Start a Garden – Fun Stuff to do Anywhere

Start a Garden – Fun Stuff to do Anywhere

If you started some seeds indoor earlier in the year, they are probably ready to move outside either into the ground, or into larger pots.

We have never lived in a house with a yard big enough for a garden in the ground. So I have become a good container gardener over the years. So if all you have is a small apartment patio or balcony, you can still create a little garden to grow stuff with your kids.

We have grown tomatoes, potatoes, bell peppers, broccoli, peas, herbs, flowers, zucchini, cantaloupe, strawberries, and blueberries in pots over the years. The bigger plants may need pretty large containers to grow well in, but it can be done. Pick a few of your favorite fruits or veggies, and start growing! For tomatoes, or vine-y or sprawling plants like cantaloupe or zucchini, I find that cages help the plant to grow without sprawling out of the pot and breaking the stems.

It isn't too late in the year if you want to start from seed. You can start indoors, or right outside if you want. If you'd rather get more of a running start at your garden, lots of plant centers have good sales this time of year on seedlings.

Each plant will have it's own slightly different requirements about how much sun and water and spacing they like, so just follow the instructions that come with your plant or seed packet, and watch your garden grow.

Play a Card Game – Fun Stuff To Do Anywhere

Play a Card Game – Fun Stuff To Do Anywhere

Playing a card game with your kids can have multiple benefits. You get some good fun together time, and hopefully some conversation too, but additionally, many card games are great for math practice.

Simple card games like 'Go Fish' or 'War' are good to play with younger children. Then games like 'Twenty-one' or 'Cribbage' can introduce some simple strategy and mental addition. There are literally hundreds of card games out there.

There are great books full of games, or pagat.com has rules for a slew of games too.

Put Together a Jigsaw Puzzle – Fun Stuff To Do Anywhere

Put Together a Jigsaw Puzzle – Fun Stuff To Do Anywhere

I remember putting puzzles together with my mother when I was small, but for some reason I never thought about doing it with my own kids until recently. They did simple 25 piece, then 50 piece puzzles as preschoolers on their own and loved them. Often they would put the same puzzle together over and over again. But when they moved on to 100 piece, they did one or two and stopped. I thought they had outgrown puzzles, but now I think it was something else.

I think they hit a point where the puzzles were more challenging and they became intimidated. We did a 500 piece puzzle together, and in the beginning they acted discouraged before we’d even really begun. Once the boarder was put together, and some other small parts had been assembled enough to be recognizable, their enthusiasm for the project grew. Every piece placed was a tiny celebration.

We didn’t try to put it together all in one sitting, or even all in one day. I think that would have been more than they could take. But we ended up having a lot of fun, and I look forward to another group jigsaw puzzle again soon, although some puzzles at the store have gotten pricey in my opinion, but sales and thrift stores, and garage sales are great places to pick a puzzle up if you want totry one out without spending much to start.

Sutter's Fort – Outside the Bay

Sutter's Fort – Outside the Bay

Another great spot to visit for kids interested in California history is Sutter's Fort in Sacramento. Many of the rooms of the fort have been restored to demonstrate their original purpose. The fort isn't large, and we took our time exploring and reading signs, even revisiting spots that the kids wanted to go back and see again, and still finished in les than two hours.

Our kids liked being in charge of the map and looking up the purpose of various areas of the fort. There is also a lot of open space in the center of the fort for little legs that need to let out some energy in running around before they can pay attention to the history again.

Admission is $5 for adults and $3 for children, and kids under 5 are free. The State Indian Museum is on the same grounds as Sutter's Fort, just outside the fort gates, and I believe a discount pass can be purchased if you plan to visit both places. We did not go into the State Indian Museum, but would like to go back to do so.

In addition to Sutter's Fort, our kids wanted to spend some time at the walkway and pod next to the fort. The pond is home to ducks (there were baby ducklings when we visited) and turtles and squirrels, and the kids did not seem to tire of watching the animals.

Attend an Event at your Local Library - Fun Stuff to do Anywhere

Attend an Event at your Local Library

Nowadays, every library system has a website including a calendar of events. I’ve found these calendars sometimes cumbersome to use however, and some events I know are happening, I have been unable to find on the calendar. So while the website for your local library is a good starting place to look for these fun sorts of events, a visit to the actual library branch you like to go to is even better. Most will have fliers listing all their upcoming events for the next month or even next several months. While you’re there, you can also then sign up for any event that requires registration to attend. 

There is a whole lot more to do at your local library than just check out books or attend a storytime. At the various placed we’ve lived around the Bay Area, we have attended all sorts of wonderful events at different libraries: movies, holiday parties, or holiday themed crafting events, special performances from magicians, comedians, or actors, author and illustrator talks, wild animal shows, and police dog demonstrations.

Nowadays, every library system has a website including a calendar of events. I’ve found these calendars sometimes cumbersome to use however, and some events I know are happening, I have been unable to find on the calendar. So while the website for your local library is a good starting place to look for these fun sorts of events, a visit to the actual library branch you like to go to is even better. Most will have fliers listing all their upcoming events for the next month or even next several months. While you’re there, you can also then sign up for any event that requires registration to attend. 

Sutter’s Mill in Coloma – Outside the Bay

Sutter’s Mill in Coloma – Outside the Bay

We have a 4^th grader in our family this year, and in our adventures to explore the traditional 4^th grade topic of California History we have wandered to areas that extend beyond the Bay Area. Still I wanted to share the places we visited for anyone who may want to make similar trips.

A big part of California history is the Gold Rush. We visited the site of Sutter’s Mill, in Marshall Gold Discovery Park, where gold was first discovered in California. Many of the buildings are reproductions, but I think the kids got more out of that than they would have by looking at ruins or something they couldn’t tell what it once was.

They have a small museum that didn’t take us more than 20 to 30 minutes to walk through, and that was at a dawdling pace, but the kids enjoyed much more than I expected them to. We went into the museum right after we finished panning for gold at the shack just across the road from the museum. The gold panning was more difficult than the kids had expected, although the instructor was very helpful and patient in helping everyone perfect their technique. Perhaps their own gold panning experience helped them appreciate the replicas of some of the gold nuggets retrieved from the river in the early days of the gold rush.

Beyond the museum and reconstructed mill and surrounding buildings, Marshall Gold Discovery Park also has hiking trails. We happened to visit on an unusually hot day, so we didn’t wander far from the historical displays, but it is an option during your trip. There were also many picnic tables available for a nice picnic lunch.

The Marshall Gold Discovery Park website mentions there being folks dressed up in period outfits there as well. We didn’t see anything like that on our visit, so perhaps they aren’t there every day. The volunteers and rangers we met were all a wealth of information and friendly, but were all dressed in uniforms or regular modern clothes.

Plant Seeds Inside – Fun Stuff To Do Anywhere

Plant Seeds Inside – Fun Stuff To Do Anywhere

This is a good time of year here in Northern California to start some seeds indoor for your spring garden. We are still having frequent frosts overnight in many places around the Bay Area, but when you start your seeds indoors, they can germinate in the indoor protected environment, and you will have nice big seedlings ready to go into the garden later in the spring.

Kids love planting seeds too, and watching them grow. There are lots of inexpensive kits you can find for starting seeds indoors: small seed cups or plastic trays for miniature indoor greenhouses. If you don’t want to mess with getting a kit, just use a regular pot that fits on a sunny window in your home, and cover it with saran wrap until your seeds sprout.

For indoor seed starting, you want to plant things that can be transplanted outdoors later on. We like to start tomatoes, bell peppers, peas and beans, squash, and melons inside. Smaller vegetables that don’t transplant well, like green onions, radishes, and carrots we will wait and plant directly into the garden later in the spring. 

Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary in San Francisco

Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary in San Francisco

The Visitor Center for the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary is located in Crissy Field in San Francisco. It isn’t a large marine museum, but there are still some very neat things to see. The Farallones Sanctuary visitor center is open Wednesdays thru Sundays from 10 to 4, and is free of charge to visit.

The Marine Sanctuary also offers several public and school programs. Although we have never attended a program our homeschool program offered an in school program a couple of years ago that we really enjoyed. It appears that the main Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary website, linked above, is not up to date for their current program offerings. However there is another website, for the Farallones Marine Sanctuary Association that is where you would find the best information about their programs and how to schedule your own or attend one they are putting on.

Our visits to the center took us less than an hour, but since it is located in Crissy Field in the Presidio, and right on the beach, our family had even more fun walking along the waves and watching the beach wildlife. 

Introduce Your Kids to Your Favorite Childhood Show – Fun Stuff To Do Anywhere

Introduce Your Kids to Your Favorite Childhood Show – Fun Stuff To Do Anywhere

TV watching is never my first choice for spending quality time with my kids, but with icky weather outside, or when we were recently stuck at home with the flu together, sometimes TV can be great. 

With the help of youtube, Netflix, or your local library, it can be surprisingly easy to get your hands on a video or DVD of your favorite childhood shows.

It can be a strange experience though. Some of my very favorites did not translate from my childhood self to my adult self very well, leaving me wondering what I’d liked about them in the first place. Also, it can be a little hit and miss with what will translate to today’s child audiences. I successfully turned my girls into little Thundercats fans, and they adored E.T. almost as much as I did at their age, but the Robin Williams movie version of Popeye bored them so much they wandered away after the first 30 min. They seem interested in Star Trek and Doctor Who, and willing to stick with it, but I sometimes end up spending more time answering questions than watching.

Some of the disconnect is age since I know I was more into my early teens when I became a Trekie and Whovian. These aren’t shows I intentionally set out to show them, but that they have joined me as I was watching for my own pleasure. So try to think about what you loved when you were the same age as your child is now. Then the next time you need some snuggle time on the couch due to illness or some other factors, pull it out to share.

Photography - Fun Stuff to Do Anywhere

Photography - Fun Stuff to Do Anywhere

My kids always like it when I let them have my camera to take pictures of whatever they like. That's part of the beauty of the digital age. I was never allowed to take photos as a child because I would 'waste' film. You don't need a fancy camera to call it 'photography'. Even a camera on a cell phone will make the kids happy.

To go a step further, you might print out their favorite photos and make a scrapbook, or even frame one for their room. You can take a hike or just let them pose their toys at home for a snapshot. Most county fair offer a photography category for kids if they want a chance to see their pictures displayed, and maybe have the chance to win a couple bucks.

Make a Graham Cracker Gingerbread House - Fun Stuff to Do Anywhere

Make a Graham Cracker Gingerbread House - Fun Stuff to Do Anywhere

After one of my Halloween posts, I promised to share something fun you could do with the Halloween leftover candy that nobody likes. Here it is: use it to decorate a mini graham cracker gingerbread house.

These graham cracker gingerbread houses are cute, and fun to make. And since they are small, they aren't too complicated. The key to a nice graham cracker house is good frosting. A frosting that is too soft will make the house wobbly, and easy to fall apart as you add other decorations. However, a frosting that is really nice and stiff, and will dry like stone will also be pretty uneatable, so you might want to decide ahead of time if you want to eat them when they are done. I suppose you could also use glue instead of frosting if you don't want to eat them, but most white glues will dry clear, and I think they white joints look nice.

I find that the canned frosting is generally too soft. I like the prepackaged tubes of frosting because they are fairly stiff, and much easier to handle and work with with little mess. If you want to make your own, I found a  recipe for stiff royal frosting here.

For the graham cracker parts of the house, we used two squares (1/2 of a whole big graham cracker) for the roof, and 4 squares for the sides of the house. I have also seen ones made with 2 small rectangles of graham cracker (or 1/2 of a square) for the sides of the house, and the front and back made by cutting a square of graham cracker into a house shape by cutting the corners off one of the smaller rectangles. When I've tried to make those cuts, it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. I broke a lot crackers, and became frustrated. They do turn out a little cuter that way though.

Use your frosting to stick all the sides and the roof together and then let it sit and dry a little while. When it is dry and fairly stable, you can use more frosting to stick candies on the house for decorations.

TA-DA! Little Graham Cracker Gingerbread Houses.

A Surprise Trip to San Francisco to See Union Square

A Surprise Trip to San Francisco to See Union Square

A few days ago we took a partial day surprise trip to San Francisco. I thought it would be fun for the kids to visit Union Square all decorated for Christmas, and explore the City a bit. While we didn't do anything all that spectacular, the kids have been talking about the trip ever since. They really had a blast. Things they loved about our trip to San Francisco:


We took BART to get there. 
And unless riding BART is something your kids do often, then they will probably get a kick out of it. From studying the train map, to putting their pass into the entry gates, to picking seats that went 'backwards', the kids loved the BART train. I had a little bit of frustration when I learned that the discounted child BART tickets can't be purchased at the station, but have to be pre-purchased someplace else. I even checked the BART website before our trip to research route prices, and still didn't see that mentioned. After spending 30 min circling the parking garage for a space, I wan't going to leave to find a 7-11 that offered the child passes, so I paid adult rates for them. Naturally, thought, the kids could care less, and their fun was in no way lessened.

We Took Time To Wander. 
The plan for this trip was very open. We wanted to go to Union Square, but otherwise, we explored the blocks right around that area and did some Christmas shopping (very little) in the stores that interested the kids.

We Saw the Union Square Christmas Tree, Menorah, and Ice Rink.
While we only spent a few minutes there admiring it all, but the kids were duly impressed. My youngest was afraid to try the ice skating, so we passed on that this year, but they still had big smiles as they watched some of the skaters while we were there.

We Took A Break for a Soft Pretzel
There are lots of stands for soft pretzels, but we found a spot in the basement of Macy's across the street from the Union Square Christmas Tree that had lots of tables and seats. I'm sorry I don't remember the name of it. But there were plenty of other food court style eating establishments down there if soft pretzels aren't your thing. Lots of walking on Big City hills was hard on my soft suburban kids and their little legs, so we enjoyed the rest and snack.

Street Performers
I'm not a city girl myself, so I actually tried to steer clear at first from most of these folks. But my kids were drawn to some, and enjoyed their talents, and as it turned out, all the ones we stopped to watch were friendly and smiling, and made the day better.

Pigeons
Are my kids the only ones who go to a new place, only to get super excited by stuff there that is exactly the same as we have at home?  We do actually have pigeons in our own town. But somehow, San Francisco pigeons are more exciting.

What other sorts of things do your kids love about a visit to San Francisco?

Play a Board Game - Fun Stuff to Do Anywhere

Play a Board Game

We used to enjoy a weekly family game night. The with unpredictable work schedules, and busy weekend obligations, we lost track of it. Now we don't always manage a board game every week, but we get the whole family together from time to time, and we are always happy we made the effort.

Plus games are one of those sneaky fun learning experiences for kids, especially younger kids. There is counting, sometimes adding, maybe spelling even in games like Scrabble, sometimes strategy and logical thinking.

Here are some of the games that my kids pull out the most often when it's their turn to choose a family board game:




What are your family's favorite games?

Take a Hike – Fun Stuff to Do Anywhere

Take a Hike – Fun Stuff to Do Anywhere

Before long it will be too wet to spend much time outdoors here in the Northern California Bay Area. Take advantage of a sunny day and get out for a walk with the kids. If you’re really ambitious and want some serious nature time, you can visit the East Bay Regional Parks website and find your closest park to visit. Be warned however, that even if there hasn’t been any recent rain, the trails can be muddy and slippery this time of year.

Even a walk around the block in your own neighborhood can be a lot of fun though. Have the kids see how many different types of birds they can spot along the way. Or, how many different types of animals – and dogs count!

Some Fun Christmas Events Around the Bay, December 2012

Some Fun Christmas Events Around the Bay, December 2012

Christmas at Ardenwood Historic Farm in Fremont – Anytime is a great time to visit Ardenwood Historic Farms if you have not done so already, but during their Christmas celebration is one of our favorite times to go.

They celebrate a Victorian style Christmas at Ardenwood, with Victorian inspired crafts, volunteers in Victorian costumes, music, and the historic Patterson House decorated in traditional Victorian Christmas style. Father Christmas always has a special spot in the gazebo where kids can find him to share their wishes. The farm’s huge draft horses also usually make the rounds too, either taking folks for a wagon ride, or pulling a horse drawn train instead, depending on the year. Both are fun.

They also have all the regular Ardenwood Historic Farm attractions, the farm animals, and the Patterson house (although it is fancier with its decorations than usual, and the blacksmith shop.

Christmas at Ardenwood this year runs on December 1^st and 2^nd from 10 am to 4 pm. Bundle up, it’s usually pretty chilly.

The Great Dickens Christmas Fair in San Francisco – This is a bigger and more famous Victorian Christmas celebration in the Bay Area. It takes place this year over 5 weekends from November 23^rd to December 23^rd from 10 am to 7 pm.

We have never personally been to this Christmas fair, mainly because it is so much more expensive than Ardenwood, but it looks just wonderful, and I would love to go one of these years. It looks huge and fun and beautiful. I recommend you check out their website at the link above to see everything they have to offer.

Zoo Lights at the Oakland Zoo in Oakland – After regular zoo hours, the zoo is filled with holiday lights. Some even make a little almost animated show with the way they blink on and off. Some are just there, and pretty.

Zoo lights run from Nov 30^th to Dec 31^st every night except Christmas Eve and Christmas Day from 5:30 pm until 9:00 pm.

The animals have access to their night houses, so most of them are not viewable during Zoo Lights, although we have seen one or two wander out into their exhibits and look around. Generally, though, they have gone off to have dinner and sleep and Zoo Lights is not a good time to see animals. What we have done in the past that was fun, was to visit the zoo during the day to see the animals. Leave at closing to get some dinner, then return for the lights at night.

Santa visits Oakland’s Zoo lights each night as well, and it can be a nice time to say “Hi” to him without a long line.

City of Martinez Children’s Light Parade and Snow Park in Martinez – We stumbled upon this even sort of by accident one year, but the kids had so much fun we may try to make it back there if we can.  This year it happens on Friday Nov. 30^th starting at 6:30 pm.

The downtown area is all blocked off for this holiday celebration that includes a parade where kids can join in carrying lights. My kids had never gotten to be in a parade before so they really loved this. Then there is a lot of holiday events, including an area with a snow machine creating a little snowy play area for the snow-deprived California kids. The downtown shops are open, and always fun to browse through.

And Many, Many More. . .

These are only the events we have been to in the past of I’ve heard a lot about from friends. I know most towns around the Bay Area must have their own wonderful Christmas and Holiday events beginning very soon. If you know of one I didn’t mention, please tell us about it in the comment section. I’d love to find out about more.

Markham Nature Area in Concord

Markham Nature Area in Concord

The Markham Nature Area is a hidden little treasure. It's one of those places we stumbled upon by semi-accident and was amazed that we had not known about it before. Plus it's free.

There are three distinct areas or features of the Markham Nature Area:

The Tree Walk – this is an easy dirt walking trail. Along the path are various trees, many of which are marked with numbers. At the beginning of the trail you can pick up a map that will give you the name of each numbered tree.

I was surprised how much my kids liked the tree walk. They loved carrying the map, finding the tree numbers, and looking up the type of tree from their map. Honestly, I think if I took them back today, they wouldn't be able to remember a single tree name, but they still had fun. Plus, my preschooler had been confused about reading two-digit numbers; she tended to read them backward. By the end of the Tree Walk, she was an expert in reading two digit numbers because she wanted to be in charge of the map so much.

The International Garden – This is a shorter walking trail that passes through a garden that has been planted with plants from around the world, and arranged by region. The international areas include: Australia, Asia, South America, Africa, California, the Eastern U.S., the Mediterranean, and Europe.

My kids were less excited about this part of Markham Nature Area than the Tree Walk, but there were enough strange and interesting plants to hold their interest for a quick walk though. I liked that each plant had a little plaque with its name on it.

The Nursery – While a visit to the Markham Nature Area is free, they still need to pay for maintenance and other expenses. One way they do this is through plant sales at the plant nursery. The Nursery is open on Tuesdays from 9:00 to noon. They are also open on some Saturdays, but their Saturday sales appear to be done for the rest of 2012. If you'd like to know when the next Saturday plant sale will be you can visit their website here. 

Be Thankful – Fun Stuff to Do Anywhere

Be Thankful – Fun Stuff to Do Anywhere

Some people like to keep a gratitude journal for the month of November. In it they write a short entry each day about something they are grateful for. Some keep the practice beyond Thanksgiving month, as it is shown to improve your stress level and mood.

It can also be a fun activity to do as a family. Well, maybe more 'uplifting', than 'fun'. The journal can easily be adapted for any age. Teens and adults, and even older children can just keep a normal journal, or use filler paper. For my younger kids I like those journals that have the bottom half of the page lined for writing and the top half blank for drawing. Even younger pre-writing children can draw pictures for their gratitude journal.

Another nice variation is for the kids to draw a 'Thankful Tree' and each day they write on a leaf something they're thankful for and add it to their tree. We did this on drawing paper, but I suppose you could even get a small tree, or branch and add a ribbon to the thankful leaves and hang them on. The whole family could even share a tree this way. 

Draw with Sidewalk Chalk – Fun Stuff to Do Anywhere

Draw with Sidewalk Chalk – Fun Stuff to Do Anywhere

Those big pieces of sidewalk chalk can be found very inexpensively.  Whenever we are with a group of kids it's always a surprisingly big hit. Toddlers love making marks on the ground, and even the teens in the group enjoy making more elaborate or artistic drawings. I love activities like this that appeal so well to all age groups, and are just so simple, and pure fun.

The Golden Skate in San Ramon

Golden Skate in San Ramon

It made me kinda happy to see so many kids enjoying roller skating at our recent visit to Golden Skate in San Ramon. Just like when I was a kid, you could tell that some had spent quite a bit of time on skates, and others appeared to be trying it out for the first time, clinging to the rail for dear life as they scooted around the ring. I was impressed how clean and new the inside of Golden Skate appeared. We haven’t been roller skating in a very long time, but the rinks we visited were older, word and dingy.

The Golden Skate was colorful, and bright. Carpeting lets less confident skaters get their bearings while putting on their skates and when they are off the rink. The exception, reasonably, is the restrooms which have traditional linoleum flooring. This became a bit of a problem for my youngest, which was unwilling to get on the rink with her skates at all, preferring to scoot around on the long stretch of carpet. In retrospect, I would have had her take the rollerskates off before going to the restroom, but it felt like a hassle at the time.

While we were there, they played a group skating game, had shout-outs to the birthday kids, played a few songs with the lights out and colored spotlights and the disco ball going, and even did one traditional playing of ‘YMCA”, even though the rest of the time they stuck mainly to modern pop music.

They also have a nice large snack area with lots of seats for anyone not skating, or for skaters to rest and snack. A dozen or so video games and ticket games are also available with the usual little plastic prizes for tickets.

The party rooms are small. For the party we attended, parents couldn’t fit into the room at all, although one or two squeezed themselves in and stood by the wall. There was another slightly larger party room next door to ours, but I noticed that parents in that group didn’t really try to fit themselves in there either.  The two young men who were in charge of facilitating the birthday party we attended were wonderful. They had constant smiles, and I saw them constantly offering assistance or helping or tidying up. All the employees I interacted with seemed to really enjoy their job, and that was so refreshing and pleasant. 

The cost seems to depend on the session you want to attend, with most sessions lasting around 2 hours. They are only open for roller skating on Fridays thru Sundays, with an adult skating session on Wendsday nights. You can visit their website to see their calender of upcoming skating sessions and prices. 

My kids has so much fun, they have been asking to go roller skating again ever since. So I hope to have other roller skating rinks to review for you soon.