Fiest Asia Street Fair

This Saturday is the Fiesta Asia Street Fair from 10am-7pm on Pennsylvannia Ave NW between 3rd St and 6th St. Food, dance, music, crafts, culture, martial arts, games, and Bollywood flash mob. Everything but that last one sounds like a lot of fun. Check out the link for more info.
FREE ADMISSION!

Butterfly Craft

Thanks for coming to playgroup today everyone! We had a lot of fun reading about butterflies and making these little treat bags. I've attached the link so that those of you who couldn't make it today can make it at home. Another fun idea- put a magnet on the back to hold artwork on the fridge.

Upcoming Events

Hello eveyone. Here are just a few events coming up that I have come across recently. Let me know if you know of any others and we can add them to the list.

Doddlehopper has lots of fun things going on this month.
Sat. May 1st: 11 am Kaydee puppets puppet show (Free!- no registration required)
Thurs. May 6th: 4 pm Making I love Mom keychains
Thurs. May 13th: 4 pm Collage Art
Sat. May 15th: 2 pm Fabulous Fancy Nancy Spring Fling. They will have Fancy Spring crafts and storytime
Thurs. May 20th: 4 pm Foam Bead Necklace
Thurs. May 27th: 4 pm Sand Art
Sat. May 29th: 2 pm Painting wooden Thomas trains and reading a Thomas story

All of the Doodlehopper events are FREE! We go every Thursday and have loved all of the little projects that they have done. You DO have to register for Saturday events (except for the puppet show this Sat). They like it when you call ahead to sign up for the Thursday crafts as well just so they know how many crafts they will need.

I was at Micheals this morning and saw that they are having events from May2-8 for Mother's Day.For several of these you DO have to purchase the item for the craft.
May 2nd: 1-3pm Mother's Day Mug Make-it Take-it (must purchase a mug)
May 3rd: 6-8pm Mother's Day Corsage Make-it Take-it (must purchase a flower)
May 4th: 6-8pm Mother's Day Free Spa Clay Pot Event (no purchase necessary for this one)
May 6th: 6-8pm Mother's Day T-shirt Event (with purchase of T-shirt)
May 7th: 6-8pm Mother's Day Frame Make-it Take-it Event (with purchase of a frame)
May 8th: 10am-noon Free Mother's Day Card Event (no purchase necessary)
May 8th: Noon- 1pm Free Mother's Day Wilton Cookie Demo

Library Events

I was just looking around at other libraries in the area and thought I would post their upcoming storytimes.

Thomas Jefferson Library: Next Wednesday, April 7th, they will be having a special storytime at 10:30am called "Let's Dig." The program will consist of stories, songs, fingerplays, and a craft. You must call to register for this class. Ages 1-5 welcome with parent.
http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/library/branches/tj/

Tyson Pimmit Regional Library: A couple of times a month they do a children's storytime. The next one will be on April 13th. It's called "Celebrate Library Week." There will be stories, fingerplays, and songs. You must call to register. All ages welcome.
http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/library/branches/TY/

Mary Riley Styles Library: Then of course Mary Riley Styles has open storytime every Tues and Thurs at 10:30am for preschoolers. No registration required. They also have a drop in craft on the third Saturday of every month from 11am-2pm. This month it is on April 17th. It's free.
http://www.google.com/calendar/embed?src=stewart%40falls-church.lib.va.us&ctz=America%2FNew_York&gsessionid=rYMoIk9teoNwdXKe9iXhtA


If anyone has information about another library or activity in the area please let us know!

Falls Church Community Easter Egg Hunt

This Saturday is the Falls Church Community Easter Egg Hunt. It will be at Cherry Hill Park at 10am and it's FREE! Sounds like a lot of fun so check out the flyer.

Also, don't forget that playgroup is having their very own egg hunt this Friday at 10:30 at the church. Bring 5 filled eggs and your own lunch. I'll have a craft to do inside first and then we'll run outside for the egg hunt.

Also, just found out that you no longer have to register for the 4pm craft at Doodlehopper on Thursdays. Just show up for a free FUN craft. Last week we made bug jars and they were super cute.

Consignment Sale

Check out the flier. This sounds like a pretty big consignment sale. Happy shopping everyone, and thanks Zoe for the tip!

Snickerdoodle Cupcakes

Everyone loved the cupcakes that Ryan made for playgroup this morning. Thanks for sharing the recipe!

Upcoming Activities

Here's a list of a few things going on this week that might be fun to check out.

Wed. March 24th: Mr. Knick Knack comes every Wed at 11am to the play area on level 3 at Tyson's Corner Mall. I've been before and loved it!
http://www.shoptysons.com/events.asp?id=28560&start=3/24/2010

Thurs. March 25th: Story hour at Mary Riley Styles library in Falls Church at 10:30am
http://www.falls-church.lib.va.us/

Also, at 4pm every Thursday DoodleHopper4kids has a free craft. You must call to register though and reserve your space. http://www.doodlehopper.com/

Fri. March 26th: Tot Time at the Falls Church Community Center Gym from 10-noon. This used to be a free service but they now charge $1 per child. Still, I've heard it's a lot of fun. They provide the tunnels and trikes to play with.

Sat. March 27th: National Kite Festival from 10-4pm. http://www.kitefestival.org/

Projects and Creative Ideas for Kids

Hello everyone!

I thought it would be fun to post links to kids project blogs that you follow. I've just posted my favorite one - This Little Project. I am always looking for new creative ideas to do things with my kiddos and this one usually has some pretty cute ideas. If you have any blogs you would like to link to our playgroup blog just send me the info and I'll set it up! Just look under "Projects and Creative Ideas for Kids" on the blog.

Thanks!

Feathery Fun!

Thanks so much for coming today everyone! We had a great turnout. I'm posting the activity here for those of you who were not able to make it. I had planned to do a bird themed playgroup last month since it was national bird month but we had to cancel for the snow.

Book: Are You My Mother? by PD Eastman

Craft#1: Print this picture and color or decorate with feathers- http://www.animal-coloring-pages.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/bird-coloring-pages.gif

Craft #2: Pinecone bird feeder- http://crafts.kaboose.com/pine-cone-bird-feeder.html
If you can't find any pinecones you could string up a bagel or a piece of toast and I bet that would work just fine.

Fun bird themed snack ideas:
http://www.childfun.com/index.php/activity-themes/animals/93-bird-activity-theme.html?start=3
Unfortunately I didn't make these little nest in time for playgroup but it sounds cute and healthy. We had chickadees (which are on sale at Target right now for about a buck).

See you in a couple of weeks!

Playgroup Activity

Hello everyone. We had fun at playgroup this week. I thought I would post the activity that we did for those of you who couldn't make it.I know I'm always looking for things to do since we can't do much outside these days. Our theme was BEARS! We talked specifically about the brown bear and hibernation. I feel like hibernating on these cold winter days.

For info on brown bears go here: www.kidzone.ws/lw/bears/facts-brownbear.htm Check it out ladies- brown bears don't even wake up to give birth! Don't we wish...

For a cute bear fingerplay go here: www.suzyred.com/mbirdbearcave.html

We read "Bear Snores On" but there are lots of other books that work too. Then we did a simple craft- a bear hibernating in a cave. For the craft all you need are a few simple things.

-a brown lunch bag
-Cotton balls
-glue
-this picture: www.si.umich.edu/chico/RainbowCrow/coloring/hibernate.gif

Cut your bag in half or more, open it up and lay it on its side. Color and cut out the picture. Fold the bottom inch under and glue it inside the bag near the opening. Glue cotton balls in front to look like snow. Easy as pie. Below are a couple of pictures for a visual.

Here's a link for more fun poems, fingerplays, songs and crafts about hibernating: www.stepbystepcc.com/hibernation.html

Activity Advent Calendar in a Box

In case you are not able to attend playgroup here are the instructions as to how to make the boxes for the activity advent calendar. This tutorial is for a scrapbook in a box (which are a lot of fun to make and a cheap and creative Christmas gift too!). We are only using the bottom layer for our activity box and we are gluing it together instead of letting it fall open freely when you take off the top. For the bottom of the box you only need to make one layer (12x12) and instead of cutting out the four corners completely you just make four cuts so that you can fold the tabs over and glue them to make a box. If this sounds confusing just give me a call. Have the kids decorate the box before gluing it together. Fill the box with 25 slips of paper- each with a different Christmas themed activity written on it. Each day of December pull out an activity from the box and do it with your family. I have a list of ideas I can email you if you are interested. Have fun!

50 FREE Photo Cards (Shipped Free too!)

Check it out. My sister just did hers this morning and she says it works. Offer expires this Saturday.

PreSchool Fieldtrip Ideas

Michelle Bradford has a couple of good websites to share in case anyone needs ideas for planning preschool trips.

http://www.nga.gov/programs/family/ : The Gallery of Art has a newsletter you can sign up for to alert you of upcoming events (you can even sign up as an educator if you want).

www.freeindc.blogspot.com :This one has some interesting things from time to time.

http://www.npg.org.uk/home.php : Homeschool open house at the Portrait Gallery. Next Saturday they also have a family Frontier Days activity. Fun (FREE!!)

Thanks for sharing these Michelle!

Friday Field Trip

Every Friday one of the ward preschools take a field trip. Next Friday they are going to Cox Farms. This sounds like a really fun place. They have some pretty big slides, hayrides, farm animals and more. You get to take home a pumpkin and have as much apple cider as you want. Since it's a preschool group there will be a discounted rate. Please contact Melita Garmon for details on the cost and the time (sorry, I can only post either the date or the time- but not both- on the blog for safety reasons). If anyone else would like me to post field trip info on the playgroup blog just let me know.

December Swapmeet

We have a date and time for the swapmeet in December. We will hold it during playgroup on December 8th from 10:30-1pm. Email me with suggestions. If you would like to extend the time let me know and we can work something out.

Playgroup this Week

For playgroup this week we are meeting at Tyson's Corner Center on Level 3 in the play area. This is a fun little place right by the food court. It has a soft padded floor and several soft objects to climb through and over. My kids love coming here. At 11:00am an entertainer will be coming to sing and dance with the kids (the dude at the mall desk said that they even give out free kids club t-shirts if they have them). He comes every Tuesday at this time and since it's always during playgroup I thought we could schedule one there and check it out. Hope to see you there!

Free Tot Time at the FCCC

This is just a reminder that the Falls Church Community Center has free tot time every Friday from 10-12pm in their gym. I spoke with someone recently who went and they had a blast. They provide all of the toys (including trikes and tunnels).

December Swapmeet

I am planning a swapmeet in early December and just wanted to give everyone a head's up so that you can plan for it. Everyone is invited to bring toys and books that your children no longer use to church where we will give the kiddos a chance to pick out Christmas gifts for siblings or cousins (or for themselves=). I will also have giftwrapping and cardmaking available. Whatever is leftover will be donated to Salvation Army. I think this will be a fun and inexpensive way for the little ones to give gifts or find a new toy for themselves. So, I just wanted to let you know so that you can start setting things aside for it and making room for all of the new toys that you'll be getting on Christmas. I'll keep you posted on the date. I'm open to suggestions so feel free to post them if you have any. Thanks!

October Activities

Here are a few free things happening in October I thought I would share. Just so you know I find all of my info from either the Falls Church Recreation and Parks progam guide, the Parktakes program guide, the Washington Family Magazine and the library. All of these resources are available at the Community Center or the library. There is a ton of stuff going on but I just list the free stuff here. Check out those resources for additional activities.

*16th Annual Farm Day: Saturday Oct. 10th, 10-3pm in Cherry Hill Park (312 Cherry Park Avenue). There will be hayrides, pony rides, a petting farm, scarecrow making (you must provide the clothing for the scarecrow), pumpkin making, blacksmithing and more. Admission is free but nominal fees may apply to some activites. They were not specific on which ones that would be.

*Drop in Craft: Saturday Oct. 17th, 11-2pm at Mary Riley Styles Library (120 N. Virginia Avenue).

*Disney Store Halloween "Dress Rehearsal" Party": Wednesday Oct. 21st, 3:30pm at Disney stores nationwide. There will be games, prizes and a costume parade around the store. Everyone is encouraged to dress up but kids over three who dress up like their favorite Disney charachters will receive a free gift.

*Halloween Carnival: Friday Oct. 30th, 6-7pm for the infants to 2nd graders and 7:30-8:30pm for 3rd-5th graders at the Falls Church Community Center (223 Little Falls Street). Candy, games, face painting, and a live creepy creature show!

*Halloween Magic Show: Saturday Oct. 31st, 11am at Mary Riley Styles Library. All ages invited and everyone is encouraged to wear their costumes and trick or treat at each of the service desks after the show.

*Halloween at the {Medical} Museum: Saturday Oct 31st, 10-1pm at the National Museum of Health and Medicine (6900 Georgia Ave., NW Wash,DC). Halloween scavenger hunt, skeleton crafts, costume conteset and prizes! They suggest bringing your lunch and adults have to bring their ID's (not sure what that's about). 703-318-1385, ext. 6# for questions/details.

*Hallowfest: Saturday Oct. 31st, 10am at the US Botanic Garden (245 First Street, SW Wash,DC). Decorate pumpkins, create a creeop craft, or attend a Monster Meal cooking demonstration. Costume parade at noon.

In addition, there are several Farms now open that sound like fun. I haven't been to any of them yet, but give us a rating if you make a visit so we'll know if it's fun.

-Frying Pan Farm Park, 2709 West Ox Road, Herndon Va 20171

This one has free admission. They have a nature trail and farm animals to visit. They also offer $3 wagon rides (there is a buy one get one free coupon in this months Washington Family Magazine- which is free and you can pick one up at the library or the community center). 703-437-9101

-Marker Miller Orchards in Winchester, VA. They are holding an Apple Harvest Festival on Oct 10th and 11th and a Pumpkin Harvest Festical on Oct. 24th. Call 540-662-1980 for costs.

- Summers Farm Adventure: Corn maze, pumpkin patch, and hayrides. Go to http://www.summersfarm.com/ for costs and details.

- Butler's Orchard: From Sept.26th- Nov. 1st they are holding their 29th Annual Pumpkin Festival. It's pricey- $10 per person (under 2 free) but there's lots to do. Hayrides, mazes, pumpkin land, Wildcat Run Slide, Hayloft, barnyard buddies, Rubber Ducky Derby, pedal tractors, pumpkin coach, inflatable farm train and tube slide. For an additional fee pony rides, crafts and face painting are available. http://www.butlersorchard.com/