funforkids

The Upside Down Show (shown on Noggin) is one of the Handley family’s favorite television programs.  I don’t know who likes it more–mommy or the boys.  When it first aired I scratched my head and said:  What the heck is this show about and who are these two annoying guys and this oddold fashioned lady who is always dressed in pink?  The lady’s name is Mrs Foil who will obviously play the tradition “foil” to the main characters.  I wasn’t sure if I liked it, if I wanted to watch it till the end, or if I ever wanted to see it again.  I have since changed my opinion-I love it.  Head Writer Belinda Ward is, in my opinion, one of the most imaginative writers of this generation.  Together with her co-writers, she has created a winner.  David Collins and Shane Dundas are her co-writers and appear as the main characters of the show.  They play two brothers and they play off of one another wonderfully.  The show is intelligent, playful and funny enough for kids and still manages to be witty enough to be appreciated by parents. 

     The show usually begins with brothers Shane and David (one bald guy and one with oodles of intense curls atop his head) on a quest for something–be it knowledge, the airport, a pet shop, a puppet named Mary Annette.   The quest begins in their house which has minimal furniture as props and lots and lots of doors which the boys jump through into imaginary worlds such as the “This way room” (a room in which you can only walk in one direction), the very hairy room in which everyone has rock and roll long hair, and “the very serious room” where no one can smile, laugh, dance or have parties.  The show invites your child to participate by having one of the brothers hand your child an imaginary remote control with which they can pretend to fast foward, rewind, stop, pause, and even rotate the actions of the characters.  For example, They will say:  “Would you help Shane and David lift the giant imaginary Elephant by pressing the “light” button on your remote?”  Your child will then pretend to push the button and the brothers who are pretending to hold a large elephant will react saying:  “Oh no you pressed the heavy button!” and their arms will sink to the floor from the weight of the elephant.  The show gets its title The Upside Down Show from the remote control concept–many times the brothers will say:  “Would you press the pause button?” and then they will appear upside down on the tv screen with arms hanging and say:  “Oh no, you’ve pressed the Upside Down Button.  Would you be kind enough to press the right side up button.”   My kids never get tired of it.  They love pushing “the wrong buttons”.  It is just the cutest show.  The writing is so inventive.  I really can’t even explain how sharp the writers and the actors are, nor can I explain in words how great the premise of the show is.  You really just have to watch it to appreciate it.  Those of you who have kids and have not checked it out yet, do yourself a favor and look into it.  You will thoroughly enjoy it. 

One of our favorite places to visit during the Spring and Autumn seasons is White Post Farms located at 250 Old Country Road in Melville, NY (zip 11747). White Post Farms was voted #1 among things to do with your kids by New York Magazine and #1 for the “Best of Long Island’s Childrens’ parties” three years in a row, and with good reason: It is a wonderful place to take your children. Every Autumn my sons and I, along with my mom, take the ride out to Melville for a nice fall day of fun. There are many things to do once inside, so we try to just take it section by section. The hayride is (according to my 5 year old) a bit boring, so we don’t go on that anymore, but everything else is a lot of fun. We love going in the fall the most because we like to choose our pumpkins for Halloween and pick up some fresh baked pies, and caramel and jelly apples. There are always extra special things planned for the Autumn weekends as well, such as magic shows, sing alongs, puppet shows, special guest appearances (last year it was American Idol singer Clay Aiken), bouncing and climbing features and so much more. While you are there you can purchase craft items, flowers (mums in the fall–love them!) and garden decorations for whichever season you may be visiting at the time. There is, of course, the wonderful animal farm where if you so choose, you may buy a feed cone for $1 and feed your favorite animal. There are also pony rides, (which cost $5 –cash), and a great train ride which is a favorite of my boys (which costs $2 per child). My sons ride the train atleast three times per visit–so be prepared to bring extra cash with you. Once the kids are done riding the train, they can head over to one of the many large playground areas which are comprised of slides, climbing features, playhouses, a pirate ship, wooden stand-up cut-outs of favorite characters like Dora, The Disney Princesses, Swiper and etc.  It is very easy to spend a few hours there without spending a lot of money.  When you get hungry, there is an eatery near the train and another close to where the pumpkin patch is.  Just grab some food,  grab a bench, and relax for a bit and a bite.  It really is a great place to visit.    You can also have children’s parties there.  Call them for rates.

Operating hours are from 10:30 a.m. till 5 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. till 5 p.m. on the weekends. Entrance prices are very reasonable: $7 for both children and adults but they accept CASH ONLY so please remember to bring a few extra dollars.  You can also go to the official WHITEPOSTFARMS website and print out a coupon for  reduced admission.

     I happened to stumble across the Kidzui browser while reading one of my own posts on HUB PAGES and decided to try it out.  What is it?  I am so glad you asked.  The Kidzui browser is a tool that you download from Kidzui.com which GUARANTEES that while your child is logged onto your computer using the Kidzui browser that only those sites that are suitable to children will be accessible to your children.  Kidzui is a kid-friendly browser that is stocked with tons and tons of parent and teacher approved sites for your little ones to discover either on their own or under your direction.  Every site is inspected by the staff of Kidzui which is comprised of parents and educators so that you can breathe easy while the kids surf freely.  Signing up was easy.  I signed Ryan up in a flash and he created his own AVATAR (which is a computer version of himself —he got to pick the hair, clothes, eyes, etc…) and we picked a password for him.  I also picked a password for myself and gave my email address so that they can keep me posted via Emails as to what my little boy has been viewing through their site.  The browser is really quite nice,  it links you to things like Alvin and The Chipmunks, Emily Yeung, Daniel Cook, Playhouse Disney, Scooby Doo, Music videos, and all sorts of educational sites and it is FREE.   You can upgrade your service by paying a fee, but I didn’t feel the need to upgrade as they offer so much with the free package.  Your kids can also make friends on the site and they can comment on what they like and don’t like by attaching labels to the sites.   The browser is so easy to use that even Mikey can use it (he’s 3).  I definitely recommend that you give it a try.  Let me know if you like it.

     A few months ago my son was invited to his “BEST FRIEND”  (at the time) Marco’s 6th birthday party.  The party was held at a place called Strike which is located at 1350 Union Turnpike in New Hyde PArk, Queens,  New York.   

     With much anticipation we counted down the days to the party.  We bought the HAPPY BIRTHDAY 6 year old card, signed and sealed it and the present was purchased, wrapped and ready to go.  If only the big day would come!!!  Ryan just couldn’t wait.  It was the second birthday party he had been invited to this year.  The first was AJ’s which was at a bowling alley on Woodhaven blvd. (which recently closed down).  Ryan had a wonderful time at AJ’s and thus was super excited to be going to Marco’s as well.   The big day finally arrived and off we went.  I actually drove right passed it because it is such a small building and sort of set back a little bit.  My navigation system said:  “You have arrived” and I said:  “Where?”  We had to make a U-Turn and head back.  When I saw the building I thought–How can they fit a bowling alley in there?  It was that small!   I parked the car as Ryan screamed “Mommy Mommy We’re here.  Park Park PARK!  We walked through the doors and found stairs that we took which brought us down to this “SUPER AWESOME” (as Ryan labeled it) place.  It was a bit dark but what would one expect when going down below street level.  The place was HUGE.  WHO KNEW?  We met up with Ryan’s friend Marco and the rest of the kids who were anxiously awaiting their shoe rental.   While I put on Ryan’s shoes his eyes scanned the entire place and he rattled off all of the places he wanted to go prior to leaving.  It was at the moment that I realizes I was in for one long, but fun day. 

     The party was very well run.  We had two girls assigned to our three lanes who made sure the kids were set up and that the games were running smoothly.  The food was great–there was sort of a mini buffet set up for the parents and children. There was a young lady serving the children and drinks were pre-poured so they could help themselves.  After eating, the kids bowled some more, and then it was cake time.  After the two hours of bowling were up, the kids were given goodie bags (from Marco and his parents) and a Strike Credit Card which could be used in the Strike Arcade. We went around playing games for about another hour and Ryan (king of the Tickets that he is) racked up over three hundred tickets playing the games.  We redeemed Ryan’s tickets for some cool kid prizes and called it a day.  Ryan and I both had a great time; he got to spend time with his classmates, and I got to sit down and chat with the other moms.  We also got to enjoy some mommy and son time which meant the world to me.  On a scale of 1-10 icecream cones I give this place 10 ice cream cones.  Ryan gives it 110 ice cream cones.   

P.S. Strike also has late night bowling and happy hour for the not so little ones.

I must admit I have not tried this one myself–I just read about it tonight.  I thought I would post it here for those of you who would like to try it.  Apparently You can use Elmer’s School Glue to remove splinters.  The article said to put a bit of Elmers NON-TOXIC white school glue on a splinter (even those that are just barely sticking out of the skin) and the surrounding area.  Allow the glue to dry and then carefully pull the glue off of the area.  The splinter should come out easily.   Please let me know if you use this technique and whether it works for you. 

Don’t you love those non-slip socks and slipper booties?  Here is how you and your kids can create your own.

What you will need:  Socks (old or new), something to cover your work-space with (to keep it paint free), and fabric paint

Cover your workspace with newspaper (or other protective covering) and place a pair of socks on the covering.  With a brush (or using the squeeze applicator that comes on some fabric paints) create a design such as hearts, stars, polka dots, squiggly lines or even a name on the bottom of the sock.  Allow it to dry for the amount of time listed on the paint’s instructions. 

Creating matching designs also makes it easier to match the socks later when you have a ton of them coming out of the dryer and need to create the matches.