Here are some lovey happenings you can do with your kids this Valentine's Day.
Habitot: Bring art supplies to make Valentines and receive a free adult admission during Habitot’s Week of Valentines. Young kids can make heart-themed art for their loved ones at different interactive stations. Come during regular hours (Monday-Thursday 9:30-12:30; Friday-Sunday 9:30-4:30) to share the love. Free adult admission with art supply donation; otherwise, regular admission rates apply ($8.50 per person). Habitot is in Berkeley.
Laurel Street Arts - you and your kids can paint your own heart shaped vases, boxes and more. An afternoon of fun! Laurel Street Arts is in San Carlos. If you can't make it there, other paint-your-own pottery places probably have some fun stuff too. Here are their weekly specials: half price studio fee for kids all day Monday. Two people can paint for one studio fee all day Thursday, (kids and/or adults). All day Sunday, two adults and two kids can paint for only $14 plus the cost of the pottery.
Children's Fairyland - February 13-14th, Children's Fairyland has a number of fun programs. Check out shows like Buki the Clown, the Frog Prince puppet show, crafts and animal of the day.
Foster City Library - make handmade valentines on February 12th, at 4 p.m. Kids over age 3 are welcome.
Michael's Arts & Crafts - has many Valentine's crafts scheduled this month. Low cost.
San Francisco Zoo - February 13-14 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Kids ages 4-14 bringing Valentine's Day cards for the animals get in free. Plus you can watch the animals will get love-themed treats.
Kids Night Out - put the kids with Habitot, the Exploratorium and Tree Frog Treks so you can enjoy a Valentine's Day out with your honey.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Coming Up: Lowe's Build and Grow Clinic - jewelry organizer
Lowe's has great clinics for kids to make things. And they're free. Coming up this weekend: make a jewelry organizer.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Deal of the Day: Sprinkles Cupcakes
Sprinkles Cupcakes are some of the best in the area - judged by many (and I'd have to agree they're yummy).
SocialBuy is offering $10 worth of Sprinkles Cupcakes for $5 - you can purchase them the next two days. The voucher has to be used in full at one visit, but it's good until 1/31/2011.
Sprinkles is at Stanford Shopping Center. To get the deal, click here.
Small print - SocialBuy is a Frisco Kids' affiliate. If you make a first-time purchase using my link, I'll get a token amount to use only on a future SocialBuy purchase. I only list deals I think my readers would like.
Review: Sign up for Camp Website- New Program Helps You!
One thing I dread each winter/spring is thinking about camp. Where to send the kids? What are the options? How much do they cost?
Now there's a new website that helps you figure this out - it's called SignUpForCamp.com, and it was started of the Bay Area. I was eager to check it out! Here's my review.
How it works:
I registered (includes putting in names/ages/grades of both kids). I pulled up camps within five miles of my home, and came up with 32 entries. It shows them all on the map. For many, it lists the camp, location, dates, hours and price. The last three categories are blank for a lot of them.
For the camps with complete listings, you can actually sign up for camp on the website, which is such an awesome notion. And you can coordinate sessions between your kids (and potentially with friends too). While I clicked on "sign up for camp" I did not actually complete registration, so I don't know how that process works.
To fully see how the site works, you might want to register for an account (easy and free), which allows you to save camps, register for camps, submit reviews and ratings and lets friends/family see your camp schedule.
What I found:
Out of the 32 listings for my 5 mile region, I found most of the camps listed that my kids have attended through the years (plus many I recognized and a few new-to-me ones). Ironically, I did not find the main camp I send them to every year - our city's recreation center camp, which is one of the best bargains around. And the place I get my babysitters! BUT there is a spot on the home page for parents to suggest a camp. And camps can ask to add themselves and get a free basic listing.
I went partially through the sign up for camp process. Here's a link to one camp page, which includes photos and details of each week's camp. If I'm logged in, it will tell me which weeks both kids can attend, and which weeks are only open to one kid. I'm not sure if it would take into account whether the camp session is full or just what's typically available per the child's age.
The cons:
If the camp doesn't pay a listing fee, there are no detailed listings, which isn't so helpful to parents. The site also does not give you website address or live link for these camps - only, it seems, the ones you can sign up for. Which isn't user-friendly for parents. If it's listed, but you can't register or get info on a specific camp at Signupforcamp.com, you'd hope they'd at least provide a link to the camp website.
How they make money:
Users should know that camps can pay a fee which affects their placement on the search page. And the camps listed on the home page are a result of payment as well. Not a bad thing, just something users should know. With a fee, the camps can can list some photos on the site, which is helpful to parents. The camps with detailed session listings paid to have them there. So for those who haven't paid, the site is not as useful to the users.
What Signupforcamp.com covers:
The website mostly just covers the Bay Area for now (and some in Philadelphia/Delaware region). It will cover day camps and overnight camps (though I couldn't find any overnight camps listed - nor was there a category created for it yet). If you don't live in this area, there's still potential that this site could cover your area in the future.
The Bottom Line:
Signupforcamp.com has a lot of potential. It just launched and has a capable leadership team. I know this because I used to do some work for the founder, when she was at another company. If more camps signed up and paid for listings - or the website featured more detailed camp info without paid listings, it would be more useful to the parents. If nothing else, I loved having a list of camps pop up, when entering zip code and the distance to search range.
Now there's a new website that helps you figure this out - it's called SignUpForCamp.com, and it was started of the Bay Area. I was eager to check it out! Here's my review.
How it works:
I registered (includes putting in names/ages/grades of both kids). I pulled up camps within five miles of my home, and came up with 32 entries. It shows them all on the map. For many, it lists the camp, location, dates, hours and price. The last three categories are blank for a lot of them.
For the camps with complete listings, you can actually sign up for camp on the website, which is such an awesome notion. And you can coordinate sessions between your kids (and potentially with friends too). While I clicked on "sign up for camp" I did not actually complete registration, so I don't know how that process works.
To fully see how the site works, you might want to register for an account (easy and free), which allows you to save camps, register for camps, submit reviews and ratings and lets friends/family see your camp schedule.
What I found:
Out of the 32 listings for my 5 mile region, I found most of the camps listed that my kids have attended through the years (plus many I recognized and a few new-to-me ones). Ironically, I did not find the main camp I send them to every year - our city's recreation center camp, which is one of the best bargains around. And the place I get my babysitters! BUT there is a spot on the home page for parents to suggest a camp. And camps can ask to add themselves and get a free basic listing.
I went partially through the sign up for camp process. Here's a link to one camp page, which includes photos and details of each week's camp. If I'm logged in, it will tell me which weeks both kids can attend, and which weeks are only open to one kid. I'm not sure if it would take into account whether the camp session is full or just what's typically available per the child's age.
The cons:
If the camp doesn't pay a listing fee, there are no detailed listings, which isn't so helpful to parents. The site also does not give you website address or live link for these camps - only, it seems, the ones you can sign up for. Which isn't user-friendly for parents. If it's listed, but you can't register or get info on a specific camp at Signupforcamp.com, you'd hope they'd at least provide a link to the camp website.
How they make money:
Users should know that camps can pay a fee which affects their placement on the search page. And the camps listed on the home page are a result of payment as well. Not a bad thing, just something users should know. With a fee, the camps can can list some photos on the site, which is helpful to parents. The camps with detailed session listings paid to have them there. So for those who haven't paid, the site is not as useful to the users.
What Signupforcamp.com covers:
The website mostly just covers the Bay Area for now (and some in Philadelphia/Delaware region). It will cover day camps and overnight camps (though I couldn't find any overnight camps listed - nor was there a category created for it yet). If you don't live in this area, there's still potential that this site could cover your area in the future.
The Bottom Line:
Signupforcamp.com has a lot of potential. It just launched and has a capable leadership team. I know this because I used to do some work for the founder, when she was at another company. If more camps signed up and paid for listings - or the website featured more detailed camp info without paid listings, it would be more useful to the parents. If nothing else, I loved having a list of camps pop up, when entering zip code and the distance to search range.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Free Admission to the Aquarium of the Bay
If you haven't yet visited the Aquarium of the Bay, now's the time.
Next Monday to Thursday, February 8-11th, San Mateo residents can get into the Aquarium of the Bay for free!
They offer the same deal for residents of Napa, Sonoma and Solano counties the week after, February 16-18.
And again, for Alameda county residents February 22-26th.
The Aquarium has a lot of fun exhibits, but is small enough to be manageable with young kids. They have two 300 foot tunnels to go through, so you'll be surrounded by sharks, anchovies, star fish and the likes. They have a touch area, with rays and sharks, and crafts too.
Tickets are normally $16 for adults and $8 for kids, so this is quite a deal!
Next Monday to Thursday, February 8-11th, San Mateo residents can get into the Aquarium of the Bay for free!
They offer the same deal for residents of Napa, Sonoma and Solano counties the week after, February 16-18.
And again, for Alameda county residents February 22-26th.
The Aquarium has a lot of fun exhibits, but is small enough to be manageable with young kids. They have two 300 foot tunnels to go through, so you'll be surrounded by sharks, anchovies, star fish and the likes. They have a touch area, with rays and sharks, and crafts too.
Tickets are normally $16 for adults and $8 for kids, so this is quite a deal!
Friday, February 5, 2010
Three Ways to Entertain the Kids at SFO
Air travel certainly has its challenges these days – and even more so when you’re traveling with young children. Here are three ways to entertain the kids at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) if bad weather or tarmac delays extend your layover a little longer than expected:
1. Ride the rail – The monorail, that is. From your perch high above the ground, you can enjoy a scenic ride as SFO’s AirTrain takes you to each of the terminals, the car rental, parking garage and BART station. You’ll get an eagle eye view of Highway 101 plus some airplanes, while zipping along like the Jetsons. The kids will love the E ticket ride, with its large window (including the window seat on each end) and poles to hang onto. You’ll love a few minutes of peace and quiet. Some of my friends actually take their kids to the airport JUST to kill time on the monorail. It's free, as long as you find some parking (or take BART).
2. Visualize art – Did you know SFO has an art museum? That’s right – the airport features approximately twenty different galleries throughout the terminals displaying a rotating schedule of art, history, science and cultural exhibitions. Some of the current exhibits are pinball machines, Chinese jades, ancient Mediterranean pottery, airplane models, animals of the rain forest and coral reef, slot machines and more. You don’t need a boarding pass to see all the exhibits – some are waiting for you in baggage claim or the entrance lobbies. The San Francisco Arts Commission also features some permanent installations you’ll grow to recognize (and perhaps love) as a frequent traveler through this airport.
3. Hands-on Science – Terminal 3, also known as the United Terminal, houses a small play area designed by the Exploratorium called Kid’s Spot II. It features a small tunnel for kids to crawl through, two Turbulent Orbs (they look like colored dish soap in a glass ball) and a tornado apparatus. The best part is that the Bay Area’s own Peet’s Coffee is just across the way, so you can sip your java while the kids play.
If you want to excite the kids even more, take BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) to or from the airport. The St. Regis, Sheraton Palace, and Hyatt Regency San Francisco are all a quick subway ride away.
Read the entire story at Oyster Locals.
Coming Up: Home Depot Kids' Workshop - Racecar
Home Depot offers some fun workshops for kids to make their own projects. Coming up? A car display.
When: Saturday, February 6, 9 a.m. to noon
Where: Home Depot
Cost: Free
RSVP: none
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