a peek inside the fishbowl

I haven’t been writing much about the games we play around here lately. Mark has been spending evenings with iPhone Scrabble and Grand Theft Auto (talk about your polar opposites!) and the girls have been absorbed with their iPods and games like Tiny Thief and Minecraft (yes really). I was reading upstairs the other night when my youngest surprised me by lugging our huge wooden chess/checkers/crokinole board and plunking it down in front of me. (It’s from Lee Valley and it’s all kinds of awesome.)

And so, we hunkered down for a game of checkers.

Checkers is one of those games that’s easy enough to learn and can be played at different levels. I’m no expert. I’m about as green as my 12-year old. I haven’t played checkers very much at all. I was an only child in my family (I had no siblings around to play board games), and checkers really wasn’t something I played with friends. But I do enjoy playing checkers. I think it’s good for the brain. It’s good for MY brain because as I’m playing and focusing on the board I can actually feel myself stretching those brain muscles. I think it’s good for our kids’ brains for the same reason, if not more so.

There are huge developmental benefits to playing chess, checkers and similar board games. They aren’t like the other games we play, like Trouble or Sorry, in which it could be anyone’s game (thus maybe making it more fun for the younger ones). Checkers is not about chance, it’s about planning and sharp focus. Watching the board, analyzing and thinking about your moves two/three/or more steps ahead and your opponent’s moves is critical thinking at its finest. And as with every other game, there are lessons in patience and good sportmanship to be learned here as well, don’t you think? Checkers is a character-building game, and probably staves off age-related dementia as well.

There are so many cheap checkerboards around, there’s no excuse not to have one. I bet most people have one in their basements. You can even make your own checkerboard without too much effort. (Here’s a neat little tutorial for one made out of an old burlap bag.)

Is checkers something you play in your house? Or maybe you’re kicking it up a notch and playing chess with your kids? I’d love to hear about it!

I don’t always follow up on older posts, but I wanted to share this one with you today.

Back in June I wrote a post for the UsedEverywhere blog about this amazing moss-filled terrarium we made. (You can read that post right here.)

Sidebar: my kids tease me mercilessly about my love for moss at every possible opportunity. We’ll be hiking in the woods they’ll point and shout: LOOK AT THE PRETTY MOSS MOM and then ask me if I’m going to scoop some up and bring it home with me. (Which I rarely do.)

In my heart I know that they secretly love moss just as much as I do. How could they not? Moss is so cool! So spongy and compact and awesome! Am I right or am I right?

Anyway, yes. That terrarium was created and I wrote about it for the Used blog. And then I needed a good spot to put it. For awhile it was on a sill in our bedroom, and then I put it on my bedside table. And then one evening, just as I was about to pick up my book, I turned around and saw this growing amid my red ceramic toadstools:

Real mushrooms! Mushrooms are AS COOL AS MOSS, if not more so. I guess the spores were in the moss, just waiting for a good opportunity to show off.

It was pretty cool to have live mushrooms but sadly they withered and died within a couple of days. So much for my mushrooms.

After the mushroom episode I moved the terrarium downstairs to our west-facing windowsill. Some of the moss died off but then something ELSE started to grow. Would you look at this:

It’s full of green stuff, and it’s trying its darndest to get out of the jar. I have no idea what that might be, but it’s slowly making an escape. Isn’t that weird? What’s next I wonder?

I am so glad my daughters aren’t the kind of girls who are afraid to do this:

I have to thank my husband for introducing them to these interesting little creatures. I truly believe that kids who spend time outdoors and observing nature (like pond life and frogs) become a little closer to nature, and will want to work a little harder to preserve it.

As for frogs, I’m not eager to catch them in my hand, but I do respect the fact that they’re a barometer of the health of the world we live in, and are very deserving of our admiration and respect.

They are visually stunning, vocally interesting, and are found in very diverse conditions around the world; from frozen tundra to scorching deserts. Frogs have amazing abilities, and it’s more than just being able to jump or camouflage themselves. They can climb, glide, burrow, swim and run. Some are sticky, and some can survive a deep freeze while others have the ability to kill. (Poison dart frogs are my personal favourite frog.) It’s fascinating stuff. And no, it’s not easy being green.

I had the opportunity to check out the newly installed froggie exhibition at the Canadian Museum of Nature recently. (The Museum is a Fishbowl patron and I’m very happy to be able to squeeze in a sneak peek here and there!) It’s great to be able to observe so many interesting varieties in their recreated natural habitats, like this dude:

This colourful exhibition features more than 70 (!!) live frogs from around the world. It’s an extremely visual and educational exhibit with tons of interactive elements that will allow children to activate recorded frog calls, perform a virtual frog dissection, and much more.

As always, the Museum of Nature has created an atmosphere of learning that is also interactive and fun. There is no doubt in my mind that anyone visiting a Chorus of Colours will learn something new there, no matter how old they may be.

Here’s the good news, my friends at the Canadian Museum of Nature have given me two passes to give away to two families!

Interested? Please review the nitty gritty:

• This giveaway is for two family passes to see the frogs at the Canadian Museum of Nature, as well as the permanment galleries. I’ll be giving these passes away to two different families.
• In order for your entry to qualify, please leave a comment below. Tell me, what do YOU think is kinda cool about frogs? If you’re not sure, ask your kids what they think is cool about frogs! :)
• For a second entry you can also leave your comment on this Facebook post. Easy peasy.
• This giveaway is void where prohibited by law. If you can’t post your comment for whatever reason you can email it to me for posting at andrea at quietfish dot com. Please note, I cannot be responsible if your entry is misdirected or gets stuck in my Spam folder!

I will draw two names using Random.org at noon EST on October 15, 2013. The winners will be mailed their passes.

Fans of the Museum of Nature take note! The Museum is opening up its collections facility in Gatineau and you can go on a special behind-the-scenes tour. (I bet you didn’t even know this place existed, but we’re talking about 10.5 million specimens are spread over the equivalent of 5 hockey rinks. Awesome.) It’s taking place on Saturday, October 19 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and it’s free. More info right here.