Your guide to activities and fun things to do with your preschoolers, toddlers and kids in san jose, CA

April Fools Fun

by bonggamom

March 31, 2009

Tomorrow is April Fool's Day, and Savvy Editors from all over are letting loose and cooking up some April Fool's Fun.  So instead of my usual "looking back" post for the end of March, I'm looking ahead and joining in with some April Fools' pranks of my own!   Here are some ideas for celebrating the silliness in life:

1) If you're brave enough, play "dress-up" with your child -- agree to let your child pick out your outfit for the day if you can pick hers.  Pick out something silly (like pajamas) for your child to wear, and stick to your end of the bargain!

2) Serve your kids some fried egg on toast that's not egg-sactly as it seems.  Pat a small scoop of marshmallow cream fluff on the center of a piece of toast and flatten it so it looks like a fried egg.   Dab a bit of lemon pudding in the center for the yolk.  Then watch your kids bite into their sweet surprise and let them know the yolk's on them!

3) You wouldn't pull the same joke twice, would you?  Yes, you would!  Serve up some cookie fish sticks and tart taffy peas for lunch or dinner.   To make the fish sticks, cover some sugar wafers in peanut butter and roll in crushed cornflakes.  For peas, break off bits of green taffy and roll into balls.

4)  Visit the Rodin sculpture garden at Stanford University and play hide and seek among the statues.  When it's your turn to hide, speak out loud in a funny (not scary!) voice and pretend one of the statues has come to life.  If you sense that the game might be too scary, skip it; instead, plop a hat and scarf on the one of the statues, and take a photo of your little one acting silly with his new stone friend.

Happy April Fools' Day!

List Day: Reflective Locations

by Shawn Burns

January 13, 2009

Good day, good day! It's another Tuesday, which means another List Day, and today's list day inspired a lot of, er. self-reflection. It's okay to groan. Everybody does. Today at Savvy Source we are talking about great places to go to let the kids see reflections of themselves. First, let me mention a couple of places not to take the kids to see reflections of themselves: The cigar store counter.  Read more...

List Day: Funny Books

by Shawn Burns

November 18, 2008

What is the difference between a funny book and a silly book? We're talking about "funny" books here on Savvy Source and I'm having a hard time just coming up with pure, guffawing, funny books for the newest readers in the house. My daughter likes Dr. Seuss and the Oswald books, but they aren't really "so didja hear the one about the monkey?" books. The Cat in the Hat is silly;  Read more...

The ABCs of Silicon Valley

by Shawn Burns

November 04, 2008

Today at Savvy Source we're doing the ABCs of Silicon Valley. Do you have the song in your head? Good. A is for Armadillo Willy's Barbecue . B is for the Baby Loves Disco . C is for the Cinco de Mayo Festival. D is for ducks . E is for environmentalism. F is for farmer's markets . G is for the Gilroy Garlic Festival . H is for Hobee's . I is for Ice Skating  Read more...

Cooling Off

by Shawn Burns

August 26, 2008

How do you cool off? Our national editors have some great ideas for cooling off in the heat. With a heatwave moving into the Silicon Valley this weekend Erin and I will be trying to cool off almost constantly. I love their suggestion to just drop an ice cube down your kid's shirt. I think I'll go do that now... Ok, but today is List Day, which means I get to tell you how to cool off. And I'm  Read more...

Playing "Pool"

by Shawn Burns

August 13, 2008

What if it's hot? Hot, like, Africa hot? Or Mercury hot? And you know that you aren't going to make it down to the community pool before it closes but you are seriously melting and your daughter is turning lobster red in the face as she sweats it out in the apartment? Hypothetically, of course. Well, how about playing "pool" in the bathtub? I don't mean take a bath. I mean put in a little  Read more...

The Circus

by Shawn Burns

August 08, 2008

One of my earliest memories is of being put in the co-pilot seat on my mother's bicycle and riding to the circus. I remember the clowns (which still freak me out a little bit) and seeing peanut shells everywhere, and riding on an elephant that seemed as tall as a house. I've always liked the circus. Maybe it's because of that early memory; maybe it's because of seeing Dumbo very young.  Read more...

Not the Big Apple, But We're Pretty Good

by Shawn Burns

July 23, 2008

Today at Savvy Source our editors are taking you to New York City. For a long time I lived on the East Coast, around the St. Lawrence River and the Great Lakes. I've lived in Upstate New York. But I've never been to New York City. London, Paris, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Munich, Dublin. I've done some metro-traveling. But The Big Apple has remained elusive.  Read more...