Your guide to activities and fun things to do with your preschoolers, toddlers and kids in san francisco, CA

Physical Activity in SF and a Concert in Berkeley

by Michael Rohde

May 27, 2009

There's music in Berkeley and physical fitness in San Francisco. If you're looking for something to do Saturday or Sunday, this might be it.

My Gym
My Gym welcomes you to celebrate national fitness month with free admission on Saturday, May 30th from 10am to 1pm. From their web site, "My Gym has developed an extraordinary program and facility devised to help children 6-weeks through 13-years of age develop physically, cognitively and emotionally." They are located at 901 Minnesota Street in San Francisco. You can call (415) 643-5500 for more information (My Gym web site).

The Sippy Cups
I've raved about them before and now is your chance to see The Sippy Cups live in Berkeley. Tickets are on sale now for the Sunday, May 31st show, which starts at 3pm and ends at 4:30pm. The concert takes place at the Ashkenaz Music & Dance Center at 1317 San Pablo Ave and Gilman in Berkeley. Tickets purchased in advance are $6 adults/$4 kids/babes in arms are free (The Sippy Cups web site)!

The Sippy Cups Rock

by Michael Rohde

May 19, 2009

Beatles. Rolling Stones. Ramones. The Sippy Cups.

You might not know it to think it, but kids do like Rock n Roll. This might be a matter of genetics, taste, and personal preference, but my kids tend to bop, sway, and head nod to classic rock, reggae (Jimmy Cliff in particular), and pop music far more than they ever did to Baby Einstein's classical music. Enter: The Sippy Cups.

I took my own advice (from Wednesday's post) and took the family over to Golden Gate Park last Saturday for the Life is Good festival (full disclosure: full props to my wife for finding the festival and already knowing about The Sippy Cups). It was awesome. The festival was very well sponsored and almost everything was free: from sample granola and Z bars to Project Joy's beach balls. There were plenty of games and face painting. I also want to fully recognize the staff, who were some of the most friendly, happy, and energetic people I've ever met.

But the real topper of the day was The Sippy Cups. When I heard there was going to be a kids band performing, I thought to myself, hear we go with 'Wheels on the Bus;' only louder. I couldn't have been more wrong. They opened with 'Dear Prudence' and had everyone from 6 months and up grooving, shaking, and dancing. And no one, and I mean no one, can beat The Sippy Cups bubble machine. Max and Julia (my two-year olds) stood there with mouths dropped open and stared in wide-eyed wonder at the thousands of bubbles that floated out from the stage. It was magical.

Other covers included the Stones' 'She’s a Rainbow' and the Ramones' 'I Wanna be Sedated' (appropriately changed to 'I Wanna be Related'). The Sippy Cups are by no means a cover band and played several originals, including a song with the lyrics, "7 is the new 14, 14 is the new 21, 35 and you’re barely alive…" Funny. Real funny.

The Sippy Cups have upcoming shows in Berkeley and Walnut Creek. I also noticed they played at Bimbo's 365 in North Beach (the doors opened at 3pm). If I remember correctly, the last show I saw at Bimbo's was Alex Chilton (the doors did not open at 3pm for that one…). Their gig list shows a few dates in DC and New York, so it looks like they travel.

They do have a mailing list (I just signed up), are on Twitter, Facebook, MySpace…in their words, "The Sippy Cups are like, totally Web 2.0 Join us in the interwebsphere and we can make you special offers and also make you feel welcome in our world at all times."

It was a great show, it was a great day, and we look forward to next year's Life is Good festival.

There's still time to enter the contest to win tickets to see Sesame Street Live in June at the Oakland ORACLE Arena (details).  

Life is Good

by Michael Rohde

May 13, 2009

This Saturday there are first-time festivals at Golden Gate Park, sing alongs, street festivals, and carnivals. On Sunday, you can rest (speaking as the Dad of two-year old twins, comments like that are meant as sarcasm…there's no such thing as "resting" when you have two-year olds...).

Life is Good Festival
The first Life is Good festival is a free, family-friendly day in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park at Speedway Meadow on May 16, 2009 from 11am to 5 pm. The outdoor bash features great live music from ALO, Martin Sexton, and The Sippy Cups, classic backyard food, and a colorful mix of good-time games and activities for all ages. From seed spitting and badminton to soccer kicks, tug-o'-wars and football flings, they promise a day of big smiles and healthy play.

Dream Circle Spring Sing (Bay Area Discovery Museum)
Saturday, May 16, performances at 11am & 12:30 pm
Members $8; General $10
Tim Cain, Cindy Cohen, Miss Kitty and Cristopher Smith – all under one roof! Join BADM for a delightful sing-along concert with Marin’s best loved children’s entertainers. Kids of all ages will be delighted to raise their voices and sing some favorite songs with this incredibly talented foursome. Ballerinas will have a chance to pirouette and doggies will be called upon to hop up and down. There will be lots of dancing, clapping and tapping fun.

Asian Heritage Street Celebration
Saturday, May 16, 2009 from 11am to 6pm. Two stages of music, arts and crafts, food, prizes, karaoke, traditional and pop culture J cars, Thai kickboxing, carnival rides and games. Free admission.

Splish Splash Peabody Bash
Time to celebrate the arrival of Spring! Please join the Peabody school for a whale of a good time at their Carnival this Saturday from 11am to 3pm. They will have carnival games for children of all ages, a silent auction, a jumpy house, a rock climbing wall and a raffle for the adults with food and fun for all! The carnival takes place on the school yard at 250 7th Avenue, between California and Clement Streets. Don't want to mess with parking? No worries, take the 2 Clement, 1 California, 44 O'Shaugnessy or the 38 Geary bus lines.

If you missed it yesterday, there's still time to enter the contest to win tickets to see Sesame Street Live in June at the Oakland ORACLE Arena (details).

Class is in Session

by Graham Charles

January 09, 2009

There are many opinions about classes for preschoolers -- you know, those weekly hour-long affairs where your baby can try her hand at swimming, art, or any of a dozen other disciplines. We take a serial approach -- my daughter Fern takes just a class or two at a time. We also avoid any instructors with performance expectations, and believe me, they're rampant, especially among some ballet  Read more...

99 Things to Do In San Francisco Before Kindergarten, Part 10: Monthly Adventures

by Graham Charles

December 22, 2008

Finally we come to the bottom of our list of San Francisco treats -- those toddler hot spot and unmissable adventures that every local kid should experience before kindergarten. I've saved something a little different for the final installment: stuff we try to find time for every single month.  To me, raising a child isn't about providing rare points of high excitement to punctuate an  Read more...

Winter Book Reviews, part II

by Graham Charles

December 04, 2008

The Savvy Moms-in-Chief have asked us to take a look at some of our favorite books over in the Books section of the national site; here are my first five favorite books and what I had to say about them. Want more? Click on the "Books, Toys, and More" link above. Madeline , by Ludwig Bemelsman Madeline is a great role model -- a brave heroine who bends the rules just a little and then  Read more...

99 Things to Do In San Francisco Before Kindergarten, Part 7: How to Remember You're a Local

by Graham Charles

November 24, 2008

Sometimes having kids can make you forget what a truly unique place we live in, so for this week's installment I present ten things to do with your preschoolers and toddlers that make you feel authentically San Franciscan. 61. Visit Mission Dolores -- don't miss the cemetery -- and then head up Valencia for tapas. 62. Hike San Francisco's last wild stream - Islais Creek -- at Glen Canyon  Read more...

The Exploratorium for Toddlers

by Graham Charles

November 14, 2008

Now that the rainy season has befallen us so decisively, our thoughts as parents turn oxymoronically to indoor "outings." The Academy of Sciences is a gem when not crowded, of course, but I've been surprised at how many parents of young children ignore the Exploratorium. Many friends of toddlers I know have suggested that this hands-on science museum is targeted at reading kids of  Read more...

Sing Along With Bare-Chested Mermen

by Graham Charles

August 22, 2008

Want to introduce your pint-sized mermaid to a 6' 4" bear of one? Drop by the Castro Theatre sometime in the next week for a special version of The Little Mermaid that has been captioned so you, too, can sing with the animated fish. My daughter Fern's first "audience participation" show was a dance-along Nutcracker at 18 months, and she went nuts for it. The concept of sitting still  Read more...

Savvy music: Breakfast with Enzo

by Mike Adamick

August 01, 2008

I haven't yet been to what promises to be the best musical show in the city for kids, but all my friends with kids swear by Breakfast with Enzo -- a musical sing-along for everyone. Well, today is the day. Enzo Garcia hosts shows every Friday through August at Fort Mason (and also every Saturday in Bernal Heights). More information can be found here . And a really good video of what you'll find  Read more...

Noe Valley Library's guest sing-alongs

by Mike Adamick

July 28, 2008

We attended a movie screening for the book Knuffle Bunny at the Noe Valle branch library last week, and it was a ton of fun to see the favorite book come to life in an animated short. Emmeline loved it, and it seemed like every other kid there did, too. We also found out that this week -- tomorrow, in fact -- the Noe Valley branch will be hosting guest musician Bonnie Lockhart for a half hour of  Read more...

Friday Free Concert at Yerba Buena Gardens

by Mike Adamick

July 25, 2008

A perfect day for us involves hanging out at a playground downtown for a few hours before meeting Dana for lunch, and, hopefully, finding a nice place to picnic or catch one of those free city concerts that seem to spring up from nowhere from time to time. Emmeline loves to dance. So today is our kind of day. Chelle & Friends are scheduled to perform today from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. at the  Read more...

Kids music made awesome: Barenaked Ladies style

by Mike Adamick

July 15, 2008

Because this is apparently shaping up to be "buy stuff week" here at the Savvy, I thought I'd share what has to be the best news coming out of the children's music scene since Peter Yarrow and Leonard Lipton came up with a little dragon named Puff. Seriously, it's that good. The Barenaked Ladies have a children's music album now -- Snacktime. Strike that. It's a record "children will enjoy" --  Read more...

Littlest Moby: Street Percussion Opera

by Mike Adamick

May 30, 2008

The highlight of this budding experiment I call parenthood was when Emmeline broke out with the chorus from "American Pie" during what was supposed to be a lively rendition of Itsy Bitsy Spider. Music appreciation is something we both enjoy, even if her tastes skew slightly more '80s punk than her friends. (Tiffany is punk, right?) Thankfully, there are bountiful options in this city for  Read more...