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

Spring Has Sprung: Baby Animals

by bonggamom

April 28, 2009

Spring is an exciting season on a farm, with all the baby lambs bleating, the baby colts struggling to stand up, and the little chicks peep-peep-peeping out of their shell.  Children love baby animals and nothing brings a smile to a preschooler's face like a fluffy yellow chick squirming in his outstretched palm.  Here are some places around Silicon Valley where you and your little one can stop by to say, “Hello” to the animal world's newest arrivals -- and maybe even pet or feed a few:

1) All 3 major zoos in the region -- the San Francisco Zoo, Oakland Zoo, and Happy Hollow Park and Zoo in San Jose -- have children's zoos with petting areas featuring gentle farm animals.
  
 
2) Ardenwood Farm in Fremont has pigs, sheep, goats, horses, cows and a henhouse with Araucana hens that lay the most beautifully-colored eggs I've ever seen (think Martha Stewart shades of blue and brown).  To get up close to all of your farmyard favorites, join us for Afternoon Animal Feeding every Thursday-Sunday at 3:00 pm. Meet at the chicken coop and help check the henhouse for eggs and bring hay to the livestock. You’ll learn all the animals’ favorite foods as you help shut the farm down for the evening.

3) Emma Prusch Farm Park in San Jose has a poultry area and livestock barn.  They also have a small animal area where children see their favorite farmyard animals.  For a fee of $3.00, they can also help feed the ducks, goats, chickens, rabbits, geese, sheep and miniature pigs one Saturday morning each month (limited to 20 children). 

4) Hidden Villa has cows, sheep, horses, goats and pigs.   You'll need to join one of their educational guided tours in order enter the pens and pet the animals, but anyone can enter the chicken coop and be surrounded by flocks of hungry, hopeful free-range chickens.  And anyone can open up the big green "learning boxes" near each animal's pen containing information about the animal and all the products we get from it.   

5)  Just one exit south from Hidden Villa on Highway 280, Deer Hollow Farm keeps a stock of chickens, rabbits, goats, sheep, pigs, and a cow.  The buildings and pens are closed to the general public, but their last Spring Farm Tour is coming up this May 16.  Take advantage of this opportunity to tour the farm from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm, 45-minute tours.

Finally, it's not your typical farm, but Shoreline Lake at Mountain View is once more swamped with ducks and geese and their young hatchlings.  Pack up your stale crusts of bread so your preschooler can throw some to the wildlife and find out what it's like to be a celebrity chased by the duckarazzi.  Just be prepared to navigate through all their dropping!  Not that your children would even notice -- after all, baby animals are baby animals wherever they can find'em!

Creeks and streams for Children in Silicon Valley

by bonggamom

March 24, 2009

Ah, spring. It's a wonderful time to explore the outdoors with your preschooler and get started on correcting the nature-deficit that suburban families sometimes experience.  Plants are sprouting, animals are birthing and creeks are bubbling..... did you say creeks??  Oh yes; there's still a chill in the air, but springtime is actually a great time to head out with your preschooler and splash in a stream.  By the time the hot summer days roll around, all the water will have dried out, so now's the time to explore the creeks and streams of Silicon Valley.  Pack a snack, a pair of wellingtons and a change of clothing (or two!), and head out to these local spots:

1) Hidden Villa Nature Preserve, Los Altos
Adobe Creek bubbles and spills its way through Hidden Villa Farm and the hiking trails behind it.  My kids could spend the whole day throwing pebbles into the water or wading through it with sticks and stones to build channels and dams. 

2)  Shoup Park, Los Altos
Shoup Park a year-round favorite for urban nature lovers.  This section of Adobe Creek that runs behind the playground is clean and shallow, making it one of the best creeks for wading, splashing and rock skipping after a good rain.  Quiet and scenic, it's tucked amidst the redwoods just off University Avenue in Los Altos.

3)  Cornelius Bol Park, Palo Alto
Who would have thought that a suburban Palo Alto park would have a creek in it?  Home to the famous Bol Park Donkeys, Bol Park is relatively less manicured and developed than other Palo Alto parks.  It has a small creek that runs through one side of the park, just beyond the paved trail favored by runners, hikers and moms-with-strollers.  You'll have a fairly steep descent, but once you make your way to the creek bed, your little one will have a lot of fun wading through the ankle-deep water.

4)  Los Gatos Creek Trail, Los Gatos (near Vasona Lake Park and Lark Ave.)
The Los Gatos creek runs through a good portion of Silicon Valley, changing in appearance several times along its way.  After it spills through Vasona Dam and leaves Los Gatos' Vasona Lake Park, the creek makes its way through suburban neighborhoods of Los Gatos. At this point, the accompanying trail is easily accessible to walkers, joggers, skaters, bicyclists -- and pint-sized creek waders.  Small beaches along the creek banks allow access to the creek. Your children will enjoy wading through the shallow areas -- just remember to keep a close eye on them.

5) Serra Park, Sunnyvale
Okay, so the creek that runs through Serra Park is actually dry.  But children still love "wading" and exploring in it.  They can also imagine they're in the midst of all the water in the world when they play on the huge riverboat playstructure.  All this dry "water" play can be fun, but if you really want to get wet, they do have a cool waterplay feature on hot days:  a forest of poles that sprays water in all directions.

Weekend Outlook: November 7th-9th

by Shawn Burns

November 05, 2008

This Election Week Weekend Outlook is brought to you by ME. You know. As usual. What is there to do with your little one this first weekend in November, the month winter begins to close its frosty grip? This Friday Hidden Villa begins its " Preschoolers on the Farm " series of "working the farm" afternoons. The workshop runs from 3-4pm, and is continued on November 14th and November 21st.  Read more...

Weekend Outlook: October 17th-19th

by Shawn Burns

October 15, 2008

Looking back at my Weekend Outlook entries for the past few months I notice that we are really and truly privileged in this area to have almost weekly street fairs of some kind or another. I keep highlighting them because I love to walk them, to experience my town, or my neighbor's town, in full spectacle. But perhaps you aren't the street fair type. Perhaps you've been crying out for me to  Read more...

Apple Picking at Gizdich Ranch: Introducing Ana Picazo

by Shawn Burns

October 02, 2008

Being Savvy Silicon Valley is very, very proud to introduce Ana Picazo, a writer, blogger, and mom from the Silicon Valley who will be teaming up with me to form the new Being Savvy Silicon Valley Super Squad . In the next few weeks Anna will begin posting regularly in this space, offering up her Savvy knowledge of the Silicon Valley to you, the loyal Being Savvy Silicon Valley readers. Her  Read more...