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2011 Texas Book Festival

austinkids — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 13:00:24 +0000

Now that’s it’s getting colder, we can think of nothing finer than snuggling up with a blanket and reading our favorite books. And with that in mind…

The 2011 Texas Book Festival is here! Bringing authors and readers together for literacy, ideas, and imagination, this is a free public even that happens every year at the State Capitol here in Austin. This is the 15th annual Texas Book Festival and it will be taking place Saturday and Sunday, October 22-23.

To kick-off this exciting festival, here at ACM we’ll be hosting an event Friday October 21st from 3:30-5:30 where you can meet Doreen Cronin author of M.O.M. and Eileen Christelow author of Five Little Monkeys Reading in Bed.

Happy reading!

Summer Reading Club

austinkids — Mon, 08 Aug 2011 13:00:51 +0000

Finding ways to spend your vacation is half the fun of summer. But after many, many days without school sometimes you may find yourself bored. Well, writer Jenny Rosenstrach was taught by her mother that “Only boring people get bored”.

Have you ever thought about the challenge of a summer reading list? Jenny has playfully created a point system to encourage her children to entertain themselves with fabulous books whether it be a picture book, a chapter book or even a comic book. After reading a few books and obtaining a specific number of points, her child will be able to collect prizes. Here is Jenny’s detailed account of her Summer Book Club.

Scholastic gives kids the task of logging the minutes that they read not just how many books that are completed. Scholastic invites kids to Read for the World Record and attempt to have the name of their school placed in the 2012 Scholastic Book of World Records.

If you’d like a list from Scholastic of books for ages 3-5 click here!

Ages 6-7? Click here!

Ages 8-10? Click here!

Ages 10-12? Click here!

Take a look at how we use children’s stories here at the Museum.

Everyday at ACM we have multiple Story Time sessions when a gallery educator gets the chance to choose a couple of their favorite stories and reads them to a group of visitors.

Today the Gallery Educator, Allison, read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr., Leonardo the Terrible Monster by Mo Willems, and Is Your Mama a Llama? by Steven Kellogg and Deborah Guarino.

The kids really enjoyed Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and Allison says she “loves when they get involved”. Different stories are read everyday. If you’d like to visit us and hear a good story, let us know what your favorite is!

History of Fingerprinting

austinkids — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 13:00:48 +0000

At ACM’s Get a Clue camp, campers sharpen their logic and detective skills by investigating mysteries, solving riddles and cracking codes. One of the favorite activities at camp is to take each other’s fingerprint.

Imprinting the friction ridges of a person’s fingertip onto a surface is an easy way to uniquely identify someone. No two people have been found to have the same fingerprint and because of this, fingerprinting is used for many purposes, including crime solving.

The first modern, official use of fingerprinting as a way of identifying people was July 28, 1858 when a British magistrate, William James Herschel in India requested a local businessman put his hand print on the back of a contract. Herschel developed to the system because he thought locals felt more bound to a contract through this personal contact than if it was just signed. After 40 years of observing the fingerprints over time, Herschel also determined that fingerprints never change with age.

Although fingerprinting had been used as early as ancient Babylonia to seal clay tablets, this was the first time a government made fingerprinting a protocol to use to distinguish people. Almost 40 years later a policeman in Argentina began to keep fingerprints on file of criminals for investigating crimes. Now fingerprinting is a fundamental technology used in criminal investigations.

You can take your fingerprint at home. All you need is some tape, a pencil, some white paper and a magnifying glass.

1. Take the pencil and rub it on some scratch paper until you have a dark smudge of graphite.
2. Now press your finger firmly on the graphite until your entire fingertip is covered with graphite.
3. Take a piece of Scotch tape and place it on your fingertip and press gently.
4. Carefully remove the tape from your finger and stick it on a sheet of white paper. Be sure to label your print!
5. Use the magnifying glass to look closely at your prints and notice any patterns. Take someone else’s fingerprint and compare your prints!

Want to solve your own mystery by dusting fingerprints at home? Check out this out: http://www.omsi.edu/sites/all/FTP/files/chemistry/U7Dusted.pdf

You scream, I scream, we all scream for ICE CREAM

austinkids — Mon, 25 Jul 2011 13:00:36 +0000

Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of the United States declared July National Ice Cream Month!! Take a peek at the proclamation that makes this month so creamy and delicious.

Do you want to enjoy ice cream as much as this little guy? There are many delicious ice cream places in Austin that you can try. This week, campers in the Museum’s Home Grown Cooking camp will take a field trip Amy’s Ice Cream and see where the famous Austin establishment makes their ice cream. Stop by Amy’s sometime and try one of their seasonal flavors such as Girl Scout Thin Mint or Fresh Peach (with peaches from Fredricksburg).

If you’d like to be a Creator of Flavor, you can make Homemade Ice Cream in a Bag from this recipe:

What you need:

1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 cup milk or half & half
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
6 tablespoons rock salt
1 pint-size plastic food storage bag (e.g., Ziploc)
1 gallon-size plastic food storage bag
Ice cubes

Tip: A 1/2 cup milk will make about 1 scoop of ice cream, so double the recipe if you want more. But don’t increase the proportions more that that — a large amount might be too big for kids to pick-up because the ice itself is heavy.

Here is a list of fun-to-read books about ice cream you can all read together!

Did you know?

It takes an average of 50 licks to polish off a single-scoop ice cream cone. Challenge your family to a Lick-A-Thon, and see who finishes first.
The biggest ice cream sundae in history was made in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in 1988 and weighed over 24 tons.
Of all the days of the week, ice cream is mostly bought on Sunday.
The United States produces the most ice cream in the world.

We hope you have enjoyed National Ice Cream month and find a smile in a good ice cream cone.

The Legend of Amelia Earhart

austinkids — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 13:00:58 +0000

“Women must try to do things as men have tried. When they fail their failure must be but a challenge to others.”

–Amelia Earhart

May 21, 1932, Amelia steps off her Lockheed 5B Vega in North Ireland

On July 24th we celebrate the historic adventure of a daring soul on Amelia Earhart Day. Amelia had courage and willingness to prove she could do something that no woman had ever attempted before. Throughout her career, Amelia broke several records such as:

the first woman to fly the Atlantic solo
the only person to fly it twice
the longest non-stop distance flown by a woman
a record for crossing the Atlantic in the shortest time

All four of these records were broken in one flight! This woman was fearless. Her life of breaking records and flying around the world was not always the plan. Born in Atchison, Kansas on July 24, 1897 to Edwin and Amy Earhart, Amelia (Millie) soon became an older sister to Muriel. After schooling, Amelia began working as a nurse’s aide during World War I at Spadina Military Hospital in Toronto, Canada.

After moving to California to be with her parents, Amelia picked up flying as a hobby. In 1922, after receiving help from her mother and sister, and working a few odd jobs, Amelia was able to afford her very own airplane.

Amelia Earhart's first plane

To read Amelia’s full biography check out Pitara’s Magazine for Kids.

Amelia Earhart is a role model to women because she had a goal she felt destined to achieve and made every effort to do so. She is a historic legend because on July 2, 1937 Amelia completed nearly two-thirds of a flight that was meant to go around the world with her navigator Frederick Noonan but then went missing. The result of their final flight is still a mystery to the world. There are several beliefs about what could have happened to Amelia Earhart, but this may be one mystery that never gets solved.

Play and learn about Amelia with this trivia game!

ACM believes Amelia Earhart is a powerful heroine that we can all look to as a guide for perseverance and determination, no matter if you’re a boy or a girl. She paved a path for bravery and dedication that anyone can follow. ACM also celebrates a girl’s interest in science and making history. August 15-19 we are holding the Girls Explore Science camp here at the Museum and there are several spots open. This camp gives girls a chance to experiment and learn about science in a hands-on way. If you’re interested in registering, contact the Museum at 512-472-2499 x201 or sign up here!

“Adventure is worthwhile in itself.”–Amelia Earhart