Happy Scrabble Day!

April 13th is Scrabble Day!

Word games are a great way for kids to sharpen critical thinking skills and work on their vocabulary and spelling. According to the National School Scrabble Program, more than half a million kids have Scrabble in classrooms nationwide, and 95% of teachers surveyed said the program was a great teaching tool!

Why not celebrate Scrabble Day by playing a round with your family after dinner!?

Disney!

At October 9, 2011
By artistbabysitting
In Creative Learning, Education, Events, Game, New Ideas, Vacation
0

You can’t fight Disney. It’s a channel, a store, a Broadway producer, a theme park . . . the list goes on. But WHY fight it? It’s pretty great. Check out http://disney.go.com/index for information on products, the parks, travel deals, programs on the tv channel, educational video games and more!

Gift Ideas for your Gadget Lover!

Do you have a gadget-lover in your family? Kids love fun accessories for cell phones, whether it’s YOUR phone or theirs. Check some of these gadgets out for gift ideas!

A flash drive that looks like an owl for your son’s homework files! (There are a lot of other animal options if owls aren’t your favorite!) www.urbanoutfitters.com

This one is cute AND has added potential health benefits. (Depending how you feel about possible radiation from cell phone signals.) An old-school phone headset that fits into most cell phones, as well as iPads. Available at www.nativeunion.com in a variety of colors.

Earbuds for your daughter’s MP3 player that look like M & M’s! www.urbanoutfitters.com

Kids Bowling for FREE

Select bowling centers and schools around the country are participating in the first ever Kids Bowl Free program. This program is designed by bowling centers to give back to the community and provide a safe, secure, and fun way for kids to spend time this summer.

Children whose age does not exceed a limit by a participating bowling center are eligible to register for 2 free games a day, all summer long, courtesy of the participating bowling centers along with the schools and organizations.

To find participating bowling centers near you, visit http://www.kidsbowlfree.com/

Bitty City Players – Theatre Education in NYC!

At July 27, 2011
By artistbabysitting
In Art Education, Creative Learning, Dance, Education, Fall, Game, Movement, Music, Theatre
0

Introducing a new theater education company, Bitty City Players!

This fall, we will offer our first Semester of after-school classes for young children (ages 3-6). Our primary goals are children’s self-discovery, artistic enrichment, and social skill building.

All classes will be held at the Thalia studio in Symphony Space (95th St. and Broadway). You can use the main entrance (on Broadway) and take the elevator one floor down. You can park your stroller and either leave or sit in the adjoining cafe, which has a variety of snacks, beverages, and free wireless internet.

Classes will engage your children through a variety of theater games and encourage them to connect to their bodies and voices, and unleash their creativity. Our lesson plans draw from our experience in children’s theater and elementary education as well as leading theater educators like Viola Spolin, Del Close, and John Astin.

Please email for info: BittyCityPlayers@gmail.com

We look forward to playing with you!

Mini Golf!

Call it mini-golf. Call it putt putt. But call it fun! What a great activity to do with your kids on a nice summer evening! For New Yorkers, check out Pier 25 on the Hudson River. http://pier25.com/mini-golf/

Pier 25 Miniature Golf Schedule
Weekdays 3 pm – 10 pm
Weekends 10 am – 8 pm
Adult: $5/Game
Children under 14: $4/Game

WWW for kids!

At Artist Babysitting we’ve been surfing the World Wide Web looking for super cool websites to share with you. Every week we’ll post about a new website. Try it and let us know what you think!

This week we found starfall.com. Starfall is a free public service to teach children to read with phonics. Their systematic phonics approach, in conjunction with phonemic awareness practice, is perfect for preschool, kindergarten, first grade, second grade, special education, homeschool, and English language development.

We look forward to your feedback!

15 Fun Fall and Harvest Outdoor Party Games for Children

At September 24, 2010
By artistbabysitting
In Art Education, Crafts, Creative Learning, Education, Fall, Food, Game, Holiday, Movement, Music, New Ideas, Outdoor Fun, Parenting
1

These fifteen outdoor party games use common fall items, including pumpkins, apples, gourds, seeds, hay, and dried corn. Most appropriate for ages 5-9, these fall games can be modified for younger or older children in a snap.

The Great Harvest Dig

Fill inexpensive containers or harvest baskets with dried seeds or hay. Hide ten (or more) mini plastic apples in the baskets. Give each child their own container and time who finds all the apples the quickest. Plastic pumpkins, scarecrow figures, or other small fall items also work great.

Harvest Dash

Set up a fall relay with the kids. Fill large containers with sunflower seed bird feed. Have smaller, clear containers at the opposite end. Kids fill up a cup with seed and race to dump it in the empty container. They sprint back to the start and hand-off the cup to the teammates. Goal of the race is to be the first team to fill up the small container with the seeds. As an extra challenge, give the kids an over-sized soup ladle instead of a cup. Don’t worry if the seeds spill; that’s part of the fun! The birds will easily find them later. Try a dollar store for inexpensive clear containers. They usually stock plastic ones in apple or pumpkin shapes in the fall. Popcorn or candy corn also can be used in place of seed.

Pass the Apple

A fun fall team game! Children tuck in the apple under their chin and shoulder, race to their teammate, and pass the apple to them without using their hands. If the apple is dropped, it can be put back into place using hands. Depending on the size of the kids, the fruit can be switched to small gourds, fall squash, or tiny pumpkins.

Autumn Obstacle Course

The only limits to this game are your outdoor space and your imagination! Set up hay bales to jump or climb over, pumpkins to run around, strings of apples to crawl underneath, seed-filled balloons to pop, and more.

Connect large cardboard boxes for tunnels and hang dried apple rings inside. Painted sheets or fall-theme fabric can be strung up on tall bamboo poles to run through. Kid-size harvest scarecrows from the dollar store add a fun touch to the course.

Hot Apple

Play “Hot Potato” with a harvest twist by using an apple. This fall party game can also be done as “Hot Pumpkin” or “Hot Corn”.

Fall Gourd Roll

Have each child take a turn rolling a small, round gourd. Try to find one with lots of bumps for extra craziness! The kid with the longest roll wins. Play on a sloped driveway or a small hill for extra fun.

Harvest Bingo

Make autumn bingo cards using different types of dried seeds and beans. Check out your grocery store or natural foods co-op for plenty of unusual choices. First child to get bingo wins.

Apple-Apple-Pumpkin

Remember duck-duck-goose? Same game but with a fall flair. This is a perfect non-competitive outdoor autumn game for younger children.

Fall Corn Fling

Create different sizes circles out of apples. Have the kids line up behind a line and fling ears of decorative Indian corn toward the circles. The child with the most ears inside the apple circles wins.

Gourd Bowling

Set up harvest bowling using empty two-liter soda bottles. If preferred, the bottles can be weighted with seeds or water. Use a round, bumpy gourd as the ball.

Crazy Scarecrow Dress and Dash

Stock up on over-sized plaid shirts, goofy pants, floppy hats and any other silly clothing that a scarecrow might wear. Make piles containing one of each item. The number of piles is determined either by the number of kids or teams participating. Line up kids and let the game begin! The children run to the pile, put on the outfit, and dart back to the starting line. If doing it as a team game, they would then switch the outfit with their teammate, who dashes out and back. First team with their last team member dressed as a scarecrow wins.

Bobbing for Apples

An easy fall favorite! Set up large containers filled with water and several apples. Children have to try to pick up an apple just by using their teeth. No hands allowed!

Apple Grab

Similar to Bobbing for Apples, the Apple Grab is another traditional autumn game. Hang a string up between trees or use a clothesline. Tie some more string to apple stems and hang the apples from the clothesline. The kids can then attempt to grab an apple just by using their teeth.

The Great Popcorn Eating Contest

This fall party game is fun! Each child gets his own bowl of popcorn. Here’s the trick: the popcorn is eaten without using utensils or hands. First child to finish wins. Keep lots of apple cider or juice nearby; the kids are usually thirsty after the game!
Guess the Candy Corn

Take a fall-theme container, such as a harvest bucket, and fill it up with specified number of candy corn pieces. Let the children guess how many pieces are in the container. The closest to the right number wins the container and the treats. A perfect way to end a successful outdoor fall party!