Tips and Tricks

School Lunch Ideas

By Jeanne Lewis - Jan 04 2010

I'm struggling to come up with healthy (and tasty) ideas that my kids will eat. So many days their lunch bags come back nearly full. What do your kids like to eat? Please share your tips by leaving a comment below.

Here are a few favorites in our family:

  • PBJ and sliced pear
  • Carrot sticks w/ hummus & a banana
  • Salami, crackers and cheese
  • Cheese tortellini and sliced apple

Places You Can Have a Beer . . . And A Kid Too

By Pamela Herhold - Apr 27 2009

Speakeasy is a local beer manufacturer. The beer made right here in SF, but can be enjoyed across the country.

Every Friday, from 4-8, they open up their warehouse so you can drink directly from the source. This is a beer manufacturing facility - not a restaurant, micropub, bar. What does that mean for you? This is no frills, laid back, enjoy a good beer to wind down your week kind of place. What does it mean for you or any other parent? It means your can bring the kids since its not a bar.

The local taqueria brings food for you to buy.

Know any other places that support happy hour with children? Please leave a comment below.

Theme Park for Tiny Tots

By Cailin Nelson - Apr 27 2009

Gilroy Gardens is an amusement park (in Gilroy) with a horticultural theme. Picture a much smaller, immaculately clean version of Disneyland, interspersed with sometimes slightly cheezy, but always beautiful gardens with various themes. While you're shrinking Disneyland in your mind, shrink all the rides too (think miniature carousels), and eliminate anything that would appeal to children over the age of 7. Then throw in gigantic paddle boats shaped like ducks. And there you have it. Paradise for preschool girls.

Check out their full list of rides and gardens. If you decided to check it out, be sure to check their website for discounted tickets.

Any other local gems hiding out there? Share with the group by leaving a comment below.

Best First Board Games

By Cailin Nelson - Mar 15 2009

At two and a half, my daughter Ava has just enough preschool skills (letters, numbers, colors, etc) to start to enjoy board games. Thanks to Stepping Stones, she's patient enough to wait for her turn, but of course her attention span is far from infinite! Here are a couple of beginner board games that have held her interest long enough to get all the way through a game.

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1Cariboo by Cranium

I bought this one year's ago for a friend's child and as far as I'm concerned it's pure genius. Each turn involves a fun mechanical action (opening a door with a key) and looking for something fun inside (brightly colored bouncy balls). Open all the doors until you find all six balls, and presto a magic treasure chest will open. (Preload the treasure chest with a couple of jelly beans for extra fun.)

This game has two levels. The beginner level teaches colors, shapes, the letters A-B-C, and numbers 1-2-3. The advanced level expands on this repertoire.

Every 2-3 year old I've ever shown this game to has also spent a blissful half an hour playing with the doors, balls and keys all by themselves. Buy it on Amazon.

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2Duck-Duck-123 by Cranium

Definitely not as fun as Cariboo, but it does have it's virtues. This game is much simpler. Spin a dial and then move your mother duck the specified number of spaces forward. As you move around the board, collect your baby ducklings and put them on your back. The main virtues are that the game markers (the mommy ducks) are big and chunky, and so are the spaces that you're supposed to move forward on. Also, again, there is a satisfying physical action (collecting the baby ducks).

If your child happens to be duck obsessed (mine is) they may also spend many happy minutes in unstructured ducky play. Find it on the shelves in the toy aisle of Target.

Now - you tell me! Where do we go from here? Share your favorite beginner board games by leaving a comment below.

great place for kiddie haircuts

By Laura Bloch - Jan 30 2009

Do you have a kid who just can't sit still? Or a kid who just doesn't like getting haircuts? If so, I can HIGHLY recommend a hairdresser for your little one. Her name is Farah, and she has the utmost patience with kids, not to mention the greatest affection for them, especially now that she's a grandma. Furthermore, she takes her time and does an excellent job. She charges $15 (or was it $20?), and it's well worth it. You'll love the outcome.

Farah can be contacted at 664-2626. Her shop is located at 1590 Taraval at 26th Ave. She works Wednesdays through Saturdays.

Haircuts always seem to be the topic of much frustration amongst parents of preschoolers - got another hairdresser to recommend? If so - please leave a comment.

Favorite Books for Two and Threes

By Cailin Nelson - Jan 04 2009

One thing that's certainly true of books for your kids - you're going to read the same books over and over again! Here's a short list of a few of my read-aloud favorites.

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1Tatty Ratty by Helen Cooper

This is the story of a lost "lovey", and a little girl and her family who lovingly imagine his journey home to the toy store where a new lovey can be purchased - without quite admitting that its not the same old Tatty Ratty. The illustrations in this book are beautiful.

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2Lost and Found by Oliver Jeffers

All of Oliver Jeffers books tread a fine line between being "wistful" and just plain old sad. This one is a sweet story of a friendship between a boy and misunderstood penguin.

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3The Snail and the Whale by Julia Donaldson

I'm not usually a fan of rhyming books - but I love this one anyway. Who can resist a tale of "shimmering ice and coral caves"?

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4Russel the Sheep by Rob Scotton

The original tale of "counting sheep"? Another beautifully illustrated book - and a great "last last book" before bedtime.

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5Murmel Murmel Murmel by Robert Munsch

Robert Munsch is a talented Canadian author who seems to have a psychic connection to the minds of preschool children. As an adult, I think it's hard to truly "get" why kids love his books so much. This author has many outstanding books - including the classic Paperbag Princess (a little too old for my daughter still). Other favorites of Ava's include The Dark and Angela's Airplane.

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6ABC by Alison Jay

A very intricate version of the traditional "A is for Apple" book - and a vocabulary challenge for kid and adults alike. (If anybody can tell me why the jack-in-the-box on the J page is dressed as a sailor, I will be most appreciative.)

Got a favorite book to share? Please tell us about it by leaving a comment.

4 Fun Parenting Web Sites

By Cailin Nelson - Dec 07 2008

Like everything else, parenting has re-launched itself in an online format. Check out some sample sites.

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1Babble

Coming to you live from New York - Babble has a very urban flavor. My personal favorite feature is the Bad Parent column - showcasing very personal and often controversial viewpoints of topics like birth order, baby signing, pacifiers and breastfeeding.

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2Mommy Track'd

Self advertised as "The working mother's guide to managed chaos", I particularly like the Newsdesk section.

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3Oh Dee Doh

Oh Dee Doh is mostly about boutique infant and child products. Not my usual thing, but it's so well done I can help but love it. Every so often they have some great, free craft ideas too.

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4parent hacks

Full of parenting tips, a great summary of everything else on the web that might be of interest to parents. Links to great deals online, oodles of fun little project suggestions. Read more than you ever wanted to know about snot suckers here.

Got a great parenting site that you love? Please - share it by leaving a comment below.

5 Tricks to Get Your Kid in the Bath

By Cailin Nelson - Dec 06 2008

My two year old daughter usually likes to take a bath, but every once in awhile she goes through a "No bath!" phase. Here are some tricks we've used to con her back into the tub.

Most of these tips are a variation on the theme of "Offer a simple choice - all options of which are acceptable to the parent". We find that asking our daughter what kind of bath she wants to take is much easier than asking if she wants to take a bath, or just telling her that it is bath time!

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1Bath Tints

These are basically food coloring in pill format. Toss one in the bath - and bingo you've got a nice blue, red or yellow bath. Added bonus - combine two primary colors for a daily repetition of the "red + yellow = orange" lesson.

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2Switch It Up

When Ava was a little smaller, we would ask her "Do you want a 'sink bath' or 'big bath'?". Now that she's outgrown the sink we offer her the upstairs or downstairs tub.

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3Turn on the Shower

Ava got used to showering at the pool after her swim lessons. She thinks it's fun, so we offer her "rain or no rain" in the bathtub.

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4Bath Crayons

Moving away from choice-based tricks, these are really just pure bribery. Ava definitely thought these were fun, but they are a bit of work to clean up. Ava's dad was opposed from the start - claiming that she would get confused and think she could right on any wall with these crayons. Guess what - he was right.

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5Bath Stickers

Unlike the bath crayons these guys are harmless. They aren't really stickers - just bits of foam that happen to temporarily adhere to damp surfaces like tubs and tile. They come in many themes - letters, flowers, farms, trucks, etc.

Got a bathtime trick that works for you? Please share it, by leaving a comment, below.