It rained and it poured, but we still Explored!

Rain may have kept New York City's beaches empty on Monday, but it didn't stop the Explorers Club from playing in the sand. Sand art, that is! Hana, Lev, Shayna, Lili and Simone had fun creating masterpieces with Fruit Loops sand art, as they counted, sorted and crushed their way to the yummiest art work on Atlantic Avenue! Our youngest Explorers had so much indoor fun practicing colors and squeezing glue that they didn't mind missing the sprinklers for an afternoon. (Okay, almost didn't mind!) To make your own rainy day creation: http://fun.familyeducation.com/childrens-art-activities/toddler/36999.html

While the weather man threatened ten days of rain clouds on the way, Brittany and her Junior campers hoped the sun would return sooner rather than later. With Brittany's optimism leading the way, the campers made sure their next day at the sandbox or beach will be extra special and extra sparkly thanks to the pails and shovels they each personalized with glitter, glue, and NY City Explorers creativity.

Of course, the Junior Campers may have had more than digging for seashells in mind as they decorated their new pails and shovels, as the group had spent the first half of the day looking at the greatest dug-up treasures in Manhattan: the dinosaur bones and fossils at the American Museum of Natural History! http://www.amnh.org/ Move over Adam Sandler! Your Night at the the Museum may have brought the laughs on the big screen, but you have nothing on the giggles that accompanied Sammy, Haven and Lilliana's day at the museum!

If the campers didn't get enough cultural immersion at the museum's Culture Hall, they certainly made up for it during Tuesday afternoon's Mandarin class, where Lango's Sharon, Dee-Dee and their puppy puppet Cosmo led the Junior campers and the Explorers Club on a Mandarin-language adventure, singing songs, reading stories and even making paper cup squids! http://www.langokids.com/ Here's hoping you all do some exploring of your own this weekend in our wonderful city. Zai jian!