Your guide to activities and fun things to do with your preschoolers, toddlers and kids in cincinnati, OH

Exploring Your World with Your Little One (with no jet-lag!)

by Amy Mumper

June 29, 2009

Now more than ever it becomes important to make your own home a bunch of fun for the kids.  There's more talk about a stay-cation and so on, so how can you spice things up around your place?  Pick a place to "visit" vicariously through both books and websites.  For instance, do you have an ideal vacation destination you'd like to "virtually visit" this summer?  Or, would your kids go ga-ga for pretending to visit out of town grandparents?  Either way, pick a spot and capitalize on that city's or state's characteristics.  Let's say, you've chosen Hawaii.  Gather books, maps and globes and talk about how you'll get there.  Maybe the couch is  your airplane...  Then, think about creating the Hawaiian environment in one of your rooms - perhaps the one with the most light (or ‘sun').  Then, visit Cappell's to get some fun trinkets to set the stage - leis, luau cups and paper  plates.  Pick out some cookbooks or research Hawaiian specialties on the internet.  From there, create your family's menu for your Hawaiian day.  Make non-alcoholic fruity drinks, get a real pineapple and carve it (or put your drink in it!)  Continue getting ready for your "getaway" by creating  a mural for each of the walls in your Hawaiian room.  Find some representative pictures of Hawaii and try to replicate them to set the scene.  (Ever scene the science fair project on making a volcano erupt?  Very cool... wasn't it Peter Brady who tried this way back when - or am I just OLD?)  Finally, invite some family members or friends to join in your fun - sharing your planned luau, dancing and of course your scrumptious menu!   If you've no family in town, plan a call with far away loved ones and let them join you on the journey... virtually.

Tried any fun virtual vacations?  What did you do?

Music Opens Your World

by Amy Mumper

March 02, 2009

  "Rock-a-bye baby, on the tree top..."

Music is one of your child's first connections with language.  As your child grows, music can continue to connect her to her world.  Around our house, we love Laurie Berkner, Raffi and the buzz on Savvy is all about  Dan Zanes (see Being Savvy Newark a giveaway!).

83 Ideas for Fun In and Around Cincinnati

by Amy Mumper

February 24, 2009

1.  Visit Devou Park in Northern Kentucky and check out the view

2.  Visit Sawyer Point in Downtown Cincinnati - playgrounds and tennis to say the least

3.  Visit Eden Park

4.  Cincinnati Parks offer great camps

5.  Gorham farm; a working in Evendale

6.  Shaw farm has a great Fall Fest

7.  Meet Farmer Frank at Sunrock Farm

8.   See the Krohn Conservatory's nativity scene at Christmas

9.  Attend the Butterfly Show at Krohn Conservatory

10.  Try a free class at the art museum

11.  Visit the Taft Museum

12.  A favorite of mine!  Duke Energy Children's Museum at Union Terminal

13.  Contemporary Art Museum

14.  Do the scavenger hunt at the art museum

15.  Do a mommy and me movie at AMC

16.  Attend a Cincinnati Reds Game

17.  Try the trails at French Park

18.  Enjoy Lindner Park Nature Preserve in Norwood

19.  Try the Drake Planetarium for programs and birthday parties

20.  Jump around at Go Bananas!

21.  Run, Jump and Play when you need to get the wiggles out

22.  Bike ride at Woodland Mound Park's trail

23.  Enjoy yummy ice cream at Graeter's

24.  Candies at Aglamesis

25.  Cincinnati Chili for dinner at Skyline!

26.  Lunch at LaRosa's!

27.  Picnic on the Ohio River

28.  Visit handmade Loveland Castle

29.  Loveland Bike Trail is great exercise for families

30.  Totter's Otterville in Covington is fun for ALL ages

31.  Fine arts sampler weekend is a must do event

32.  Library activities are versatile and year round

33.  Blue manatee Story Times and special classes are interesting

34.  Joseph Beth Booksellers Story Times are three times a week

35.  Findlay market; take the kids to shop for dinner

36.  Coney Island

37.  Kings Island

38.  The Beach Waterpark uses its facilities virtually year round

39.  Ice skating

40.  Kentucky speedway is a unique experience

41.  Music hall

42.  Newport aquarium for your fishies

43.  Oktoberfest ZinZinnati

44.  Flying pig marathon - even The Littles can enjoy with the Hog Log

45.  Vineyards; in Cincy no less!

46.  Tall stacks - a history lesson

47.  Great wolf Lodge

48.  Coco Key

49.  Xavier games

50.  UC games

51.  Zoo

52.  The fountain at Yeatman's cove

53.  Movies - G-rated fun

54.  Go play café

55.  Children's theatre

56.  Playhouse in the park

57.  Aronoff Center for the Arts

58.  Climb Carew tower

59.  Walk the Purple People bridge

60.  Pizza tower

61.  WGUC Classics for Kids

62.  Cincinnati Music Academy

63.  Musik Kids

64.  Madpotter

65.  Parky's farm

66.  Parky's ark

67.  Winton woods riding center

68.  Chuck e cheese

69.  Bonbonerie tea room

70.  Omnimax theatre

71.  Lazer kraze

72.  Bowling

73.  Color me mine

74.  Pump it up

75.  The Imaginattic

76.  Kentucky Horse Park

77.  Try a free Gymboree class.

78.  Wyoming fine arts center

79.  Golf lessons at Sharon woods.

80.  COSI

81.  Visit the Indianapolis Children's Museum

82.  Try the Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton for flight fun

83.  WHO-DEY think gonna see 'dem Bengals?

Rithmetic Rocks Round the House

by Amy Mumper

February 17, 2009

Check out these local landmarks that mark our time, or create your own! 

1. Try the Clock Tower at Mainstrasse Village in Covington.  It’s beautiful and your family can enjoy a day at the village (maybe even some shopping!)

     2.  I live about a block away from a church bell.  If you don’t pay attention, you’ll miss it (even then it sounds on the quarter hour!)  It’s a lesson in auditory learning to decipher the sounds in your environment.  My kids’ preschool is in a church that has church bells as well.  We always say, “We’ll play until the bell dings!”  At worst, that’s fifteen minutes!

     3.Invest in a simple stop watch and time your kids’ relay races.   Allow them to create obstacle courses that take more or less time.  Trust me, you can even do this in your living room. (Can you say ‘snow day’?)

     4.  Recently, my daughter’s second grade teacher turned us on to a bookmark/timer that can count the minutes you read.  Two words (or more) of caution:  1.)  I DID NOT like the idea of timing my daughter's reading before she was asked to do it for school. It felt contrived for an activity we enjoyed, so I timed it myself and didn’t tell her.  2.)  If you don’t have this bookmark timer, you can do a lot of math with teaching elapsed time.  But, that’s not easy and if your child doesn’t love reading, you may have to pick your battles.  Now, my second grader LOVES reading and the bookmark timer is a gimmick she enjoys and it keeps me from checking my watch constantly (yes, she reads constantly!  A girl after my own heart!)

     5.  Especially for very young kids, you may enjoy a simple calendar in your family’s living space.  When my children were really young, I made a big point to only change the calendar in the morning (so I didn’t reinforce their thinking that the day changed after naps).  Check out ours:  (you can buy many kinds!)

      6.  Homemade stuff is often the greatest.  I made this “OUR DAY” chart when my oldest was just getting the idea that time passed and we had plans for the day.  It was an amazing way to learn to read, too – environmental print that my kids LOVE!  They each wake up and check the chart to know what's happening for the day.  My 4 year old can read it and my 3 year old can also read it if I draw pictures next to the things we’re doing.  But, enough about language – note that I included the (with permanent marker) digital time and the analog time (I traced a quarter to make the analog clocks.)  I write on it every day, even school days.  I write each day's schedule with a dry erase marker.

     7.   Finally, I love this teaching clock.  It can really grow with your family and all your kids can enjoy it.  It’s a shape sorter, and it has numbers on it so even the littlest ones can really get something out of this toy.  It has moving hands and marks minutes and labels quarter to and half past.  Very cool.

Have a Rockin' 'Rithmetic-in' Day! 

Top 10 Posts of the Year

by Amy Mumper

December 30, 2008

2008 is coming to an end and I'd like to take you on a journey back to our favorite posts of the year. First, let me say thank you to each of you who faithfully read Being Savvy Cincinnati. I enjoy spending time preparing a post and anticipating your thoughts and experiences as well. Please invite your friends to join us on this journey through Parenting in Cincinnati . Below are listed  Read more...

Neighborly Navidad

by Amy Mumper

December 23, 2008

It seems each year I realize just how many neighbors I have that I really don't know. I do, in fact, have a lot of neighbors that I do know. So, I guess I think I'm a "know-it-all". When, come Halloween, I�??m always surprised at how many new faces there seem to be. So as our neighborhood's progressive drinking party (sorry, it's not even close to a progressive dinner ) I was excited  Read more...

Book Nooks for Tots

by Amy Mumper

October 06, 2008

A self declared bookworm and former elementary school teacher, this mama's got you covered when it comes to book nooks for your little folks! Topping the list in Cincy HAS to be Joseph Beth Booksellers in the Rookwood Pavilion in Norwood! They actually have a free preschool story time 3 times a week (MWF)! Go anytime and entice The Littles into reading after theyve had their fill of the  Read more...

The Littlest Picasso

by Amy Mumper

October 06, 2008

Art is such a rich form of expression, especially for little ones that are still learning words to put with their world, experiences and emotions. No wonder you want to know about city resources to enhance your child's natural sense of curiosity. Various mediums abound take your pick! Ceramics your bag? Try mymadpotter.com for some QT and creativity! How about 2D mediums? Try Gymboree  Read more...