Parenting In Focus: What is there to do with your kids?

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, May 4, 2022

The weather was marginal. The temperature was dipping. The sun was fading. What was there to do? We decided to try a trip to the local museum.

Sequim Museum & Arts has been open for a while (actually since 2019). I had seen the building but didn’t even realize it was a building filled with history of our area. It took someone visiting from another area to even suggest we go there.

We went in to see what they had and were confronted with a huge mural of a mastodon. On the mural were bones mounted to match where they would have been on the mastodon, and they were also huge. People from the museum came up to talk with us and explain how to get the most out of the exhibits.

The next part we saw was information on Sequim and its early development. As I went about these well explained parts of the history of our area, I was impressed with how thoroughly they explained the development of our current day city. It was fun to see how it developed. I remember my grandsons reading “Boys in the Boat” and here were displays about this momentous time in the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

It is easy to forget about the many places that are worthwhile to visit with our children. This one is a good one but there are more.

Programs the high school put on are another. Some of them are good for young ones and others work best for older ones.

Trips to the game farm usually delight kids and entertain adults too. Introduce them to dogs who are part of the yearly shows at Carey Blake Community Park. There is even a place at the park where little ones can fish and they love to do that. Don’t forget to show your child the spectacular mountains while there is still snow on the tops. Even point out the beautiful clouds to your little one and make a point to let her tell you which she thinks are the prettiest.

Encourage her to find things any place that she thinks are pretty. Even making a trip to the local art gallery and see what pictures your little one likes best. Be sure to call your child’s attention to the pictures on the wall when you are out to breakfast. If you don’t pay attention to them, neither will your child.

Read the paper and find out about concerts, parades, shows and anything you might consider taking your child to. Every experience in life is really a learning experience.

All of this is learning. These are just different kinds of teaching that parents need to know about. But this kind of learning teaches your child about many of the treasures in their hometown and helps your child learn to appreciate them. This kind of learning is just like teaching math, history, and science. We also need to learn to appreciate beauty, to recognize art, and to enjoy music.

Cynthia Martin is the founder of the First Teacher program and former executive director of Parenting Matters Foundation, which published newsletters for parents, caregivers and grandparents.