Your guide to activities and fun things to do with your preschoolers, toddlers and kids in newark, NJ

Get Your Ruby Red Slippers... We're Not in Kansas Anymore

March 13, 2009

We've gone to see a lot of Broadway shows with the kids in New York City (Mamma Mia, Mary Poppins, Beauty and the Beast, and the Lion King), but our favorite was not a Disney production. The show we enjoyed the most and are still talking about two years later was Annie, a traveling show passing through the WaMu Theater in Madison Square Garden.

A few months ago, I started hearing about a similar classic that would be staged in Madison Square Garden: the Wizard of Oz. From the first moment I heard about it, I was determined that we would go see it, budget be darned. I've been watching the various ticket offers cycling through my inbox until I saw one this week that I just could not pass up.

The tickets for select shows are now 50% off!

Of course there are still some of the usual fees piled on top, but the end result is still pretty great: seats for a Friday night show in row K for just $25 a piece (plus about $15 in fees incremental). I feel like my ruby red slippers are already cruising down the yellow brick road.

Here are the details of the offer from my email:

Save 50% on select tickets to select performances by entering the code EMHOUSE at checkout. Hurry, time is melting away!

This offer expires April 5, 2009.

Tickets are available for the following shows:

March 26 at 7:30

March 27 at 7:30

March 29 at 4:00

April 2 at 7:30

April 3 at 7:30

April 5 at 3:00

Tickets can be purchased by going to the Ticketmaster site or by calling Ticketmaster directly at 1-866-858-0009 

Karaoke at Bedtime

by Vanessa Druckman

March 10, 2009

When I'm giving a new babysitter the bedtime routine walk-through, I always save the best instruction for last. I sneak it in so they don't run away screaming. "After stories, peeing, and brushing teeth, I sing a song to each of the kids. Of course this is totally up to you... but they really enjoy it."  I've clearly mastered the sly guilt-inducing close because I haven't had a runner yet. Many look at me like I'm completely crazy, but they all usually nod like they're game.

We started singing to the kids when they were colicky infants. Each of my three children had one magical song that soothed them. For Bella it was endless verses of B.I.N.G.O. adjusted to spell the names of everyone she had encountered in her short lifespan. Jack was the most colicky of the three, but the French lullaby "Dodo, bebe do" usually calmed him down somewhat. Juliette, our little dictator, refuses to close her eyes without a few renditions of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.

 While Juliette's tastes have not evolved beyond the classics, the other two have definitely outgrown their lullabies. However, none have given up the tradition of singing at bedtime yet. We've learned that many traditional children's songs are actually very dark and disturbing. Have you ever sung the full "Oh My Darling Clementine" song? It's actually about a man mourning his bride's death by drowning who then consoles himself by marrying her sister.  

Ruby lips above the water,
Blowing bubbles, soft and fine,
But, alas, I was no swimmer,
So I lost my Clementine.

How I missed her! How I missed her,
How I missed my Clementine,
But I kissed her little sister,
I forgot my Clementine.

We now have a fat black binder filled with show tunes, 1970s classics, and many TV theme songs. The Brady Bunch wa a big favorite for a while but Abba and the Beatles are the favorites we always return to.

I'm not sure how many more years my seven-year old will request our scratchy renditions of tired tunes, but I'm ready to belt them out as long as she'll listen.

 What about you? Does music play a role in your bedtime routines?

Not 10, not 20, but 100 Things You Should do with your Kids Before They Grow Up in New Jersey

by Vanessa Druckman

March 02, 2009

In October, when I started writing for Savvy Source, I posted about 25 things you should do with your kids before they grow up in New Jersey. I've gotten some great feedback on this post, and comment love is very motivational, I'm now back with 75 more ideas for a grand total of 100 Things You Should Do with your Kids in New Jersey Before They Grow up! If you have any that are not on this list, please comment, let's keep it growing!

But whatever you do, never complain that you don't know what to do this weekend again! 

1. Do arts and crafts at the Crayola Factory
2. Tour the Statue of Liberty
3. Visit the Liberty Science Center
4. Get Slimed at Nickelodeon Studios
5. Splash Around at Sesame Place
6. Run in the family fun race down the shore at the NJ Marathon in early May.
7. Take the kids carolling through the neighborhood.
8. Pick apples and pumpkins at Demarest Farms in the fall.
9. Go Tubing at Campgaw Mountain
10. Ice Skate at the Duck Pond
11. Have a Food Fight
12. See the Tree Lighting at Rockefeller Center
13. Sit on Santa's Lap
14. Get Messy at the Children's Art Museum in Soho
15. Catch tadpoles and watch them transform into frogs
16. Pet the goats at Abma's Farm.
17. Have Breakfast for Dinner
18. Visit the South Street Seaport
19. Take the Circle Line around Manhattan
20. See the Elvis House at Christmas
21. Ice Skate at Rockefeller Center
22. Eat Zeppoli at the San Gennaro Festival
23. Go to Disney World
24. Eat Popcorn and Hot Dogs at a Yankee game
25. Go to a summer concert with fireworks in Central Park
26. Visit the Land of Make Believe
27. Go on a Safari at Great Adventure
28. Eat frozen custard on the boardwalk of the Jersey Shore
29. Take the ferry from Hoboken
30. Practice your batting at the batting cages.
31. Go ice skating at Bear Mountain State Park
32. Get some culture at the Newark Museum
33. Count all the exits of the New Jersey Turnpike
34. RIde a bicycle through the beautiful Cape May Victorians
35. Go fishing for blue fish on a party boat
36. See Ringling Brothers at the Newark Prudential Center
37. See the birds singing at dawn at the Celery Farm
38. Ride the fire engine at the Children's Museum of New Jersey
39. Ghost your neighbors at Halloween time with a bag of candy
40. Go on a scavenger hunt through the decorated houses of your neighborhood at Christmas time.
41. Cheer on the Newark Bears.
42. Sing louder than the instructor at a Music Together class.
43. Splash the summer heat away at the Mountain Creek water park.
44. Take NJ Transit to Manhattan and shake the conductor's hand.
45. Visit your local firehouse.
46. See a magic show at Unbelieva-bill's.
47. Dare your child to pick the craziest mix-ins at Maggie Moos.
48. Go on a tour of the NJ State Capitol
49. Take a helicopter ride above the Delaware Water Gap.
50. Take a helicopter ride above New York City.
51. Coach your child's t-Ball team.
52. Play laser tag.
53. Bake chocolate chip cookies
54. Sell girl scout cookies
55. Dig for dinosaurs at Dinosaur Falls.
56. Ski the magic carpet at Mountain Creek.
57. Have dinner at Newark airport and then watch the planes taking off and landing.
58. Ride a bicyle car on the boardwalk.
59. Walk the nature loop at the James McFaul Environmental Center.
60. Show your kids that veggies can be good at the Health Barn.
61. See the Wild West Live in NJ.
62. Spend the day rock climbing indoors.
63. See amazing family shows at the Saddle River Cultural Center.
64. Collect leaves of gorgeous color at the Ramapo Reservoir.
65. Ride the rapids on the Delaware in New Jersey.
66. Spot the whales in Cape May.
67. See NJ from the sky in a hot air balloon.
68. Test your survival skills by going camping.
69. Make S'Mores.
70. Build a tent in the backyard and spend a night under the stars with a toilet nearby.
71. Head to the Funtown Pier in Seaside Heights.
72. Soon you'll enjoy tons of indoor fun at the Xanadu Meadowlands indoor facility.
73. Ride the ferris wheel in Atlantic City.
74. Read a story to your child's class.
75. Play mini golf and splash by the sea in LBI.
76. See the fish at the Adventure Aquarium in Camden.
77. Catch a rodeo in Pilesgrove.
78. Explore the natural world at the Camden Children's Garden.
79. Enjoy wild rides at Storybook Land.
80. Design your own necklaces at Montclair Beadworks.
81. Build a Bear - need we say more?
82. Enjoy great entertainment with your sundae at the Surflight Theater down the shore.
83. See where milk comes from at the Bobolink Dairy.
84. Visit the big bad wolf at the Lakota Wolf Preserve.
85. Learn all you could imagine about insects at Insectropolis.
86. Board a pirate ship, and live to tell the tale!
87. See the largest indoor model railroad in New Jersey.
88. Climb aboard for fun at Funtime Junction!
89. Head down to Hershey Park for fun and relaxation for the entire family.
90. Rent a kayak or a canoe.
91. See the Holiday Lights Exhibit at the Bronx Zoo
92. Take a Halloween Train Ride at Van Saun Park
93. Stay in your Pajamas all Day Long - when you're not sick
94. Play Hookie from School
95. Cheer on the runners of the NJ Marathon
96. Grow your own tomatoes.
97. See a play, in a castle at the Pax Amicus Castle Theater.
98. See a movie on the really big screen at the IMAX Theater.
99. Participate in the Ridgewood Memorial Day Family Fun Run.
100. March in your town's Fourth of July parade.

Dan Zanes Giveaway

by Vanessa Druckman

February 26, 2009

Mozart, Moby or Miles - All About Music in Northern New Jersey

by Vanessa Druckman

October 21, 2008

A little over a year ago, I had an epiphany. I was sitting in a Go Diego Go Live concert, barely surviving the grating off-key voice of the lead singer when my children started singing along energetically. Although they were having a wonderful time, I was appalled. By shelling out big bucks and bringing them to this inane show, I was telling them that this was good music and depriving them of  Read more...