Your guide to activities and fun things to do with your preschoolers, toddlers and kids in Washington, DC

Weekend Update

by Beth Hoffman

May 28, 2009

Ah, Spring has sprung and the mosquitoes have not.  I think that makes this the perfect weekend to get outside.  Check out the following local events:

Friday Night Live! Summer Concert Series - Every Friday until August 28th from 6:30 to 10:00 at the Herndon Town Green (777 Lynn Street).  This Friday features Black Sheep and next week is Burnt Sienna.  Food and drinks are for sale during the shows.

How Plants Work, A Guide to Being Green - This ongoing exhibit at the U.S. Botanic Garden.  It is hands-on and targeted for kids, but I think the moms and dads will enjoy it as well.

Walking Town DC - This Saturday and Sunday, Cultural Tourism DC is sponsoring 120 free walking tours around the city.  Check out their website for full details and the schedule.

Night at Mount Vernon - May 29-31 from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM.  Watch the sunset from the lantern lit grounds and interact with historical re-enactors.  Tickets are required, see the website for more information.

Artomatic 2009 - The 10th anniversary of this event opens May 29th and last until July 5 (closed Mondays and Tuesdays) at 55 M St. SE.  This month-long art festival is free to the public.  Read more...

Merrifield Garden Center

by Beth Hoffman

May 23, 2009

Ah, Spring, when a young suburbanite's fancy turns to thoughts of mulch.  Do you constantly smell like mulch these days, even three showers past your last stint in the garden, or is that just me?  Last weekend, to get a break from the weeding and the mulching, we went to the garden center to buy some new plants for all those bare spots that were formerly covered by weeds.  We had a two-year-old gift certificate to Merrifield Garden Center, so we decided to head over there and put it to use.  We went to the new place near Fair Oaks, not the original in Merrifield.  And wow, this place blows my regular nursery out of the water.

We had both kids with us, of course, and they had a blast.  The toddler was in the backpack, saying hello to all of our fellow patrions, and straining for handfuls of any plant I got him too close to.  The preschooler ran all over the place admiring the plants, debating the best azalea colors, helping me pick tomatoes based entirely on their pictures and/or funny names, and getting an impromptu education on the difference between annuals and perennials, evergreen and deciduous, indoor and outdoor plants, and why in the heck we needed all that mulch anyway. 

I never thought a trip to the nursery with the kids would be anything but a hassle, but it was actually a lot of fun to go through all the plants with the kids, and Merrifield was a great place to do it.  It's huge, well organized, well stocked, and has plenty of wagons to dump the kids in when they get tired of tearing up and down the rows of rhododendrons.  So brush up on your plant identification skills, or just keep a sharp eye out for the tags, and take the kids to the garden center for a free field trip and ecology or biology lesson.
 Read more...

Tuesday List: Family Friendly Ways to Enjoy Thomas Jefferson's Monticello

by Leticia

April 14, 2009

Living in DC, we are exposed to plenty of history and museums so you might wonder why you would want to venture beyond the Metro Area to explore other presidential digs.  Being in close proximity to Mount Vernon and the White House creates presidential intrigue so head south on a road trip to Charlottesville to visit Monticello.

Last weekend we took our two children, ages 5 and 2 1/2 years, to visit Thomas Jefferson's estate and it proved to be a wonderful place for young children.  There are lots of things you can do before you go to give your children some background knowledge about the kinds of things they will see and do.   During your visit there are numerous ways that your children can learn about Thomas Jefferson in an age appropriate way.  

Here are some ways that you can enjoy Monticello and make the most of your time there.

Before you go:

• Download Exploring Monticello: A Guide for Young Learners and share it with your children.  This booklet is more like a picture book that designed to teach interesting facts about Thomas Jefferson, the gadgets and gizmos he invented and enjoyed using, the kinds of music and games played at Monticello, the grounds, and architecture.  The booklet makes it easy for young children to understand and early elementary age kids to read independently.  Reading it prior to your trip will allow your children to have a better understanding of what they will see when they get there.
  
• Take a virtual tour using the Monticello Explorer that allows your to walk through 3-D models of the interior of the home, read about what is inside each room, view animated features, and use an interactive map of the plantation.
• Check out the calendar for Events for Kids which list the dates of the Plantation Community Weekends where the sights and sounds of the early 19th century come to life on Mulberry Row, the plantation “street” along which Monticello slaves lived and labored. Costumed artisans interpret the trades and domestic skills practiced by Jefferson's enslaved and free workers.

• Take a Family Friendly Tour- From June to September, Monticello offers Family Friendly tours that are included in the price of admission.   These special 30 minute tours feature hands-on opportunities in each room and provide a glimpse of what live was like at Monticello for the children that lived there in the late 1700s and early 1800s.  If you happen to visit when the Family Friendly Tours aren’t being offered, our 2 ½ year old and 5 year old enjoyed the regular tour which is also 30 minutes in length.
  
• Visit the Griffin Discovery Room- This new hands on learning center is specially designed for children to interact with American history, Thomas Jefferson, those who lived and worked at Monticello, and experience life as a child during the early 1800s.  The Discovery Room features many elements that are reproduced from Jefferson’s Monticello home like the alcove bed and thee nail-making shop and a slave dwelling on the plantation.  Children can engage in numerous activities including trying on clothes, practicing weaving, rubbing a replica of Jefferson’s tombstone, relaxing with a story about Thomas Jefferson or another American president, using a cipher wheel, or cooking a meal over a pretend fire.  Some of our favorite features of the Griffin Discovery Room included the polygraph machine that allowed us to see how Jefferson was able to make a copy of everything he wrote and the collection of wooden blocks where our 5 year old practiced classical architecture.
  
• Play I Spy inside the house by searching for items of a certain theme.  Look for famous portraits hanging on Thomas Jefferson’s walls, artifacts that indicate an interest in time, or items that are from animals. 
  
• Visit the Mountaintop Hands-On Activity Center.  Open from early June to September, the Activity Center allows children to write with a quill pen, play 18th century games, and engage in other family-oriented hands-on activities which is included in the price of admission.
• Roam the gardens and look for familiar flowers and herbs by rubbing the leaves between your fingers.

For more tips on visiting Monticello, visit their page of Insiders’ Tips.

For tips on visiting Charlottesville with your family, read my Being Savvy Washington DC post called Weekend Getaway: Charlottesville, Virginia for the inside scoop on family friendly things to see and do and our favorite places to grab a bite to eat.

Hearty flowers for little hands

by Leticia

March 16, 2009

With the warm spells that we have had so far this month, we are eagerly watching the buds form on the trees, the yellow blooms of the forsythia in our yard grow bigger each day, and the tips of our tulip plants emerge from under the grass. 

Last year we really got into gardening and this year I’m determined to get an earlier start on our planting.  Whether you have a yard of your own or want to start a container garden to brighten up your indoor space, planting is a fun and easy science activity that is quite rewarding for young children. 

But where to start?  Sometimes the selection at garden centers can be completely overwhelming.  Last year my kids wanted one of each seed packet on the racks before them.  The pretty blossoms and colors sent them into a spring planting tizzy and it was hard to restrict them to just a few kinds.  Based on our planting and growing experience from last year, I suggest the following seeds for your budding botanist which are not only easy to grow but are sturdy enough for your child cut with child scissors without destroying the blooms:

Cosmos- I remember my mom planting Cosmos in our yard each spring.  I loved picking the pink, purple, and white ones for bouquets for our kitchen table.  Cosmos are great flowers for any yard because they tolerate poor soil, heat, and drought well. 

Nasturtiums- These blooms are generally yellow, red, and orange.  While some say you need to soak the seeds in order to have them germinate faster, we found that just planting them and keeping the soil moist was enough to make the seeds sprout.  Nasturtium flowers and leaves are edible and commonly used to adorn fancy salads but you may not want to tell your child this for fear that they will start to sample other non-edible garden plants.

Zinnias- Zinnias come in all colors and are quite hearty flowers that are also deer resistant.  My children loved seeing the beautiful yellow, white, red, bright and pale pink, purple blooms throughout the summer.  We picked them all summer long and had constant containers of them on our kitchen table.  They bloomed constantly despite regular harvesting and we even had Zinnias blooming into early fall even when it started to get cold.

Marigolds- These short blooms are usually full like pom poms.  They can be solid yellow, orange, or white or variegated with multiple colors on a single bloom. Marigolds are perfect for kids because they bloom prolifically all summer long and there’s not much that can be done to harm them.  Their stems are perfect for a child to cut and when the flower dies, you can collect the seeds in a jar to save them for next year’s planting season.

Coneflowers- We always admire our neighbor’s coneflowers.  These large flowers usually have purple petals and a beehive shaped center that rises up from the flower.  They are a perfect addition to your garden if you want to try to attract butterflies to your yard.

Black Eyed Susans- If you have a lot of room and are looking for a flower that will fill the space you give it, plant some Black Eyed Susans.  This Maryland state flower has 13 yellow petals with a black center.  They can become bushy as they plants mature but the blooms flower all summer long, making for a gorgeous backdrop in your yard.

Sunflowers- There are many variety and colors of sunflowers besides the dinner plate size blooms that tower over children.  Check the back of the seed packet to find ones that grow only a foot or two high and intersperse them with a packet of the super tall ones.  Since the stems of some sunflower varieties can be quite thick, have your child wrap their hands around yours as you use garden shears instead.

Now that you know the heartiest flowers for little hands, head to the garden center to get some peat pots and soil to start your seeds inside.  If you end up with too many seed packets like we did, have a planting party and invite some friends over to begin getting them excited about spring too. 

Happy planting!

Tuesday List: Best DC Metro Teacher Supply Stores

by Leticia

February 17, 2009

When I was a first grade teacher, one of the curriculum objectives was to teach how to tell time.  First it was necessary to teach my students that each clock had two hands, the short hour and the longer minute hand.   Then students had to learn to skip count, or count by fives, how to read the clock when the hour hand was between two numbers, and quarter, half, and three quarters of an hour.  Whew!

If your child is interested in learning to tell time or you want to teach them to stay in their beds until 7 am, then get yourself a teaching clock.  A teaching clock?  Yes, teaching clocks make teaching how to tell time so much easier than trying to use a wall clock.  Children can move the hands and watch the gears move the opposing hand.  The ability to move the hands makes learning to tell time a more interactive experience.

Where do you find teaching clocks? 

Any teaching supply store has a good stock of these yellow beauties with their gears.  Don't ask me why they are always yellow but they are!

Here are my picks for favorite DC Metro teaching supply stores:

• Crown Educational on Shady Grove Road in Gaithersburg (301-948-5710) and on Riggs Road in DC (202-529-3470)
• ABC 123 in Wintergreen Plaza in Rockville
• Schoolbox behind White Flint Mall in Rockville
• Educate & Celebrate in Frederick and Waldorf
• Educational Etc. in Largo and Oxon Hill
• Learning How in Columbia, Frederick, Annapolis, etc.

If you can’t make it to one of the teacher supply stores listed above, check out the teacher aisle in your local Staples.  Along with the stickers, bulletin boarders, and other supplies, they also have clocks to teach telling time!

And if you do happen to visit your local teacher store, pick up a pack (or two!) of stickers for your child's teacher.  Trust me, they will love you forever! 

Meadowlark Botanical Gardens

by Beth Hoffman

October 23, 2008

Have a budding (har-har) botanist in your family? Now is the perfect time for a trip to Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Vienna for a lesson in how the changing seasons affect the gardens. The 95-acre space boasts a nice visitor center, ornamental gardens, native plants and wildflowers, a wooded trail, a large lake, and lots of kid-focused displays and play  Read more...

Room to Run: Brookside Gardens

by Leticia

August 25, 2008

We just went to Brookside Gardens and as much as I love going there, each time we go, I'm reminded how wonderful it is. Located in Wheaton, Maryland, Brookside Gardens is 50 acres of free tranquility and beauty that can wear your child out! One of my favorite features is the Japanese Tea House . Accessible by a stone path or a wooden footbridge, the Japanese Tea House is a place to enjoy some  Read more...

Top 5 Things to Do in the DC Area on a Rainy Day

by Leticia

May 27, 2008

Top 5 Things to Do in the DC Area on a Rainy Day Sometimes rainy days make me want to curl up on the couch underneath a blanket with my two children cuddled close with a stack of books for a reading marathon. Other times we feel like we've been stuck in the house for days and need to escape. National Building Museum's Building Zone - - My children love anything construction related so we hop  Read more...

Cultivating a Green Thumb

by Leticia

May 26, 2008

We're at the time in the year where the seasons are wavering between spring and summer. A series of rains have made the grass lush and green while the temperatures are warming and hinting that summer is on the way. I'm not a fan of the mosquitos and the Californian in me absolutely despises our humid summers so I'm trying to take advantage of being outside before summer truly arrives. We've been  Read more...

Cultivate Your Child's Green Thumb with a Planting Party

by Leticia

May 14, 2008

There came a point during winter when I was just ready for spring. I was tired of the barren landscape of my backyard, the extra time it took to dress my children for the great outdoors, and my winter wardrobe. I decided to turn my nose up at old man winter and jump start our spring with a planting party. My Type A obsessive compulsive self realized this meant my children would have  Read more...