810-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, April 6, 2002
£ids i
Chid
Children learn about the world by experimenting.
Learning how to use simple hand tools such as a measur
ing tape not only entertains children but helps them feel
good about what they are doing and teaches many skills.
Children enjoy using the same things adults use: pots and
pans, dress-up clothes, and other items found around the
home. For numerous ideas, visit the Better Kid Care Web
site, www.betterkidcare.psu.edu or ask for “Toddler Top
ics,” a free series of six newsletters addressing child de
velopment as well as practical ideas. Better Kid Care tel
ephone help line: 1 -800-859-8340.
Changing Face Of Grandparenthood
Matthew Kaplan
Penn State
Associate Professor
Ag And Extension Education
Last year marked a milestone
in American history that many
people missed. The first of the 76
million Americans bom between
the years 1946 and 1964 the
well-known “baby boomer”
generation have reached the
age of SS. This landmark occur
rence signals some interesting
changes in the enterprise of
grandparenting.
First, we will see a surge in the
numbers of grandparents. In
their book, “The Nanas and the
Papas; A Boomers’ Guide to
Grandparenting,” Kathryn and
Allen Zullo note that by the year
2005, there will be an estimated
80 million grandparents. Of
those, nearly half will be baby
boomers, and they are likely to be
quite different from the grand
parents of previous eras.
They should be more liberal
(after all, this is the Woodstock
generation!), healthier (thanks to
dietary and medical advances),
more active and wealthier. Fur
ther, they will identify with dif
ferent historical events, have dif
ferent ideas about work and play
and have different heroes.
All of these differences trans
late into anticipated changes in
the way grandparents spend time
with their grandchildren. For ex
ample, it will be more common to
see grandparents and grandchil
dren, side by side, engaging in
such high-octane activities as
mountain biking and martial
arts.
Many grandparents and
grandchildren will be looking for
opportunities to learn together.
One such example is the “Grand
parents University” summer pro
gram at the University of Wis
consin. After two days of
intensive indoor and outdoor ac
tivities together, participants re
ported that the experience had
enhanced their relationship.
More than 98 percent of the par
ticipants in the 2001 program
noted their intent to return the
following year.
Businesses and other organiza-
tions are waking up to the vast
possibilities of catering to grow
ing numbers of grandparents and
grandchildren looked for shared
activities. Elderhostel, a
25-year-old nonprofit educational
organization for people over 55,
now is planning educational trips
for older adults who wish to bring
along their grandchildren. They
can choose from a wide range of
activities, including stamp col
lecting, bird watching, hiking and
touring museums around the
world.
“Grandtravel” is a new com
mercial vacation travel program
for grandparents and grandchil
dren who wish to share the plea
sures of traveling together. Desti
nations are planned with school
curricula in mind, and are both
domestic and international. The
agency does all the planning and
teachers provide learning experi
ences along the way for the chil
dren.
Seagull Schools, a 30-year-old
private, nonprofit corporation in
Hawaii, plans to construct a $2
million intergenerational facility
that will include a childcare cen
ter, an adult community center
and a training center for senior
adults interested in mentoring
young people. It also will offer
tourism programs and packages
designed to attract grandparents
and grandchildren looking for
combined vacations.
Seagull Schools Director
Chuck Larson says, “If were one
of those grandparents, one of the
places on the top of my list would
be Hawaii. Because this is a re
sort area, it lends itself to a large
variety of activities that could be
adapted to meet different abilities
and interests for both children
and older adults.”
Not everybody can go to Ha
waii, nor do they have to. There
are various resources closer to
home that provide helpful sug
gestions for how to nurture the
bonds between grandparents and
grandchildren.
Just visit any bookstore; you
are likely to find books such as
“Grand Activities: More than 150
Fabulous Fun Activities for Kids
to do with their Grandparents”
by Shari Sasser (Career Press,
KornerV
Jt *
tunities
LEESPORT (Berks Co.)
This is the theme selected by the
National Association for the Edu
cation of Young Children for this
year’s “Week of the Young
Child.” This year it will be cele
brated during the week of April 7.
This week was first set aside 32
years ago to focus public atten
tion on the needs of young chil
dren and their families and to
recognize the early childhood
programs and services that meet
those needs.
Penn State Cooperative Exten
sion’s Better Kid Care also recog
nized the needs of young children
and their families. Better Kid
Care works closely with childcare
providers and parents to provide
childcare training, educational
materials and resources.
Sue Giachero, Penn State Co
operative Extension family living
1999). Among the activities that
emphasize family connections is
“Comfy Genes,” which involves
looking at photos of family
members from different
generations and listing the ori
gins of each of the child’s facial
features (for example, grand
ma’s nose).
The “Connecting the
Generations During the Holi
days” program, developed by
Penn State Cooperative Exten
sion, focuses on things that can
be done to strengthen family re
lationships during the holidays.
At family get-togethers, stimu
lating topics for discussion in
clude: earliest holiday memo
ries, happiest holiday memories,
thoughts about how holiday cel
ebrations have changed over the
years and philosophies about
shopping and gift-giving during
the holidays.
Another resource, “The Holi
day Activity Kit 2001,” devel
oped by the Something to Re
member Me By Legacy Project,
provides other family-strength
ening activity ideas during the
holidays. For a listing of these
activities, see the Website http:/
/www.tcpnow.com/holidaykit/
intro.html.
A surefire way to help grand
children and grandparents ap
preciate family stories and
memories is the “oral history”
interview. The interview can be
focused on the grandparent’s
life experiences either in a gen
eral way, or with an emphasis
on a particular theme (e.g., how
people dressed) or historical
event (e.g., Woodstock). Any
tape-recording or written record
of the interview should be treat
ed as a valuable family keep
sake.
Whether it is through travel,
discussion or other activities,
shared experiences are gratify
ing for both grandchild and
grandparent. These experiences
also help lay the groundwork
for strengthening family, a ben
efit to be enjoyed by future
generations. Each family has its
own identity, traditions and rit
uals for celebrating family.
It’s never too late to start a
new family tradition.
Our Responsibilities
agent in Berks County, reminds
us that, “Today more than ever
before, we know about the impor
tance of children’s earliest years
in shaping their learning and de
velopment. It is important chil
dren’s environments, relation
ships and experiences at home, in
childcare, in schools and in their
community promote their early
learning. As a child’s first teach
er, parents often realize how im
portant their job is but can feel
overwhelmed and not know
where to begin.”
According to Sue Giachero,
“Parenting is one the most impor
tant jobs. Although it is a job with
great joy, it can also be very
stressful. Many parents take on
the task of parenting without any
prior experience or training.” Sue
Giachero also adds, “This lack of
experience can add to the stress
of being a new parent.” To help
Give Children Time To
Play Outside Every Day
Children need to run around and get their energy out. It’s
normal and natural for children to need a great deal of active
play,- such as running and climbing.
Make sure there is time to play outside every day and indoor
active play when the children can’t play outside. An extra 10
minutes outdoors may result in better behavior all day long.
The correct phone number for parents to receive the free
video series, “I Am Your Child” is 1-800-986-2229. A feature
story on the series appeared in the March 16th issue.
parents acquire information that
will make these early years less
stressful, Penn State Cooperative
Extension Family Living Agents
have created a leam-at-home
newsletter series, “Toddler Top
ics.”
According to Sue Giachero,
“Toddler Topics” is a series of six
newsletters addressing various
areas of child development as
well as providing practical re
sources and ideas. Articles in this
series include topics relating to
nutrition, literacy, grandparents,
behavior, safety, and family fun
as well as a variety of other top
ics. These newsletters will be dis
tributed at no cost to more than
120,000 parents across the state.
If you would like to receive “Tod
dler Topics,” contact Sue Giache
ro at the Berks County Coopera
tive Extension office at (610)
378-1327.