Lawrence Kids, Spring '24

920 Massachusettes

Lawrence, KS

Season’s Readings

by Dan Coleman from the Lawrence Public Library

The Noisy Puddle: A Vernal Pool through the Seasons, by Linda Booth Sweeney, illustrated by Miki Sato

There are puddles to stomp and puddles to watch, like the temporary microhabitats known as vernal pools. Miki Sato’s colorful illustrations, which have a 1950s field guide vibe, accompany rhymes identifying the creatures that “spring” up in these spots every year after heavy rains.

Tadpoles, by Matt James

Ever present in the vernal pool are tadpoles, the subject of this moody yet reassuring picture book by an award-winning Canadian author-illustrator. The narrator, a boy who is adjusting to his parents’ divorce, roams a flooding pasture during the spring and catches tadpoles with his father as they observe other wetland creatures. Some sights never get old: a great blue heron, a bucketful of tadpoles, a dad hugging his kid in the rain.

Fire Shapes the World, by Joanna Cooke, illustrated by Cornelia Li and Diana Renzina

Let’s keep it elemental. Prairie fires may be fearful where we don’t want them, but controlled burns are also a regular part of spring in Kansas. This book, published by the Yosemite Conservancy, gives a panoramic view of a complicated subject, although a better view can be found out the car window on a fiery night drive to Wichita in March or early April.

Nell Plants a Tree, by Anne Wynter, illustrated by Daniel Miyares

Prairie fires may keep away unwanted trees, but sometimes they grow in perfect spots, as in this tale of a pecan tree that plays a part in the lives of several generations of the same family. Told in reverse order, the story makes its way backward past a series of children running, climbing, and playing around a tree planted decades earlier by a young Black girl named Nell. This book is a testament to the riches to be reaped from the smallest seeds of good faith we sow.

Jump for Joy, by Karen Gray Ruelle, illustrated by Hadley Hooper

Spring is a time for falling in love, including with a new pet. A girl named Joy wishes for a dog, while a dog named Jump wishes for a kid. From one spring to the next they pine, and the title makes perfect sense when they find each other.

Caterpillars, by Kevin McCloskey

Butterflies are easy on the eyes, but moths are amazing, too. We’ve got a lot flying around Lawrence, and they all start as caterpillars. This nonfiction graphic novel by Kevin McCloskey is the perfect scientific introduction to these perennial favorite critters. Overnight you can catch showstopping Luna and Polyphemus moths with simple household materials like a bucket, bedsheet, and flashlight, and Lawrence is famous for its Monarch Watch programs in the daytime. Both are perfect activities for families with kids learning the ins and outs of metamorphosis.

Almost Time, by Gary D. Schmidt, illustrated by G. Brian Karas

Kansas isn’t known as maple syrup country, but I hear it is possible to tap backyard maple trees when the time is right. That time is spring, and this picture book follows one boy as he waits for the season when he and his father go “sugaring.” He waits, as well, for a lingering loose tooth to fall out, and few books end sweeter than this paean to patience and the release to be found when warmer weather arrives after winter.

Zap! Clap! Boom! The Story of a Thunderstorm, by Laura Purdie Salas, illustrated by Elly MacKay

Illustrator Elly MacKay uses a unique process of photographing cut paper figures and scenery in small theaters to create pictures with a dreamy and beautiful depth. Here she provides the images for a story about a thunderstorm rolling in to a small island, and three kids who get caught in it, but enjoy it for the menacing, yet wonderful, seasonal phenomenon it is.

Tomorrow’s Lily, by Chris Raschka

This book is an ode to the flower that only lasts a day. Raschka’s trademark dancing watercolors pop in this surprisingly moving homage to growth, impermanence, and that classic symbol of spring: the bloom.

Break, by Kayla Miller

In her hit middle grade graphic novel series, Click, Kayla Miller has already taken on subjects like shifting friendships (Clash), summer camp (Camp), and overscheduling (Crunch). Now, in Break, Miller’s erstwhile tween hero, Olive, must sort out a classic spring break conflict, when she is forced to spend a week with her father instead of hanging out with friends back home. As usual, Miller’s warm-hearted illustrations accompany a story full of insight and empathy for all the characters involved, and her latest shows why her graphic novels are among the best around for their intended audience.

ESSENTIALS

The Mooneyham’s

Seasonal Essentials

Kirk and Jessica Mooneyham, with sons Reeve (12) and Lowe (8), spend most of the season clearing a baseball field, on a baseball field, or on the way to a baseball field. When not playing ball, the family fills the time together outside.

photos by Amber Yoshida

The Mooneyham’s Spring Seasonal Essentials

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Baseball - If you know us, you know we are a baseball family. Kirk was a pitcher in college and now coaches both Reeve’s team and Lowe’s team. We are at practices, hitting lessons, workouts, or games nearly every night and can’t imagine our lives without baseball!

Cleaning up the land around our house and the baseball field in our horse pasture - Because Kirk coaches both our boys’ teams, we often have practices out at our house in the ball field. He also gives pitching lessons to kids and so there is always someone throwing a baseball around outside.

Sleepovers - Because we live in the country and don’t have a lot of neighborhood kids to run around with, the boys are always having friends over for the night during the spring and summer!

Backyard concerts - When the weather warms up we start planning to have a local musician come to our house and play a backyard concert for us and our friends!

Helping at the Ballard Center - As a family, we try to volunteer at the center in any capacity we can. Kirk often takes his employees there for Days of Service and Jessie sits on the board at the Ballard Center.

Porching - Having cocktails on the front porch and listening to country music is how we “porch,” and we have the best porch for watching the kids play in the ball field while the dog chases after them.

Riding bikes - Either on our property or hauling them down the road to Clinton Lake State Park for longer trails, we love to ride bikes.

Chasing Maggie June - Our bloodhound, Maggie June, who has been inside all winter, starts taking off to visit all the country neighbors as soon as the weather is nice enough for her to be outside all day. She loves visiting all of her friends and we just “love” driving around trying to find her every evening to bring her home. 7

How to Stimulate the Brain

Spring has sprung! With the warmer weather and longer days comes the opportunity to promote and enrich our children’s development in new and fresh ways. By age five, 90 percent of the human brain is developed. Finding creative and attainable ways to stimulate your child’s cognitive, social and emotional, language and communication, and motor development growth can be overwhelming. As parents, we are juggling what seems to be a million things each day, but whether you have a minute or an hour, there are easy, practical, and FUNctional things you can do during your day-to-day activities!

Shopping- Words to Model: price, shop, cart, cashier, checkout, expensive, cheap, list, want vs. need

•Have your child hold a bag of rice or beans while you shop. Feel it, push the grains/beans from one side to the other, set it on their lap (weighted for sensory input).

•Touch different textures of clothing on the racks. How do they feel?

Riding in the Car- Words to Model: fast, slow, busy, safety, gas, vehicle, sign

•Turn down the radio. Roll down the windows. What do you hear, see, smell?

•Sing familiar songs with your child: ABCs, Row Your Boat, Old McDonald

•Play I Spy: Find things beginning with target sounds or a specific color. “I spy something starting with /T/. It’s green and brown, and it has leaves on it.” Or “I spy something green. It lights up and tells us to go!”

•Predict what the light will be when you get to it. Have your child give you the directive based on the color of the light: “Slow down,” “Stop,” or “Go!”

•Count the street signs or cars. How many signs are triangles, circles, or rectangles? How many cars are red, black, or white?

Mealtime- Words to Model: yummy, yucky, delicious, nutritious, healthy, unhealthy, sweet, salty

•Kitchen prep: Encourage kids to participate in meal preparation. Have them mix, cut, stir, and get messy with food!

•Use a dish towel to make your own apron. Getting involved with every part of the meal encourages healthy mealtime experiences.

•Make edible designs or creations with new foods.

April Showers/Puddles- Words to Model: rain, fall, drop, wet/dry, splash, sky, clouds

•Go barefoot.

•Catch raindrops on your tongue.

•Jump in puddles.

•Get wet and dry off. How does it feel? How do YOU feel?

experts list ways to engage and

encourage your child’s development

by Kimberly Williams, M.S., CCC-SLP, Jana Wallen, M.S., CCC-SLP, Local

and Hillary Brunin, M.S., OTR/L from Sound Speech Therapy

Bugs- Use celery, peanut butter, apple slices, cherry tomatoes, and blueberries to make “DIRT” dessert with chocolate pudding snack topped with crushed Oreos and fresh strawberries or blueberries.

•Try new foods in very small bites.

•Use small, fun food picks or small containers to make eating new foods fun.

•Put small pieces of new foods in ice cube trays for little hands.

Sidewalk Chalk- Words to Model: draw, dusty, creative, chalky, cement, concrete

•Obstacle course: Draw big shapes around three to five feet apart with different lines (zig-zag, swirl, etc.) connecting them. Write or draw a picture of a direction in each shape (e.g. jump three times, name three animals, or do a little dance). Let your child help choose the colors, shapes, and directions. Complete the course just for fun or make it a competition with siblings/ peers. Who can complete it the fastest or most accurately?

•Chalk in car: Keep some chalk in the car to take to sports events. It’s a great way to keep the kids busy while watching games.

•Draw a city: Draw your home, a store, park, a doctor’s office and/or fire station with roads to connect them. When it’s done, walk, ride your bike, or push your child through the town.

Explore Outside- Words to Model: feel, smell, cool, small, high, move, explore, search

•Feel the leaves on the bushes.

•Smell the flowers.

•Walk barefoot in the grass.

•Listen and look for the birds.

•Look for bugs. Watch them. What are they doing?

•Lay on your back and look up. What do you see or hear?

Plant a Garden- Words to Model: grow, plant, squeeze, bury, pick, cut, moisture, sunlight

•Use fingers to make small holes in the soil for seeds.

•For little hands, pour the seeds into a small cup for easy access and use an empty egg carton or ice cube tray to separate different types of seeds.

•Water plants with a spray bottle and cut the plants with a pair of scissors to promote hand and finger strength. LK

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One Lady’s Passion

For years, Meg Larkin’s life revolved around field hockey. Now she’s sharing her passion with kids in Lawrence, starting with her own.

photos by Amber Yoshida

It’s not too much of a stretch to say Meg Larkin’s life was sculpted on a field hockey pitch.

“My mother is the matriarch of field hockey in St. Louis,” Larkin says proudly. “She founded Gateway Field Hockey forty years ago and stills runs the organization and used to coach at St. Louis University. I loved playing as a kid, which is good because I spent a lot of time around the sport.”

Field hockey is a team sport that models ice hockey. Each team plays with eleven players in total, made up of ten field players and a goalkeeper. Teams must move a hockey ball around a pitch by hitting it using sticks curved at the striking end toward the opposing team’s shooting circle and ultimately into the goal. Field hockey is one of the world’s oldest team sports, dating back to the Greek classical era.

“I know most anyone who grows up playing a sport says that the experiences in that sport are a defining part of their life, and that is absolutely true for me,” Larkin says. “I’ve made lifelong friends and learned so many lessons from field hockey. I want my kids and other kids in the area to have the same opportunity. It’s such a great sport for building character and staying active.”

Larkin started playing field hockey while growing up in St. Louis. Larkin and her sister were both standout players in high

school and played collegiately at Indiana University. When her playing days ended, Larkin didn’t give up the game.

Larkin spent a year in Texas teaching and coaching field hockey before attending grad school. After marrying her husband (Lawrence dentist Jeff Larkin) and settling in Kansas City, Larkin would officiate Kansas City high school games (“yes, most often it was the same two teams playing,” she explains with a laugh) after a day working as a physician assistant. In 2018 she helped cofounded Kansas City Field Hockey.

Larkin stepped away from Kansas City Field Hockey when she and Jeff moved to Lawrence, but continued to follow field hockey and help her mom with summer camps. When her kids (she’s a proud mom of four) began to grow and start activities, she wondered why Lawrence didn’t have a field hockey program. The quick and organic growth of the Kansas City program was encouraging.

“Lawrence is such a great town and obviously sports are a big part of kids’ lives here,” Larkin says. “It always seemed odd to me that field hockey wasn’t an option for kids. So I started making some calls and decided to go for it.”

Late last year Larkin founded Kansas Jayhockey. The organization works to bring clinics, camps, leagues, and club teams to the kids in Lawrence. Programs are designed to teach beginner

players the basic skills of field hockey, to improve player skill development, and to teach the advanced players strategies, positional play, and difficult skills and tactics. By utilizing Larkin’s relationships with established programs in St. Louis and Kansas City, Kansas Jayhockey will offer competitive games against regional teams.

“This all is really exciting,” Larkin says. “I was able to get some great companies to donate sticks and balls, so when we started having events, all kids have to do is show up with shin guards.”

In March, Larkin called in the big shots (her mom and sister) to help host a “welcome clinic” for Lawrence kids at the sports pavilion. More than thirty kids showed up and began learning about field hockey. Players learned the basics of the game and, hopefully, left with a desire to play more.

“Field hockey is a great game for kids because it is fast-paced but with limited contact,” Larkin explains. “Kids love smacking balls with sticks, and that’s really the point of the game, so with a little bit of instruction, kids can take off and play. Some kids compare it to

soccer, but it’s more fun because they can use their hands.”

Kansas Jayhockey has a series of clinics scheduled for the spring, with a goal of fielding a team for a tournament in Kansas City in May.

“I know it’s an aggressive goal, but we are going all out for it,” Larkin says. “The kids are really getting the hang of the game and are excited to learn. That’s the most important thing.”

Larkin’s passion for field hockey isn’t limited to fielding a competitive team. She’s spent time in local elementary school PE classes teaching the game. It helps that the year she spent in Texas coaching she was also a PE teacher.

“I love visiting schools to teach kids about the game,” Larkin says enthusiastically. “The larger goal is to get field hockey into Kansas schools as another option for kids. I’m confident that the more people learn about the sport, the more interest will increase, and, hopefully, we’ll soon have a handful of high schools in the state that have teams that compete.” LK

Larkin, with husband Jeff and kids

Lilly Wall was ready to testify.

The Free State High School junior and president of local group Honor Moon had diligently prepared a four-minute testimony in support of Kansas Senate Bill 435, which would offer a sales tax exemption for menstruation products, diapers, and incontinence products. About ninety seconds before her time, Sen. Caryn Tyson, chair of the committee, made an announcement:

“I have never done this before,” Tyson says. “I allowed too much time on the other conferees. I should have limited their time. And so, I’m sorry. It does put you guys under stress.”

Wall would have about sixty seconds to speak.

“Luckily, I was prepared,” Wall explains. “I knew I had three or four main points I wanted to emphasize and I knew I could convey their importance in a minute. I think if I would have had more time to really think about the pressure, I would have been more nervous.”

Wall testified in favor of the sales tax exemption, something she says is a necessity.

“Nobody chooses to have to use period products,” Wall says. “Needing to pay a sales tax on those products is often an additional barrier for people who may already be challenged.”

Wall and the rest of the Honor Moon team, all high school students in Lawrence, work to help alleviate the potential embarrassment and ease financial limitations of obtaining period products. The nonprofit organization aims to provide access for anyone and everyone who menstruates to the hygiene products they need, free of judgement and charge.

“We’re passionate about this mission,” explains Hazel Powers, Honor Moon pantry management director and Free State junior. “Having Lilly testify on our behalf in front of the state legislature is a big step forward in our mission to help.”

While Wall only had a minute to advocate for Honor Moon’s cause, she wasn’t going into the testimony blind. Rep. Nikki McDonald (Olathe) had heard of the organization and gotten in touch with the girls.

Hear Us Now

A group of Lawrence teens took their

advocacy work all the way to the state legislature.

“I’m so impressed with what the girls of Honor Moon are doing,” McDonald says. “I know of period pantries in the Olathe area, but the story of these motivated students doing the work to make it happen in Lawrence is inspiring. I wanted to let them know there are people noticing what they are doing and willing to help them succeed.”

McDonald hosted representatives from Honor Moon for discussions on what to expect during the legislative process, from drafting a bill to voting.

“These girls are so bright. It’s been a pleasure to be around them and see their determination to do what they can to help those around them,” McDonald says. “I’m inspired by them. The Lawrence community should be proud.”

Powers, a junior at Free State High School, said working with Rep. McDonald and the group’s legislative experience was eye-opening.

“Having Representative McDonald’s help was really informative,” Powers explains. “She treated us as equals and did a great job of helping us know what to expect and how to craft our statement to be most effective.”

Wall says the experience provided even more motivation to continue the work of Honor Moon.

“The entire experience has been really inspiring,” she explains. “We know that what we are doing is helping people. Learning the legislative process has been fascniating and I think it’s helped all of us understand that the only way to accomplish something is to start and work until you accomplish it.” LK

Lilly Wall, Giova Rubenstein, Hazel Powers, Liv Hazlett, Margaret Mulhern, Maeve Nichols, and Merrit Hale with Senator Caryn Tyson

15 Years of Lawrence Kids

Lawrence Kids started as a one-time publication, yet here we are, fifteen years later.

Before we dive head-first into the next fifteen years, let’s celebrate some of the kids and families that got us here…

Krause family, Winter 2012, by Emmalee Rathsam

Anderson family, Summer 2013, by Emmalee Rathsam

Spring 2011 by Megan Axelrod

Storey family, Spring 2020, by Amber Yoshida

Meyer family, Spring 2018, by Amber Yoshida

Lola Martin, Summer 2017, by Amber Yoshida

Jennifer McKnight & Tiger Sievers, Summer 2012, by Emmalee Rathsam

Moore family, Fall 2012, by Emmalee Rathsam

Swearingen family, Winter 2012, by Emmalee Rathsam

Be Here Now

A Lawrence mom shares a story about appreciating who you’re with, right now.

by Julie Dunlap

Standing at the back of the mountainside amphitheater overlooking the city of Boulder in June 2022, my husband and I each cradled an elbow of our firstborn as we waited for our cue to walk this radiant bride down the stone-carved aisle. A horn quartet and breathtaking scenery would soon surround our daughter and new daughter-in-law, but in those final hopesoaked moments as just the three of us, I knew I wanted to cling to this memory forever.

We parents all have an ever-expanding reel of moments we store and replay (for better or worse), some burned into our brains by brightly blazing fire and others faintly etched into the dusty recesses of our skull. In the moment of their making, we can’t imagine these memories ever fading, yet as the years roll by, we sometimes wonder if they were ever actually real to begin with.

Eighteen months after that moment on the mountain, my husband and I were lucky enough to spend forty-eight whole hours in Arizona with all five of our kids and their significant others together under one roof while we visited his parents for a long weekend. Traveling with small children is hard, but getting five adult children to travel to the same place at the same time from five different states requires an effort of Herculean proportions.

We played a game each night, an easy one for people of all ages and interests to enjoy. The group sits in a circle (we found that an amoeba shape works well too) and takes turns passing around a little box with a deck of small cards, each with a question for fellow family members to answer.

“Which band always gets me up and dancing?”

“How old was I when I learned to swim?”

“What was my favorite subject in school?”

Softball questions, really, and wildly fun to hear the entire group shout out their guesses at random. The first person to guess correctly gets a point. With an age range of twenty to eighty-six, our crew enjoyed several very lively rounds until it was my father-in-law’s next turn to read a card.

“What is my favorite family memory?” my father-in-law read out loud from the card our firstborn had handed him.

The room fell silent. My heart dropped as my brain screamed “READ THE ROOM!” to our dear eldest child who, up until that point, had curated an easy set of questions for the family patriarch. My father-in-law had spent the past seven years battling Alzheimer’s disease with determination and dignity, his calm kindness giving us all a soft place to land as his memories of us had slowly faded.

Undaunted by his diagnosis and unphased by our collective gulp, my father-in-law looked around the room waiting for our best guesses.

My husband—his only son—broke the silence, shouting, “Golfing with your favorite son!”

We all laughed.

“That sounds like it would be fun,” my father-in-law replies, ever thoughtful, even when a roomful of his descendants mystifies him.

From there the floodgates opened.

“Taking your grandkids to Disney World!” one of our kids shouts.

“Going to Hawaii!” offers another.

“Watching KU basketball!” offers yet another.

While none of these answers seemed to ring a bell, my fatherin-law did acknowledge they would be fun to try. Still, there was a clear answer he had in his head that none of us were guessing.

“What is it?” I finally ask.

My sweet father-in-law looks around the room full of faces of varying and vacillating familiarity, all in one place because of the family tree he and my mother-in-law had planted sixty-three years earlier, and says, “Right here, right now, with all of you.”

Nothing more true has ever been said by anyone.

To my fellow empty nesters, I hope the past fifteen years of Lawrence Kids Magazine have helped you feel connected to each other. And to my fellow parents at the start of this journey, I hope you find connection here for fifteen years and more.

And to all of us, I hope we are always able to look around the room and to find that our favorite memory is the one we are surrounded by right now. LK

photo: Julie Dunlap, Eleanor Dunlap Zhukenova, and David Dunlap by Jonah Pester and Clara Severn