In Praise of the Princess, by Jennifer Wright
Calling for Reinforcements: When kids hit a real snag, you have resources. By Danielle Mowery
DVF Loves GapKids and So Do We
There’s no need to play dress-up in Mommy’s DVF anymore. DVF Loves GapKids is back for its second collaboration this spring with the launch of the GapKids + DVF Explorers Collection.
Gap and Diane von Furstenberg unveiled the new collection Wednesday night with a private shopping event at the Gap flagship store in Manhattan Read More
I.C.E. Sixth Grader Explains Why She Opted Out of NYS Exams
Some parents call it “opting out,” while others label it “an act of civil disobedience.” But one sixth grader at the Institute for Collaborative Education describes it simply and succinctly as a “boycott” when she decided not to take the new state exams, which end this week.
While her classmates took the ELA test, which incorporates the tougher Common Core curriculum, this sixth grader, whose parents prefer she not be named, penned a six-page letter in which she cogently explained to her teacher why she decided to sit out this year:
“I am boycotting the test because I don’t like the way the DOE uses the test results. The kids who take the test are being used like guinea pigs in a lab. I do NOT want to be used this way. By boycotting the state exams we’re trying to change the way the exams work. We, as students, want to make a change, a change that will last.” Read More
Join weeSpring To Help Kangu Assist Moms In The Developing World
Here’s an easy way to help an expectant mom halfway around the world and, at the same time, receive expert advice on the best new baby products. This week when you join weeSpring, a Facebook-based platform where parents share recommendations on baby essentials, the company will donate $1 to Kangu.org.
Kangu, a bit like Kickstarter for poor expectant moms, is an organization that crowdfunds prenatal care and childbirth services for women in developing countries. Most of the in-need pregnant women are from Africa, with some from Nepal and India. Kangu has partnered with vetted and approved local maternity clinics and hospitals to give the women access to high-quality services, from prenatal to delivery to postnatal care. Read More
A Cozy Medieval Sleepover in Morningside Heights
It’s a Friday evening in November, and the last glimmer of sunlight has faded. On Amsterdam Avenue in front of the Cathedral Church of St. John the Divine, parents with wheeled suitcases and sleeping bags loiter on the sidewalk as kids play tag on the wide steps. The dark Cathedral looms above, ominous and foreboding. Read More
Stop… in the name of Mom!
Mommyish.com is one of our favorite parenting sites—consistently intelligent, humanistic, and fun to read. But some of their headlines strike us as just a little bit directive:
• Profiling 40-Year-Old Hopeful Moms As Clueless Yoga Bunnies Has To Stop
• It’s Time To Stop Blaming Barbie, No Matter How Tiny Her Waist Is
• Parents Need To Stop Pressuring Their Kids To Go To College
• Let’s Stop Letting Our Kids Blow Out Our Birthday Candles Read More
15th BAMkids Film Festival Announced
Tickets for the popular the BAMkids Film Festival go on sale January 7; a BAM spokesperson has informed Scooter. The festival, which is celebrating 15 years of delivering cinematographic excellence to an often under-appreciated demographic, will showcase some 76 films from 24 countries, several of which will be world premieres. The 2013 festival will take place at BAM Rose Cinemas in Fort Greene, Brooklyn over the weekend of February 2 and 3 and targets an audience ages 2-10 and their families.
“Watching movies shouldn’t be a passive experience and at the BAMkids Film Festival, it isn’t,” explained festival curator Nicole Dreiske. “The whole lobby, four cinemas, and BAMcafé become a festival ‘fun zone’ with activities and discussions designed to make the experience memorable and interactive for even the littlest cinephiles.”
This year, organizers have confirmed the “Animation Extravaganza,” an all-animation program geared for ages 7-9 that will include six international features as well as two short film programs for toddlers. Read More
WIRED Store Hosts Kids At DIY Workshop
Wired’s pop-up store in Soho (583 Broadway) may be every parents’ shopping dream. When your kiddo begs, “Can we buy this, pleeeaasse?” You can confidently say, “No. Nothing’s for sale here.” (Well, almost nothing — see below.)
The shop positions itself as a gallery where you can touch (and play with) the art, rather than a retail experience. The store even keeps the same hours as the Met. “All museums are closed on Mondays,” a staffer explained to my son and me through a locked door on that day of rest for artistically-inclined institutions.
The exhibit, “What’s Inside,” displays the gear, gizmos, and gadgets that are stamped with Wired’s “this is cool” seal of approval. And what turns on savvy geeks sometimes turns on savvy New York kids too. And sometimes not.
At the store’s DIY workshop last Saturday, the littleBits work station was swamped. LittleBits are like a souped-up Lego set. They are tiny circuit-boards, which snap together with magnets. Each module has a unique function: light, power, switches, or motor. The kids snapped the bits together, creating their own mini-engineering miracles. Some creations included a twirling snowman and a lit-up city building. Read More
