Your guide to activities and fun things to do with your preschoolers, toddlers and kids in portland, OR

Konichiwa Japan!

June 29, 2009

Having just survived a nine day trip with my daughter, all the travel I'm down for in the next few weeks involves our imagination and the internet! Just a two hour time difference continues to wreck havoc in our household even four days after our return, as my daughter continues to spring awake before six am and I'm still battling the piles of dirty laundry from our suitcases.

 My daughter shares my passion for collecting all things Hello Kitty and lately, we've been talking about making our dream of traveling to Japan come true. I've told my daughter we'll make there before she graduates high school; she's convinced she'll be packing her bags by the end of the month with all the nickels she's saved up (!) I've been planning a virtual trip, want to come along with us?

 --Check out the Little Travelers Japan DVD from your local library. This sweet movie follows the journey of two home-schooled children and their mother as they travel to various countries and immerse themselves in culture and joys of life. Join Chantel and Nakia as they explore daily life, cherry blossoms, and new foods in Japan! My daughter loves this series of films and is anxiously awaiting a new chapter of their travels. Very simple and captivating vignettes will keep even very young children interested.

 --Dream big, plan your trip and destinations online! Print out maps, chart your course, and let your children imagine all the places they will go. Send away for maps or scour thrift stores for old copies of National Geographic to find maps to pin up on the wall and use some yarn to detail your "journey". What animals live where you are going? What do people eat there? Make clothing or instruments that reflect the culture of the country you are investigating.

--Art can help take you there! We are going to make paper cranes, paint cherry blossoms, and create Hello Kitty themed paper dolls. My daughter and I are obsessed with pop culture and have fun collecting miniature sushi and other teeny tiny foods from Re-ment. Your investigations can be as simple as checking out a cd of traditional music from the library and dancing around the livingroom or as complex as recreating Roman architecture out of Model Magic! Have fun with it!

 --Sample foods you and your child may have never tried before. For Japan, we are making a trip to FuBonn for a sampler of Pocky, biscuits, noodles, and mochi. (You can also sneak in some interesting and unusual fruits and vegetables too!)

 --Learn to count to ten, or twenty in a foreign language! Check out  “Count Your Way Through Japan” or “I Live in Tokyo” for inspiration.

--Research the currency of the country you have chosen.
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These are the people in my neighborhood.

May 11, 2009

When my daughter was small, we would go out for walks every day, sometimes twice a day to "getouttathehousebeforemamastartstogocompletelyandutterlycuckoo" and while we often ended up at the park or playground, we often would visit shops nearby to check out the action and hustle and bustle. We always followed two cardinal rules when visiting:

1) We look with our eyes and use inside voices and

2) If it was a day when my daughter just wasn't able to hang out with number 1, we left immediately. (We wanted the shopkeepers to smile when they saw us coming, not run for the "Sorry, We're Closed" sign.) We tended to avoid businesses that dealt with small, breakable knick-nacks until my daughter was able to be curious from a distance.

Several shopkeepers looked forward to seeing my small, curly haired child peering in the window at their daily goings-on and would wave to her.  Especially patient and kind workers may take the time to show your child how they do what they do (make a sandwich, mix a can of paint, arrange flowers, or where the mail goes after you put it through the little slot at the post office.

Bring along a little notebook for your child to draw what they see on their journey. Look for all the things that start with B at the butcher, F for florist, etc. Make up songs about the people you meet and the things you see. Take along a camera to document your adventures. Count how many garbage cans, dogs, or bicycles you see while you are out. Maybe your child would like to create a piece of artwork for their favorite worker?

Here are some fun places to visit on the main drag of your 'hood with your preschooler:

--butcher shop 

--pet shop

--bakery/bagel shop

--florist

--hardware store

--post office

--shoe repair

--framing shop

--tattoo shop

--barber/beauty shop

--video store

--vet's office

--copy shop

Top 5 Ways to Pack Your Child's Lunch with Extra Love

April 21, 2009

I still remember the brown paper bags that I carried my lunch in (after I graduated from the Super Heroes metal lunchbox and before I was too cool to even bring a lunch and merely existed on....air?) and the drawings my mom did on the front every day. They made me laugh and they helped me carry a little bit of her to school with me every day.

Here are five easy ways to send a virtual hug to school with your child:

1) Involve your child in the preparation and decisions that go into the lunch. Bring your child to the store or farmer's market with you and ask them what they would like to eat this week. Maybe they have an idea based on an educational theme from school or a new treat they want to bake? Have them meal plan with you and prepare the lunch the night before. Children can make sandwiches, chop fruits/vegetables, and package leftovers from family meals. If your child sees that you value their input and are excited about fun, healthy food to fuel their bodies, they will be too!

2) Help your child select components for a zero-waste lunch. Not only can they can pick out reusable drink containers, thermos, and bento boxes that strike their fancy, but you can help them to sew easy cloth napkins or sandwich wraps with fabric they repurpose from around the house. They can use fabric pens to design a Days of the Week set of napkins!

3) Cut out a funny cartoon or picture you download and tuck it in your child's lunch bag. Etsy has a great selection of handmade lunchbox notes or you can write them a note every day telling them something you are proud to see them learn or do. Include a knock-knock joke, or small origami project.

4) We've always tried to stay away from the "sugar as a reward" issue, but a healthy baked goodie that you make with your child is a fun addition to a lunchbox. Let them select a new recipe to try and use the measuring to brush up on math skills. They can count out the cookies into containers for extra numbers practice.

5) Why not pack your own lunch and join your child for a surprise lunch date in the cafeteria if the school allows visitors? I have done this several times this year and my daughter was thrilled to have me squish my adult body onto a narrow bench with twenty-two other kindergarteners!  Whether you are a working parent, stay at home parent, or some combo of the two, you can make time at least once a year to share a meal with your child and see what their world at school is really like!
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