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Archives for February 2014

South Sound Weekend Calendar: Family Fun and Things for Kids for February 28th-March 2nd!

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Need something to do around the South Sound this  weekend? Here’s a whole list of activities with lots for your family to choose from!

For Seattle or Portland area fun you’ll want to check out the fantastic list over at ThriftyNWmom compiled by the newest member of their frugal finding team, Annaliese of Grays Harbor Deals!

Friday

For daytime Friday fun, check the calendar! 

It’s a tween night with our sponsors at Trampoline Nation From 6-9PM kids 10-13 get 3 hours of jumping for 15.00. Older and younger jumpers are welcome at the regular price.

Saturday

All Over

Kids’ Club at Michael’s Stores  It’s a bookmark craft today. 2.00 per child/ sessions start on the half hour from 10AM-11:30  For ages 3 and up

Kids’ Build at Home Depot  Advance registration is now required for these popular, free workshops. Kids build a project, get an apron, and more. It’s a Trojan horse bank today (a tie-in to the upcoming Sherman and Mr.Peabody movie).

Worth the Trip

The snow play area at Paradise at Mt.Rainier is open! Maybe? Call first-There has been so much snow that there have been frequent road closures. Check conditions before you go.

South King County

Touch tanks at HCC Mast at Redondo  Free and open to the public every Saturday from 10-2  ****You can still look at the critters in the tanks, but you cannot touch them currently because of concerns over a disease that has been affecting the sea stars.

There’s SO more to explore…. Keep Reading for Tacoma area ideas (Princess readings!), and the rest of the list! [Read more…]

South Sound Mother Son Events and One More Father Daughter Ball!

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This is an old post. Go here for our 2017 round up of Mother/Son dances and events! 

 

Last month, I did a round-up of father/daughter dances and several of you asked about events for moms and sons.  Here are the ones I’ve found so far (Yes, there are fewer than last year), along with the scoop on one more father/daughter event-good news for those of you in the South Tacoma area if you thought you’d missed out!

Mad Hatter's Ball

[Read more…]

Meet the Daffodil Princesses and Blitz from the Seahawks!

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If you’re a fan of princesses or the Seahawks (That should cover just about all of you), you’ll want to make sure your weekend includes time for a stop at the South Hill Mall.

South Hill Mall Daffodil princess event

The Daffodil Princesses will be there with crafts, stories, posters, and more fun from 10AM-5PM.

Blitz and the Seagals will join them from 1-3. You’ll find them at the center court in front of Dick’s, and it’s all for my favorite price-Free! Don’t forget your camera!

I’ll have scoop on more events throughout Daffodil Festival season. If you can’t get enough of our real life princesses, be sure you’ve subscribed to my daily emails!

Photo courtesy of Steve James and the Daffodil Festival

 

Great Deal to the Hands-on Children’s Museum!

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Woot! The awesome Hands-On Children’s Museum in Olympia is on Groupon!

Olympia Hands on Children's Museum

For 30.00 dollars you get admission for 5-that’s almost half-off! In fact, regular admission is 11.00, so it’s a good deal even if you’re a family of 4 or 3!  Now, you can go for Free on first Friday evenings, but those are typically quite crowded. You can also go for free with a library pass, but you do have to get those in person, and there is typically quite a wait.

This deal lets you go anytime you want, and if your spring break is going to be a, “Staycation,” it would make for a great day trip!

Haven’t been since they’ve renovated? You can read a great review here!

Want to pick up this deal?Just head here to Groupon!

Disclosure: Deal site links on SFM are my affiliates and help support the site. Thanks for using them on deals that are good ones for you!

 

Titlow Mud Run Registration Open

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If your idea of a good time is chasing your kids through the mud (that’s just pretty much Tuesday around here…) you may want to sign up for the Titlow Mud Run coming up on Sunday, March 23rd.

Mud Run

Adventure runs are all all the rage these days, and this one was popular with readers last year. It features a 2 mile, family friendly course near Tacoma’s Titlow Park and plenty of down and dirty fun.

Obstacles are optional, so you can stay clean if you want to, though what’s the fun in that? Register now for 25.00, or pay 10.00 more day-of. Your fee includes chip timing and a towel. f you did this one last year, I’d love for you to leave a comment.

For more information, you can check out the Metro Parks site here.

Photo property of Metro Parks

Meet Narrows Co-Op Preschool!

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Hey, Tacoma! Are you on the hunt for a great preschool you can afford? If that sounds too good to be true, you’ll want to check out our sponsors at Narrows Co-Op Preschool.

Tacoma Cooperative Preschool

They offer a child centered, play based curriculum taught by experienced teachers, and because parents take turns helping out with school tasks, tuition is super affordable, and the adult to child ratio is awesome!

The school offers classes for children 2-5, including a unique, music enrichment class. You can check out more information about tuition, days, and times here at their website.

Of course, the BEST way to choose a school is to visit! There is an open house coming up on March 1st from 10AM-1PM. Drop in and tour the facilities, meet the teachers, talk to other parents, and let your kids explore and play.

If it feels like the right fit you can enroll on the spot!

Email any questions to  Narrowsco-op@hotmail.com  or check out the  Narrows Co-Op website! 
It’s seriously chock full of pictures, information, and testimonials from parents that I think will give you a real feel for the school.
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post, and if you check out Narrows Co-op, I would LOVE for you to tell them thanks for their sponsorship this month!

Kindergarten Readiness Part II: The Pros and Cons of Waiting an Extra Year

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Yesterday, I shared some information about how to get your preschooler ready for kindergarten. If you have a preschooler or toddler, make sure you read it. Today, I’m rerunning the second part of this series-the pros and cons of having children wait an extra year before heading to kindergarten.

This is sometimes called, “Red shirting,” and it is usually, though not always,  the parents of boys with late spring or summer birthdays who consider starting them a year later than they could. I’ll share our personal story at the end of this post, but first, I wanted to share some thoughts from area early learning experts.

Kinder2

Laurie Sjolund, the Early Learning Coordinator in Sumner, says the decision about whether to wait a year is always an individual decision that should be made based on the unique needs of the child and family. She points out that a boy with a summer birthday could have better skills than a girl with an autumn one. Rather than focusing on the child’s age or gender, she encourages parents to assess their child’s skills and also to think about the important issue of what the child would be doing with that extra year.

Cindy Johnson, an Early Learning Specialist in Franklin Pierce, worries that children who spend an extra year at home may be losing valuable learning time.  She feels that if children are five they should go to kindergarten. [Read more…]

What Sounds Fun This Week!

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It’s almost March! I know……crazy!

Several area libraries have drop in Lego building this week.

Several area libraries have drop in Lego building this week.

What’s going on this week? Lots of Lego activities at area libraries, special evening story time sessions for Tacoma readers, and an open house at the Center at Norpoint on Thursday. If you’re one of my North East Tacoma area readers, this is a great chance to see what the Center has to offer.

You can check the calendar for more details on these and more fun events.  I also have plenty of new posts planned here, including previews of coming events, and a giveaway you Won’t want to miss! If you’re not already an email subscriber, think about becoming one!

South Sound Weekend Kids Calendar: Family Fun and Things to Do for February 21st-23rd!

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Need something to do around the South Sound this  weekend? Here’s a whole list of activities with lots for your family to choose from!

For Seattle or Portland area fun you’ll want to check out the fantastic list over at ThriftyNWmom compiled by the newest member of their frugal finding team, Annaliese of Grays Harbor Deals!

  Saturday

All Over

Kids’ Club at Michael’s Stores  It’s a foam butterfly craft today. 2.00 per child/ sessions start on the half hour from 10AM-11:30  For ages 3 and up

Lowe’s Build and Grow  Advance registration is required for these popular, free programs. Most stores are full (Hopefully you signed up when I first mentioned it), but a few still have spots.

Worth the Trip

The snow play area at Paradise at Mt.Rainier is open! Maybe?Call first-There has been so much snow that there have been frequent road closures. Check conditions before you go.

South King County

Scholastic Books Warehouse sale in Auburn

Auburn Avenue Kids Presents Goldilocks 2PM Lively performance great for young children Tickets are 8.00

Touch tanks at HCC Mast at Redondo  Free and open to the public every Saturday from 10-2  ****You can still look at the critters in the tanks, but you cannot touch them currently because of concerns over a disease that has been affecting the sea stars.

Bounce with our sponsors at Trampoline Nation

or take little ones to play with our friends at Xtreme Bounce of Fun!

Daddy/Daughter date night in Auburn  Call for ticket availability

There’s SO more to explore….click on Continue Reading for Tacoma area ideas (Princess readings!), and the rest of the list! [Read more…]

Are You Ready for Kindergarten? Tips From South Sound Early Learning Experts!

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This post is presented by MyIR, the FREE and secure way for Washington State families to store immunization records (and always have them ready for anything-like registering for school)!

We know there are lots of posts around the internet about preparing your child for kindergarten, but we thought for our South Sound and Tacoma area families, we’d go straight to some South Sound experts, and find out what your kiddos really need to know! If you’ve got a first timer, or one you’re on the fence about, I think you’ll enjoy this mini series we put together with the help of some of this area’s experts

Note-We first ran this post back in 2014, so the titles of some of the experts quoted may have changed, but we still think all the info. is super helpful! I hope you do, too! 

Cindy Johnson is an Early Learning Specialist in the Franklin Pierce School District. Laurie Sjolund is the Early Learning Coordinator in the Sumner School District. They were both very generous with their time, and gave me lots of great tips to share with you.

Kinder1

Look For Classses: First, if you’re the parent of a 4 or 5 year old who has not yet started kindergarten, be on the lookout for information about Ready! for Kindergarten classes. Most every district offers some kind of kindergarten registration event, but Ready! for Kindergarten (look for the exclamation point) is a special program. If you participate in the class you’ll learn fun ways to work on early learning skills with your kiddos (flashcards not required), and you’ll walk away with free toys and educational materials you get to keep. Score! [Read more…]