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

The Great Indoors: Silicon Valley Storytimes

by bonggamom

March 17, 2009

It may go out like a lamb, but March, with its roaring winds and pelting rains, definitely came in like a lion.   That's bad for your clean floors and your sanity, but good for my Great Indoors series of posts -- because as long as this iffy weather keeps up, it makes sense to keep cranking out suggestions for places to take your little ones on a rainy day. 

Today we're all about storytimes.  Ahhh, storytimes.  I can't think of a better way to pass an hour on a rainy day -- your child gets to listen to new stories and sing new songs.   You, on the other hand, get to listen to someone else reading story after story to your child.  What a sweet combination.
 
I'm sure you know your local library's storytime schedule by heart.  But why stick to one branch?  Why not (pardon the pun) branch out a little and try a library from another city?  You might discover a super-talented storyteller, a storytime format your preschooler loves, or a less crowded crowd.  And why go to ten different websites when you can find links to Silicon Valley's major libraries and storytimes, all from this one post? 

Redwood City Libraries
Menlo Park Libraries
Palo Alto Libraries
Mountain View Libraries
Sunnyvale Libraries
San Jose Libraries
Santa Clara Libraries
Los Gatos Public Library
Santa Clara County Libraries
San Mateo Libraries
San Mateo County Libraries

Also, don't forget that your local bookstore or museum might also offer regular storytimes.   My favorite Silicon Valley children's bookstores all have occasional or regular storytimes.  Here are some other stores that have them:

1) Keplers Books hold storytimes most Sunday mornings, often with featuring authors reading their own books.
2) Borders - Check your local Borders for storytime schedules
3) Barnes and Noble - Check your local B&N for storytime schedules
4) Pottery Barn Kids has storytimes every Tuesday and singalong concerts every month or so.
5) It's Tuesday Tales at Coyote Point Museum every 1st, 3rd and 5th Tuesday of the month.  Children ages 2-8 enjoy stories, animal presentations and activities, free with museum admission. 

As always, check their websites or call for schedules.  Happy reading!

Fun in February: Let Us Count the Ways

by bonggamom

February 26, 2009

February was a short month, but boy did we pack a lot of fun and learning -- math learning, to be precise.  We found lots of sneaky ways to make math fun, and discovered that math learning already exists in many activities our children enjoy.  We also discussed more serious numbers, such as the numbers on a weighing scale and test scores for kindergarten.  Here are my don't-miss posts for February, by the numbers:  

1) We count down 99 things to do with kids in Silicon Valley.
2) Supermodel Emme answers twelve questions about weight bias and children's self esteem.
3) Citymama recommends five great kid-friendly ethnic restaurants.
4) I find four fun things to count around Silicon Valley.
5) I recommend four wonderful local authors.

Hometown Activities That Spark Math Learning

by bonggamom

February 10, 2009

All this month, the Savvy Source folks are focusing on ways to help our preschoolers enjoy math as much as they love reading.  Last week we looked at things to count around Silicon Valley.  We all know math isn't just about counting, so today we've looking about other kinds of math skills -- shape and pattern recognition, measurements and money, to name a few.   Here are some fun things to do around town can spark some math learning in your preschooler:

Weekend Outlook: January 23rd-25th

by Shawn Burns

January 21, 2009

Happy Wednesday, and welcome to another Weekend Outlook. While last weekend we focused on stuff for you to do away from the Peninsula, and without the kids, this weekend we�??re back to basics. In fact, we�??re back to ultra-basics. Storytimes. How about a Storytime Road Trip? On Friday zip down to Cupertino for Pre-School Storytime at 10:15am. Or, if you prefer a more northerly  Read more...

Pajama Storytimes (and other alternatives to bedtime reading)

by Bonggamom

November 17, 2008

Like most parents, you probably treasure the bedtime story you read with your child every night. But there may be times when your throat is sore. Or you've already read twenty stories to your child. Or you just need a break. Whatever the reason, there may come a night when the thought of reading Dr. Seuss out loud makes you want to tear your hair out by the roots. Fear not. Here are some  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...

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...

List Day: What did you miss?

by Shawn Burns

September 30, 2008

September closes with a hearty "bye bye", one of my daughter Erin's first phrases. For a long time it was also her signal to me that whatever it was she was saying "bye bye" to, like the vacuum cleaner, needed to go away. Real soon now. Communication is the key to sociability, and that has been the enduring theme of September here at Savvy Source . This month we've learned a number of  Read more...

Socializing: A Story Time Story

by Shawn Burns

September 19, 2008

Today at 10:30am we tried out a new (to us) storytime in Menlo Park. It is an "under 5" storytime at the Burgess Recreation Center (not at the library, right next door, which is where we usually go). I have heard fantastic, raving, things about it from some of my mom friends who have gone a few times: "the librarian/storytime lady brings out a keyboard, and does a puppet show, and reads books  Read more...

Heat Wave

by Shawn Burns

August 28, 2008

We are at the beginning of a short (hopefully) heat wave here in the valley. 90 degrees is a little hot to be going outside to just go play in the park. So, what will you be doing over the next couple of days? What will you be doing that is free? 1. Extra baths. Erin loves bathtime, and she's begun asking for baths in the middle of the day. On hot days like this I absolutely oblige her.  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...

Looking at portraits on the cheap

by Shawn Burns

June 13, 2008

Erin has reached the age when she really notices other kids. Her favorite word now is 'baby', and whenever she sees another child she exclaims Ba- by ! piercingly loudly. It doesn't matter if the kid is one or eleven, he is still just a 'ba- by ' to her. So I say to myself, "Self, it's time to take her someplace where she can see lots of different faces; let's build those little axonal  Read more...

Rainy Day Activities

by Shawn Burns

June 05, 2008

It doesn't rain very often here on the Peninsula. But for someone like me who prefers the train to driving, and prefers walking to the train, those days when it does rain can be a bit depressing. This past winter my daughter Erin and I endured our first NorCal rainy season together, and we were hard-pressed to figure out things to do. She was young, under one year old, and not yet  Read more...

Reading: It's not just a railroad in Monopoly

by Shawn Burns

June 03, 2008

As Erin has gotten older I've been on the lookout for more and more things to do with her. One of the obvious ways to take up some of our slow-time around here is to take advantage of one of the many infant and toddler storytimes available at the local libraries and bookstores. Kepler's Books in downtown Menlo Park, one of the best bookstores around, has a children's story time every  Read more...