Making the Summer Months Count

Just because it’s summer, your children shouldn’t be taking a vacation from learning.

According to Beverly Anderson, Executive Director of Ebenezer Child Care Centers with locations in Greenfield, in addition to Milwaukee, Mequon, Oak Creek, and Wauwatosa, “It’s important to make sure that your children continue to read and learn throughout the summer. And in Milwaukee, it’s easy to find many fun and educational activities that you can participate in.”

Public Library Summer Reading Programs

Anderson suggests that, when the weather gets hot, you head indoors to one of Milwaukee’s wonderful public libraries. All locations offer books that you can check out free of charge as well as other fun activities such as story hours. During summer, all of the Milwaukee public libraries host a Super Reading Program where children keep track of the minutes they read or when someone reads to them. For each hour of reading they complete, children fill in a box inside a special folder. Prizes are awarded based on how much they read. For more information visit http://www.mpl.org/summerreading/superreader_index.htm.

Museums

Anderson says that families in Milwaukee should consider themselves lucky with the abundance of great museums in the region. The Milwaukee Public Museum offers interesting and educational exhibits on Africa, Asia, Europe, the Arctic, South and Middle America, the Pacific Islands, and a Costa Rican Rainforest. It also has a great exhibit that allows families to step back in time to the turn-of-the-century on the Streets of Old Milwaukee. In addition, the museum houses the world's largest-known dinosaur skull and a life-sized replica of a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Plus, there is a live free-flying butterfly exhibit that children just love. For more information, visit http://www.mpm.edu/.

The Betty Brinn Children’s Museum is a great hands-on exploratory museum for children under age eight. The museum features It's Artastic!, where children can explore the visual, language, and performing arts; It's Your Move!, Raceways, and On A Roll, where children can experiment with gravity, acceleration, and momentum; The Let's Play Railway!; Home Town, where children can role-play jobs in the community; WBB-TV, a mock-TV studio; and Betty’s Busy Backyard, especially designed for infants and toddlers. For more information, visit http://www.bbcmkids.org/.

Discovery World Museum on Milwaukee’s lakefront connects innovation, science, technology, and the environment with exploration through interactive exhibits. The museum includes the Reiman aquariums which feature aquatic life from the Great Lakes, North Atlantic, and the Caribbean. There’s also a Les Paul's House of Sound exhibit where families can experience Les Paul's life, his amazing personal collection, and the technology that has shaped modern music. Plus, there is the Johnson Control’s TechnoJungle where families can join in the hunt for the next great idea by exploring the tangle of technology, inventions, and ideas. For more information, visit http://www.discoveryworld.org.

The Great Outdoors

If being outside is more your idea of fun, Wisconsin has 42 state hiking trails that offer families a wonderful way to get up close with nature and learn about the great outdoors. In addition, Wisconsin’s state parks, forests, and recreation areas are offer endless adventures and opportunities for learning about forests, prairies, lakes, rivers, hills, and valleys. You'll find campgrounds, trails, historic and archaeological sites, places for solitude, and places to explore nature all around you. For more information, go to http://dnr.wi.gov/.

Ebenezer Child Care Centers will be hosting a free Family Fun Night on “Making the Summer Months Count” on Thursday, June 16,from 4:30-6:30 p.m. at Ebenezer Child Care Centers’ Downtown Milwaukee location at 340 West St. Paul Avenue.

We all want summer to have that laid-back, spontaneous feel. But we also want to make sure our children are ready when school starts. Learning and summer fun can coexist! Come to this Family Fun Night for tips on how to help your child get the most out of summer. Activities will include playing with boats in the water table, creating pet rocks, and making sun visors. In addition to the activities, you will have the opportunity to enjoy dinner on us!  Registration is required. Please call 414-643-5070 to register.

Ebenezer Child Care Centers is a not-for-profit, locally-based agency committed to providing early childhood programs from the heart.

The agency prides itself on being different from other child care providers in that it offers a home-like atmosphere, individualized, nurturing care, and a structured curriculum that is virtues-based for every child’s developmental stage. 

Every Ebenezer Child Care Center focuses on all aspects of a child’s development:  cognitive, physical, emotional, and social. In addition to providing quality care, the agency also offers a variety of free Family Fun Nights and other educational programming all aimed at helping parents.

The agency’s main office is located at 1496 South 29th Street, Milwaukee. For more information, please call 414-643-5070 or visit www.ebenezerchildcare.com.