It's important to stay active even during the dreary Michigan winter months. When it's too chilly to go outside on the playground, our teachers come up with super fun activities for our kiddos to do indoors. We've captured some super "chill" ideas for you to do at home. Make paper snowflakes to bring the outdoors inside. And hang them in unexpected places.Play board games! Yup, they still exist and it gives you a chance to introduce your kids to your favorites when you were little.Build a nifty "snow fort" indoors with blankets and pillows and empty boxes. Or maybe even a rocket ship out of a large cardboard box, using recyclable materials around the house for controls (e.g., bottle caps or empty toilet paper rolls)Make a pine-cone bird feeder with peanut butter and birdseed. Hang it outside your window.Guess how much snow is on the ground. Then grab a ruler and see who came the closest.Draw and color a winter-scene mural and hang it inside. Snap a photo and send to friends.Use … [Read more...]
Archives for January 2020
One chef, two assistants prepare meals for 719 kids in Metro Detroit
Karen Bouffard, The Detroit News | Published 7:29 p.m. ET Jan. 1, 2020 Starfish Family Services, a Wayne County-based behavioral health nonprofit, makes 300,000 meals annually for children in their programs, preparing breakfast, lunch and a snack for 719 kids for most weeks of the year. It’s a Herculean task for head chef Shaune Fairley and his two assistants, who cook the meals every morning at headquarters in Inkster for transport to centers around Southeast Michigan. They do so 41 weeks of the year. If that's not challenging enough, they work from 60 different menus to accommodate children’s food allergies, and religious or cultural food restrictions. There were 156 kids with food allergies last year, some so severe that their food must be transported separately. "We have 86 (different food) allergies, diabetics, gluten-free, religious beliefs, lactose, citrus, every kid has a different allergy," said Fairley, noting that each specially … [Read more...]