During the holiday season, I am reminded how important community is (which to me includes friends, family, neighbors, businesses, and schools, just to name a few). Although community giving can happen any time of year, the holidays provide an opportunity or a reminder for us think a little less about ourselves and more about others. I know in my sons’ school that the gift of volunteering and donations of simple things like markers, books, and Kleenex are always welcome. And I believe it’s essential to make sure that families have warm winter coats and boots to wear and sufficient food to eat.

This holiday season, many more people will feel the pinch from tough economic times. When giving time or money becomes more difficult, even a little bit can mean a lot to someone else. In our family we are revaluating what we buy this year and thinking more about how we can help others. Our family makes a point of volunteering our time, donating to those in need, making some of our gifts, buying local and buying handmade whenever possible, and this year is no exception. We hope this tradition will be embraced by our children so they will learn the value of caring for others and helping people we may not even know.

Our friends, Jason and Ilira at Rag and Bone Bindery helped out the hungry at Crossroads this summer by making 250 bagged lunches (pictured above) with their daughter. If you and your family are looking for ways to give, here is a list below of charitable community places seeking holiday donations or volunteers this holiday season. If you would like to be added to the list, please supply your information in the comments section below.

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Kidoinfo created a list of 55 things to do while Providence Children’s Museum closed for renovation. Since many of the ideas listed are free or cheap and useful all year round, I am providing the archives below:

• List #1-6

• List # 7-13

• List # 14 - 20

• List # 21 - 27

• List # 28 - 34

• List # 35-41

• List # 42-48

• List # 49-55

By Nancy King

Let’s start with the fact that I’m old, forty-four to be precise, and consequently I’ve attended a fair number of baby showers (including my own). They’ve all been variations on a single theme: lots of shiny new presents, a table laden with food (heavy on the sweets), and a room full of women, oohing and ahing as the mother-to-be unwraps all the loot that will outfit the nursery and the newborn.

Well, this past weekend, I attended yet another baby shower, but this one was decidedly different. Vanessa, the expectant mother, was not registered and in fact was not interested in receiving shiny new presents. Instead, she invited her guests to bring hand-me-downs or recycled baby items. Isn’t that brilliant? I don’t know about you, but in the nearly seven years that I’ve been a parent, it seems like I have given away—mostly to unseen strangers—enough of my child’s stuff to dress and entertain a bunch of kids.

I was thrilled, therefore, to look through the bags of outgrown clothing and books that live in our basement for a few special items. I gave Vanessa (or her daughter, to be more precise) two bathing suits that were never worn and a faux fur vest that I would be wearing if I could squeeze into a size 4T. I added a couple of picture books and put everything into a recycled gift bag from my daughter’s last birthday party.

I was glad that the fur vest was a hit (I got bonus points for having purchased it used from a consignment shop) but had more fun seeing what other treasures were unveiled. (Vanessa wasn’t into being the center of attention, so each guest picked a present to open.) By the time we were done, there were oodles and oodles of good-as-new clothing, blankets, stuffed animals, books, and more. There was even a homemade do-it-yourself baby wipes kit consisting of a paper towel roll that sits inside a plastic canister soaking in a tea-tree oil-based solution. Again, isn’t that brilliant?

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When our boys turned three, we replaced their convertible crib/toddler bed with an IKEA foam mattress and wood futon bed frame. We found the “surfer theme” cotton comforter and two pillow shams at Target and installed an IKEA star night light. Now that the boys are in first grade and reading to themselves at bedtime, we decided to make a few more “big-boy” adjustments to their room without too much effort.

• We re-arranged the boys’ beds so they each have their own “space”.
• Added a book shelf from Christmas Tree Shops to serve as a bedside table and as a place to store their stuff—favorite books, photo albums, recent library loans, current favorite CDs, and their beloved stuffed animals (the boys are not all grown up yet).
• Moved a table and chair we already owned near their bed for their “new” old Apple LCII computer (happy to say it does not connect to the internet but is loaded with writing and drawing software and math games).
• Hung up a square memo bulletin board to hold their favorite photos.
• Added a clip-on reading light from IKEA.
• Finally framed and hung print I bought last Christmas at Craftland.

Many children seem to go through a “pirate phase” at some point. Thanks to Elyse Major, one of our Kidoinfo readers for sharing this easy DIY pirate costume your child can now dress the part.

My five-year-old son loves to wear costumes. In our playroom we have an overflowing bin of them thanks in part to post-Halloween 90-percent-off clearance sales at Target and also due to some boredom-busting moments of inspiration. Whenever my youngest son has outgrown his clothes, they generally get thrown into “the Zach bag,” for my best friend’s son. But some clothes are just too worn-out to pass along. These garments find a second life as pirate wear.

Materials
Pants
Shirt
Scissors
Optional: Adhesive felt, felt, fabric scraps, needle and thread

HOW-TO

Jig Jag Pants
Making pirate pants is a cinch. Cut the pants about ¾ down their length (below the knees) in a jagged line. My son calls this “making them jig-jag.” Imagine Charlie Brown’s shirt design as you are cutting.

Pirate Vest
Making a pirate vest is also easy. Lay any shirt out flat. Cut off the arms along the seams. Leave the back as is but cut the front fabric all the way down the middle, creating a vest. We also like to jig-jag the bottom. With remnants of fabric or felt, sew a patch onto the front of the vest using colored thread and make sure to let your oversized stitches show. Cut a skull-and-crossbones from adhesive felt and stick on to the patch. The more jig-jags and patches, the scrappier your scurvy dog.

Add a bandanna here, a pirate hat there (usually available at party stores), and your little corsair is ready to set sail! This costume is especially fun to wear at Antonio Coelho’s big ship on the second floor of the Providence Children’s Museum (re-opening the end of October).

To help set the pirate mood, check the Kidoinfo list of pirate books for Kids.

Elyse Major lives in northern Rhode Island with her husband and 2 sons (almost 6 and almost 8 years old). A “mostly” stay-at-home mom, Elyse works as a communications consultant for Neighborhood Health Plan of Rhode Island. Hobbies include doing crafts with her boys; eating popcorn with her husband; writing; creating home dècor; and most recently blogging (visit Elyse’s blog at http://tinkeredtreasures.blogspot.com/).

Photo credit: Elyse Major

Today I welcome Jessie Meisner as a new intern on the Kidoinfo team. In addition to her behind-the-scenes help, she will occasionally share her camp experience and love of children’s literature with our readers.

It may be getting too cold to swim, but it’s certainly not too late to explore in the water. Try pond scooping (or pond dipping) to get up close and personal with the critters living in the water.

First you’ll have to find a good body of water to explore. Ponds, streams, rivers, and lakes all do the trick, as long as you can walk right up to the edge of the water. See our list below for local spots in and around Rhode Island. Please share your own favorite places for pond scooping.

Sort through your cabinets for an old pasta strainer or flour sifter you’re willing to sacrifice. For the best scooping, attach the strainer to the end of a sturdy stick, no taller than your child, for easy maneuverability. Removable broom handles and duct tape work well for creating this DIY pond scooper. However, scooping without a stick works well, too, though it doesn’t allow you to cover as great an area. If possible, bring along small buckets, local pond guides from the library, magnifying glasses, and rubber boots as handy tools.

Once you reach your location, pull out your rubber boots, and move into the pond—be careful not to splash around too much or you’ll scare everything away! Carefully scoop the net from side to side in the water, pull it out, and examine what you’ve found. I’ve found that the best way to ensure a great catch is to find an area in the water with plant life, and scoop along the plants, near the bottom; this usually yields the smaller insects that cling to grasses.

Once you’ve made a catch, you can carefully dump the contents of your scoop into a bucket or shallow pan filled with water. Once your child is done scooping, sit down and examine what you’ve found; findings can range from tiny beetles to giant frogs, from leeches to dragonfly larva. These findings are a great way to start conversations with your kids about metamorphosis, adaptations, or they might spark some observational drawings. It’s an open-ended, fun activity…as long as you don’t forget to return your specimens to their native habitat before you return to yours!

Places to go:

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Thanks to Elyse Major, one of our Kidoinfo readers, for contributing this craft project. Great for children ages 3 and up.

Making salt jars has been an enduring favorite craft for my sons and me for years. It is a fun craft to do outside at a picnic table in the summer but can be done easily inside all year long. As the mother of boys, I seldom discard jars. You never know when someone will want to catch a bug, begin a pebble collection, or ask, “Can we make salt jars today?”

Materials
Glass jars with lids (labels removed, clean, and completely dry)
Container(s) of salt
Colored chalk
Paper plates
Newspaper

How-to (more…)

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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(The Almighty Chipwich)

I know. You’re reading that headline and wondering what the heck is wrong with me, since you’ve never had any trouble putting away a delicious cone of ice cream, and why mess with a good thing?
Here’s why.

Ice cream in a bowl (or from the pint, if we’re being honest) can be so it’s-9:30-p.m.-and-I-can-eat-this-or-just-go-to-bed. And while ice cream in a cone after the beach is lovely and wonderful, sometimes it is fun to exercise your creative side and elevate the experience to something you can truly call dessert. And calling things dessert is basically my calling in life, if you hadn’t noticed.

Besides, I don’t think you can really say you’ve had a good summer until you’ve had a chipwich, and given that school starts NEXT WEEK in some corners of the state, you’d better get baking.

The Almighty Chipwich

1. Bake your cookies. I will insist here that they be from scratch. Make them fairly small. Let them cool.

2. Scoop your favorite ice cream (I recommend vanilla in this case, but go crazy) onto a cookie in modest amounts. (An overstuffed chipwich is a lot like buying a Betamax in
the 1980s—it seemed like a good idea at the time, but you end up wishing you hadn’t.) Squish the top cookie on the scoop of ice cream.

3. Some might consider the chipwich unfinished without a roll through some mini-chocolate chips or some flaked coconut. I say that is gilding the lily, and I like my chipwiches as pure as, well, vanilla ice cream trapped between two chocolate chip cookies. So I quit there and put them in the freezer. (It’s a good idea to wrap them individually in plastic wrap, freeze them, and then unwrap and serve on a platter.)

And if one of those individually wrapped chipwiches doesn’t make it onto the platter, and you find it later in the freezer? It would probably be good with coffee when your
children are napping.

I’m guessing.

Despite preferring vanilla ice cream in her chipwiches, Anna Sawin is willing to try one in any flavor you make. She blogs at Hank & Willie.

Photo credit: myhusbandcooks.wordpress.com

Here is my 2008 list of fun ways to celebrate the last care-free days of summer vacation—before school starts and the days get shorter and the nights get colder.  Some were on last years’ list, but some traditions are worth repeating.

1. Head to our favorite beach for an early morning walk, midday swim or end of the day supper - our new favorite is Second Beach in Newport, RI

2. Have a potluck picnic with friends at a park, a beach or backyard.

3. Visit Waterfire in downtown Providence, lighting occurs just after sunset.

4. Take a hike at one of the Audubon wildlife refuges.

5. Make an accordion book about what we did this summer. Have kids draw pictures, add photos, collage, tell stories or make lists of what they did or where they went .

6. Fly kites at India Point Park in Providence, RI or Breton Park in Newport, RI

7. Have breakfast at Three Rivers Cafe in Warren, RI

8. Take the ferry to Newport, Block Island, or Prudence Island

9. Have friends over—after the kids are in bed—and sip summer cocktails on the porch.

10. Go for a bike ride at Lippitt Park (corner of Blackstone Boulevard and Hope Street) and then visit our favorite ice cream place, Three Sisters in Providence. Like soft serve ice cream? Check Katy’s list of local places that serve it up. Click here to find Rhode Island bike maps.

Photo credit: Boys at Roger Wheeler Beach by Douglas Itkin