What to Read

The Cow That Went OINK

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Over the past year, my now four year old daughter has been working on not getting frustrated (i.e. screaming, crying, whining, flopping, etc…) when she can’t get something figured out immediately. I recently came across the book, The Cow That Went OINK, by Bernard Most, and was really pleased by how humorously and cleverly the author delves into ideas of learning, frustration, being teased, practice, and persistence. Plus, the drawings are cute and the opportunities for you and your child to play around with animal sounds abound.

The story starts out with a cow who only knows how to say “oink.” All the other cows and animals on the farm laugh at this poor cow who cries about her problem. Next enters a friendly pig who only knows how to say, “moo.” Naturally, this unleashes more laughter from the other pigs and farm animals. The pig cries as well. The cow and pig eventually try to teach each other their sound, resulting in “oimoo, oinoo, oinkoo, moink, moinkoo, and mook.” The farm animals continue to make fun of the cow and pig, but the cow and pig ignore them, continuing to practice their “moo” and “oink.” Finally, the cow and the pig both learn how to successfully say “moo” and “oink.” The book concludes with, “And they were the only animals on the farm that could do both. So they had the last laugh.”

We’ve only read this book once together, but my daughter has mentioned it a few times after she worked on buttoning her sweater by herself (a 10 minute project) without crying and taping a plastic cup that had cracked. She said, “I practiced and did it by myself! Just like that cow!”

The book of course is also good in pointing out how cows, pigs, and yes, people are different and have unique skills and knowledge. Being apart from the crowd can be hard at times, but can often have more lasting and worldly benefits!

The Cow That Went OINK is a nice length for 3 to 6 year old kids and excellent at being opened ended to prompt lots of questions. Oh, wait. Did your child already ask you enough questions today? Perfect for bedtime or nap time.

Be sure to check your local library for a copy of this entertaining and engaging book.

Arts & Culture Events for Preschoolers, Holidays

Things to Do Indoors on Easter Sunday

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After the Easter celebrations are over, what to do indoors on a rainy day when most places are closed in St. Louis? Here are some family friendly places that are open on Easter Sunday.

Children’s Zoo at the St. Louis Zoo
One part of the children’s zoo is indoors. It’s a great place for a little climbing, pretend play, watching and petting animals, and scooping sand. Also be sure to check out the free indoor Bird House (separate from the Children’s Zoo). There are some incredible and crazy looking birds in here.
Open 9 am to 5 pm.
$4 per person. Children under two are free.
Free for certain member levels.
Admission for Children’s Zoo is free the first hour the Zoo is open.

CAM (Contemporary Art Museum)
A just right amount of art and images for your little one. Be sure to go upstairs to explore the books, puzzles, and overall space.
Open 11 am to 4 pm
$5, adults  |  $3, seniors  |  Free for children, students, and members

St. Louis Art Museum
A fun place to just roam. Be sure to download some of the museum’s family gallery guides for ideas to keep your kids engaged.
Open 10 am to 5 pm
Free

Climatron at the Missouri Botanical Garden
After splashing outside in some puddles, head over to the indoor and warm Climatron building for some tropical plant viewing and family fun. Towards the exit of the Climatron is an excellent education room featuring numerous kid geared puzzles, puppets, magnets, pretend play, coloring, books, and more.
Open 9 am to 5 pm
$8, age 13 and up  |  $4, St. Louis City and Country Residents  |  $3, St. Louis City and County Senior Residents (65+)  |  Free, Members and Children (12 and under)

Butterfly House
 Experience thousands of butterflies whirling about inside this beautiful conservatory. (Or view the hallway exhibits featuring “enclosed in plexiglass insects” while your family enjoys the conservatory if you’re bug phobic!)
Open 9 am to 4 pm
$6, general  |  $4.50, seniors  |  $4, children 3 to 12  |  Free, children 2 and under and MO Botanical Garden members

Photo: Jennifer Lin
Arts & Culture Events for Preschoolers

The Children’s Garden is open!

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The adventure filled Children’s Garden at the Missouri Botanical Garden opened for the season this month and the beautiful spring weather has made visits to this outdoor gem even more ideal. The Children’s Garden is mainly designed for toddlers up through middle school age. It features elaborate tree house type constructions, rope bridges, a creek with boats and locks, slides, fake branches to hang from, pretend play areas including a general store, an unending amount of structures to climb on, a big sand box, musical instruments, water play, and much more. Plus, you have the nature aspect of the garden as well, so you may find your kids entertaining themselves with piles of bark or fallen leaves.

The Children’s Garden is open daily, April through October, 9 am to 5 pm. The cost varies from free to $5 for ages 3 to 12 (see tip number five below). View a map of the Missouri Botanical Garden. The Children’s Garden is number 29 on the map.

Tips

1. The bathrooms are conveniently located inside the Children’s Garden and do not have automatic flush toilets (in case your child has a complex about this). There is also a nice frog step stool for kids to use at the sink.

2. You can easily spend a couple of hours at the Children’s Garden with preschoolers. Be sure to bring a snack and drink for your child with you. Technically no outside food is allowed, so be discreet, clean up, and definitely no picnicking. More about the Garden’s rules.

3. The Children’s Garden is about a 10 to 15 minute walk from the parking lot (and double or triple that if you have a meandering toddler). So if you anticipate that your child may not walk the whole way, bring your stroller. You can park your stroller near the waterfall by the front entrance of the Children’s Garden.

4. Beyond just running around and going crazy (an important experience in itself!), there are lots of socialization, shape recognition, texture, tempo/speed, color, size, and counting learning opportunities throughout the Children’s Garden for your little one.

5. Although there is a $3 to $5 fee for kids ages 3 to 12, the Botanical Garden offers ample options to experience the Children’s Garden for “free.” Ages 13 and up and 2 and under are free. Garden members Tuesdays all day, and Wednesdays and Saturdays from 9 am to noon are free. Family-level members and above are free everyday and St. Louis City and County Residents are free on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 9 am to noon. Depending on what membership level you join at, members also receive varying numbers of “Bonus Bloom Passes,” that can be used for a complimentary anytime visit to the Children’s Garden or a tram ride. Memberships start at $65.

6. If you have a child who isn’t taking afternoon naps anymore, the Children’s Garden is less busy on weekday afternoons. This is often a fun time to visit.

7. The Sassafras Cafe located inside the Visitor’s Center is a nice place to eat after a morning at the Children’s Garden. The Cafe serves lunch until 2 pm on weekdays and until 3 pm on weekends. It tends to get very busy from noon to 1:30 pm and the lines can get long so plan ahead.

8. Bring a change of clothes if your child is going to play in the water area. They can get soaked!

Photos: Jennifer Lin
Arts & Culture Events for Preschoolers

Two engaging music classes for preschoolers

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Do you like to listen to soul, jazz, and global music or are you more of a classical and folk song kind of fan?

In the St. Louis area, Robert’s Music Together (tends to be more soul, jazz, global music focused) and Lori Burkhardt’s Kindermusik classes (more classical and folk music oriented) are both excellent options for preschooler music classes. We’ve taken Robert’s mixed ages class (infant to 4 year olds) for a ten week session and he is engaging, funny, and genuinely great with kids. We’ve also taken Lori’s Kindermusik classes for about a year (in addition to taking Kindermusik in California for a year) and liked how consistent her classes are, how nicely the activities flow (think Mary Poppins singing through her day and tasks), and how organized she is.

Here are some thoughts about Music Together and Kindermusik.

Robert’s Music Together

1. I really want to emphasize how genuine Robert is in his teaching. Robert enjoys sharing music with people, isn’t easily ruffled by whacky kid moments, and has an open heart. I’ve heard from a lot of parents that Robert was the first teacher their child had hugged. This is big!

2. The typical class format is 45 minutes of a greeting song, rhythm patterns, pitch play, instrument play (rhythm sticks, egg shakers, bells, etc…), movement, lullaby time, and a goodbye song. The order of these varies from class to class. Robert brings his guitar and banjo to class, in addition to integrating recorded music. I think it’s really important for kids to see real musical instruments being played especially in our digital life. There is something very tangible and wonderful about hearing an instrument resonate in person.

3. Some of the songs in Music Together are very rhythmic, have a lot of fast syllables in the text, and in some ways are designed for people who don’t have much of an ear. Think of it as chanting/singing songs more than soaring melodies (which Kindermusik does tend to lean towards).

4. One of the Music Together locations is at Shirlee Green Preschool (Robert has two other class locations in St. Louis). The room has a nice big sunny window, new facilities, and clean bathrooms. Also, because it is located in a fairly large preschool, there is a security door at the entrance.

5. A Music Together session meets 10 times and costs $165 total. This is pretty much on par with other kids classes in the area.

6. Robert’s Music Together tends to be more focused on not so structured play than definite music knowledge. What the class seems to be best at is encouraging your child to enjoy music (with you), see how she/he can create it, and experiencing sound/rhythm/movement in a social setting. All very valuable experiences!

Lori’s Kindermusik

1. Lori has been teaching Kindermusik classes since 1995 and is really at ease with all sorts of things that come up in her classes (i.e. the kids that decide they are going to start a game of tag during music class, the cutie pie toddler who refuses to get out of Lori’s lap, or the child that starts screaming and sobbing at every transition point and does so for eight lessons in a row, etc…). She is good at reassuring parents that children learn in different ways and encouraging to let the process unfold at its own pace.

2. Lori’s typical class format for the 1 1/2 to 3 1/2 year olds is 40 minutes of a greeting song, instrument play (rhythm sticks, egg shakers, bells, xylophones, toy cars, etc…), active listening, specific movement (e.g. fast/slow, high/low, staccato/smooth), pretend play with objects like hula hoops, storytime, lullaby time, a goodbye song, and hand stamps. The order of these can vary from class to class.

3. As I briefly mentioned above, Kindermusik songs are quite melodic and easy to remember. The Kindermusik curriculum finds some really catchy yet beautiful melodies that you can sing over and over and over and over with your child. Many of the songs also relate to everyday activities like cooking, laundry, waking up, riding in the car, and more.

4. We took Lori’s Kindermusik class at the Webster Groves Presbyterian Church and I must admit, the room is tiny (not much room for movement), and is in need of new carpeting, a paint job, and happier lighting. There is no window in the small room.

5. A Fall or Spring session meets 15 times and costs about $240 which breaks down to $16 per class. For my 3 year old daughter, I felt like the 15 class session was a bit long.

6. Curriculum wise, you can’t go wrong with Lori’s Kindermusik classes. It is beautifully thought out from a pedagogy standpoint (yeah, I’m the nerd who went to music school and listened to Mahler all the time instead of going to the bars after finals) and smart in its organization. Your child will definitely gain language, cognitive, emotional, physical, social, and musical abilities during Kindermusik. Lori does a great job at actively engaging kids with sound, sight, touch, and speech within a rich learning framework.

So if you’re on the fence, I would recommend taking a preview class and seeing what best meshes with you and your child (and your crazy schedule of course!). But overall, Robert’s classes are a bit more spirited and laid back in some ways and Lori’s classes may do more for your child’s overall development, partly due to the fact that she has narrower age specific classes instead of broad mixed age classes.

Q&A with Robert Bernstein, Music Together

Culture Mama [CM]: What do you like most about teaching?
Robert Bernstein [RB]: I have been enjoying interacting with families during classes as well as watching them interact with each other. Music Together really succeeds when it is a shared experience (between teacher/families and between child/parent or caregiver), so I have come to appreciate how important and fun that aspect of the classes can be.

[CM]: How will a child benefit from taking your Music Together classes?
[RB]: Music Together is designed to be an introductory and interactive music making environment (for infants to 4 year olds) and is intended to be experiential, so it is a very “hands on” class. It also promotes family interaction and sharing the experience of making music with each other.

[CM]: Is enrollment available now?
[RB]: Enrollment is currently available for the spring session which starts on April 21st.

Q&A with Lori Burkhardt, Kindermusik

Culture Mama [CM]: What do you like most about teaching?
Lori Burkhardt [LB]: KIDS and FAMILIES! And watching them have ‘aha’ moments experiencing the joys of music and seeing faces light up as entering the room, knowing they will have a fun-filled, musical (and learning) experience. Parents, too!!

[CM]: How will my child benefit from taking your Kindermusik classes?
[LB]: When you take class with me you get a Kindermusik educator that has a Bachelor of Science degree in Music Therapy, excellent customer service, fair studio policies, flexible make-up policies, and 16 years of experience teaching Kindermusik (since 1995). In a Kindermusik class, I lead a group of parents and their children through joyful activities, using music and movement to nurture skills in the whole child: cognitive, physical, social, emotional, and language.

[CM]: Is enrollment available now?
[LB]: Families may enroll at anytime for Spring, Summer and Fall classes. Tuition is prorated for late enrollment and home materials (CDs, literature books, activity books, instruments) are generally in full. Families may also preview one class for free at anytime with a reservation.

[CM]: A big thanks to Robert and Lori for helping our kids grow and making our daily life a little brighter, happier, and musical of course.


Arts & Culture Events for Preschoolers

Circus Flora, a little magic for your soul

Are you a fan of the Tiger Lillies, Tom Waits, Krzysztof Kieslowski, the accordion, whimsy, and um, face paint? Or, do you just like a little no brainer entertainment, sawdust, laughter, animal antics, and popcorn? Then here’s something for you. I mean, for your child.

St. Louis’s very own nonprofit, unique one-ring circus, Circus Flora, opens its summer show on June 2. Tickets for these delightful performances are on sale now. Celebrating their 25th Season, Circus Flora gives you heartfelt twisting acrobatics, humorous clowns, amazing “choreographed” animals, solid music performances, rope and ribbon dancing, and maybe a little bit of inspiration, among other circus thrills. Circus Flora isn’t exactly about the utmost precision in performance, but there is a genuine, mysterious, magical, and memorable quality about this company.

This year’s production, “Vagabond Adventures,” reunites Circus Flora favorites: the Flying Wallendas, the St. Louis Arches, the Flying Pages, and the famous clown, Giovanni Zoppé as Nino, along with several new acts.

Tickets start at $8 and shows run June 2 through June 26. Children under 2 are free when seated on an adult lap.

Some tips:

1. If you’re bringing a child under the age of 5, consider the Wednesday at 10 am performances. These are one hour shows and cost considerably less.

2. If you don’t mind sitting up close, try one of the side box seats. They are less expensive than the center boxes but since the show is essentially in the round, you don’t really miss much in terms of sightlines. Your child will be amazed at watching dogs and other animals run around the ring right in front of them.

3. If you have allergies to dust, fur, or hay, etc… take your Nasonex or SOMETHING before the show. The tent is air conditioned but the animals and performers stir up a lot of allergens.

4. If you are one of those types who prefers to drive round and round for free parking, arrive early! There is a nearby paid lot as well.

5. In case your child is wondering, yes… there are port-a-potties. Bring your hand sanitizer.

6. Last year, there were pony rides adjacent to the tent. Bring your camera (and your cash).

7. There is NO photography allowed inside the tent during the performances.

Photos: Scott Raffe
Arts & Culture Events for Preschoolers

Discovery Room at the St. Louis Science Center

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The Discovery Room on the second floor of the St. Louis Science Center is a brilliant room filled with magnets, water play, construction toys, cars, puppets, sound and music toys, pretend play items, doll houses, fish, books, arts and crafts, x-rays, and much more. Basically it is a pumped up preschool room filled with beautiful wonder for kids ages 2 to 6. You’ll have to work a little bit at transitioning your child out of this fun place… they definitely won’t want to leave.

Discovery Room sessions last 45 minutes and start at the top of the hour Monday through Thursday, 10 am to 3 pm; Friday and Saturday, 10 am to 4 pm; and Sunday, noon to 4 pm. Space is limited to 50 people (one adult chaperone for at least every four children) and the cost is $3.50 for adults, children, and seniors. Members of the museum get free Discovery Room admission depending on their membership level. General admission to the museum is free.

Some tips:

1. If you can, go on a weekday. There are usually only 10 kids or less playing in the room on most weekday mornings that we’ve visited. Avoid holidays, school breaks, and weekends. During those busy times, tickets are often sold out and the museum is crazy loud, so call ahead to confirm Discovery Room availability, 314.289.4424.

2. The bathrooms are a bit of a walk from the Discovery Room (at least it’s far for your
four year old who has to stop and look at everything along the way). Make sure that you use the
restroom BEFORE your Discovery Room visit. Oh, and there is automatic flush in the bathrooms,
so bring those post-it notes or stickers to cover the sensors if your child is concerned.

3. The Discovery Room play session only lasts 45 minutes. Most likely, your child will only get to see half of the room during this time frame. Give ample warnings (i.e. “you have ten more minutes to play… what would you like to play with before we have to clean up?”) before the session ends. For those with jumpy kids, the Discovery Room staff usually announces on a loud microphone that it’s clean up time right when the playtime ends. Please note that they do not give time warnings.

4. There is limited food service during the week at the museum. Kaldi’s Cafe (but not Pizza Hut) is open but their food isn’t necessarily appealing to some little kids, so be sure to bring some of your own snacks.

5. There are lockers on the lower level for 25 cents so you don’t have to schlep coats, bags, and the stuffed animals that your child insisted on bringing into the museum and then decided they didn’t really want to hold.

6. Consider a membership if you plan on coming several times throughout the year. Parking is regularly $9 and the Discovery Room is $3.50 per person. With different levels of membership you can get both of these free as part of your member benefits.
Plus your membership donation is tax-deductible. If you work for a larger company,
your donation may be fully matched which bumps up your membership level and benefits.

7. If you are a member and you have unlimited free Discovery Room visits, you can play in the room more than once a day! Especially on the not-so-busy weekdays, we’ve played in the Discovery Room, had lunch in the cafe, and then went back to play again.

Museum Directions & Hours of Operation

Pricing & Amenities

Photos: Jennifer Lin
Toys, Travel

Toygaroo, a toy rental company

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Love Netflix? Try Toygaroo, an online toy rental company that is set up much like Netflix. Here’s how it works:

1. Choose a toy rental plan. You can get four to eight toys delivered to your door every one or two months. The cost ranges from $35.99 to $75.99 per month (this includes shipping both ways). There are three month commitments when signing up.

2. Add toys to your wishlist in order of preference. You can select from hundreds of toys categorized by child’s age, type like pretend play, puzzles, wooden toys, etc…,  or toy brand. Toygaroo carries Melissa and Doug, HABA, International Playthings, Fisher Price and much more.

3. In about a week or so (the company is just getting off the ground in the past month so delivery times might be a little sluggish in the beginning), you will receive a box of sanitized and shrink wrapped toys delivered to your door via FedEx. When you open the box, keep the return shipping label in a safe place and also make sure that the box stays intact. This is your return box as well.

4. Have fun with the new toys! Keep the toys for 30 days or more (depending on your toy rental plan). If your child is old enough to understand, be sure to tell her/him that these are rental toys (i.e. be gentle and keep track of all the parts).

5. Carefully pack all the items and seal the toy box up, placing the already provided return shipping label on top. Locate the nearest FedEx office and drop off your toy box at that location.

6. In about five more days you should get your next box of toys! Always make sure you have enough items on your wish list at Toygaroo since they cannot guarantee availability on every item. For instance you might have 25 items listed, but only 10 are available on your ship day.

We’ve been using this toy rental company (in its earlier version it was called Baby Plays) on and off for a couple of years. It’s a little on the pricey side and I wish they had more wooden and pretend play items for preschoolers, but in general Toygaroo offers a nice toy rental service–especially for those of you who only have one child and not too many other families around. We are definitely not loaded down with hand me down toys like some other lucky families are, so Toygaroo makes sense for us at times. Also, keep Toygaroo in mind if you take a vacation somewhere or one of those pseudo vacations when you visit relatives. The company will deliver a box of toys to your hotel, condo, sister’s basement, etc… which is a great way to avoid any additional baggage costs when traveling. Less to pack is a good thing.

Some FAQ’s on Toygaroo.

I’m a beta tester tight now for the company and they may be looking for additional testers. Check their blog for more information.

Little ways to make life easier

Amazon.com Subscribe and Save

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When you’re juggling taking care of everything that breathes in your house and beyond, as well as your crazy job–finding time to drive to Target or the grocery store to load up on toilet paper, batteries, cereal, milk boxes, dish soap, tissues, coffee, cleaning supplies, bandages, and more isn’t as easy at it may seem. Your days of “popping into a store to pick up a few things” are over.

Hence, the beauty of Amazon’s Subscribe and Save program. Amazon’s program is super easy and straight forward. Simply go to their Subscribe & Save page and find thousands of everyday household items (health, child care, grocery, beauty, office, and pet products). Pick an item and sign up for free auto delivery every one to six months. You’ll save an additional 15% off Amazon’s already competitive prices.

You will always get email reminders from Amazon about an upcoming delivery so that you can change the delivery date to a later or earlier day. For instance, you can order an extra delivery of flu medicine if everyone in your house gets sick or hold off an another shipment of dish detergent when you still have a stockpile of four bottles. You can also cancel any Subscribe & Save item at any time so you’re not locked into unwanted purchases.

I’ve been using the Amazon Subscribe & Save program for about four years now, and the only things I would say to watch out for are: 1.) Going on vacation? Remember to check your upcoming delivery dates a couple of weeks before you plan on going out of town so that you can modify any package deliveries. 2.) If you have a lot of Subscribe & Save items (or canceled subscriptions) listed on your “Manage Your Subscribe & Save Items” page, be sure to look on page 2 of the item listing. Depending on how many active subscriptions and/or canceled subscriptions you have, there may be additional current subscriptions listed at the top of the second page. This is a weird formatting issue or savvy marketing strategy Amazon has used. 3.) Not all the prices are competitive. Bulky items like toilet paper may end up being a little cheaper at your local big box store, but weigh the price difference and decide whether it’s worth loading the kids in the car to save a dollar.

Note, if you have a child in diapers, be sure to join Amazon Mom. As a member of this free program, you get 30% off select diapers and wipes and shipping discounts (or free shipping). You also receive an occasional email with a specific discount on certain baby items like car seats or feeding accessories.

Now that you’ve saved all this time driving and shopping for staples at stores, maybe you can take a few minutes for yourself. Perhaps use the bathroom without your little one talking to you nonstop by the door? Well… maybe not.

Family Friendly Film, Music for your child (that isn't annoying)

Fun family viewing: Singin’ in the Rain

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Want to expand your preschooler’s movie repertoire beyond the usual Pixar and Disney choices? Try the 1952 classic Singin’ in the Rain. Award winning, toe-tapping, glorious dancing, and parodied beyond belief over the years, the comedic musical Singin’ in the Rain features some great humor and movement that will keep you and your child entertained. A nice plus is that there are no “scary” scenes unlike in many of Pixar and Disney films. We mainly fast forward to all the singing and dancing parts for my three year old daughter. Some of her favorite songs are:

* Make ‘Em Laugh (Donald O’Connor’s incredible song and dance scene. The part when he tries to get up and keeps falling down of course is a hit with preschoolers.)

* Moses Supposes (Gene Kelly and Donald O’Connor tap dancing and singing really fast)

* Good Morning (Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds, and Donald O’Connor)

* Singin’ in the Rain (iconic scene with Gene Kelly singing and dancing in the rain)

* Broadway Melody Ballet (some truly breathtaking dancing by Gene Kelly and Cyd Charisse)

Our daughter also laughs out loud at the funny voice of leading lady Lina Lamont (Jean Hagen) in the talking scenes and the antics of Cosmo Brown (Donald O’Connor).

One of the best musicals in film history, Singin’ in the Rain is readily available at your public library, Netflix, Amazon instant video rental, and Blockbuster. Happy watching (dancing and singing too).

The Arts, Culture, & More for the St. Louis Parent & Beyond