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Archives for 2020

Archives for 2020

Where to Eat In Staten Island during COVID-19

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Did you know Staten Island restaurants are open for takeout and delivery during the coronavirus pandemic? Although bars and restaurants are currently prohibited from allowing patrons inside, you can still enjoy their offerings at home.

Want to know if your favorite spot is open for business during the COVID-19 crisis? The Borough President’s office has put together and is constantly updating a list of local restaurants you can order from.

When you order in, you’re not just enjoying a delicious meal you didn’t have to cook. You’re supporting businesses that are likely struggling through an economic crisis caused by the coronavirus.

There’s never been a better reason to put the pots and pans away and have dinner delivered.

summer camp kids
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Send some love our way! Submit a photo of your child keeping busy at home for our Cabin Fever Candids photo contest.

Super Snacking: Nutritionally Balanced Snacks for Kids

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Snacks are a way of life for people of all ages, but especially children, who consume about 25% of their daily calories from snacks, according to research published in the “Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior.” Providing nutritionally balanced snacks for your children at home can make for a happy and healthy day.

Planning snacks that are as delicious as they are healthy is a winning solution, and snacks are a simple way to add more nutrition to your child’s diet.

greek yogurt bark

Red, White and Blue Greek Yogurt Bark

Prep time: 5 minutes
Servings: 12

  • 3 cups plain non-fat Greek yogurt
  • 1/3 cup honey, plus additional for drizzling (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 cup strawberries, sliced into rounds
  • 1/2 cup blueberries
  • 1/2 cup raspberries, halved
  1. In medium mixing bowl combine Greek yogurt, 1/3 cup honey and vanilla.
  2. On parchment paper-lined baking sheet, spread Greek yogurt mixture to 1/4-inch thickness. Press strawberries, blueberries and raspberries into yogurt. Freeze at least 3 hours. Break into pieces upon removing from freezer.

peanut butter yogurt dip

Peanut Butter Yogurt Dip

Prep time: 5 minutes
Servings: 4

  • 3/4 cup vanilla Greek yogurt
  • 1/4 cup peanut butter
  • 1 dash cinnamon
  • apples, graham crackers or other dipper of choice
  1. In bowl, six Greek yogurt, peanut butter and cinnamon until smooth.
  2. Serve with apples, graham crackers or another dipper of choice.

good morning parfait

Good Morning Yogurt Parfait

Prep time: 5 minutes
Servings: 1

  • 1/2 cup sliced or diced fruit, any variety
  • 6 ounces low-fat or fat-free vanilla yogurt
  • 1/4 cup granola or other cereal (optional)
  1. In small bowl or cup, layer fruit and yogurt, starting with fruit on bottom. Top with cereal or granola, if desired.
  2. Note: This recipe can be made using low-fat or non-fat cottage cheese sweetened with honey and cinnamon.

frozen banana pops

Frozen Banana Pops

Prep time: 2 hours
Servings: 8

  • 4 large bananas, peeled
  • 8 wooden ice pop sticks
  • 2 cups vanilla non-fat Greek yogurt
  • 1/2 cup creamy natural peanut butter
  1. Cut each banana in half and carefully insert wooden ice pop stick in bottom of each, about one-third into banana. Place bananas on large baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Freeze bananas until partially frozen, about 30 minutes.
  2. Carefully dip each banana in tall pint glass of vanilla yogurt to coat, leaving 1/2-inch at bottom of banana uncoated. Return yogurt-coated bananas to parchment paper-lined baking sheet and freeze until completely firm, about 1 hour.
  3. Microwave peanut butter until smooth and creamy, about 30-45 seconds. Drizzle peanut butter evenly over bananas then place on baking sheet to freeze until peanut butter is firm, about 30 minutes.
  4. Serve immediately or wrap each banana in plastic wrap and store in freezer up to 3 months.

Get more ideas to get kids cooking and snacking smart at milkmeansmore.org.


SOURCE:
United Dairy Industry of Michigan

Witch Hat Halloween treats
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These Are the Funniest Quarantine Songs on YouTube

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It’s a fact: laughter is helping us get through this global pandemic. Without the endless Instagram memes, YouTube clips, TikTok videos, and Facebook stories, who knows where we’d be? Well, we’d be in the house, of course. But we wouldn’t be laughing half as much.

We rounded up some of the best quarantine songs floating around the internet. We highly recommend you watch them all. It’s not like you have anywhere to be!

Has there ever been an Adam Sandler song that we didn’t like? This song, which debuted on Jimmy Fallon, mixes Adam’s classic humor with humble gratitude for the workers on the frontlines.

From princesses to villains, the creator of this video clearly spent A LOT of time on these quarantine-themed spoofs of everyone’s favorite Disney characters. Ok, maybe not ALL favorites. No one likes Gaston, right?

The gym is closed, but you still gotta get that exercise in. Paula Pupkin’s Quarantine Workout will keep you fit, socially distanced and sanitized. Seriously, the more you watch this, the funnier it gets.

Like everyone else, the Holderness Family has no idea what day it is. Frankly, unless it’s the day we’re finally allowed out of our house, we don’t care anyway.

We can’t get enough of the Holderness crew. Their videos NEVER disappoint. This clip features a lot of catchy, familiar classics — including Kelly Clarkson’s “Since you been home, I gotta teach for the first time.”

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Chris Mann is a lot more bored than we are — I assume he’s not doing the homeschool thang — but this video is hysterical nonetheless. He’s FaceTiming pantless on the couch to the tune of “Hello” by Adele. Enjoy.

summer camp kids
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Virtual Meetups for Sober Moms

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In the midst of wine memes and virtual happy hours, moms in recovery need a safe space to share about the challenges.

Professional recovery coach Emily Lynn Paulson noticed a disconnect of virtual support groups for moms—she saw groups for women, alcohol-free lifestyles, and 12-Step programs, but no communities for mothers. So she teamed up with fellow sober mom influencers and formed Sober Mom Squad (bit.ly/sobermoms). In just one week, 600 moms have already signed up!

Sober Mom Squad Virtual Meet-Up takes place Wednesdays at 6 p.m. EST. It’s a safe space for moms who are alcohol free (or those who desire to be alcohol free) to laugh, cry, connect, and share tips on how to keep each other sane, sober, and strong.  Moms can sign-up here.

Paulson had this to say about her new Sober Mom virtual meetups:
“I offered my book as a freebie for two weeks so people would have something to read, and I thought to myself, “What else can I do?” I’m a Certified Professional Recovery Coach, a SHE RECOVERS Designated Coach, and I’m being certified as a Naked Mind Coach, so I certainly have tactics to help, and as a writer and woman in recovery, I also have a great deal of experience to draw from.  So, I posed a question on my Instagram page, a community of mostly women, many moms, many in recovery, “What else do you need? What can I do?”

“There was an overwhelming response for meetings for MOMS. There are numerous meetings for recovery, and women in recovery, but there wasn’t anything out there specifically for alcohol free moms.  Being a mom during this pandemic has its challenges for sure, and attempting to keep an alcohol-free lifestyle adds another layer of difficulty that can’t be compared or understood unless you are going through it. In the midst of wine memes and virtual happy hours, we wanted a safe space to share about the challenges. We also wanted a safe place to share about those challenges, without fear of being shamed for, “not being grateful” about the children we are blessed with. 

“Four other fellow sober influencers wanted to collaborate, and between the five of us, we have different paths of recovery, different recovery time, and a dozen children from infant to teenager and everything in between. The thing we have in common is that we are all moms who want to stay sober, sane, and strong during this pandemic.  So, we picked a day that would work for all of us.  We decided, even if it was just the five of us chatting, it would be so worth it! 

“I whipped up a signup page, with no real expectations of who or how many would be interested. Within a few days, we had almost 300 women sign up! Our first meeting had about 50 women in attendance. It was a lovely safe space to share our unique struggles, strength, ask questions, and offer helpful tips during this time. Today we have over 600 women signed up! I’m sure we will evolve and offer more meeting times to adjust and accommodate, but it’s very exciting to be able to find a need and fill it so quickly. 

“Some people who were leery of in-person meetings are now attending meetings for the first time. Meetings can be tailored to fit your schedule. You don’t need to get childcare to attend.

If you are a mom who is trying to be alcohol free right now, the Sober Mom Squad Virtual Meetup is the right place! Meetings are limited to 100 people, and it is absolutely OK to have little ones around, we just ask that you use headphones to protect little ears from potentially mature shares from others. Signup at bit.ly/sobermoms.”

Here are some additional virtual meetings recommended by Paulson:

Paulson is a certified professional recovery coach, speaker, and a member of the long-term recovery community, and author on a mission to raise awareness on the dangers of the drinking mom culture. She has been featured on outlets including The Doctors,  Today Online, Huff Post and Parade, sharing how her Instagram portrayed her as a perfect mother of five children and multi-million-dollar network marketer­, but her photos didn’t reveal her slurred voice. Paulson authored Highlight Real: Finding Honesty & Recovery Behind the Filtered Life (Light Hustle Publishing).

Read Next | Tween & Teenage Mood Swings: How to Handle During COVID

summer camp kids
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Employee Benefits You Never Knew You Had

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For many American workers, how they do their jobs dramatically changed with the spread of COVID-19. Some have shifted to working from home while others moved to part-time or reduced hours.

With uncertainty abound, now’s a good time to take stock of your physical and mental health and familiarize yourself with the resources available from your employer.

As part of a report on mental health, employee benefits company Unum found nearly three-quarters (74%) of working adults feel big life events can have a major impact on their mental health. Some top mental health triggers include a person’s health (69%), finances (67%), relationships (59%) and job satisfaction (52%).

“With so many people experiencing major shifts in not only their work lives, but also potentially their health, finances and personal lives, now is a good time to know what resources are available,” said Laurie Mitchell, assistant vice president of global wellbeing and health at Unum.

Often linked with a health care or disability plan’s coverage, employee assistance programs, telemedicine or tele-behavioral health and app-based programs are low-cost solutions that allow people to connect with a professional on their own time when they’re experiencing a problem.

Employee Assistance Programs

An employee assistance program (EAP) often offers free and confidential assessments, short-term counseling, referrals and follow-up services to people who have personal or work-related concerns. EAPs address a wide range of issues affecting mental and emotional wellbeing, such as alcohol and other substance abuse, stress, grief, family problems and psychological disorders. Many EAPs also provide services to help caregivers, assist with financial planning or offer child care resources.

Telemedicine and App-Based Mental Health Solutions

Telemedicine services can make accessing medical and mental health resources easier. There are even apps that can target specific mental health needs, and people can access them on their own time when they need the services. These types of tools can be effective complements to traditional care and help with everything from increasing positivity and efficiency to reducing stress and anxiety.

“Employees should ask their human resources department what resources are available and be supportive of colleagues who may be struggling as well,” Mitchell said. “Especially during this time of uncertainty, offering support to others and knowing where to direct them can improve lives and help create a more inclusive work environment.”

In addition, the report found 93% of human resources professionals say their companies offer an EAP, yet only 38% of employees said they’re aware of the resource. More than half of human resources professionals also said they offer financial counseling, legal services and telemedicine services, but only a fraction of employees reported being aware these services exist.

As businesses chart new ways of working, these types of tools can help employees establish new ways of interacting with support services when in-person options may not be available. Even if you’re not struggling now, as you navigate this uncertain time, consider asking your employer what resources you have access to that can help support your physical and mental wellbeing.

To download the mental health report and learn about other employee benefit resources, visit Unum.com/workwell.

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Your Kids Will Love These Virtual Field Trips

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Sure, there’s nothing like the real thing. But since we’re all stuck at home, virtual reality is working wonders. And it’s not a bad substitute at all.  How else could you visit the Bronx Zoo, Mars, and the Great Wall of China on the same day — without even changing out of your pajamas?

Below you will find links to virtual tours, live webcams, and online exhibits from some of the coolest places on earth — near and far!

Animal Related Virtual Tours for Kids

Staten Island Zoo – Streaming live on Facebook & Instagram at 3pm weekdays and 11am weekends. Watch animal feedings and other live demonstrations.

Bronx Zoo – Check out the live cams at the Madagascar and Aquatic Bird Exhibits, observe zen-like tiger moments, take a virtual course and more.

San Diego Zoo – Have a peek at the zoo’s apes, baboons, condors, elephants, giraffes, koalas, owls, penguins, polar bears and tigers in real-time.

Monterey Bay Aquarium – Offering ten live webcams showing ocean animals and wonders  — including sharks!

Georgia Aquarium– The breathtaking Ocean Voyager webcam features whale sharks as you have never seen before, plus you can check out live gators, piranhas, sea otters and more.

Panda Cam at Atlanta Zoo – Pandas. Live. All-day long. Need we say more?

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Museums & Monuments

Historic Richmond Town – Check out living history demonstration videos virtual tours and behind-the-scenes looks at the museum’s collection, buildings, and historic houses on-site.

Snug Harbor – Take a virtual tour of the grounds in the spring, sign up for a live-at-home workshop or dance party, take a history tour and more.

The Great Wall of China – Navigate your way across the 3,000-mile wall that stretches across several provinces of northern China.

Yellowstone National Park – Tour some of the main attractions around the park, including the Grand Canyon, Mud Volcano, and Mammoth Hot Springs.

The Vatican – Check out a 360-degree virtual tour of the Sistine Chapel, the Niccoline Chapel, Chiaramonti Museum and more.

American Museum of Natural History – Tour inside the museum with Google Arts & Culture, join a Facebook live watch party and see the sweet birdfeeder cam.

Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History – Take a virtual walkthrough every exhibit, both past and current, and see dinosaur bones, butterflies, minerals, fossils, insects, ocean collections and so much more. This is a can’t-miss.

Google Arts & Culture – An all-inclusive, A-Z virtual tour collection of hundreds of museums all over the world. Tour museums across the globe from your computer.

Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum -While the Intrepid is usually a hands-on experience, kids can still check out the Concorde G-BOAD and the Submarine Growler, as well as learn about technologically groundbreaking aircrafts.

Read the CDC Guidelines for Reopening Schools

on page 20 of our Interactive Mini-Mag

homeschool free ebooks fun activities

Children’s Museum of the Arts – The kids are the stars in Children’s Museum of the Arts’ collection of more than 2,000 pieces of children’s art from around the world.

The Boston Children’s Museum – The kids will enjoy this trip through the second-oldest children’s museum in the United States, where they can become dinosaur experts and learn about Japanese culture at the Japanese House, a real two-story townhouse from Kyoto.

The White House – Sneak a peek into all the rooms of the U.S. Capitol with a virtual tour of the president’s home.

National Baseball Museum – Schedule a a virtual field trip to Cooperstown to learn about the history of baseball. It’s free but registration is required for each “trip.”

Science & Education

NYC Parks – See cherry blossoms in parks, see wildlife, observe a live hawk family in Washing Square Park, plus tune into live forecasts with the Urban Park Rangers and take virtual walks in the park.

Farm Tours – a 360-degree tour of a Canadian farm that includes, dairy cows, apple orchards, a pig farm, egg farms and more.

National Geographic – Explorer Classroom’s live video events occur daily at 2pm and connect students with National Geographic Explorers across all seven continents to bring exploration to life.

Discovery Kids – No-cost Virtual Field Trips come with a companion guide packed with standards-aligned, hands-on learning activities.

Nature Conservancy Field Trips – Designed for grades 5-8 but customizable for all ages, virtual field trips allow students to travel the world and explore natural environments without leaving the classroom. Each virtual field trip contains a video, teacher guide, and student activities. See China’s Great Forests, The Coral Reefs of Palau, America’s Rainforests and Deserts and more.

Hayden Planetarium –  Watch videos created using data from the Digital Universe, which incorporates data from dozens of organizations worldwide to create the most complete and accurate 3-D atlas of the universe.

Access Mars – Access Mars lets you explore a 3-D replica of the Martian surface exactly as it was recorded by the curiosity rover.

National Parks – Take an awe-inspiringly beautiful tour of Alaska’s Kenai Fjords, Hawaiian Volcanoes, New Mexico’s Carlsbad Caverns, Utah’s Bryce Canyon, and Florida’s Dry Tortugas.

NASA Glenn Research Center – Get an inside look at NASA Glenn Research Center’s facilities.

New York Botanical Garden — Enjoy a virtual walk through the Spring Landscape and connect with plants and plant-lovers while you’re stuck inside.

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Staten Island Parent helps parents make better decisions. We have the latest activities and local events that matter to you. Plus many informative articles and important directories including schools, afterschool programs, camps, special needs, birthday parties, health and wellness. Our contests and clubs are fun for the whole family!

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