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Our Summer Activities Update: A Picture Story

July 9, 2015 by Starfish Family Services

By: Sinziana Luchian; Marketing Intern

We’ve had an entertaining summer at Starfish so far and continue to enjoy the wonderful season!

Our fun-filled activities this week included:

An exciting day spent in the Starfish garden including crafts, vegetable picking and a butterfly release.

 

Our Summer Enrichment Program/ Camp boys showing off their lavender sachets.

 

Big smiles while collecting fresh and yummy greens from our Starfish garden.

 

“We love Kale!”

 

The moment before the anticipated butterfly reveal!

 

Everyone had the chance to hold their little friend before saying goodbye.

 

“Bye-bye little butterfly”.

 

On Thursday morning, our Enrichment Summer Camp Program explored the Detroit Institute of Arts. This included middle school and high school students.

 

They enjoyed posing by the knights in shining armor.

 

The whole crew together during lunch break, before heading out for a tour of Wayne State University.

 

Lastly, an exotic zoo was brought to our Hiveley gymnasium on Thursday afternoon.

 

The adorable baby kangaroo caused an over joyful response from the crowd.

 

Finally, the massive snake made an appearance. How long is the snake you ask? “Too long…”

We had an eventful week filled with excitement at Starfish! The children enjoyed the interactive activities and are looking forward to many more this summer!

Filed Under: Starfish Family Services Tagged With: DIA, Exotic Zoo, Starfish Garden, Summer Activities

What’s Your Child’s Favorite Fourth of July Activity?

July 1, 2015 by Starfish Family Services

By: Sinziana Luchian; Marketing Intern

It is that time of the year again- the time to celebrate our Nation’s Independence! Families around the country are getting ready for a long weekend of quality time spent with loved ones; barbeques, family gatherings and mini gateways. While this day is a significant commemoration for our nation, it is also an educational experience for young children. At Starfish, we are strong believers in the early learning and development of children. We would like to share fun activities for your little ones to enjoy while gaining background knowledge about the true meaning behind our red, white, and blue holiday.

Some of our favorite patriotic activities include:

  • Red, White and Blue finger-painting; this activity will help your young child gain fine motor skills.
  • Make Fourth of July related foods; a natural fit with the holiday traditions. Allow your kids to help as much as possible in the making of each dish. A Red, White and Blue Berry Cake sounds delicious!
  • Fourth of July Tie Dye shirts; an engaging activity for the whole family to enjoy.
  • Host a mini concert; sing patriotic songs such Yankee Doodle, The Star-Spangled Banner and America the Beautiful.
  • Make your own flag using only sandwich sticks, poster board, red and blue Kool-Aid, and Elmer’s glue. That sounds easy enough!
  • Dress in the colors of the American flag; allow your kids to wear their favorite red, white and blue clothing.
  • Attend a parade, firework show, or visit a local history museum.

For 100+ patriotic crafts and activities visit: http://kidsactivitiesblog.com/54116/patriotic-crafts-activities.

While participating in any sort of celebratory activity, please remember that safety always comes first. We hope you will enjoy this exciting weekend with your little ones. Starfish would like to wish everyone a happy and safe Independence Day- from our family to yours!

 

Filed Under: Starfish Family Services Tagged With: Celebration, Educational, Hands-On Activities, Independence Day

The Kickstart to Our Little Starfish Summer Camp

June 24, 2015 by Starfish Family Services

By: Stephanie Christie; Group Facilitator

Tuesday, June 23rd, kicked off our annual Little Starfish Summer Camp. This week we are celebrating learning about the Community Helpers that keep our neighborhoods thriving.

Tuesday we focused on Garbage Collectors, Recycling and Postal Workers. We took a walk through the halls of Hiveley and collected recycling from employees; we also wrote and decorated mail to give to some of our community helpers. On Wednesday, we are having a Police Officer from the area come to visit, talk to the kids about his work and how he helps out in the community. Thursday we are focusing on Doctors and Teachers. Lastly, on Friday we are taking a field trip to the Inkster Fire Department.

We had 60 participants on Tuesday, children ages 2-5 and their parents; which was an awesome outcome to the event. It was a wonderful day and we look forward to the rest of the week!

 

Filed Under: Starfish Family Services Tagged With: Activities, ELC, Involvement, Little Starfish Summer Camp

Are Fun Summer Activities on Your Mind? Join Us at Parenthood Summer Camp!

June 18, 2015 by Starfish Family Services

By: Sinziana Luchian; Marketing Intern

Parenthood Summer Camp starts on Thursday June 18th. The program offers fun summer activities for pregnant and parenting teens.  Are you a parent between the ages of 15-21 and do you reside in Western Wayne County?  If you answered yes, then you qualify to participate in our FREE events! Food is always provided and transportation is available.

Our FREE events include:

  • Cooking Class- June 18th 1-3 P.M., RSVP by June 11th
  • CPR Training- June 25th 9A.M.-4 P.M., RSVP by June 18th
  • Exotic Zoo- July 9th 1-3P.M., RSVP by June 25th
  • Family Portraits- July 16th 1-4P.M., RSVP by July 9th
  • Baby Yoga- July 23rd 2-4 P.M., RSVP by July 16th
  • Painting Class- July 30th 1-4 P.M., RSVP by July 23rd
  • Hands on Museum- August 6th, 11A.M.-3P.M., RSVP by July 30th
  • Movie Night- August 13th, RSVP by August 6th

The purpose of our Parenthood Summer Camp is to provide teen parents with activities to engage in with their children, as well as build peer support by meeting and networking with other teen parents. Please take advantage of this wonderful opportunity, and pass along this information to qualifying parents. To sign up for an event contact: Jenai Muhammad at 313-563-5005 ext. 5226, jmuhammad@sfish.org. We are looking for volunteers to help with childcare during the events. If interested contact: Cheryl Majeske, cmajeske@sfish.org. We hope to see you there!

 

Filed Under: Starfish Family Services Tagged With: Free Events, Fun Summer Activities, Parenthood Summer Camp, The Parenthood Program

MOMMY & ME YOGA: What You Should Know?

June 10, 2015 by Starfish Family Services

By: Courtney Conover; Certified Yoga Instructor, RYT 200

 

I had been practicing yoga with my son, Scotty (age three), for about four months when my husband and I took him to the barber to receive his first professional haircut.

(Those botch jobs I had been doing on him with a pair of dull shears were no longer passing muster; but that’s a different story for another day.)

The point here is that the mere notion of having to sit still while getting his curls chopped by a stranger scared the bejesus out of him – so you can only imagine how bad things got when Scotty heard the buzz and felt the vibration of the electric clippers.

It was bad; really bad: tears, incoherent pleading for it to stop. The whole nine.

And then I told Scotty to close his eyes…and breathe.

I told him – quite pointedly – to breathe just like we do when we practice yoga; to simply focus on his breath as he counts to ten and then back down to one again.

It took a minute. But, no lie, I could literally feel the muscles in his arms relax and release as I held his clammy hands in mine.

When Scotty was done and climbed down from the chair, I told him how proud I was of him for doing yoga just now.

He looked at me, puzzled and confused. “I got a haircut,” he said.

“You got a haircut while you were doing yoga,” I corrected. “Remember how Mommy told you that you can do yoga anywhere, and that it can give you strength when things get tough? It’s true.”

I don’t believe Scotty understood the full magnitude of my words.

But he will, someday.

Contrary to what we may have learned or come to believe, yoga isn’t just about twisting like a pretzel, or looking good in our workout pants – or our bathing suit, for that matter.

The purpose of yoga is to quiet our mind, to realize that all beings are connected, and, ultimately, to find peace and awareness within ourselves.

What greater gift could we bestow upon our children?

But, wait. There’s more.

Children and parents stand to gain a ton from practicing yoga together. It’s an excellent way to bond, for one; and, secondly, children are impressionable, so the act of us doing yoga with them reiterates the belief that physical exercise is important and that we also value the mind-body connection.

The parent doesn’t even have to be an experienced (or flexible) practitioner of yoga!

None of that even matters.

The mere fact that you are accepting of your body – regardless of what it can or cannot do that day – and you choose to get on the mat and practice yoga anyway is golden.

What if some children copy what they see, and others won’t?

It’s okay.

What if your baby cries or needs to be changed or fed during class?

It’s no biggie. The class is designed to accommodate these types of situations.

What if your kid finds the mat itself to be the main draw, or, worse, your attempt to keep your child on the mat makes you feel as if you’re herding cats?

Keep coming to class anyway.

This is all new to them, and for many kids, yoga is unlike anything they’ve ever experienced.

There’s no rush to “master” yoga, and this isn’t a competition.

We all have a lifetime to learn and experience all the wonderful benefits yoga has to offer.

Some of those benefits can include better sleep; a more “settled” behavior with less extreme ups and downs; stimulation of bodily systems, including digestive and nervous systems; laying a foundation for future positive social relations between parent and child over the early years and beyond; and relaxation.

And, oh, yeah, you may just find yourself in need of a smaller pair of pants if you keep coming to class: Make no mistake about it, you will feel the burn.

But in a good way.

Plus “Mommy and Me” yoga classes are a great way to meet other moms with kids around the same age in your community, which can often translate into play dates outside of workouts.

But, to me, the greatest boon to establishing a yoga practice with your child is instilling in them the belief that there is tremendous value and unlimited benefits to harnessing the power of your own breath.

And while yoga certainly is the conduit, the truth is, the power was deep inside us all along.

Yoga only helps us connect to it.

I look forward to taking this fun, exciting journey with you and your children, and hope you’ll consider attending our “Mommy & Me” yoga sessions. Let’s make magic!

See you on the mat.

 

Join us for MOMMY & ME YOGA on June 15th and June 29th at our Hiveley location. Registration is required; call (734) 727-3104 to reserve your spot!

 

Wayne resident Courtney Conover is a mom of two, the wife of former Detroit Lions offensive lineman Scott Conover, and a certified yoga instructor. When she’s not on her yoga mat, she’s blogging at www.thebrowngirlwithlonghair.com, oversharing on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/thebrowngirlwithlonghair, and hashtagging away on Instagram at https://instagram.com/officialcourtneyconover.

 

 

Filed Under: Starfish Family Services Tagged With: Courtney Conover, Health Benefits, MOMMY & ME YOGA, Relaxation

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