The Providence Children’s Museum participated in Providence Plays! on Monday, April 23. The first citywide play-a-thon was sponsored by the new Providence Partnership for Young Children. The museum hosted the mayor and a number of family service agencies. What a perfect place to celebrate children and play!

Janice O’Donnell, the executive director of the museum, wrote the following article for their spring newsletter, explaining how the museum provides a perfect space for children of many age levels to come and play everyday. My kids and I have spent countless days at the museum since they started to crawl. It has been our home away from home.

Doctor’s Orders - Play!
By Janice O’Donnell, Executive Director

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recently issued a clinical report that had heads nodding at the Children’s Museum. Entitled “The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bonds,” the report supports our conviction that children’s play is essential for social, emotional, physical and cognitive growth. And, when parents join in, play strengthens families.

The AAP report was spurred by growing concern among pediatricians and many others that hurried lifestyles, increased attention to academics and organized activities, the ubiquitous video screen, and worries about their safety have reduced children’s time for free, imaginative, self-directed play. The report states, “When play is allowed to be child driven, children practice decision making skills, move at their own pace, discover their own areas of interest…”

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I’ve been a fan of Rag & Bone Bindery since I got my first handmade book from Jason in 1990. I met Jason and Ilira (owners of Rag & Bone Bindery) at an Oxfam Benefit Craft Show in Boston, where we were selling our crafts. I traded one of my coffee cup T-shirts for one of Jason’s handmade journals. We never thought years later we’d be neighbors in Providence, with kids the same age.

Rag & Bone sets the standard for beautiful, handmade books and keeps alive the world of journalling. From handmade journals to wedding albums to baby books - they make them all in their Pawtucket studio with their well trained crew. Rag & Bone Bindery sells their books and albums in many stores across the country and direct from their website.

You’re invited to the Rag & Bone Studio and Sale this weekend. Discover their books and shop from new and discontinued items. Find out more about this event from Jason at Rag & Bone.

Kidoinfo is proud to announce we are sponsoring the kids crafts this year at the studio sale. While you shop, your kids can make a paper craft. This is a FREE family-friendly event for kids of all ages.

Remember Mother’s Day is May 13. The studio sale is a great time to buy a gift for a mom while your kids make a handmade card. You can also register to win a Kidoinfo T-shirt or a Rag & Bone book.

details
Rag & Bone Bindery - 1088 Main Street, Pawtucket, RI 02860. (401) 728-0762.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
10 am - 4 pm. Studio Sale
11 am - 1 pm. Kidoinfo Crafts

The Giving Tree, written and illustrated by Shel Silverstein, is about the relationship between a tree and a young boy. I love his simple black ink illustrations combined with words placed so they seem to dance across the page. This story is open to many interpretations but I believe the story describes how much the boy initially needs the tree and how his needs change as he ages. The tree seems to show its unconditional love towards the boy, possibly like a parent’s love for a child.

My kids responded to this book on their own level. After reading the story as a parent, it made me think about how much my kids have changed since they were infants and how their needs and our relationship will change as they get older. I believe the story is also a gentle reminder of how important it is to appreciate and take care of the things we love.

The tree may serve as a metaphor in this book but it’s still a tree and today is Arbor Day.
Go out and love a tree.

Local Events
• Providence Neighborhood Planting Program (PNPP)-You can get a FREE tree planted in your neigborhood if you and your neighbors commit to care for the trees. This program is funded jointly by the City of Providence and the Mary Elizabeth Sharpe Street Tree Endowment, an Advised Fund of the Rhode Island Community Foundation. Download your application.

• Tree Planting - Saturday, April 28, 2007, 11 am. Blackstone Blvd across from Swan Point Cemetery. The Blackstone Parks Conservancy, a newly formed non profit organization, has received two Linden trees from the Tree Council with support from the Blackstone Park Improvement Association, the Dirt Diggers, the Perennial Gardeners and the Providence Parks Department. For information, call Anna Browder at (401) 521-6389.

• The RI Tree Council website explains Rhode Island’s Arbor Day history and has a list of plantings for the 2007 celebration.

More
Arbor Day Foundation has great educational resources for kids and adults throughout their website.
Become a member and get 10 free trees. To set your expectations, read the mixed reviews about their free tree program.

Click on comments below and tell us how you are spending Arbor Day.

Great news! I’m launching the Kidoinfo newsletter today. Weekend picks and much more will be e-mailed every week to everyone who signs up. (If you have not had a chance to register, click here to receive your FREE newsletter.)

Make planning your weekend with the kids a little easier and lots more enjoyable. The Kidoinfo newsletter announces terrific events in the Providence area and beyond. Plan your morning, an afternoon outing or make an entire daytrip to someplace new.

Kidoinfo makes parenting a little easier by bringing together fun, timely and valuable resources for kids. Visit often to see what’s new, contribute your ideas and comments, and share us with your friends.

by Katy Killilea

Here’s a well-intentioned product that actually works to make my life easier: the “All Out Of” Pad. Granted, you could easily type up your own customized version, but this pad is good enough for me. It lists, using categories such as “Fruits,” “Dairy,” and “Snacks,” those items you commonly purchase at the grocery store.

The pages include space to write in additional or more specific items in each category, so you’ll remember your Brussels sprouts and Kashi GoLean. It also has a strong magnet on the back, so you can hang it on the fridge and have it at the ready the moment you notice you have run out of something.

The “All Out Of” Pad can be purchased online at www.knockknock.biz, Figments on Westminster Street in Providence (near White Electric Coffee) or The Curatorium on Wickenden Street in Providence (next to the Coffee Exchange).

Grocery News is occasional posts about food items. Sharing great discoveries, tips and ideas helps make parenting a little easier. Share your food thoughts with us by clicking comments below or contact us with your story ideas.

I love books, I love deals and I love my local library! I’ll be there.

Friends of Rochambeau Semi-Annual Book Sale is this week!

More than 20 categories encompassing Fiction, Non-Fiction, Reference, & Children’s books. Public browsing of tables stacked with tons of books, audio-visuals and more starts on Thursday, April 26th.

Children’s and Paperback Books are 50¢ each, Hardcover, Software, and Audio-visuals are $1 each. Specials and rarities are priced as marked.

April 24 5 pm -7:30 pm (Dealer Night - $30 admission)
April 25 5 pm-7:30 pm (Friends Night)
April 26 1 pm -8:30 pm (Public)
April 27 10 am-5:30 pm (Public)
April 28 10 am-5:30 pm (Public)
April 29 10 am-5:30 pm (Public - $5 a bag)
April 30 1 pm-3 pm (Clearance-by appointment)

Location: Rochambeau Branch Library - 708 Hope St., Providence, RI 02906. (401) 455-8110.

You may already play with your kids, but if you are like many of us, we squeeze it in between work, school, carpools, the laundry, the grocery store, etc. A recent article from the American Academy of Pediatrics reports,

Free and unstructured play is healthy and, in fact, essential for helping children reach important social, emotional, and cognitive developmental milestones as well as helping them manage stress and become resilient.

Celebrate the importance of play for healthy early child development and join Providence Plays!, the first citywide play-a-thon, scheduled to take place on April 23.

Many educational centers and organizations around the city have been invited to participate in this event. You don’t have to be a part of one of the organizations to play, just arrange 45-60 minutes of uninterrupted free play with your children (no laundry or cell phone). I know I’ll be playing that day because I’ll be at my boys’ school, Child’s Play, and this parent-teacher cooperative school has built its curriculum around the idea that kids learn best through play.

Want some play ideas? Head to the park, build a tower of blocks, have a puppet show, play a board game or visit the following local open spaces to play on April 23:
10:30 am - 12:30 pm. Federal Hill House, 9 Courtland Street, Providence, RI.
1 pm - 2 pm. Roger Williams Park Zoo Education Center. (401) 785-3510.

Providence Plays! is sponsored by the Providence Partnership for Young Children. This new group of organizations and individuals are united in the belief that a young child’s healthy social, emotional, physical and cognitive development lay the foundation for future learning and leads to success in school, life and in society. The members of the Partnership work together to ensure that all infants and toddlers will experience nurturing relationships and strong families that provide positive learning opportunities.

The Providence Partnership for Young Children believes that everyone plays a part in giving children a healthy start. Research shows that a community that addresses the needs of its youngest members by supporting their families and caregivers will reap the benefit of a healthier and more productive future citizenry. Fnd out how you can join the Partnership in this important work. Contact Angela Muccio (Project coordinator) at (401) 421-4722, ext. 24 or email amuccio@federalhillhouse.org.

During our recent trip to the Zoo this week, my boys and I heard 2 books. Although these books have very different writing and illustration styles, they share the idea of interdependence. We are all connected to each other in some way, and what we do makes a difference, for good and bad. In honor of Earth Day today I want to share them.

The Family of Earth by Schim Schimmel.
This book is a tribute to the earth. It serves as a reminder of what unites us, rather than dwelling on what divides us. Schim’s vibrant artwork of animals from around the world and his simple poetic words show despite our differences, we share the same air, sky, and water. His final words of the story are simple but meaningful: “We are the family of earth.” Schim’s beautiful artwork will captivate the attention of kids of all ages.

Horton Hears a Who by Dr. Seuss.
Many of you may have already read this book. It’s been a long time since I heard it, I forgot how timeless it is. This story reminds us that no matter who we are (big or small) we can make a difference. Horton, the elephant, believes there really is a small “Who-ville” community but he needs to convince his friends in order to save the Whos. The Whos finally make themselves heard when the tiniest member of “Who-ville” joins in singing. The book is filled with expressive illustrations of animals as only Dr. Seuss can create.

We save selected trash into a big box. The box is now filled with old cardboard tubes, vegetable containers, broken toys, old electronics, etc. ready for the day when we need a new project. With a little imagination and some tape, string or a glue gun (with adult supervision), you can turn your trash into something new, like a robot, a car, a rocketship…

My boys (with the help of their dad) made me these cool robots. The little robot was inspired by R2D2. He is made from a tea canister covered with the blue styrofoam from a mushroom container. The large robot is made from old toilet paper tubes, a stamp box, a broken mixer, and an old failed zip drive.

Earth Day is Sunday April 22 - to celebrate you could make your own creations out of reused materials.

Doing some spring cleaning and looking for a place to donate your kid’s gently used toys and stuffed animals? Consider sending toys to Iraq. I saw a post in Parent Hacks that explains how. Edmay Mayers, a member of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers who is currently stationed in Iraq, has taken on this mission to collect and distribute toys to children living in Iraq. Iraqi kids are not responsible for our current political situation, so why not help them play? My boys and I are going to start packing up a box of toys to send to Edmay. She is stationed in Iraq until November 2007 and will accept donations as long as she is there.

You can request a FREE mailing supply kit for sending items to U.S. military personnel. The kit includes boxes, tape, labels, and customs forms. (Note: Supplies are FREE but you are responsible for the postage.)

• The U.S. Postal Service provides information about supporting troops and free mailing supplies.

• Call 1-800-610-8734 (Packing Supply) and then:
- Choose your language (1 for English, 2 for Spanish).
- Choose option 1 (for Express Mail® service, Priority Mail or Global Express Guaranteed®).
- When you reach a live agent, request CAREKIT04.
- Allow 7-10 days for delivery.

Mail toys to:
Edmay Mayers
USACE - GRS
APO AE 09331