Farmers, Warriors, Builders: The Hidden Life of Ants

By Andrea In the summer months we aim to keep them out of our homes. At picnics we do everything to avoid them. On the front patio stones the kids catch and examine them. We consider them a pest but is there more than meets the eye? Yes!

If you've ever watched ants at work you discover their behaviour, anatomy and purpose is more complex than we generally understand. This spark of interest is satisfied at the Canadian Museum of Nature's new visiting exhibition, Farmers, Warriors, Builders: The Hidden Life of Ants on loan from the Smithsonian.

When the opportunity to preview and blog about a new feature at the CMN presented itself, I gladly accepted. Our membership allows us to foster our children's education and this exhibit is a compliment to junior elementary science curriculum where insects are studied.

When you enter the gallery you notice the large, colourful photos of magnified ants. Through the eyes of a child, this is what macro photography was meant for: seeing bugs up close and in detail. Mark W. Moffet, an award-winning photographer for National Geographic, lends 39 large-sized photos of ants which capture their behaviour, their roles in their ant-heap and their habitat.

In addition to the images there are two aquarium-like encasements at a child's eye-level allowing them to observe ant colonies at work. My children were especially interested in the honeypot ants but also intrigued by having poisonous ants carry seeds to feed their young beneath their fingertips. An effective visual was the casting of an ant colony's underground habitat. When you consider that we only see the small hill of dirt and a hole, it opens their eyes to a whole new underground world!

The exhibition opened July 26th and runs until January 5, 2014. It can be found to the left of the stairs behind the main desk at the front entrance. The cost of admission and/or membership includes access to this exhibit as well as several fun activities held throughout the summer. The following activities are for visitors of all ages and run until September 2nd.

IT'S A TRAP! INSECT TRAP MAKING WORKSHOP

• Daily at 10AM, 11AM, 2PM and 3PM

ANT SCAVENGER HUNT

• 
Daily

ANT CRAFT

• Saturdays and Sundays, 9:30AM – noon

PICNIC TIME

• 
Daily 11AM - 2PM

ARTIST IN THE GALLERY

• Irena Lyubchenko, August 19 - 23, 1PM - 4PM
• Dinorah Catzalco, August 26 - 30, 1PM - 4PM

I found this exhibit to be accessible, appealing and informative to my three children of different ages. Enjoy your visit!

Andrea is a happily married stay-at-home mother of three amazing children who loves her friends, family, art, music and takes too many photographs. She blogs here.

Flugtag on the Ottawa River

Did you know that Saturday is Flugtag Day? What’s a Flugtag, you may ask? Flugtag, literally means “flying day” in German. It's a huge competition that challenges amateur “pilots” to design, build, and fly homemade airplanes after they get pushed off a 22-foot high ramp by their team members in hopes of soaring into the clouds…or more often, plunging into the waters below.

This craziness started in Vienna, Austria, in 1992. Flugtag is an all-day event that has been hosted twice before in Canada (once in Ottawa) and can attract up to 200,000 spectators. This year, Red Bull is hosting the third annual Canadian Flugtag Challenge in Ottawa. Teams from all over the country will take off from a “flight deck” built at the Canadian Museum of Civilization with nothing but the Ottawa River between them and the possibility of soaring in the air across the river to the shores of the Parliament Buildings.

All the teams are judged on flight distance, creativity of the “air”craft, and showmanship. In the past, some of the crafts have looked like flying tacos, prehistoric pterodactyls, winnebagos with wings and even giant Poutine bowls. Take a look at the 2010 world record flight at Red Bull Flugtag Minneapolis St Paul. It's pretty cool.

I’ve never been to Flugtag but it seems like such an awesomely fun way to spend the day that I’ll be there this Saturday to watch. The Flight Deck will be located directly in front of The Canadian Museum of Civilization on the banks of The Ottawa River on the Quebec side.  You can get there very easily from downtown Ottawa by foot, bicycle, public transport, and car but the Alexandra Bridge will be closed to pedestrian access from 9:30am - 3:00pm so it’s better to use the Portage Bridge as an alternate route. It's free for all so just show up and have a great day!

Question of the Month: Should Kids Have Homework During the Summer?

When I was young(er),  summer vacation meant unstructured sunny days of roaming the neighbourhood in search of adventure, family vacations, summer camp and lots and lots of down time. Today, some schools have started assigning summer homework to help students stay on top of their skills during the out-of-school months. Even for kids who are in the younger grades, time spent doing worksheets and math problems have been incorporated into their summer routine.

There is some research to suggest that reinforcing those math and writing skills learned throughout the school year can help a child jump right back into the academic mindset quickly during the first weeks of school. Others believe that summer should be filled with curiosity, imagination, and quiet time, which is incredibly important for  rejuvenating for the mind and spirit of our kids.

These days, during the school year, kids are pulled in all sorts of directions by parents, teachers, coaches, friends, and social media. They are over-committed, over-programmed and over-stimulated most of the time (my kids included). Shouldn’t summer still be a time to kick back, relax and just being a kid? Shouldn’t summer be that much-needed break from school work?

Do you think your kids should have homework or practice academic skills during the summer or should they just be able to kick back and relax, without worrying about reading, writing and arithmetic? Let us know what you think!

Dark Chocolate Hazelnut Spread

They say that dark chocolate is healthy. I’m good with anyone or anything that gives me permission to eat chocolate so when I saw this recipe in Today’s Parent, I was sold! It looks yummy and actually pretty easy to make.

Here’s What you Need

• 1/2 cup dark or semi-sweet chocolate
• 3/4 cup hazelnuts, toasted
• 2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk, such as Eagle Brand
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

Here's What You Do

• First, you need to toast the hazelnuts. It’s best to arrange them in a single layer on a baking sheet.
• Bake the hazelnuts a preheated 350 degrees (F) oven for 15 to 18 minutes until lightly toasted. Cool completely.
• Once cooled, put them in a clean dish towel and rub them until all the skins come off.
• Place the chocolate in a small bowl and place over a saucepan of barely simmering water. Stir occasionally until the chocolate has melted and the mixture is smooth. Cool to room temperature.
• Grind the nuts in a food processor until pasty. The nuts will be stuck to the sides of the bowl but just scrape down the bowl with a rubber spatula.
• Add the condensed milk, honey and salt.
• Blend well, scraping down the bowl as needed.
• Add the cooled chocolate and pulse until combined.

That’s it! You’re done. Scrape it into a serving dish and enjoy with fruit, bread or on it’s own. I’m off to buy some hazelnuts to try this out. I’ll let you know how it tastes!

Mosaika: The Canadian Light and Sound Spectacular

  If you’re looking for some really cool things to do this summer, don’t forget about Mosaika.

What is Mosaika?

Mosaika is an amazing light and sound show set against the stunning backdrop of the Parliament buildings. It’s the story of Canada and takes, the audience on a spectacular journey of sound and light as you learn all about Canada’s physical, historical and cultural landscapes.

Last summer, I took my girls to see this incredible show. It runs late, 10 pm in July, 9:30 pm in August and 9 in September but it was a special occasion and they were both really excited to be up and out at night. We brought blankets and snacks and set out for the lawn in front of Parliament Hill around 8:30. I’m glad we got there early because it was actually really crowded and as it got dark, it was harder to move around to find empty patches of grass. The weather was beautiful and it was fun watching all the people around us as we waited for the show to start.

The show started on time, which is always a plus. The lights and lasers lit up the whole face of the Parliament Buildings and it really felt like the whole area was actually moving and dancing with the words and music. The way they merged the words with the music and light was really remarkable.

What was even more impressive than the lights and music was that my girls and I left knowing a great deal more about our country, how it was founded and some of the hardships we faced in the early years. It was presented in a way such that we didn’t even mind the lessons on a warm summer night. This show is great for all – young kids will enjoy the lights and sounds and older kids will be able to relate to the story.

The bilingual show is free and is presented nightly from July 10 through September 7, 2013. Bring your blankets, chairs and snacks and get ready for the show. It truly was a magical experience.