Thanks to Elyse Major, one of our Kidoinfo readers, for contributing this great local adventure.

Sabin Point Park: Trash & Treasures (Map it)

Who knew that there was so much to do in little ol’ Riverside? Off Pawtucket Avenue at the end of Shore Road (turn at Lee’s Chinese restaurant), this breezy waterfront park offers much more than just playground equipment – it offers endless possibilities for the crafty parent along with lovely views of the upper bay.

Wear waterproof shoes and look beyond the washed ashore trash to find pieces of colorful sea glass. Teach your children the difference between the soft, frosted sea glass and the shiny, sharp-edged newly broken glass. My boys and I have a jelly jar filled with prized dulled chards of green and blue.

Sabin Point Park has several covered picnic tables, making it an excellent place for doing outside crafts, like painting seashells (found at Easton’s Beach, for example) or rocks. Pack some supplies (and some hand sanitizer) and enjoy!

Riverside Branch Library: Relax & Read (Map it)

Back on Pawtucket Avenue, head up the road to the Riverside Branch Library at 475 Bullocks Point Avenue (same road). The library, which is just a few years old, has an open and spacious children’s area with a great selection of books, magazines, and toys. There are plenty of tables and chairs and a large fish tank. The library also has scheduled activities and nice, clean bathrooms.

Scialo’s Bakery: Treats to Go (Map it)

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Fancypants Bakery specializes in making delicious, buttery, beautifully decorated shortbread cookies. These 100 percent nut-free home-baked treats are made from scratch every day with all natural ingredients in their East Walpole Bakery under the direction of Maura Duggan, her partner, Justin Housman, and a few local moms who design, decorate, and package the cookies.

At first glance you will be mesmerized by the artfully painted masterpieces, and at first bite you will be hooked on the light fluffy cookie paired with frosting that is not too sweet but sweet enough to make it the perfect treat even when you are not having a party.

Browse the cookie gallery and you will find cookies to match almost any party theme, hobby, season, or special event. Buy cookies individually wrapped as party favors or buy a fancy gift-boxed set of 6, 9, or 12 cookies appropriate for any occasion.

Fancypants also makes custom designed cookies. I particularly liked the Director’s Clipboard since my sons have been nicknamed “Siskel and Ebert” for their habit of giving movie reviews and their growing knowledge of movie trivia.

Details:
Available at a select number of retail outlets in New England (none in Rhode Island so far) or online at FancyPantsBakery.com

Want to win a large (12 cookie) “On the farm” cookie gift box?
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Great Cookbooks for Families
Reviewed by Katy Killilea

Oh, to be able to start from scratch with a fresh, new baby! My only quibble with this cookbook is that I didn’t have it sooner. It is beautiful—plenty of photographs, clean design, and it’s spiral-bound so you don’t have to prop it open with a spatula. It takes you every feeding stage, from infant to toddler to child. Each age group gets its own section, with age-appropriate nutrition and meal planning information. Ostensibly the most complex recipes are aimed at children ages 3 to 6 years old, but I think they would work wonderfully for children much older than that—as well as their parents. Do you know anyone who has outgrown brioche pudding?

Many of the recipes are ideas rather than actual cooking instructions. For example, in the baby section, the listing for “avocado puree” directs you to mash an avocado and add breast milk or formula until it’s thin enough for your baby to eat. And in the children’s lunch section, I didn’t actually need a recipe for making toast with cream cheese and apple slices, but I’m sure I never would have thought of the combination on my own. With this book as a reference, a parent can come up with novel concepts easily.

The text of this British book contains translations for American cooks. I recognized courgettes (zucchini) and Victoria sponge (a cake), but mangetouts were new to me, and I am grateful to the editors for filling me in (they’re sugar snap peas.) Sausage hedgehogs, hot bacon salad, and potted beef spread might not be on most American children’s menus, but these recipes make the cookbook fun and transport you for a moment back to your semester abroad or perhaps to the lunch room in the original version of The Office.

This is a quick breakfast idea, recipe No. 96 of 365 in the book. The flavors will be familiar but the format is tweaked in a fun way. The authors estimate that the dish takes ten minutes to prepare.

Cinnamon French Toast Fingers
From The Big Book of Recipes for Babies, Toddlers & Children: 365 Quick, Easy, and Healthy Dishes By Bridget Wardley and Judy More
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Most women suffer from some form of the “baby blues” following the birth of their baby. The baby blues, beginning a few days after birth, can cause sadness, moodiness, and sleeplessness, but they are typically mixed with periods of happiness. The baby blues usually end one to three weeks after delivery. Postpartum depression, by contrast, is more persistent and severe.

Symptoms of postpartum depression (PPD) include:

• Anxiety, restlessness, or irritability (inability to sleep even when baby does)
• Feelings of extreme sadness, hopelessness, or worthlessness
• Difficulty caring for the baby
• Obsessions and compulsions about the baby’s health and well-being
• Loss of interest in once-pleasurable activities
• Persistent thoughts of death or suicide

If you are suffering from PPD, know that you are not alone. The nationally renowned Day Program at Women & Infants treats women suffering from postpartum depression as well as depression and anxiety disorders during pregnancy. For more information, call (401) 274-1122 ext. 2870. Another great resource is Post Partum Progress which offers women information, support, and inspiration.

Kristen Kardos, MA Ed., and Kathy McGuigan, MSW, the co-founders of RI New Moms Connection provide affordable, accessible pregnancy and new mom groups throughout Rhode Island. In “New Moms Tips” they share their knowledge, resources, and helpful ideas for moms just beginning their journey into parenthood or moms that may need a little refresher.

Photo Credit: www.kharberphoto.com

Technorati Tags: Tips for New Moms

By Kristen Swanberg
Senior Director of Education, Audubon Society of Rhode Island

From Glocester to Block Island, raptors can be spotted soaring across our state. These amazing birds eat meat and use their feet, instead of their beak, to capture prey. In fact, the word “raptor” comes from Latin meaning to “seize and carry away”. Hawks, falcons, eagles, and owls are all examples of raptors. Also called “birds of prey,” raptors have exceptionally good vision, a sharp hooked beak, and powerful feet with curved, sharp talons.
Raptors share common traits with all birds, such as feathers, wings, laying eggs, and being warm-blooded. But it is their special adaptations that make them so amazing. Let’s take a closer look….

Sharp Talons
The raptor’s sharp talons truly set them apart from all other birds – they are perfectly designed to catch, hold, and carry prey. Most have three toes pointing forward and one pointing backward. These toes have an extremely powerful grip. Osprey and owls have one hinged toe that can be held in a forward or backward position. Many owls even have feathers on their legs and feet while other raptors do not. It is thought that these feathers help to keep them warm when they hunt on cold nights in the forest.

Hooked Beak
The hooked beak is like a raptor’s knife and fork. The beak is curved at the tip with sharp cutting edges to rip and tear apart their prey. Falcons are the only raptor that actually uses their beak to kill prey. All others use their talons.

Eyesight
Raptors have binocular vision (eyes facing forward) and can see extremely well. A raptor’s vision is at least eight times better than humans. So what we can see at 20 feet a raptor can see at 160 feet. Golden Eagles can see a rabbit from a mile away! Owls have the added advantage of remarkable night vision. Their eyes are more sensitive and can see quite well with very little light.

Raptors have three eyelids! They have a top and bottom just like us - but they also have a third, transparent eyelid that closes across the eye. This special eyelid is called a nictitating membrane and is used to protect their eyes during flight and feeding.

Hearing
Owls can hear sounds 10 times lower than humans can detect. Large ear openings, surrounded by deep, soft feathers funnel the sound to each ear. Owls’ facial feathers are arranged like a dish, which directs sounds into their ears. Their ears are also lopsided, making it easier for them to pinpoint where noise is coming from.

Here are some cool ways you can learn more about these amazing creatures:

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Providence Children’s Museum will be closed to install a new exhibit, Play Power and complete renovations to its historic building, including the replacement of all exterior windows.

The museum, a frequent hangout for many parents and their young children, will be missed. Although nothing can replace the fun play spaces and fabulous programming at the Children’s Museum, Kidoinfo is here to help find alternative ways to play with your child. Check the events calendar for local happenings, find a story time near you and read the Kido blog for fresh ideas on how to spend the next month while the museum is closed.

Read the Providence Children’s Museum website to learn about the major new exhibit. Play Power celebrates the power of children’s play. This vibrant new learning environment will engage kids and adults in creative activities that vividly illustrate the importance of open-ended play as they: Investigate cause and effect with sound, motion, magnets, air and light; Construct contraptions to send balls rolling down ramps and through mazes; Create original musical compositions; Propel objects through air tubes; Transform an intriguing domed play space with interlocking geometric blocks and tubes; And much more!

Get a sneak peak here:

By Maggie Ewing,
AmeriCorps Museum Educator

“Can an adult sit on this?” I’m walking through Bone Zone when a visitor catches my attention and gestures to his granddaughter, who’s riding a bicycle alongside a skeleton. He laughs, pointing out the skeleton’s pedaling leg bones. “Oh, yeah,” I tell him, “it’s strong enough.” His question expresses a big lesson of my year as an AmeriCorps Museum Educator at Providence Children’s Museum: play is important for kids, but given the chance, grown-ups want to play, too.

While we’ve recently heard news about structured activities encroaching on kids’ free play time, the view at Providence Children’s Museum is of kids playing constantly. It’s easy, in the Museum environment, to see what play does for kids. Through play, they learn self-confidence, problem solving and other new skills. Working with kids at the Museum, I’ve learned a lot, too: about making time for fun, taking delight in simple things, and thinking in new ways. In short, I’ve learned to play again – and kids have taught me how.

Making space for children to play is a big part of my job. I’ve learned to act goofy to make them comfortable with their own goofiness, ask questions and make mistakes to encourage their curiosity and experimentation. I’ve rediscovered a long-forgotten part of myself that really believes that the cashier charging me $1,000 per plantain in Fefa’s Market actually means it, or that a tiny village will be washed away when a dam breaks in Water Ways. As I facilitate play for children, they put me at ease with my own playfulness.

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By Kirsten DiChiappari
With school just around the corner (or already underway for some), chances are you’re thinking about settling back into a routine: setting earlier bedtimes, picking out clothes, packing lunches, registering for sports, etc.

If you pack your child’s lunches or if your child purchases or receives lunch at school, ask yourself: Do you know what’s in it?

A registered dietitian told me recently that there are thirty-eight ingredients in a McDonald’s chicken nugget and thirteen of them are derived from corn. The peanut butter in your cupboard may contain ingredients other than peanuts. The ketchup and pasta sauce in my fridge have high fructose corn syrup in them. The dinner rolls that come with the salad have trans fats. It’s getting so it’s not safe to open your mouth anymore.

Now here’s the part that I want you to remember: Nearly one in five (18.8%) Rhode Island children entering kindergarten during the school year 2006-07 was obese, with a BMI at or greater than the ninety-fifth percentile. That’s One in Five.

I believe that parents aren’t apathetic, but in many ways, we are ignorant. When we put our children on the bus in the morning, we firmly believe that no one would do anything that isn’t in the best interests of our children. They will be safe, well fed, and physically and mentally active while they are in school.

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By Katy Killilea

Nominally, they’re both farms, but neither is the kind where you can buy food. Coggeshall Farm is a farm museum, and Mount Hope Farm is a park for easy hiking. They are very close to each other and both are ideal little stops for kids in Bristol.

On our trip, we started at Coggeshall Farm. This is one of the first settled farms in New England, and the Poppasquash Road property is stunning. It provides a low-key way to get up-close to farm animals. There’s no gimmick here. It’s not a zoo. There are no signs describing the breeds, and the only people working there are carrying out their farm chores (not as in, “Look at me using ye olde tools”). Real farm work, just as it was done hundreds of years ago, is a vital part of the operation to maintain the farm today.

Speckled hens run free over the grass, baby lambs hide out in a shady stall, and a donkey, a cat, and giant cattle of some kind (no informational placards) munch grass and swat flies all within an arm’s reach. Our kids were very interested in patting the donkey. They also had fun pointing out heaps of sheep poop in the grass and chasing the chickens, who proved to be uncatchable. There’s also a house to explore, with old cooking pots, a wool spinning wheel, and a loom.
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This month at Free For All Saturday, the RISD Museum celebrates all the changes and renovations that have been happening at the museum. This is a program that lets you dream and build big! In workshops, team up on a “MiniCity” project or design a home interior. Learn all about the new Chace Center and sketch your own original building design, to be exhibited on the day of The Chace Center inauguration, September 27. Join the master of musical invention Leonard Solomon (and his Amazing Bellowphone!) for a lively performance as well.

Details:
When: 11am - 4pm
The Leonard Solomon performance is in the Main Gallery from 1 pm - 4 pm. If the weather permits, the performer will do a “pre-show” juggling act outside on the terrace of the Farago entrance at 12:30 pm.
Where: RISD Museum of Art, 224 Benefit Street, Providence 02906
Ages: 3 and up
Cost: Free
(401) 454-6530