Science Lesson #1: Ohio Caverns & 9 Others to Tour

Once upon a time my mother taught science and math, so we learned science no matter where we walked, above the ground or below the ground.  I have vivid memories of touring Mammoth Cave as a child.  Now I take my kids on cave tours.

You can try memory tricks to learn scientific terms.  For example, stalagmites and stalactites are both speleothems or deposits of mineral.  One trick to remember stalactites as above and stalagmites as below is to tell yourself "stalactites need to hold on tight".  Another trick is think of the letters in the words - stalagmite's G for ground, stalactite's C for ceiling.

Ohio Caverns

However, you can bring such a lesson alive by taking your children on a cave tour.

For my daughter's birthday, we took both our kids and their cousins to Ohio Caverns in West Liberty, OH.  It's the largest cave in Ohio and has many formations including one shaped like a water pump.  The formations exist in all directions, in front and above you, so we kept physically close to the kids, watching their head and hands.

Lesson Idea

Read about cave biology before you go on a trip beneath the ground.  According to traveladvisortips website, Ohio Caverns made the list "Top 10 Most Amazing Caves & Caverns in USA".  Here's the other 9 caves listed you could visit with your kids:
1.  Meramec Caverns - near St. Louis, MO
2.  Kartchner Caverns - AZ (by guide only)
3.  Luray Caverns - Shenandoah Valley, VA
4.  Carlsbad Caverns - New Mexico
5.  Blanchard Springs Caverns - Arkansas
6.  Mammoth Cave - Kentucky (KY)
7.  Lost Seas Caverns - Tennessee (TN)
8.  Shenandoah Caverns - Virginia
9.  Natural Bridge Caverns - TX

I've also been to Natural Bridge Caverns and Mammoth Cave and I would recommend these sites for families with kids.  If you have been to any of the other caves, please leave a comment and let us know whether you would recommend the tour for kids.

Ohio Caverns Fun Fact

Family owned, passed down from one generation to the next
Learn more at http://www.ohiocaverns.com/ or visit the cave in West Liberty, Ohio, just 2 hours North of Cincinnati

Ohio Caverns Tips

You will feel like you are driving out in no where and perhaps no one else is visiting, is it even open? Very cute entrance sign "yes, we are open". Apparently the owners can hear us thinking.  Bring a picnic basket, there's a picnic shelter on site. 

Art & Sculpture #2: 7 Ice Sculpture Festivals in the US

Ice Sculpture Festival, Photo by Krenda

When you grow up in Northern Wisconsin, you have a choice to complain about the bitter cold or embrace the winter scene's beauty.  I remember as a child enjoying a winter festival in Feb. which included horse drawn carriage rides and cherries jubilee.  What caught my eye and attention were the ice sculptures, impressive pieces of art suddenly appearing on the square.

Exposure early in my life intrigued me to learn more about this art.  I continued to be captivated by ice sculptures.  I intently watched contests on cruise ships, amazed by such skill with a powerful chainsaw.  I even drove up to the largest and oldest ice festival in the United States, the Plymouth Ice Festival, in January.  We took our kids to the local ice festival in the "city of sculptures" - Hamilton, OH.  Another winter, we took them to an ice festival in Kentucky which included the artists demonstrating how to create the art from a block to the finished product, while listening to live music - so cool!

Lesson Idea

Art:  Before attending a sculpture festival, teach children that art can be made with lots of different medium - even ice!  It's also a science project as you teach children about solids transforming to liquids.

1.  Fill half gallon cardboard milk carton with water and freeze overnight

2.  Remove ice from container and stand block up in a pan
3.  Sprinkle rock salt on top
4.  Squirt colored water with eye droppers, watch the color run through the cracks

Here's 7 Ice Sculpture Festivals you and your kids could attend:

1.  Plymouth Ice Festival - Plymouth, Michigan (MI) pictured above
          http://www.plymouthicefestival.org/
2.  Stowe Winter Carnival - Stowe, Vermont
3.  Fire and Ice Festival - Mount Holly, New Jersey (NJ)
4.  The Greenbrier Festival - White Sulphur Springs, WV
5.  The Green River Crystal Classic Winter Festival - Green River, WY
6.  Ithaca Ice Wars - Ithaca, New York (NY)
7.  Titanic's Ice Sculpture Competiton - Pigeon Forge, TN

If you are making a road trip to the festival in Pigeon Forge and need to rent a cabin, check out my other blogs
 http://www.lightningbuglodge.blogspot.com/
http://www.indigomoonlodge.blogspot.com/