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

Frightfully fun events around Silicon Valley

by Bonggamom

October 21, 2008

Alfie groaned when he came home one day and saw skeletons lining the fireplace mantel. "It's only September 28, and you're decorating for Halloween already". "I know it's early, dear, but October is my hands-down favorite month of the year, and I like to get into the spirit of things as soon as possible". As I patiently explained to him, when else will I find the time to glue all those litle  Read more...

List Day: The Tickle Trunk

by Shawn Burns

October 07, 2008

When I was growing up I would watch a show on Canadian public television called "Mr. Dressup." Mr. Dressup was a man who would do little art projects, tell stories, and most importantly dress up in costumes. He kept all of his costumes inside a big box in his living room, and it was called the Tickle Trunk. Every episode he would wander over to the Tickle Trunk and pull out a new costume  Read more...

Park Day: Central Park (New York)

by Shawn Burns

October 06, 2008

Ah, this is a tricky one, right? See, my wife and I went away for the weekend, leaving our daughter home with grandma. They hit our usual haunts, and from all reports our meticulous list of instructions was both appreciated and totally unnecessary. We missed her more than we realized, and on our weekend trip to New York we found ourselves constantly seeing things that we would love to be  Read more...