Dec 29th: Noon Year's Eve parties, Reindeers in SF Zoo & 'What The Ladybird Heard' Book Review

Kids get to enjoy the celebrations with ‘Noon Year’s Eve’ parties happening in Marin & Southern Sonoma. Check out the last weekend for the Reindeers at San Francisco Zoo and get creative at the ‘Family Sundays’ at the SFMOMA. 

Happy New Year everyone!

Weekend Events

Friday December 31^st

‘Noon Year’s Eve Party’ from 10.00 am – 12.00pm, Bay Area Discovery Museum, 557 McReynolds Road, Sausalito: 

Count down to their annual Noon Year’s Eve Party with music by DJ Mancub, create your own party hat and noise maker, and watch the ball drop in Festival Plaza.

http://www.baykidsmuseum.org/programs-and-events/calendar/

‘Happy New Year’ from 10.00 - 3.00pm, Charles M. Schulz Museum, 2301 Hardies Lane, Santa Rosa: 

Join Snoopy and the Peanuts gang for a root beer toast to the New Year and their first annual Up & Down balloon drop!

http://www.schulzmuseum.org/

Saturday January 1st & Sunday 2^nd

'Reindeer Romp’ from 10.00 am – 4.00 pm, San Francisco Zoo, 1 Zoo Road, San Francisco;

Website: 

It is the last weekend to see the reindeers; Holly, Velvet, Peppermint and Belle at the zoo after a busy holiday season! Also it will be the last time this year to see the polar bears enjoying the snow and the animals enjoying delicious presents.

 http://www.sfzoo.org

Sunday January 2^nd

‘Family Sundays’, from 11.00 am – 3.00 pm, SFMOMA, address: 

Kids get in free on the first and third Sunday of the month and mod-erators guide participatory art activities, like this weekend’s ‘Take part in Art’ in the Galleries & Koret Visitor Education Center.

http://www.sfmoma.org/events/series/1323

Book of the Week

‘What the Ladybird Heard’ by Julia Donaldson & illustraions by Lydia Monk

We received some great children’s books from family members this Christmas and I wanted to share some with you over the coming weeks. The first book is “What the Ladybird Heard” by Julia Donaldson, author of “The Gruffalo” and “The Princess and the Wizard”.

The book’s glittery yellow cover and collage-style title surrounded by various farmyard animal characters, jumps off the shelf. The colorful illustrations by Lydia Monk are wonderfully vibrant and use collage of textured animal fur, leaves and denim fabric on the character’s pants alongside beautifully painted pictures.

It tells the story of a farm with a fat red hen, a duck in a pond, a goose in a pen, a woolly sheep, a hairy dog, a handsome horse, a dainty dog, two cats, a fine prize cow and a ladybird. All the animals explain the sounds they make, which are great to imitate, but the ladybird never said a word.

One day that changed, when two men in a black truck, with a map, a key and a cunning plan showed up one night with a plan to steal the prize cow. The ladybird overheard their detailed plan to enter the farm during the night and take a specific route pass all the animals one by one to reach the prize cow’s shed. The ladybird broke its silence and explained to the animals how two thieves were planning to steal the cow: “But the ladybird had a good idea, and whispered it into each animal’s ear.”

While the farmer slept, the two thieves named Hefty Hugh and Lanky Len tiptoed into the farm and began to take their planned route, but the ladybird had told the animals to make different noises to confuse the thieves. So the goose said, “Neigh” making Lanky Len say; “That’s the horse – turn right.” The dainty dog began to quack making Hefty Hugh say; “The duck! We’re right on track.” In turn each animal made different noises causing the thieves to walk straight into a pond. The noise woke the farmer who called the police and drove the bad guys away.

All the animals celebrated their victory at foiling the thieves’ plan, but the ladybird looked on but didn’t say a word.

The ladybird is a tiny glittery detail on the pages in a rather understated way, but the moral of the story is that someone’s size and the noise they make doesn’t matter, because the tiny ladybird observed, took action and saved the day!

Play Date of the Week

'Bob the Builder' exhibit, Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose, 180 Woz Way, San Jose;


If your child is a fan of Bob the Builder, like my son, then make sure you check out the last week of the exhibit at the Children's Discovery Museum before it ends on January 9th. Sunflower Valley is replicated to promote 'green' themes and all the elements of the TV series are child sized so the kids can drive the trucks and diggers. There are hands-on activities like Bob's workshop, Wendy solar paneled caravan and  Farmer's Pickles water pump. Soon you will be saying: "Can we fix it? Yes we can!"
Check website for opening times during the holiday.

http://www.cdm.org/viewPage.asp?mlid=20

Weekly Calendar of Ongoing 

Toddler Activities in Marin

Monday

10.00 - 10.30 am - Kid's Story Time Club, Pharmaca, 7514 Redwood Blvd, Novato

(HOLIDAY VACATION UNTIL JAN 3^RD)

10.00 – 10.30 am – Book Babies, San Anselmo Library, 110 Tunstead Ave Town Council chamber

10.30 – 11.15 am – ‘Music Together of Marin’, The Parent’s Place, 600 Fifth Ave, San Rafael

3.00 – 5.00 pm – Crawlers Camp (up to 23 months) at Stretch the Imagination, 47 Tamal Vista Blvd

9.00 - 1.00 pm - 'Jack and Jill' indoor play space, 217 Western Avenue, Petaluma (every day)

10.00 - 6.00 pm - 'Jump n Bounce, 718 San Anselmo Avenue, San Anselmo (every day)


Tuesday

9.30 – 10.45 am – Baby Bounce Story time – Larkspur Library, 400 Magnolia Ave, 1^st Floor

10.00 – 10.30 am - ‘Baby Bounce’ Story time at Novato Library, 1720 Novato Blvd

9.30 – 10.30 am - ‘Jumping Jacks’ (up to 24 months) at the San Rafael Community Center, 618 B Street, San Rafael 

10.30 – 11.30 am - ‘Jumping Jacks’ (24 months & up) at the San Rafael Community Center, 618 B Street, San Rafael

10.00 – 11.30 am - ‘Play date for 2 and under’ at The Parent’s Place, 600 Fifth Ave, San Rafael

(CLASSES ON HOLD AT THE MOMENT)

10.15 - 10.45 am - 'Music Circle', at The Parents Center, Heller's Store, 514 4th Street, San Rafael

(CLASSES ON HOLD AT THE MOMENT)

11.00 - 11.30 am – ‘Book Club Story Time’ at ‘Pottery Barns Kids’ store, Corte Madera Village

Wednesday

9.30 - 12.00 pm - 'Indoor Power Play' at Cal Star Gym, 70 Digital Drive, Suite 3, Novato

10.00 -10.30 am – Music Together, San Rafael Community Center, 618 B Street, San Rafael

10.15 – 10.45 am - ‘Music Circle’ (Under 1 yr),The Parents Center, Heller’s, 514 4th St, San Rafael 

(CLASSES ON HOLD AT THE MOMENT)

10.00 - 10.45 am - Fun & Funky (age 2 - 4), Fairfax Community Center, 

10.30 - 11.30 am – Adventure Club Drop in Play, MLK Gym, 610 Colma Street, Sausalito

11.00 - 11.30 am – Story Time at Giggle Store, Corte Madera Village

11.00 -11.30 am – Preschool Story time, Novato Library, 1720 Novato Blvd

3.00 – 5.00 pm – Crawlers Camp (up to 23 months) at Stretch the Imagination, Corte Madera


Thursday

8.00 – 1.00 pm – Farmers Market, The Civic Center

9.30 - 12.00 pm - 'Indoor Power Play' at Cal Star Gym, 70 Digital Drive, Novato

9.30 – 10.30 am - ‘Jumping Jacks’ (up to 24 months) at the San Rafael Community Center, 618 B Street, San Rafael

10.30 – 11.30 am - ‘Jumping Jacks’ (24 months & up) at the San Rafael Community Center, 618 B Street, San Rafael 

10.15 -10.45 am – Toddler Story time (2-3 yrs), Mill Valley Library, 375 Throckmorton Ave, Mill Valley

10.30 – 11.00 am – Story Time at San Rafael Library, 618 B Street, San Rafael

11.00 - 11.30 am - Story Time at Barnes & Noble, 313 Corte Madera Center

3.30 - 4.00 pm - 'Stories with Phil Sheridan', Sausalito Library, 420 Litho Street


Friday

10.30 - 11.30 am - Story Time with Sara Bonnet, San Rafael Library, 618 B Street, San Rafael 

10.30 – 12.00 pm – Jumping Jacks, Strawberry Recreation District, 118 Strawberry Drive, 2^nd floor gym

10.30 – 12.00 pm – Free Playgroup (Under 5), Marin Head Start, 610 Drake Ave, Marin City