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Think STEM and Space This Holiday Season

December 15, 2015 By Leave a Comment

This year as you consider what you ask for from your friends and family for the holidays – we want to offer you a gift idea that has the power to change lives. Instead of asking for material things or risking the ugly sweater from Aunt Zelma we have an idea. You can setup a The Mars Generation fundraising campaign on our special site and ask your loved ones to donate to fund your Space Camp Scholarship campaign. This is what 12 year old TMG Student Space Ambassador Joey did and he continues to work towards his goal of sending one kid who does not have the financial means to Space Camp.

It’s easy to do. Just follow these simple steps and you will have your own page that you can share with your family and friends. Their gift is tax deductible to them and will leave you and them with the feeling that comes from knowing you have truly set the course to change a life through the experience of Space Camp.

How to setup your own TMG fundraising page (see visual instructions below):

Go to TMG GiveMN page by clicking here
Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on “start raising funds”
Follow on screen directions to setup your campaign – make sure you tell people what you are fundraising for and what your goal is. It is estimated to cost $1500 per full paid Space Camp Scholarship including transportation, $1000 will cover the Space Camp tuition and $500 covers transportation. You can choose to fundraise for any amount and it can just be for TMG not the Space Camp program if you choose.
Share the link with your friends and family and request a donation in lieu of a gift. Joey also has some offline donations coming in and has entered that as well so people can see progress. If you accept checks have them make them out to The Mars Generation so that they get the tax benefit. If they donate online the funds go directly to TMG and they will get a tax receipt via email immediately.

Thank you so much for considering TMG this holiday season. We appreciate your support! You can click here to make an individual donation or click here to donate airline miles as well.

Kids Science And Space Gift Ideas

December 2, 2015 By Abigail Harrison Leave a Comment

With the holidays quickly approaching I thought I would put together a list of some of my favorite space and STEM gift ideas for kids (the adult list will come later). You will notice while many of these gifts are items you can purchase, I included things that are activity based as well. It’s easy to get caught up in material goods, yet there are many things that money can’t buy, like mom and dad providing the tools to experiment and allowing kids to make a mess and spending time with your loved ones or donating to a space charity of your choice. Think outside the box this year or better yet outside our galaxy for gifts that will really make an impact. I know my favorite gifts have come without wrapping paper and a bow. I am thankful for that!

Kitchen Science Lab For Kids and Homemade Science Kit

Have you ever noticed how little kids can spend hours playing with boxes while their toys sit idly by? Imagination and exploration are not about packaging and toys. These qualities come because children are given the tools to explore and allowed to make a mess! One of my all time favorite gifts as a child was a home science experiment book and a bunch of materials such as beakers, test tubes and other lab “tools” that my mom ordered online. I was not fortunate enough to have the Kitchen Science Lab for Kids available to guide my experimentation. This book is really cool! I have personally done many of the experiments with the kids I babysit for. Check it out and make a homemade science kit to go with it (this link leads you to a sample homemade kit form the author of the book). And don’t forget to make some space in your kitchen for your kids to get messy!

Kids Space and Science Books

You can go to Amazon.com (click the link here and sign up for Amazing Smile and select Space STEM Future Inc. as your nonprofit – you will then give a portion of all your purchases to The Mars Generation) and search “Space Kids” or “Science Kids” for a list of wonderful space and science books for your kids. Today I am going to recommend one of my all time favorite book series – The Magic School Bus. A neighbor gave us a box full of these books and my mom spent hours reading them to me and my sister. As I got older I read them myself. I loved these books growing up and your kids will too! My mom started reading them to me when I was 3 years old and she still keeps copies on her bookshelf because she says this is one series of books she can’t let go of. Such found memories.

Andrew Rader Space Adventure One more mention is a new book that was published through Kickstarter by Andrew Rader called Epic Space Adventure. I did not get to enjoy this book as a child, but I have enjoyed it several times already as a young adult reading it to the kids I babysit for. Your kids will love it! Andrew was kind enough to donate books to The Mars Generation and all proceeds go to support the nonprofit’s work. By purchasing this book you are also joining in to support the future of space exploration and encouraging that all kids dream big!

Give The Gift of Experience

It’s fun to unwrap presents that is for sure. But it’s also fun to get experiences. Growing up I received gifts of memberships to the Science Museum of Minnesota, The Children’s Museum and The Minnesota Zoo. I also received magazine subscriptions to National Geographic Explorer (which was my favorite kids science magazine) and others too. My uncle one year gave me a gift of taking me to a fancy dinner and a play – that was one of the most special gifts I have ever received. And then there was the year my mom got scuba certified with me. My point is that not all gifts get wrapped and put under the tree. Think outside the box and come up with gifts that have meaning and encourage your kids to explore the world around them.

Give The Gift of Giving

It’s easy to get caught up in giving and receiving gifts, but the best gift I have ever received was to give to others. While the holidays are a great time to volunteer time and energy to help others have a special holiday, there are opportunities throughout the year to give your time and money and make a difference. As a child growing up we volunteered for different programs every year from Toy for Tots to Meals on Wheels to smaller neighborhood events. My mom also worked for several nonprofits so as I grew older I volunteered to help run events. These experiences are some of my most memorable times. Look around your community and see what kind of opportunities exist that could give your kids a sense of how good it feels to give back. Incorporate this into your life whenever possible. But use the holidays as a catalyst.

Checkout these Student Space Ambassador Stories for ideas on how to empower your kids be leaders and give back:

Joey – 12 years old decided that he wanted to raise $1500 for The Mars Generation Space Camp Scholarship Program to send one kid to Space Camp in 2016. Joey was fortunate enough to attend Space Camp last summer and recognized that not all kids can afford to attend. He has raised over $400 so far and is currently selling TMG T-shirts to fund his efforts. Check out the T-shirts here and consider donating here to help him reach his goal. You can read his story here.

Taylor – 12 years old has run several book drives to make sure that every child has books of their own to read. Her latest book drive that happened a few weeks ago brought in 500 books which she gave away at a special event. Read Taylor’s story here.

Don’t forget to visit The Mars Generation Space Gifts Store

There are some great unique gifts available and all the proceeds will help support The Mars Generation’s programs. If you scroll to the bottom you will see donation links – you can donate to send a kid to space camp and also make automated monthly contributions if you would like.

What are your most creative and favorite kid’s STEM and space gifts to give? Please share your ideas below.

Meet Student Space Ambassador Taylor Richardson

December 1, 2015 By groundcontrol Leave a Comment

It’s always great to see young people step out to change the world. We are building our Student Space Ambassador (SSA) program to support young people who want to change the world, while also spreading their love of space and human space exploration within their own communities. We are very excited to introduce one of our Student Space Ambassadors (SSA), Taylor Richardson (age 12). Taylor is a great example of what can be done as a TMG SSA.

“As a woman of color, Taylor rarely sees people who look like her in STEM fields, and we thought this would be an opportunity to show how people of color are working towards fields in STEM/space.” said Latonja Richardson, Taylor’s mom. “This program [The Mars Generation] has given Taylor a whole new family that sees her as just another person interested in STEM/space.”

Taylor and her mom recently participated in our Give To Mars Day Potato Challenge. Taylor’s participation
consisted of eating 3 meals of boiled potatoes with a bit of pepper and drinking lots of water. But more than that she worked before and after school with her mom to reach out via social media and email to help raise awareness and funds for The Mars Generation’s campaign.

“The challenge was important to us because we know how hard it is to acquire funds for your dreams,” said Latonja. “This program is trying to ensure that our youth, particularly those who want to be in the field of STEM/space, have an outlet and a resource to help them live out their dreams.”

In addition to her work with TMG, Taylor is actively involved in promoting and supporting several causes, including childhood literacy, the Unity Day anti-bullying campaign, a girls’ empowerment club, and clothing drives for women and children.

Taylor organized Take Flight with A Book, a program that works in conjunction with the United Way Reading Pals program. By February 2015, she had collected nearly 200 books and donated them to North Shore Elementary School, located in Jacksonville, Florida. She also visited North Shore to read to the Pre-K class, while wearing her astronaut suit.

“I feel every kid deserves a book,” said Taylor. “Books can take you to great places and those places can lead to great possibilities.”

In November 2015, ‘Take Flight’ partnered with the Ritz Theatre & Museum to be one of multiple drop-off sites for books. With this, Taylor hosted a children’s book reading while dressed as Astronaut Starbright to promote the Black Wings: American Dreams of Flight exhibit on loan from the Smithsonian Institute. Taylor collected over 500 book donations during the event.

As a TMG Student Space Ambassador, Taylor is inspiring others to dream big, act big, and go out to make a change in the world. By sharing her excitement and passion for space with others, she truly embodies the spirit of The Mars Generation and we couldn’t be prouder.

Thank you Taylor for being a great earthling, a budding “Martian” and an inspiration to many! We are thrilled to be a part of your journey!