If you’re planning on visiting the Pacific Northwest at all this summer, the weekend of June 13th is a good time. That weekend, Kindiependent, an independent children’s music collective, is hosting the Share the Music Festival at Seattle’s Freeway Park at 12pm. The festival is free for all attendees and features some of the top acts in children’s music.
The show will feature the bands Recess Monkey, Caspar Babypants, The Not-Its!, as well as Johnny Bregar. Kindiependent is a collective that sets up kids’ shows throughout the Pacific Northwest and is passionate about cultivating a vibrant kids’ and family music scene. Their aim is to create a network of artists and companies that support their message using creative collaborations and community events.
Check out http://www.kindiependent.com for more information about the show and what else Kindiependent has in store.
Zoogobble is reporting the lineup for the Austin Kiddie Limits stage being held at the Austin City Limits festival, October 8-10 in Austin, TX. The stage will feature an array of artists, activities, food and art aimed at the youngest generations.
3-day passes have sold out at this point for the festival, but there are plenty of $85 a day regular passes left. Featured artists at the Austin Kiddie Limits stage include:
The Verve Pipe
Frances England
The Jellydots
Elizabeth Mitchell
Okee Dokee Brothers
Tom Freund
Paul Green School of Rock
Q Brothers
ACL is expecting at least another few artists and special guests to be added to the lineup, but who will it be? Last year’s lineup featured a full three days of music, so most likely there will be more additions soon.
For those of you interested in seeing the bigger bands in the midst of running your kids over to their stage, can find plenty of info at http://www.aclfestival.com. The big names at this point are way too many to name, so head over there and get your fill.
Funology.com is one of those sites that parents dream of. This site will hold your kid’s attention for hours with recipes, games, crafts, plus true science facts that will boost the IQ of anyone of any age.
There are enough cool arcade games to easily fill several rainy afternoons. Categories include action, logic, sports, and memory games. There are even some typing and puzzle games to help your kid learn how to type faster than you.
Check out the Jokes tab with countless belly busters, as well as the Boredom Buster section that includes ideas for crafts, an Art Gallery that shows your child how to create art with household items. Boredom Busters even includes a step-by-step guide to making your own hacky sack. Summer is approaching, after all.
My personal favorite is the array of magic tricks, which can turn your child into a regular David Blaine, though sans the creepy stare. With tons of card tricks, number tricks, and optical illusions, your kid is guaranteed to have a great time.
Kids love knowing everything; you probably know that by now, no matter how old your kids are. If it moves, or even if it doesn’t, they want to know why. Why is the sky blue? I still don’t really know the answer to that one. But hey, maybe it can be found on this great news site aimed at kids called DOGO News.
With all the articles split into categories like current events, science, social studies, sports, and entertainment, it’s easy to find relevant stories and a lot of fun random stuff as well. Also great is the ability for your kids to subscribe to the site so they can not only comment on the articles, but also get daily news sent to their email.
A tab on DOGO connects to a list of other cool kids’ sites, from Let’s Talk About Insects, to Funology. The web is full of great information for your kids, as well as plenty of games that will easily entertain for hours, or at least minutes.
DOGO News has a tab called Earth that functions like a map for news. The picture of the globe is fully movable and it rotates as news stories from around the world are announced, which users can click on and read at will. Geography was always my worst subject, so maybe I’ll spend some time checking out the globe myself.
Get your kids started making a racket early on and get their creative fires burning with homemade instruments that are as fun to make as they are to play. Enchantedlearning.com has a huge list of homemade instruments, as does Kinderart.com. Here’s a list of some of the great ones from both sites.
Box Guitar
What you need:
-empty shoe box
-rubber bands
-ruler or stick
Remove the cover from the box. Stretch the rubber bands around the box. Attach the ruler or stick to the back of the box on one end to act as the neck of the guitar. To play, strum or pluck the rubber bands.
Drum
What you need:
-empty oatmeal box with cover
-yarn
-pen
-2 pencils
-2 spools
-construction paper
-crayons
Before beginning, you can decorate the oatmeal box with construction paper and/or crayons for a colorful effect. Place the cover on the box. Use a pen to make a hole in the center of the cover and in the center of the bottom of the box. Through these holes, pull a piece of yarn long enough to hang around child’s neck and down to their waist. For the drumsticks, place the spools at the ends of the pencils, secure with glue if necessary. Beat to play.
Water-Bottle Baby Rattle
What you need:
-1 Empty Water Bottle
-1/4 cup of uncooked rice, lentils or beans
-Assorted colored ribbons.
-Optional beads, sequins or felt shapes
-Hot glue or non-toxic craft glue
This craft project shows you how to make a baby toy out of a recycled water bottle. This baby toy craft is a great sensory toy for little minds to help them play and develop. Start by taking your water bottle and allowing it to dry. Once it is dry add your “rattle” items. This bottle is filled with rice, sequins, felt cutouts and a few assorted bright beads. Place some glue around the rim of the lid and then pop it on and allow it to set. This is just an extra precautionary in case the top should become loose. Keep in mind this toy is for small infants Birth-6 months so secure the lid with glue to be safe.
Rainstick
What you need:
-A paper towel tube or other long cardboard tube
-Aluminum foil
-Small dried beans (like lentils), unpopped popcorn, dry rice, or tiny pasta
-Brown paper (from a grocery bag) or construction paper
-Glue
-Scissors
-Crayons or markers
Trace around the end of your tube onto a piece of brown paper (or construction paper). Draw a bigger circle around that circle and then draw a lot of spokes between the two circles. Cut along the spokes. Put glue on the spokes and glue the cap onto one end of your tube. Cut a piece of aluminum foil that is about one and half times the length of your tube and about 6 inches wide. Crunch the aluminum foil into two long, thin, snake-like shapes. Then twist each one into a spring shape. Put the aluminum foil springs into your tube. Pour some dry beans, dry rice, or unpopped popcorn into your tube. The tube should only be about 1/10 full. You can experiment to see how different amounts and different types of seeds and beans change the sound. Make another cap from brown paper (the same as the first three steps) and cap your tube. Optional: Decorate the tube by covering it with brown paper or construction paper, and then making designs with crayons or markers (or cut-out paper or stickers).
Horn
What you need:
-paper towel roll
-waxed paper
-rubber band
-pen
Cover one end of the paper towel roll with waxed paper, secure it with a rubber band. Punch a row of holes along one side of the roll with the tip of a pen. To play, sing a tune into the open end of the horn.
Want to see the cutest thing ever? Wildlife photographer David C. Schultz travelled to Snow Hill Island on the Antarctic Peninsula to take these amazing pictures of baby penguins. The original article and photo essay from the Daily Mail UK is perfect to share with the kids.
Sumatran orangutan Cinta, and his mother Indah at the San Diego Zoo
Looking for fun computer activities for your little ones? UPI.com has compiled a slideshow of the world’s best baby critter photos here. We recommend watching this with your kids. With 42 photographs of infant animals from around the globe, this slideshow is educational and adorable. We keep going back for more and wanted to share it with our readers.
Tis’ the season for fun and joyful activities! Despite increasingly cool electronic gadgets available to kids these days, coloring seems to remain a childhood activity favorite. If you’re looking for festive activities for the kids, download our free printable Rockabye Baby! holiday coloring page.
Coloring Contest
Have a group of tiny tots? Figure out a fun prize or treat and turn it into a coloring contest! Hang up all of the pages as party decorations to spread some holiday cheer. And kids, don’t worry – no one ever landed on the naughty list for coloring outside the lines.
Don’t forget to check out our other rockin’ coloring pages featuring artwork from our favorite Rockabye Baby! albums, Lullaby Renditions of Guns N’ Roses, Queen and Aerosmith and more! Visit our print and play page to see all of our coloring pages, cupcake toppers and other fun activities.
