By Jaci Arnone

You may be wondering why I am recommending pipe organ concerts as a fun kid’s activity, but I urge you to keep an open mind. Organ music might not be high on my playlist either, but I have wonderful memories of my grandmother “GiGi” playing show tunes during family holidays while my cousins and I danced our hearts out.

So recently when I discovered that Providence Performing Arts Center offers free lunchtime concerts showcasing their vintage Wurlitzer pipe organ, I leapt at the chance to expose the kids to some good ol’ organ music. And I promise you, it was well worth it.

We attended the first concert of this year’s spring series, which featured an accomplished organist and two talented vocalists. The hour-long program included a variety of upbeat show tunes from The Music Man, Gigi, and My Fair Lady, along with classics such as Tea for Two and Stars and Stripes Forever.  My kids had a ball, clapping along, dancing in the aisle, and getting plenty of positive attention from the other attendees (mostly seniors).

We chose to sit in the first row of the balcony, which gave the kids a fantastic view of the theater. The balcony ledge served as the perfect impromptu table top, making it easier for the kids to manage their picnic lunch. Also, the railing is high enough that I wasn’t worried about their safety (although with toddlers, it might be better to avoid the steep steps and stay on the ground level).

Following the performance, we walked downstairs to get a closer glimpse of the Wurlitzer pipe organ. Built in 1927, this gorgeous instrument is the pride and joy of PPAC. The kids enjoyed seeing the ornate details on the Wurlitzer and getting yet another view of PPAC’s breathtaking interior, which my three-year-old daughter best described as “fancy, like Fancy Nancy!”

Whether you are a fan of pipe-organ music or not, the Wonders of the Wurlitzer series is a great opportunity to share live music with your family in one of Rhode Island’s most beautiful venues.

Details:

Spring 2008 Wurlitzer schedule (more details):
Monday May 12 (Len Beyersdorfer, organist)
Monday, May 19 (Jim & Linda Duncan, organist)
Wednesday, May 28 (Alden Mitchell, organist)
Wednesday, June 4 (Bob Legon, organist) - with silent movie

Location: Providence Performing Arts Center - 220 Weybosset St # 2, Providence, RI 02903
(401) 421-2997
Cost: All Wurlitzer concerts are FREE
Time: Noon to 1:00pm. (Bring a brown bag lunch)

Photo Credit: Jaci Arnone

FirstWorks is back this season with creative arts programming for kids and adults. They kicked off the 2008 season with Handmade Puppet Dreams — a zany puppet film festival in two parts curated by Heather Henson, daughter of Muppets creator Jim Henson. These puppet films have been created by independent artists specifically for the camera. The first part for adults was shown a few weeks ago at RISD’s Memorial Hall. Tomorrow bring the kids (big and small) to see part two at the Providence Children’s Museum.

Some of you may remember the fabulous, fun, and free FirstWorksKids festival that’s been held in downtown Providence every June for the last fours years. It’s an entire day filled with music, dance, and theater from around the world, along with hands-on activities for kids. Last year Dan Zanes really rocked the house with his bandmates and then led the parade of families, performers, and Big Nazo puppets from RISD to Waterplace Park.

This year the FirstWorks team has decided to shake things up even more. Starting in 2008, instead of a day-long festival, FirstWorks will plan creative kids events throughout the year. Although my family will miss the annual festival, we look forward to unusual and engaging performances like tomorrow’s event at a variety of venues at different times of the year. I applaud the FirstWorks’ mission to connect arts to audiences (both children and adults) with amazing experiences with performance. And I believe that by restructuring the kids’ programming, FirstWorks may broaden their reach — influencing the lives of many more children in our community. In June I will have details about the upcoming fall FirstWorksProv festival which will include more family events this year.

Details for Handmade Puppet Dreams:
FirstWorks presents Handmade Puppet Dreams for Kids: A series of 9 shorts, ranging in length from 5 seconds to 14 minutes. Total program will run 45 minutes.
When: Friday, May 16, at 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. (Two 45-minute showings.)
Where: Providence Children’s Museum - 100 Water Street, Providence, RI (map)
Cost: Admission to the museum is free from 5-8 p.m.
(MetLife Family Fridays - sponsored by the MetLife Foundation.)

A sample of some of the films:

Hold Me Now By Damien Eckhardt-Jacobi and Vincent Bova
The debut single off The Polyphonic Spree’s album is an inspirational song for troubled times. Glove and Boots won a challenge for independent filmmakers to create a video that would ultimately represent the song.

Graveyard Jamboree with Mysterious Mose By Seamus Walsh & Mark Caballero
Inspired by an old record by Harry Reser and his Radio All-Star Novelty Orchestra. Three techniques were used in this film including, live action puppetry, silhouette animation and stop motion animation.

Trixie and The Tree Trunks By Quintron & Miss Pussycat
After receiving a secret message from a talking “Happy Tree,” Trixie and Marsha, two woodland animals, embark on a quest to start a band. Adventure unfolds in this puppet mini-series as Trixie and Marsha adopt glow-in-the-dark stray cats and search for a drummer.

Photo Courtesy of FirstWorks

By Katy Killilea

Do you eat exclusively organic food? Have you been thinking and reading about eating only foods originating within a hundred-mile radius of your home? This is not about that. This is about getting beautiful produce for less money in these last few weeks before our farmers’ markets and CSA shares get into full swing. I’m talking about Price Rite.

I had never been to a Price Rite until this spring, when I was stranded at a Monster Mini Golf birthday party and needed to get some oranges. (The Price Rite in Seekonk is adjacent to Monster Mini Golf.) My expectations were low. I thought it would be dirty, and that I’d have to hunt through a heap of squalid oranges to find a few edible ones.

As usual, I was wrong. The produce at Price Rite is beautiful! The broccoli rabe stands at attention (not whimpering and weary like the rabe at my Shaw’s); the cauliflower is free of those icky gray spots; and there are heaps and heaps of melons, bright bell peppers, and hot peppers, more varieties than I could name. And everything costs less than at a Shaw’s or Stop & Shop.

The produce is what attracts me to Price Rite, but there are other good bargains: pints of Italian Ice for $1.49 (”also perfect for blender drinks”) that are free of high fructose corn syrup—just fruit, sugar, and coldness. There is a large area filled with yummy Portuguese baked goods made in Fall River. A living encyclopedia of dry chiles, an imported Italian foods section, tons of cheeses (not an artisinal one in the lot!) and meats, Spongebob yogurt, and juice boxes galore (Juicy Juice, $1.99 for eight).

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By Maura Keating

The Boon Snack Ball is the ultimate solution for snack storage and delivery on the go. In flashy orange paired with a cool light blue, the Boon Snack Ball is a show-off made for a life on the road. The Snack Ball twists open into two halves. It is easy to fill the Snack Ball and very easy to keep clean with no crevices. It’s even dishwasher-safe. The orange cap swings open to the side to allow access to snacks inside. My son (at sixteen months) figured out the open-and-close feature immediately. The opening is small, perfect for little hands and nimble fingers, but chubbier hands of younger users might have trouble reaching inside. The smaller opening means less mess if the Snack Ball takes a tumble. I’ve been impressed with the seal on the Snack Ball—snacks like cereal and crackers stay fresh, even when abandoned overnight. As it rolls around a diaper bag, the Boon Snack Ball construction prevents snacks from getting crushed—the inevitable outcome when using plastic baggies for snack storage. The size of the Snack Ball is perfect for a single serving and its compactness makes it easy to fit it in a diaper bag, stroller, or even a purse. After the snacks are gone, my son enjoys exploring the Snack Ball, playing with the lid, shaking it like a maraca, and rolling it back and forth.

The Boon Snack Ball is free from Bisphenol-A (BPA), PVC, and phthalates (the substance that makes vinyl soft and flexible), making it as safe as it is smart. By choosing a reusable container, you’ll be saving plastic bags from a landfill, which makes the Snack Ball smart for the environment and your wallet too.

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By Martha Iachetta

What’s dinner time like at your house? Fifteen years ago my graduate- level Family Counseling class sat in a circle answering that question– alternately cringing and laughing at the awkwardness, humor, longing, or strife within our descriptions of family dinners growing up. We realized how much information about connections, challenges, and responsibilities within a family can be gained with that one simple probe. A report I recently read on “The Importance of Family Dinners” by Columbia University’s Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse (CASA) reminded me of that activity when its annual parenting study posed that question (and several others) to families around the country. The findings consistently suggest that regular family dinners are among the most effective parenting tools available for healthy communication and the prevention of adolescent substance abuse. Many parents intuitively strive to create that routine in their homes—easiest to do when children are young—and now there is proof that the effort is worth it.

What is so magical about a family dinner? I can tell you anecdotally that when the parents and siblings of an eleventh grader I work with in Student Assistance learned about their child’s extensive marijuana use, they made some immediate changes at home. When I asked the student whether or not family dinners were a regular occurrence, the answer was “every night.” Conversely, a middle school student who began experimenting with marijuana at eleven years old reports that his mother gave up on getting him and his two older siblings to eat together when he was in sixth grade. His siblings are regular marijuana users and their use took off that year as well.

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Claire Duckmanton, originally from the UK and a former East Side resident, lives in Seekonk, MA, with her husband and three children (ages 2, 8, and 13). Below she shares her experience as a Fresh Air Fund host family and her role as the local chairperson for the Fresh Air Fund.

A few years ago, my family and I moved from the East Side of Providence to Seekonk, MA. The time had come to give our growing family the outdoor space they really needed and wanted. Walking around Thayer Street and stopping for coffee gave my kids less pleasure than it did me! With the move came a sort of mid-life crisis thing. We bought a dog, a rabbit, and even six egg-laying chickens. My husband put his foot down when I talked about a goat. Our new home environment was everything we had hoped for, and it seemed selfish to keep it to ourselves. A friend told me a little about the Fresh Air Fund and I was excited to find out more. After some online research, we decided it was just what we were looking for—an opportunity to give something back.

The Fresh Air Fund has been providing free vacations to inner-city kids from low-income neighborhoods in New York City for over one hundred years. Families are invited to open their home and hearts to a child for two weeks during the summer. Once we decided to become a host family, our wondrous journey began. Our first visitor was Alsheek (in 2005), a nine-year-old boy from Brooklyn. He left New York on a bus with thirty other Fresh Air children, escorted by volunteers, leaving his parents behind at the city bus stop. Can you imagine taking a six-hour bus ride and arriving to meet a family you’ve never even seen before? Some of these children are as young as six years old. Alsheek quickly settled in and the fun began. It was wonderful for us to see Alsheek enjoying the simple things we take for granted like riding a bike, swimming, and going to the beach. Of course, it wasn’t all fun and games. The experience can be a challenge as the kids and families adjust to one another—my children struggled with Alsheek wanting to play twenty-four hours a day and waking them go swimming at 6:00 a.m. It took patience and understanding, but the rewards for all of us far outweighed any hiccups. We did not host a child in 2006 because I gave birth to my third child a month before the Fresh Air kids’ visit. Since then we have hosted Kyra, 10, and a young boy named David in 2007. And this year we are excited to welcome Kyra back for another visit. Children who are re-invited by host families may continue with the Fund until they are eighteen years old.

Four years later, and I am now the local chairperson for the Fresh Air Fund. I see my role as ambassador, publicist, and recruiter of families who are ready, willing, and able to make a difference in a child’s life.

If you would like to learn more, please contact me at 508-761-8242 or 401-301-4090.

Details:
Fresh Air Fund website: www.freshair.org
Trip dates this year for local area: July 10 – July 23
Deadline for applications: Early June
Application process: Interested families call Claire on the phone to discuss program details, followed by an interview in the family’s home. Families fill out an application, including four references, and undergo a background check. There are no fees. Children on first-time visits are six to twelve years old. Host families can pick the age and gender of the child they’d like to host.

Photo Credit: Claire Duckmanton. Top L: Kyra with Felix. Top R: Kyra with Georgie and Isabel. Bottom: Alsheek.

By Jaci Arnone

My family recently discovered one of Rhode Island’s hidden gems: the Museum of Natural History and Cormack Planetarium. Situated in Roger Williams Park, this museum is the only of its kind in Rhode Island and proved to be a fun adventure for the entire family.

The Museum features a wide range of exhibits highlighting a variety of cultures from Native Americans to the craftspeople of the South Pacific. In addition, a Victorian-styled exhibition hall features treasures from the turn of the century, when collecting natural history items became an international fascination. (The exhibit includes a working observation hive, complete with live bees!)

The highlight for my older sons was Mission Moon: past, present, future (on display through September 29, 2008), featuring 3D imagery acquired by the Apollo and Surveyor programs and a moon rock collected by the crew of Apollo 17. There are several space-related, hands-on activities for kids of all ages, with museum staff available to answer questions.

Upon arrival, I would recommend picking up a ‘Scavenger Hunt’ worksheet, which lists basic trivia questions for each exhibit. This encouraged my kids to pay attention to details, and the best part was claiming their prize for turning in a completed worksheet!

My kids were tuckered out before the start of the Planetarium show (2:00 each weekend day and during school vacations), so we passed for this visit. However, the grounds of the museum served as a perfect picnic spot to enjoy lunch before heading home. We can’t wait to visit again!

Details:
Museum of Natural History & Planetarium
Roger Williams Park, 1000 Elmwood Ave, Providence, RI
401-785-9457 ext.221
Museum admission: $2 ($1 for children 2-7 years old)
Planetarium admission: $3 ($2 for children 4-7 years old). This includes entrance to the Museum and galleries. Children under 4 not permitted in the planetarium.
The first Saturday of every month is free to Providence (not East or North Providence) residents only (proof of residency required).

Photo Credit: Jaci Arnone

A sure sign of spring in our neighborhood is the Chez Pascal’s hot dog stand (called Hewtin’s Dog) back at the park and open for business. My boys and I vote these the BEST hot dogs around. Look at those happy boys! The Grote & Weigel all beef 10-inch hot dogs for $2.50 are delicious. They have drinks, chips and a few other food items—except for the chips and beverages though there are no vegetarian options.

Matt Gennuso, chef/owner of Chez Pascal (located in Providence on Hope Street at the corner of Ninth Street), sets up his stand from April/May through early fall, depending on the weather.

Details:
Open Tuesday - Saturday, 11:30 am - 4:30 pm
Located on Hope Street (East Side of Providence) at the edge of Lippitt Park and diagonally across from the Chez Pascal restaurant. There’s a great playground in the park so you can make it a complete outing with your children.

Neighborhood: Nayatt-Beach, Barrington

Kidoinfo: How long have you lived in Rhode Island?
PC: Three long, wonderful years.

Kidoinfo: What is your current state of mind?
PC: Swirling (getting ready for a science fair and I’ve not done much yet..ahhhh).

Kidoinfo: Who’s in your family?
PC: Ted — Man of Unbelievable Ethos; Slade the (currently practicing) Benevolent; Archer the Performance Artist (has indelible red scrawl on his face to show his school the look of ’surprise’); Babe the albino dog that looks like a pig, honks like a goose, and acts like a 95-year-old Irish bitty; Sketchy and Hoagie— the feral brother/sister feline duo.

Kidoinfo: What trait do you most admire about your family?
PC: We love to laugh deeply and think potty humor is incredibly funny.

Kidoinfo: What is your favorite thing to do?
PC: With kids — dance like a crazy person. Without kids — surfing. Someday with kids — surf.

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I welcome new music in our house—that used to mean “alternative”, now it usually means time to find a different CD to listen to. Now that the Barenaked Ladies have grown up and become parents they decided to make some music for the whole family. If you or your kids’ music taste includes They Might Be Giants, Black Eyed Peas or the Beatles check out their first collection of original children’s songs, Snacktime.

Sample the CD and download a free mp3 of the “7 8 9″ song at bnlmusic.com.