Kid's Stuff

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Do kids look forward to your reunion?

Rapid City, South Dakota’s, Piney’s Black Hills Adventure features a cartoon character of a pinecone who acts as a guide to area attractions. It’s a new game to create excitement for children. A child clicks a destination, then a little car with the pinecone guide takes off to such attractions as Mount Rushmore and Bear Country USA. When the pinecone arrives at the destination, a short video plays, then an “I-Spy” game appears where the child must find a hidden pinecone. Once the pinecone is located, the player can print coupons from attractions throughout the Black Hills.

Contact Stephanie Serres, at the Rapid City CVB 444 Mt. Rushmore Road N, Rapid City SD 57701; 800-487-3223; www.rapidcitycvb.com.

Anyone who has ever been trapped in a hot car with bored kids is well aware that the world needs a sure-fire way to ease the resulting tensions. Miles of Smiles: 101 Great Car Games & Activities fills that need. In fact, according to one enthusiastic user it just "may be the ultimate solution for back seat squabbling."

Miles of Smiles is filled with games and activities that have travel-related themes. Ninety-seven require just your minds and mouths to play, and the other four need only simple props:  a penny, a pencil, and some crayons.  A helpful index categorizes each game and activity according to age-appropriateness. Humorous illustrations kids can color add to everyone's enjoyment.  Measuring just 8 1/2" x 5 1/2", the book fits conveniently into your car's glove compartment. Meyers is a travel writer and author of Weekend Adventures in San Francisco & Northern California, and editor of Dream Sleeps: Castle & Palace Hotels of Europe. Miles of Smiles is available at www.reunionsmag.com, click on subscribe and shop. Testimonials: “Oh, cool!”  --10-year-old "Vacation car treks with kids can be heck on wheels, but not when the family-mobile carries Miles of Smiles.  --Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Return to the Stone Age

When it comes to art activities, painting on rocks is both exciting and inexpensive. “Rocks aren't intimidating the way more traditional art materials can be,” explains Lin Wellford, known as “the mother of modern rock painting.”  She says, “I've had many people tell me they had no idea they had any artistic talent until they painted their first rock.”

Rock Painting Fun for Everyone! from ArtStone Press is Wellford's eighth book. It contains projects easy enough for anyone to make, even if they've never picked up a paint brush before.

Little voices taking a stand…
Ten-year-old Jenna Gagnon of Waterville, Maine, prepared herself for a very special journey as she packed up to leave school one Monday afternoon. Jenna was headed for the Maine State House to witness Governor John E. Baldacci sign a bill into law that would create a very special new state holiday: Family Reunion Day.
Jenna and her classmates at Albert S. Hall School had learned about how a bill becomes law. After Jenna's father, State Senator Kenneth T. Gagnon, D-Waterville, came to the class to explain lawmaking, she came up with the idea to designate a holiday in August. Her reason for this special day she says, "Some of my family live far away, in Oregon, Florida and Massachusetts. It's a way to get everyone home. And because the time between July 4th and Labor Day seemed much too long to wait for a holiday."
The bill was sponsored by Jenna's father who presented it as "the feel good bill of the season." Maine will now observe Family Reunion Day the Monday after the first weekend each August.
Family reunions have become pretty popular among the younger generations and Jenna and her classmates have proven that. Congrats to Jenna on a job well done!
Reported by Shnee McNeil-Hatcheet, who interned at Reunions magazine while a student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Plan for kids before the reunion
These are some sage ideas for getting kids ready for a reunion.

Sell the reunion and the destination to your kids. Build excitement before the reunion. If your children are old enough, encourage them to help plan. Read about the family and the reunion place. Rent videotapes about the place.

Plan a mix of activities each day. Mix an educational activity with a physical activity or quiet indoor time with a noisy outdoor time. Morning sightseeing followed by afternoon in the pool.
Don't overschedule. Take advantage of child-care programs. A growing number of facilities provide extensive activities for kids. Some time away from the kids is also not a bad idea for adults.

Start early. Arrive at attractions when they open and you'll often have them to yourselves for an hour or so. Eat early and often. Take snacks along, it's cheaper and quicker.

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Pay attention to the next generation
Think about the importance of kids at reunions. Kids are your future and the future of your reunions. If kids love reunions now, you may be able to expect them to continue loving reunions. Many people wonder how reunions can be sustained by the next generation. Making sure your next generation enjoy reunions now, that they see value in regularly meeting with family and always have a joyful time, will ensure your reunion’s continuation in perpetuity.

Kids are the people who, if they’re not having a good time, can spoil it for everyone. But that’s just the immediate consequence of not regarding kids seriously or thinking that just being at the reunion is enough to keep them happy. No way, Jose! Great and serious thought must go into making sure kids will have a good time and not whine that they’re bored and ask "when can we go home?"

Planning games, activities and entertainment for kids is essential. We are a naturally child focused society and yet some reunions actually get under way without any thought of how the kids will be entertained. A pool at the hotel? An hour or two; tops. Playing with cousins takes a while to warm up, if they rarely see one another.

Never, ever leave what kids do at your reunion to chance. Never assume they’ll entertain themselves because they’ll surely decide to watch television, sleep or do nothing. There is no place on earth where you cannot find or cause to be found, many things that will enchant kids. It may sometimes take some looking, asking kids what they want, and coming up with a balance and consensus that will work for the ages and interests of your kids.

I’ve just spent a good part of the summer involved in a media tour to talk about reunion actitivies: particularly for getting kids involved in their reunions through a fascination with family history. Everyone at a reunion, after all, have family history in common. Genealogy has become a subject of interest to all ages; for adults as a hobby and often for children as projects in school. Family trees made from research accumulated on genealogy.com and assembled using Family Tree Maker can fascinate kids of all ages. Family trees are the graphic representation of how everyone at the reunion is related. When you demonstrate family tree details for the youngest family members it helps make sense of this large crowd of people they find themselves in. Better yet are trees made with pictures of relatives and ancestors to put real personality into the branches and leaves. Not only do kids (and others) confirm what they already know about their relatives, many people learn things that surprise and amaze. Who is and is not related and how.

There are many other genealogy related and history activities that can be incorporated throughout your reunion. Storytelling, for example, can serve to encourage passage of family oral history. Stories can range from a grand sweep of family history and legend to any form of telling tales about individual lives. Stories that will most intrigue children are the ones they can relate to. For example, parents and grandparents telling about their childhoods at the same age as the children they’re telling the stories to. Games they played; the first day of school; family reunions; how they celebrated Christmas, birthdays and presents they got; how they got in trouble and were punished; how grandparents pr parents met (their mates). These are often ordinary stories that many of us forget but all you have to do is find out what kids are concerned and thinking about and tell it from 30 or 50 or 70 years ago. How times change.
Use the occasion of storytelling to record or videotape the "performance." These tapes can be the foundation for a family archival collection. Taping and recording can be assigned to kids who are responsible enough to stick with the task. At the same time other kids can take pictures to accompany archived audio tapes. Videotapes can also become part of the next reunion’s program for the fun and laughter but also for a demonstration of how little ones are growing and others are changing.

Photos and albums shed much light on family history. Collections assembled over the years also tell a story of family history. Ask everyone to submit pictures from significant events and celebrations to be included in books that become a visual family history. Look for resemblances, similarities, the same cleft in the chin or dimple in a right cheek.
Kids can participate in any aspect reunion planning and organization starting with early tasks such as stuffing envelopes or entering computer data. For example, kids have access to the Internet and skills that will help elders achieve goals. Evaluate how each family member can contribute time, talent and money. Then, ask.

More and more families are involving kids in planning their own program. What will make most of them happy? What can they do to get everyone involved? What activities are particularly interesting to them? Kids will come up with ideas that many adults would not even fathom. They may wish to go to the mall or roller skating or to a ball game. Maybe they want to visit the zoo, the beach, a children’s museum or amusement or theme park. While some of these may not interest adults, if it can be arranged, kids should be allowed and enabled to do the things that particularly interest them. How about a dance after one of the family dinners? Kids can teach adults the latest dance steps, while adults can reciprocate by teaching many "classic" dances; disco, Charleston, waltz, fox trot.

How about encouraging a flare for the dramatic? Using stories from your own family history, help kids develop skits or plays that will retell the tales at the reunion. For the Walker Family Reunion, organizer Alexandra Walker Clark and her children wrote a skit depicting her great grandfather’s 1872 arrival by covered wagon at the old farm, near Chattanooga, Tennessee. Her son, Liam, starred as his great-great-grandfather; daughters Sarah and Amanda dressed in calico and effectively portrayed the covered wagon with two hula-hoops draped with a bed sheet. The kids became hooked on family history.

Drama can be created from life abroad before emigration to celebrate ethnicity, special triumphs and milestones of ancestors or events that involved family members. If your kids have the talent, tell them the stories, then have them develop their own skits. Stage re-enactments at places that are of importance to your family. Visit homes, schools, churches, parks where ancestors played, places where they worked. Be prepared to explain the significance of each place; who lived, worked or worshipped there and stories about their lives. Every family has charming anecdotes and tales that can engage everyone.

The 250 descendants of George Washington’s right-hand man, General "Mad Anthony Wayne," sought the help of historians for their Iddings Family Reunion in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, the heart of the family home that dates back nearly 300 years. A tour included visits to Iddings family homes and Wayne’s birthplace. The focus was to engage the children with Wayne’s colorful history. They were fascinated. They saw one of Wayne’s graves at Old St. David’s Church cemetery. According to historical records, Wayne’s bones are buried in the family plot at St. David’s; his flesh was buried in Erie, Pennsylvania, in 1796. The kids thought details of Wayne’s internment were definitely "cool."

Some families organize workshops at reunions where they might discuss genealogy, financial planning or medical history. Computer workshops can turn the tables. Kids are fearless and know infinitely more about computers than most adults. Kids and grandkids can be teachers. Adults and grandparents are appreciative students. Let the kids shine. Ask them to demonstrate reunion-related applications — word processing (for correspondence, writing family history and stories), accounts (reunion ledgers), graphics (newsletters, flyers, invitations), e-mail (swift, easy, stampless, phoneless family communication) and, of course, surfing the Internet to research family history and learn lots more about reunions.

The importance of cemeteries to reunions, and often to kids, is one of enormous fascination. They are places where proximity to history and ancestors is compelling. Family groups often use the reunion weekend to clean and plant gravesites and cemetery plots or to dedicate markers and monuments. They engage in projects that range from restoration and repair to family research, recording data and mapping. Kids love to do tombstone rubbings they can take to school for show and tell. Family members should be encouraged to share tales about the people buried in the cemetery. Most families include memorial services in their programs which are particularly poignant at the cemetery.

A cardinal rule of reunions is to plan something for everyone. Older family members enjoy sitting, reminiscing and talking about old times, but kids get bored and restless. Older members are often content to catch up. Talking over nostalgia that only they can fathom, reviewing the years ... their lives. Younger members have different requirements. Programs, activities, plans must be made and all ages must be taken into consideration. Everyone recognizes that if kids are happy, everyone else at the reunion will be too. Effort before a reunion to make sure the youngest reunion members are entertained pays off in big dividends. Make your reunion interesting and fun for the younger generation.

About the author
Edith Wagner is a reunion junkie! She is founder and editor of Reunions magazine, author of Reunions Workbook and the Family Reunion Sourcebook (1999, Lowell House, Los Angeles CA).

Silent auctions for children
by Anna M. Miller
After a huge meal at a family reunion, when the adults are too tired for more strenuous activity, how about a silent auction for the children?

Instead of bidding money, children are given questions to think about and answer. These are some of the questions we've included. What I like best about my dad. What can I do to help an older person? List three things you will do for your family next week and why you want to do them. Why my mother is special. What I like best about my Grandpa. Why I like to go to my Grandma's house.

If our questions seem too serious, ask about funny experiences involving one or more relatives, what they would like to do at the next family reunion. Enforce a time limit for writing answers and one for judges to reach their decision.

Choose an auctioneer; no previous experience necessary. The person should be able to keep things moving, state auction rules, present items, and announce judges' decisions. Judges may include parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles or cousins. Five is a good number.

Adults definitely need to sit among the children. Younger children may need adult help to answer a question and to write a bid.

Auction items may be provided by out-of-town relatives, or each family can furnish one. Our auction items, often educational, but always fun, have included stars for the ceiling of a child's room, a kaleidoscope, board games, a butterfly kit, books, drawing sets, a compass, and a video.

Auction items must have value to the bidders. The items should be unusual and desirable, but need not be expensive.

There must be at least one item for each child. A child who receives one of the first awards may help hand prizes to other winners. When it's all over, swapping is perfectly legal.

What do children remember about the Silent Auction? A nephew said, "I had never thought about those kinds of questions before. I guess I took my family for granted." A niece said, "I didn't think I could write something good enough to get the prize I really wanted."

Parents enjoy a glimpse of a child's wisdom which they had never seen but had tried to instill at home and at family reunions.

About the author
Anna M. Miller is a graduate of the University of Iowa with a master's in education from Indiana University. She worked in Korea as a lay missionary and has written many stories for children about Korea. She has worked in a Settlement House, YWCA, as a camp counselor as well as in teaching, counseling, and writing.

Scavenger hunt with banana boats
by Lowana Orcena
This scavenger hunt promises a great time and a surprise to be remembered.

First you need to make up clues for two teams, then hide them throughout the area. Each clue should lead the team to the next clue. You need the same number of clues for each team. Send teams in opposite directions, but write clues so that on the last clue, both teams end up at the same place where a surprise is waiting.

Divide children into two teams, offer some simple instructions, hand each team their first clue, and send them on their way. We sent one adult with each team. The property we used for the scavenger hunt belonged to a church and covered almost a city block. There was plenty of room for two teams.

As prizes for the children at the end of the hunt, we made banana boats. Some of the adults made the banana boats, while the scavenger hunt was going on. The children could easily make them.

Recipe for prizes
Bananas (one for each child)
Miniature marshmallows
Hershey bars
Tin foil
Outside grill that's not too hot.

Use one banana for each child. Peel the top of the banana, but leave the peel at the bottom. Slice the banana down the middle, but not all the way through. Scoop a little out of the banana. Fill with three or four chocolate squares and some marshmallows. Pull the banana peel back up, and wrap in tin foil. Lay the bananas on the warm (not hot) charcoal.

The chocolate and marshmallows should melt in about three to five minutes. Eat right away. Banana boats can be made ahead, but don't grill until it's time to eat them.

Each scavenger hunt calls for different clues. These are one set from the author.

These clues make up one team:

A special reunion book for kids
The Woodworth Family Reunion committee works hard to make their reunion enjoyable for all their 50 children under 12 years old. They want kids to enjoy themselves and look forward to the next reunion. They have something special for kids to take home from each reunion. Last year they gave each child a bottle of bubbles, a helium balloon, a box of crayons and a custom made Woodworth Family Reunion Coloring and Activity Book. The family's reunion is held at the Jack Tone Ranch, famous for it's Arabian Horses, which generated a cowboy theme for the coloring book. Activities include games and puzzles, like the Secret Message illustrated.
Organizer Paulene Van Der Volgen, Auburn, California, reports that she knows kids have fun because she gets thank-you notes from them.

Playing by the rules
by Ellen Javernick
Last summer we attended two family reunions. The first at Sylvan Lake Lodge in South Dakota over Fourth of July weekend. Younger family members hiked mountain trails, hissed at a melodrama and howled at a video made from photos of their parents as kids. It was a great time! I feared the second reunion would be a different story.

The second reunion was a four-hour, one hundred fifty person affair at the VFW hall in Canon City, Colorado. It was planned like a "senior chew and chat." Emphasis was on praising Great Aunt Florence's poticia and hearing about who was suffering from what illness ... hardly an exciting day for school-age members. The hall was on Main Street so for safety sake the kids could not leave the building. As an in-law I hesitated to offer advice but I wanted my children to have happy memories of time spent with their father's extended family. I offered to plan activities for the kids which was not greeted with much enthusiasm. I was given the go-ahead as long as the activities I planned "didn't cost money" and "didn't make a mess." Now that was a tall order!

Deck the hall
As a former preschool teacher, I was used to making messes. I was also used to making do with recycleables. I got free roll ends of newsprint from our local newspaper. Before everyone arrived I covered bare tables with newsprint and set out margarine tubs of old crayons. As guests arrived, younger family members began decorating table "cloths." I suggested that they decorate their places and those where their older relatives were sitting which encouraged intergenerational conversation and broke the ice for second cousins meeting for the first time. When you share a purple crayon, you have to talk!

When standing around gets to be old hat
Potluck dishes filled the serving table but dinner was not served immediately. To the bartender's delight, grown-ups were bellying up, but after the intial excitement of ginger ale with a cherry, kids were getting bored. I gave each child two sheets of newspaper-sized newsprint and showed them how to turn their papers into sailor hats. Preteens helped "new" cousins while big brothers and sisters made hats for preschooler siblings to decorate. Children almost forgot their growling tummies parading around the room with grandparents proudly pointing out grandchildren. Everyone wore name tags but large names written in crayon on the hats were easier to read and the children loved being addressed by name.

It's All Relative
Youngsters and oldsters alike agreed that the food was wonderful! Uncle Ludvic's homemade sausage was to die for. Great Aunt Florence's poticia deserved its wonderful reputation. But dinner didn't last all afternoon. Adults were content to enjoy another cup of coffee and hear news of relatives too far away to attend but children were getting restless. They gathered around one of the tables to make Family Member Finders and learn about their relationship to other guests. Using Family Finders like talking puppets, children approached folks they'd not met. Family Finders showed their empty mouths until their family relationship was explained. Then they showed the "We're related!" side. Even shy children joined the fun and enjoyed the sense of belonging to one big family.

The Family Tree
Another after-dinner activity was compilation of a giant family tree. Before any guests arrived, I drew a huge tree trunk on a large strip of the newsprint which represented the great-great grandparents were Slovenians who immigrated from Austria. With my husband's help I added branches for children and grandchildren. As young members circulated with their Family Finders they asked each person to write his or her name on a small piece of paper glued to appropriate branches of the big family tree. After the reunion I rolled and took the newsprint home and made small copies to send to all the relatives.

The afternoon went off with flying colors
While the women were comparing recipes, cleaning up and starting their good-byes, I organized a paper airplane contest. Everyone made a paper airplane with recycled computer paper or helped a young relative make one. Each contestant got three throws. Awards (paper ribbons) were handed out for all manner of reasons ... to the oldest contestant, the contestant from the farthest away and so forth and to the plane that flew the farthest. Everyone was responsible for flying his or her airplane to the trash or their car when they left.
The hall was clean. I'd spent no money and the kids had such fun that they're already looking forward to the next reunion.

Sailor hats
1. Begin with two sheets of newsprint (or newspaper). Fold in half "hamburger" style. (Kids will understand the teacher talk.)
2. Find and mark the center of the folded side.
3. Bring the outside corners of the folded side down until they meet in the middle. The resulting figure will look like a flat house with a triangular roof.
4. Fold the two bottom rectangles up and over the edges of the triangle. (The hat you've made will look a little like a sailboat.)
5. Tape or staple the "center of the sail" and the "ends of the boat."

Family Member Finder (made like Cootie Catchers of yore)
1. Begin with a square piece of computer paper.
2. Fold diagonally from corner to corner to make and "x" in the middle.
3. Open the paper up, then fold each corner to the center line.
4. Turn the whole shape over so open ends are down on the table.
5. Fold each corner into the center one more time.
6. Carefully lift the Family Finder and insert fingers in the four "pockets" you've made. Practice opening and closing the puppets mouth, from top to bottom and from side to side.
7. Write "We're related" on the inside of one of the "mouths." As an alternative, children can draw little dots and say, "Oh look, you've got the (family name) genes."

About the author
Ellen Javernick is a first-grade teacher and author of children's books. She lives in Loveland, Colorado. All five of her children enjoy getting together with their extended families at family reunions.

Aunt Patty's favorite reunion game
by Patricia H. Anderson
Trash or Treasure is a hilarious game for adults and/or children, indoors or outdoors. It's a variation of the old game of "White Elephant."

There can be any number of players seated in a circle.

The center of the circle is piled with packages of every size, shape, and description. Wrapped in toilet paper, expensive gift wrap, aluminum foil, cloth remnants, comics, wallpaper, brown bags, whatever's handy.

Most packages contain trash such as a rubber ducky and a mostly used bar of soap, a frayed shower cap and a comb with missing teeth, tacky old jewelry, empty peanut shells, an outgrown toy, a broken anything. Junky stuff. A few packages contain treasures: A movie pass, candy bar, tube of sun block, a CD, homemade cookies, a roll of nickels.

Joke packages contain Ex-Lax, itching powder, a popcorn tin with one package of microwave popcorn and a note to "pop your own" inside, a box of prunes and a roll of toilet tissue, a disposable razor and a band-aid, a rubber spider, a disposable diaper that has had a little weak tea poured inside, a small stuffed bunny and a handful of raisins. Comical stuff.

To play, stress the need to be fast and accurate. Have one pair of dice for every five or six players. Keep passing dice to the left. Players take turns trying to roll a six - not a combination of dots that add to six on both dice but six dots on one die. When they roll a six they may grab one package from the pile; double sixes let them grab two packages. Dice move around rapidly and before long more than one player is diving for the same package. Once all the presents are gone from the center, rolling a six allows them to steal packages from neighbors. The robbing is the favorite and funniest part of the game. Someone eventually calls a halt by loudly counting down from twenty.

At this point you choose an option: to end the game and save unopened packages for another game of Trash or Treasures to be played later or to postpone the game; those with the most packages can receive bubble gum or other trivial prizes. The second round is often more fun, beginning with jockeying for a different seat with new neighbors.

To end the game, packages are opened. One at a time for the most fun!

About the author
Patricia H. Anderson lives and writes in Nashville, Tennessee.

The Pearson Reunion at the Pokagon State Park in Angola, Indiana, includes descendants of John Sargent Pearson and four of the original Mayflower Pioneers. In an effort to revive interest in the reunion, they chose Colonial Times as reunion theme. They had a chance drawing for an American Girl Doll with activities centering around the American Girl Activities and some of the relatives presented stories from Colonial Days.
Reported by Lucy Funk, Angola IN

The younger Pressley Family Reunion generation takes serious responsibility for portions of their reunion. The children have car washes, sell candy and baby sit to help raise money for their reunion. Some of the money they make is used to help supply food for the hospitality night. This makes the youngsters feel as if they have a huge part in reunion planning and execution. They are also encouraged to share ideas for entertainment at the Saturday night dinner dance, the agenda for daytime activities on Saturday and the Sunday picnic. The younger members also wrote and performed a 45-minute play about a Family Reunion. None of the adults had any idea of what the play was going to be about. The kids wanted it to be a surprise. The author is a 25-year old.
Reported by LueVenia R. Alford

The Vegetable Party - kid's love it!
by Karen Scanlon
This is lots of fun for everybody. Early in the day mothers tell the children that dinner is strictly vegetables and no fussing. "Got to eat your growing food," we insist.

Put out a colorful table setting, washable or disposable. Instruct family to wear bathing suits to dinner tonight (hose them off afterward, it's part of the play).

Cut from various colors of construction paper, six to eight-inch vegetables - carrots, some peas, green beans, eggplant, etc. Attach a paper vegetable to each of the following: jars of chocolate and butterscotch syrup, strawberry topping, Maraschino cherries and a can of whipping cream. Keep them out of sight until dinner.

Scoop different flavors of ice cream into large serving bowls. Attach paper vegetables to these, too.

When it's time to eat, have everyone settle at picnic tables. In a playful spirit, mothers carry 'vegetables' in a parade around the table, setting them down all at the same time. You know the rest ...

This is a valuable tradition we built when our children were young. Now they associate this occasion with Mom's garden yard.

Kids interactive
by Heather Down
Family reunions are a wonderful opportunity for children who don't see each other often to reacquaint themselves with close and distant cousins. Having a house full of children can be exciting and a little intimidating too. Young people may be hesitant to interact or may interact explosively. Finding things to entertain and bring children closer in a fun and memorable way may sometimes be difficult. Having ideas other than the usual videos and computer games can end frustration and make you a hero. Here are a few that work:

Drive kids up a wall - literally! One of the best places I ever took a group of kids was a climbing gym. Simulating a rock climbing experience, kids can scale new heights in a safe environment. While one child climbs the wall in the safety of a harness, the other has to belay. Team work and co-operation are imperative. Interaction and communication are a must. It builds confidence and brings any group together, regardless of age. These gyms are in most major cities. A day pass, which usually includes an introductory lesson, is much cheaper than a day at a theme park.

Make your kids disappear. Some of my fondest memories are from an ordinary Saturday night that turned out to be magical. We were at the cottage and my husband suggested that each of the six kids in our group practice performing a trick or illusion. Some wanted to do more than one trick and others joined together for group efforts. After several hours of preparation, one lucky child was chosen as MC and a magic show was performed. This is a perfect reunion activity because it requires a lot of interaction among the children. Parents and grandparents get the added bonus of being dazzled by a terrific show. Have a few how-to magic books from your library, cards, coins, ropes and silk hankies handy for the occasion.

Make 'em board. Have you heard, "I'm bored," more often than you care to remember? Children play a lot of interactive games with entertainment sets and computers, but the art of playing games with others is being lost. Kids love contact with others and thrive on the fun and laughter that come from certain games. Besides the traditional faves such as Sorry, Monopoly and Chutes and Ladders, try some truly lively, animated and sometimes loud games. My favorites are good for a group of mixed ages; Twister, Headbanz, Guesstures and Outburst. These games are available at most department and toy stores and cost less than taking your family to the movies.

If you're feeling a little nervous about entertaining children at your next reunion, relax. Armed with a few good ideas and a couple of resources, you can make this reunion the most memorable for generations to come!

About the Author
Heather Down is a freelance writer and elementary school teacher in Ontario, Canada. She enjoys spending time with her husband, three children, and two dogs. She has authored three gift books and really enjoys reunions.

Involving the Hip Hop generation
A new workshop at the 1999 African American Family Reunion Conference was how to involve the Hip Hop Generation ... your future no matter what your age.

The workshop panel members were under thirty and the panel was anchored by 26-year-old Steven Jones who, at 23, organized the (??th) Simpson Family Reunion.

The hospitality suite, we learned, can be as important to the young as it is to older family members because it is where people assemble and where much story-telling goes on. Games, food and music will encourage kids to stay close to the rest of the family.

As kids begin to mature a bit, they should get their own rooms, usually adjoining their parents. Informal sleep-overs/pajama parties can go on in these rooms and cousins can spend more time together.

Hints from the kids.

• Send a questionnaire directly to kids and ask what they want to do.
  
• A swimming pool is important.
  
• Send children off on (chaperoned) tours to childrens museums.
  
• For teenagers a hotel near a mall can make or break a reunion. They also enjoy disco or theatre trips (on chartered busses). One reunion made parents feel old when kids decided upon a disco event as a "blast from the past."
  
• Use family centered movies to generate discussion. In the African American community particularly, but for any family these might include Soul Food or Down from the Delta.

Kids activities between and during reunions
Between reunions the Hailstock Family Reunion hosts a Back-to-School-Bash over Labor Day weekend to keep New York City area kids in touch. Other reunions use e-mail and the Hailstocks have newsletters that include stuff specifically for kids.

Steven Jones and his sister Nancy described the Simpson Family Reunion tour of Zanesville, Ohio. The family homestead, that drew them to that area for the reunion, was gone but Steven marveled at how small the lot was to support a house full of children. They visited churches, schools and the river where their mother went swimming as a child.

Having kids be models for a historical fashion show is inspired because all kids love to dress up. Many vintage clothes are smaller sizes so are perfect for younger children. Family history can be reviewed along with fashions to match each era and music directed to the years clothes were in vogue.

Have children participate in all phases of devotional services. They can present readings concentrating on family subjects. For families who are ready for it, when religions differ, some time can be set aside to teach each other about their faiths.

One girl did the family's genealogy then supplemented it by interviewing older members and presenting her findings at the reunion.

Orderly passage of a long standing, well-organized reunion can begin when the 18-25 year old generation is ready to be the bridge. Empower them. Get them to buy into the reunion

On-site child-care
Many hotels have programs to accommodate guest children. If it will help your members, choose a facility with a child-care program and make the information available to members.

Child-care programs must accommodate the varied needs of children of different ages and developmental stages. Young children like planned activities and are very receptive to being in a well-structured setting. Teen-agers may want little more than a fun place to hang out.

You'll want to verify the program license and experience in the field. What are the supervision ratios of adult staff to kids?

Learn about adults staffing the program and their experience. Ask if staff members are trained in CPR (including infant/toddler CPR) and first aid.

The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests at least one adult for every two to four infants; one adult for every four to five 3- to 5-year olds; one adult for every seven 6- to 13-year olds and one adult for every 10 teens.

If it is important to your family, ask if they provide for children with disabilities.

Infant care is more than just changing diapers and feeding. Ask some of these questions.

• Do activities encourage childhood development?
  
• What behavior rules do they enforce?
  
• What form of discipline do they use?
  
• How do they identify parent with child?
  
• Do they require photo ID for kids, parents and staff?
  
• What are their fees, charge by the hour, by the child?
  
• Ask for references.
  

The facility should have a release or waiver for parents to sign that grants authority for emergency medical treatment recommended by a doctor to preserve life or limit injury. Parents should leave a phone number or, if they are unavailable, who else can make decisions on behalf of the child.

Any release or waiver should stipulate exactly who has the authority to take custody of the child. As an inexpensive cautionary measure, have a Polaroid photograph of the parent and child.

Backseat Tyrants
Long family rides can turn even the happiest kids into backseat tyrants. Here are some useful ideas to keep them occupied.

Games. Count state license plates or truck names. Or buy a pack of cards called 52 Fun Things To Do in the Car by Lynn Gordon (Chronicle Books, $6.95).

Sing-alongs. Plan ahead by collecting tapes or CDs. One recommendation: Are We There Yet? Travelin' Sing-Alongs.

Audio Books. One sure way to improve children's reading skills is to interest them in books. Audio books are available for just about any age group.

Vintage radio programs. Old radio mystery programs like "The Shadow" and "The Saint" are available on tape and CD. Also comedy favorites like "The Jack Benny Show." Many of these are available from libraries too.

source: Parade Magazine

Hunters and Gatherers
Getting children involved in family reunions is always on the top of any organizer’s list. Sonya A. Haskins, Milligan College, Tennessee, suggests a family scavenger hunt. "You can make it a game and provide prizes to children who answer all the questions correctly, which will give them a little more incentive to play in the beginning," writes Haskins.

Directions for getting started: "Make a list of questions about various family members. Who received a medal in World War II? Whose birthday is August 25, 1930? Who came to the US as an immigrant?"

"Give the children the list and let them go. They can spend the day, weekend or however long your family reunion is scheduled to last. Toward the end of the reunion, award prizes and return the questions and answers for their own ancestral records."

"This is a great way for kids to learn some fascinating facts about their parents, grandparents, great grandparents, and other family members while having fun doing so," Haskins concludes. "It is also a great way to keep kids busy."

Kids rule!
At the Kauffman-Overholt Family Reunion in Goshen, Indiana, special attention is paid to entertainment for the children. There are relay races, water balloons, a sandpile and a "swimming pool" of an 8-foot circular tank set on the concrete drive. Other activities include sand volleyball, horseshoe pitching, croquet, ping pong and hiking in the woods or on local trails. They could go skating and skateboarding on a little used road. Most popular were two old-fashioned rope swings with board seats that hang from tall trees and attract all ages. A number of llamas were haltered and leashed for children to pet and lead around the yard.

Reviews
Kid's Trip Diary, for ages 6-12, published by Marlor Press, 4304 Brigadoon Drive, Saint Paul, Minnesota, 55126; 96 pages, paperback, $6.95.

Long, hot, boring hours sprawled in the back seat of the family car; mile after mile of concrete interstate landscapes; the kid sister or brother who won't turn down the Walkman or recklessly spills food and drink over the seat – such are the fond memories childhood summer vacations are made of.

Relax. Help is available. A new, revised edition of the useful Kid's Trip Diary has arrived just in time for your next reunion. Among its offerings are strategies for getting children involved in planning the trip, making lists for things to do on the road, and deciding what to pack and what to leave behind. Most of all, Kid's Trip Diary provides entertaining as well as educational activities sure to keep kids happily occupied. Besides riddles and games, sights seen, foods eaten, changing weather, even the amount of money spent on shopping can be logged in pre-formatted pages. Best of all, blank space is left to record the most important thing of all: memories of your family summer reunion.

The Starcleaner Reunion, words and pictures by Cooper Edens. Green Tiger Press, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York NY, 1979, sixth printing, 32 pages, paper, $8.95

"The time has come, my friend, for a reunion to recall the great deeds we began before thee were years at all, or memories..." Thus begins The Starcleaner Reunion, a child's magical encounter with angels, stars and history. Bold, vivid illustrations and a warm-hearted story makes perfect bedtime reading.

Another truly fun package is Happy Highways Kids' Travel Kit, from Hampton Inn & Suites - great if you're traveling with school-age little ones. The package includes a five-day journal, an activity book and a lively cassette tape of Eddie Coker songs including "Travelin'" and "Say Hello!" Request the kit from Hampton Inn & Suites, c/o Sourcecenter, Inc, 1366 Round Table, Dallas TX 75247.

Beach Klub for Kids
Families looking for a beachfront vacation resort that offers something for everyone need look no further than the Naples Beach (FL) Hotel and Golf Club, which has created a new "Beach Klub 4 Kids" that's not only loaded with plenty of fun and educational activities – it's free for all guests ages 5-12. Besides organized games, craft activities and hands-on nature studies, all supervised by trained professionals, kids receive free treats, snacks and admission to Jungle Larry's Caribbean Gardens. For more information call 800-237-7600 or visit www.NaplesBeachHotel.com.

It's a kids world in Kissimmee
Walt Disney World® attractions are famous. However, there are also many other things to intrigue kids in the Kissimmee, Florida, area. Gatorland offers thousands of alligators and snakes, an opportunity to learn about the real Florida. Green Meadows Petting Farm has 200 farm animals, and offers pony and hayrides. Kids can even milk cows. Jungleland houses more animals, birds and reptiles. Water Mania features lots of water fun. Everyone can enjoy fantasies at Arabian Nights (a musical tour), Medieval Times (jousting matches and sword fights) and Wild Bill's Wild West (cowboys and Indians). For reunion planning assistance call 800-831-1844, ext 416.

Kids are special reunion guests in many places
Families whose reunions are at Sunrise Resort in Moodus, Connecticut, seem content as some have 30-year reunion histories there. Cindy Lespier started coming to Sunrise as a child and now hosts the Pastor Family Reunion there. The Brown Sisters Reunion alternated between home areas in Connecticut and Maryland until the latter group decided they'd just come back to Sunrise! Finally, the Moller Family Reunion of over 20 years regularly meets on Father's Day.

Sunrise offers three single-spaced pages of kids and family activities that begin to explain why so many families don't look elsewhere. Activities for the littlest ones (3 to 7 years old) include a mini resort, Mad Hatter's Ball, Halloween (in July and August) and Christmas (in July). For eight- to twelve-year olds there are lots of contests (rubber ducky, golf, fishing), canoe trips, mountain bike tours and a treasure hunt. Many of these same activities plus much more are available to the 13- to 17-year olds (war canoe races, Halloween fright night, spa party, candle light swim, DJ parties). They also have a mentoring program where teens help with four to seven year olds. These in addition to lots of family activities (eg: nature hikes, morning wake-up parade, breakfast paddle to a beach to eat).

Sunrise's special accommodations for reunions include a private dining room whenever possible, a private place for evening activities, and special events planned just for your family. They will also make custom reservation forms for you to send to family members.

Camp Cookie perfect for reunion kids!
Doubletree Hotels and Suites in Texas welcomes family reunions to Austin, Dallas and Houston. Guest suites, where available, afford the amenity of having a full kitchen and the freedom to prepare your own meals, eat out, or both. One- and two-bedroom suites are available at Doubletree Guest Suites, Houston (713-961-9000) and Club Hotel by Doubletree, Austin (512-478-7000). The Houston location is close to many attractions, particularly Astroworld, one of the Six Flags theme parks. Babysitting is available at Austin and Doubletree Hotel at Lincoln Center, Dallas (972-934-8400) has a special kids focus (12 and under) with Camp Cookie, which includes souvenir t-shirts and hats, a children's swimming pool and menus and free shuttles to a nearby skating rink and cinemas. See list of other Texas Doubletree Hotels in Reunion Resources.

Official Oregon kids travel guide available
The Oregon Tourism Commission has issued The Official Oregon Kids Travel Guide. The guide, a first of its kind in the US, addresses interests and concerns of younger travelers.
There are fun things to do and see. The guide is broken into five categories: try it! see it! do it! taste it! and live it! It showcases travel suggestions from real Oregon kids, including a sled dog racer from Bend, a snowboarder from Mount Hood, a lion dancer from Portland, a kayaker from Medford, a cowboy from Ontario, a jingle dress dancer from Siletz, and a published author from Eugene. It also offers attraction-sponsored activity pages and information about beach safety, tide pool etiquette and the Leave No Trace program. The guide is free from 800-547-7842 or www.traveloregon.com.

Curious kids
Factory tours and company museums make great day trips, rainy day activities and stop-overs during long car rides. They're the stuff of childhood memories. Parents and kids alike, then, will welcome husband-and-wife authors Bruce Brumber and Karen Axelrod's recently released Watch It Made in the U.S.A.: A Visitor's Guide to the Companies That Make Your Favorite Products ($17.95, John Muir Publications, Santa Fe NM). The book is available at bookstores or by calling 617-734-1979.
source: MetroParent

Science centers offer big fun and lots of learning
Science centers can be found in or near almost every US city. Many offer interactive exhibits where visitors don't just look, they do. The newest ones put you into the exhibit itself. Here's a sample of what's out there.

North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences
Raleigh, North Carolina
With more than a million specimens of present and ancient life, this museum houses the world's only fully restored skeleton of the predator Acrocanthosaurus ("the terror of the south"), as well as the first dinosaur ever found with a fossilized heart and four whale skeletons.

Creative Discovery Museum
Chattanooga, Tennessee
This museum offers a series of changing exhibits for children. Recent and current exhibits include dioramas focusing on Creatures of Habitat, Getting Into Shapes and Tinkering With Technology.

Liberty Science Center
Liberty State Park, Jersey City, New Jersey
"Science equals fun" is a central idea at this museum. Its signature exhibit is a 41 1/2-foot, 700-pound geodesic sphere that unfolds to 18 feet, then shrinks back.

Oregon Museum of Science and Industry
Portland, Oregon
Children, with chaperons, enjoy overnight "Camp-ins," an idea that has taken hold in a number of science museums. Guests take a simulated deep-sea dive in a submersible sphere or tour a Navy sub.

Flandrau Science Center and Planetarium
Tucson, Arizona
Flandrau features a first-class collection of rocks and minerals and a spectacular multimedia sky show that combines high-tech entertainment and learning.

Discovery Park
Safford, Arizona
A gem of a science center, mostly outdoors, that showcases all that is beautiful about the nature and science of southern Arizona. Its 123 acres contain an unusual variety of desert environments. Also, a space shuttle takes small groups on a simulated journey through the solar system.

Exploration Place
Wichita, Kansas
Unusual experiences that combine learning and recreation. In the "CyberDome" the audience controls virtual journeys to Mars, inside the human body and into Earth. In another theater, dodge incoming asteroids.

Milwaukee Public Museum Butterfly Wing
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
This is an enchanting exhibit of at least 300 butterflies from around the world, hatching, then fluttering and eating for their five to seven day existence. Wear bright colors, stand still, and these delicate creatures will land on you. Caution: when leaving, check to prevent hitchhikers!

To find the nearest science center near you, try these web sites: www.astc.org/sciencecenters/find_scicenter.htm; www.ips-planetarium.org.

source: Parade Magazine

Are we there yet?

Isn’t that the classic question of kids on a road trip? We found some of these ideas from Sharon Miller Cindrich in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

• Try classic car games like I-Spy, 20 Questions and license plate bingo. Visit momsminivan.com.
• Sing-alongs in rounds like “Row, row, row your boat.” Lyrics to camp songs at scoutsongs.com.
• Check out new books from the library. Read to kids or ask kids to read out loud.
• Assign navigation jobs: gather maps, tourist brochures and books from the library. Assign jobs like map-reader, sign-spotter or travel journalist or photographer.
• Print out enough sheets to play Pumpkin Picker, identifying those big orange Schneider Trucks. Visit Schneider.com/travelgame.

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Unique kid experiences

These are some unique experiences to be found on a Florida reunion – many unique to the Sunshine State. If you dare to be different, try these.

Pre-teen or teen animal lovers can be zookeeper for a day at Miami’s Metrozoo. Children under 18 can prepare animal meals, feed the animals and even help out with shows and talk like real zookeepers. Visit www.miamimetrozoo.com.

Astronaut training experience at Kennedy Space Center includes an orientation and mission briefing by a member of the US astronaut corps. For the “mission,” each crew member is assigned a specific role in the full-scale shuttle mock-up or realistically outfitted mission control room. Visit www.kennedyspacecenter.com.

Wannado City at Sawgrass Mills Mall near Fort Lauderdale calls itself the first interactive empowerment environment. Wannado City lets kids (ages four to 11) role-play in up to 250 careers like TV anchor, lawyer, doctor, firefighter, banker and police officer. Visit www.wannadocity.com.

Factory Tours

Ben and Jerry's

Waterbury VT; 866-258-6877; www.benjerry.com. Reservations recommended for groups of 10 or more. And most importantly, samples are available.

Binney & Smith Crayola

Easton, Pennsylvania, 610-250-8000; www.crayola.com. The manufacturing facility is not open to the public. Simulators demonstrate the process. Kids can play with modeling clay, draw on walls, and try out the latest Crayola. And you receive the crayon color du jour.

Boeing

Everett, Washington, 800-464-1476; www.boeing.com. Where the 747, 767 and 777 airplanes are made and on display. Visitors see planes in testing and development. Reservations can be made.

Ford Motor Company

Dearborn, Michigan, 800-835-5237; www.hfmgv.org/rouge. A bus takes you through a narrated drive of famous landmarks and the manufacturing complex and a walking tour through the assembly plant where Ford F-150s are made.

Gibson Guitar Factory

Memphis, Tennessee, 901-205 2526; www.gibsonmemphis.com. Visitors watch guitars go through neck-fitting, buffing, tuning, binding and painting, by hand. Les Paul, Pete Townshend, Jimmy Page, B.B. King and Eric Clapton all have signature models. Visitors must be at least 12 years old.

Harley-Davidson Company

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 877-883-1450; www.harley-davidson.com. Tours also at Kansas City, Missouri, and York, Pennsylvania. Visitors 18 and over must present a valid photo ID.

Jelly Belly Candy Factory

Fairfield, California, 800-953-5592; www.jellybelly.com. Makes 150 varieties of Jelly Beans. The freshest sweets at the sampling bar or try a jellybean-shaped pizza.

Louisville Slugger Museum

Louisville, Kentucky, 877-7SLUGGER; www.sluggermuseum.org. The baseball bat of choice since 1884. Features include a batting cage, theater and ballfield. To watch bat production, tour before 3 PM.

US Department of Treasury, Bureau of Engraving and Printing

Washington, DC, 866-874-2330 and Western Currency facility in Fort Worth, Texas, 866-865-1194; www.moneyfactory.com. Watch currency being made. Tickets required at DC facility, March through August.

More Ideas for kids

• Clean out toys, games and clothes kids have outgrown, and take them to your reunion to exchange. Or have a rummage sale to earn money for the reunion.
• Make up comedy routines or skits before or during the reunion to perform at the talent show.
• Imitate relatives and let others guess who you are.
• During the day, lay on the grass and discuss the meaning of the clouds.
• At night, lay on the grass and look for constellations.
• Do double-dutch jump rope.
• Tie-dye t-shirts.
• How about a video game tournament for those whose passion lies in the game arcade?
• Have a dance or tea party.
• Play flashlight tag.

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Return to the Stone Age

When it comes to art activities, painting on rocks is both exciting and inexpensive. “Rocks aren't intimidating the way more traditional art materials can be,” explains Lin Wellford, known as “the mother of modern rock painting.”  She says, “I've had many people tell me they had no idea they had any artistic talent until they painted their first rock.”

Rock Painting Fun for Everyone! from ArtStone Press is Wellford's eighth book. It contains projects easy enough for anyone to make, even if they've never picked up a paint brush before.

Rainy day activities for kids

It’s raining, it’s pouring, but your kids won’t find the day boring with a little costume fun to pass the rainy day away. Don’t turn on TV, turn on imaginations by having kids dress like their favorite movie characters. Pirate, Superman and other blockbuster movie costumes spark the imagination.

Be in the movies! Throw a blue sheet up on the wall, pull on the Superman costume, get out the camcorder and make your own Superman Movie. Use fun accessories like bendable bars and breakable chains to give your movie more action.

Fill an old trunk or suitcase with buried treasure, then hide it. Dress kids up in pirate costumes, hand them a map to the dead man’s chest and watch them hunt for the prize. Visit anniescostumes.com/rainydaycostumefun.htm.

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