Barista Kids » 2010 » February

Montclair Girls Hold Bake Sale For Haiti

Georgette Gilmore — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 07:00:00 +0000

Hillside 4th graders, and best friends, Lily Feinberg and Georgia Garrison have been baking for weeks (and freezing the goodies) in anticipation of their Haiti Needs Help bake sale to raise money to help the relief efforts. The girls sold from 11 am – 1 pm yesterday in front of Lili, Meili and Beau at 33 Watchung Plaza. When the original plans to hold the sale in the park at Watchung Plaza were scuttled by the snow, the children’s store graciously stepped in to help.
Assisted by James Feinberg and Walter and Daisy Garrison, Lily and Georgia raised over $250 and will be back out today from 10:30 a.m. to noon.
(Photo: Lily Feinberg (9) on the left, in biege jacket. Georgia Garrison (9) on the right, in blue coat.)

Circus Science at The Newark Museum

Georgette Gilmore — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 14:40:34 +0000

We had so much fun at The Newark Museum’s Circus Science event this morning. My girls swung from the trapeze, spun plates, walked on the low wire and enjoyed a really funny clown show, which not only entertained, but explained the laws of science. I even got into the action with the plate spinning. I was able to get my plate to spin after several tries. Okay, it was more than several tries and the plates were plastic, but still–I was proud of myself. See how much fun we had below and head over to The Newark Museum tomorrow to enjoy for yourself.

Circus Science
Who: All ages.
What: Fun-filled day of circus activities: balancing clowns, face painting, treasure hunt, learn juggling techniques, plate spinning and much more. See clown shows and magic shows throughout the day.
Where: The Newark Museum, 49 Washington Street, Newark, NJ.
When: Saturday, February 27 and Sunday, February 28 from 10:30 am – 4 pm.
Cost: Free with suggested museum admission: Adults $10 / Children 12 and under $6. includes choice of one clown or magic performance. Additional tickets can be purchased.

Snowy Fun

Georgette Gilmore — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:54:10 +0000

Thanks to everyone who sent in photos of their little ones having fun in the snow. Enjoy the pictures and have a wonderful weekend!

Verona Schools Ban Formspring.me

Georgette Gilmore — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 15:00:00 +0000

Formspring.me is a website where you can send and receive anonymous questions, and learn more about people you find interesting by following their answers. You can also connect it to your Facebook account.
Verona schools are not happy about it and sent an email home to parents stating that they have blocked access on school computers to the site. You can read the full story on MyVeronaNJ.

Kids Create: Table Decorations and Groggers for Purim

Georgette Gilmore — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 12:00:00 +0000

Story by Nancy Breslin of CohabiTOT.
Saturday begins the festival of Purim. My son is already excited. At 4-years-old Purim means that he can go to synagogue in costume and make a lot of his noise with his grogger. He is still debating between dressing up as Haman or King Ahasuerus. (My bet is on Haman. After all what 4-year-old doesn’t want to be the bad guy?)
Typically for all the Jewish Holidays, my table is classically set with beautiful china, sterling silver and fresh flowers. I take great pride in my elegant table settings; presentation is just as important as delicious food. Purim, however, puts all those traditions aside. I love the opportunity to set the table with bright bold colors. This year my idea was that the placemats will be in the shapes of crowns. We will have festive tissue paper flowers. Groggers and masks will adorn each person’s place setting and rowdy kids will be permissible!
The above picture is my prototype for Saturday’s dinner. My son whole-heartedly made the paper flowers. He simply used my flower paper punch and then stuck the pipe cleaner through them. I was thinking something more elaborate but I love that he did them all by himself.

We realized that groggers from the Judaica store are quite difficult to use for my 1-year-olds. We want them to participate, so we will be making some simple ones. This is a great activity to keep the kids occupied on a snowy day at home.

Handmade groggers
Materials:
empty juice box container
colorful paper
dried beans or macaroni
crayons
Instructions:
Fill the empty juice box with dried beans or macaroni. Cover the box with colorful paper and let the kid decorate using crayons.
Then make some noise!

I am truly looking forward to Saturday evening and Sunday’s festivities. We will have some non-Jewish friends over to help celebrate. It’s seems like everyone needs some merriment and bold colors to help chase away these winter blues.

No Supervised Sledding at Mountainside Park Today

Georgette Gilmore — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 10:49:12 +0000

From the township’s website:

All township Recreation programs are canceled for today. Supervised sledding at Mountainside Park will not take place today, however there will be supervised sledding at the park this weekend, from noon to 4:00 p.m.

Photo by Birdfreak.com

Giveaway: Rockabye Baby Lullaby Renditions of Journey CD

Georgette Gilmore — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 10:00:00 +0000

Have you heard of the Rockabye Baby! lullaby CDs? They take famous rock bands and turn the songs into instrumental lullaby versions. We have the Coldplay CD (Did I mention how much my 6-year-old loves Coldplay?) and it’s great. Rockabye Baby! offers lullaby versions of Queen, AC/DC, Led Zeppelin, U2, The Pixies, Bob Marley, The Cure and many more rock favorites. Their latest release is a collection of Journey’s greatest hits:

When the lights go down in the nursery, try these gentle renditions of Journey’s biggest power ballads. We’ll have your small town girl or city boy on the midnight train to sleepytown in no time. Who’s crying now? Not your little angel. Don’t stop believin’ in peace and quiet.

Rockabye Baby! has generously offered not one, but SIX Journey CDs to our readers.
To enter keep reading….

Want to win your own Rockabye Baby! lullaby renditions of Journey CD? Simply tell us your favorite Journey song in the comment section. SIX people who reply to this post by 11:59 p.m. EST on Saturday, February 27, 2010 will be chosen at random to receive a CD. Please post only once.
No purchase necessary. Starts Friday, February 26, 2010, 10:00 a.m. EST and ends Saturday, February 27, 2010, at 11:59 p.m.
Open to U.S. residents ages 16 years and older. Void where prohibited.

How to Have a Fun Snow Day

Georgette Gilmore — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 08:00:00 +0000

Isn’t it just beautiful outside? Snow covered branches, large flakes and a white sky– perfect. But how are things looking inside? If cabin fever is setting in and tempers are getting short, here are a few helpful hints for not only surviving, but possibly enjoying, snow days with children.

My first, most essential tip is to dismiss any notion that you are a reasonable, civilized adult. One must unabashedly ignore the years of proper indoctrination that has bred uncompromising adult behavior, reactions, and responses. As such, grown-up thoughts are not allowed and proper grooming is not required. Let it go! All of a sudden the day is full of possibilities that were not there before. It’s okay, and maybe even fun, to run around with a pillow case on your head. And it’s not at all delusional to declare that the animal formerly known as the family dog is now a wildebeest. It’s okay, really.

Secondly, you must also dismiss the notion that the living room is a civilized communal gathering space. It’s not. For today (and possibly tomorrow), the living room must be treated as an unconditional adult-free zone. It is no longer a room for reading serious adult books, or engaging in coherent conversation. It is instead, a space dedicated to tent building, dancey-dancing, and piggy-back riding.

The third helpful hint is perhaps the most obvious. Go outside! Go play in the snow! Throw a snowball at your son or daughter; it may be cathartic, (sort of). Make snow angels. The cold air will prove absolutely exhilarating and refreshing. You may even temporarily forget what an incredible hassle it was to get everyone dressed, and what an incredible hassle it will be to get everyone undressed. And when you go back into your home, the warmth and smell of the heat will be heartwarming and you may recall youth.

Another tip is to immediately throw yourself off any diet wagon you may currently be on. Worry about the glycemic index later. After all, what is a snow day without hot chocolate? If you have a fireplace, roast a marshmallow.

In other words, suspend your reality for a day a two, and try to live inside the mind of a child. These helpful hints will stave off cabin fever, at least for one more day.

The Helen and Bill Geyer YMCA Family Center is Closed

Georgette Gilmore — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 07:14:44 +0000

The Family Y is closed today, which means that Snow Day Camp is CANCELED:
Montclair YMCA Snow Day Camp
Who: Kids in Pre-K to 6th grade.
What: Child care when the Montclair Public Schools are closed for snow. Kids will swim, have gym, do crafts and more.
Where: Helen and Bill Geyer Montclair YMCA Family Center, 159 Glenridge Avenue, Montcliar, NJ, 07042.
When: Days when the Montclair school district is closed for snow from 8 am – 6:30 pm.
Cost: $42 per child. Call (973)783-7640 for more information.
UPDATE: The Park Street Y is closed today
In case you were hoping to get out for a little exercise today, the Montclair YMCA Park Street Facility have a 12 pm anticipated delayed opening. If you still have the energy to workout after shoveling or playing in the snow with the kids, you may be able to this afternoon.

School Closing List for Friday, February 26

Georgette Gilmore — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 16:44:00 +0000

It’s starting–school closing announcements for tomorrow, February 26. We will update our list as we learn of more.
Updated at 7:37 am, Friday, February 26
Public schools:
Montclair Public Schools
Glen Ridge Public Schools
Nutley Public Schools
Wayne Public Schools
Newark Public Schools
Little Falls Public Schools
Clifton Public Schools
North Caldwell Public Schools
Bloomfield Public Schools
Livingston Public Schools
West Orange Public Schools
Verona Public Schools
Private schools:
Mount Saint Dominic Academy
Park Street Academy
Our Lady of Lake in Verona
Montclair Community Pre-K
Newark Academy
Montclair Kimberley Academy
Montclair Cooperative School
Lacordaire Academy
Colleges and Universities:
Bloomfield College
Montclair State University
William Paterson University
Seton Hall University

Canceled events:
Glen Ridge
The Forest Avenue Winter Carnival is canceled for Saturday, February 27th. A new date will be announced shortly.
GRAA Glen Ridge Spring Sports Equipment Swap
The Little Gym
Parents Survival Night is canceled.
Montclair Kimberley Academy
The performance of A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum has been postponed. Tickets purchased for Friday’s performance will be honored on Thursday, March 4th at 7:00 p.m.