissue paper, to bean teepees.
Kids can transform old tee-shirts to wearable works of art. This workshop is great for large groups of kids on a sunny afternoon. Adults may want to join in on the fun!
Not just any games, these are exhilarating and new. From Blindman’s Hike, to Knots and Tangles, the activities are a breathless blast of fresh air that help kids laugh together, trust, and discover how teamwork works best.
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