Fun Places for Kids

Sun.  Sand.  Fun.  All these things came together for an End of Summer weekend at the yearly Neptune Festival held at the Virginia Beach oceanfront.  While we weren't personally able to attend this fun event this year, we did find a local photographer, Karen J. Williams, that did.  We had been hoping to share the most fun event of the weekend ... in our opinion, anyway ... the Sand Sculpture contest.

You might not be aware that sand sculpting contests are held all over the world with people, actually lots of teams, that travel around and create some quite magnificent art sculptures from the sand.  Here we are presenting some of the fun highlight from the 2009 Virginia Beach contest.  It's always held in September, a beautiful time of the year to go to the beach for a long weekend.  Enjoy!

Photos printed with Permission, KJWPhotography

Virginia Beach -  In conjunction with the “Be Creative at Your Library” summer reading program that is held nationwide,  ZiggityZoom.com will participate this July at the Virginia Beach Central Library.

Centered around creative activites, and based in Virginia Beach themselves, ZiggityZoom.com is a website that is devoted to the 3-8 age group, their parents and teachers.  On July 9,  editors of Ziggity Zoom will present two sessions, held morning and afternoon,  interweaving the creativity found in books with the fun of creating original puppets.  The puppets will revolve around characters from the books read to the children that day.  Kids will have the fun of creating their own puppet during the session and learn the value of finding creativity right in their own library.

Summer reading programs are a great way to provide children opportunities to read books and listen to stories.  Educators realize that these summer programs help little kids get ready to read and big kids raise their reading scores. Public libraries all over the country now participate in the Reading program, which has a new theme every year.  "Be Creative at Your Library" is a wonderful free program that promotes parent/child involvement.

They Hop ... they Bounce ... they Slide ... they Party!   Kids are smiling and laughing as they use up all that pent up energy, especially on very cold or very hot days when the weather isn't conducive to outside play.

These are some of the most recent Fun Places for Kids to go for inside fun and activity.  While there are many Inflatable Playgrounds popping up around the country, the one that got our attention is Kangaroo Jac's, located in Chesapeake, VA and Richmond, VA.  They boast some of the biggest inflatables available and the party and play areas are clean and safe.

Suitable for kids from toddler age, with separate areas for the little kids, up to age 10, these places are a hit with kids and parents.  Not only can the kids come for the day to play, but parents can plan their Birthday Parties here, reserving a special room for their own child's party.  Pizza and Party favor bags seem to be the norm.

Kangaroo Jac's

Easter break is fast approaching and with many children having an entire week off for Easter now is the time to plan some fun activities.  We don't want to take away from the religious significance of Easter but, as parents, we all know that it is best to have some activities planned when the kids have off for a length of time.

Considering the current economy, trying to find activities that are inexpensive or free are on most parents minds this Easter.  But we all want to have fun and enjoy family time whenever possible. 

We have some fun suggestions that you might want to try this year and maybe even incorporate some of these activities into a new Easter holiday tradition. 

1.  Decorate Eggs to give to the neighbors.  We all usually have little gifts to give neighbors at Christmas, but why not at Easter?  Sharing a little basket of hand-decorated eggs is a great way to spread good cheer.

2.  Plan an Easter play.  Let the kids have an Easter play and they can decide how it plays out.  Maybe it will be a bunny theme or a duck theme or even a religious theme.  Let them pick a convenient time and the family can plan to "attend."

3.  Visit a Petting Zoo.  Most areas have a petting zoo close by and this is a fun time of the year to go see Easter lambs and Easter bunnies.

4.  Have an Easter Parade.  Are their kids in your neighborhood or some cousins that visit at Easter?  Plan a parade that the kids can dress up with fancy hats they make or as a bunny or duck, etc.  Serve some punch and cookies after the parade.

Seriously.  This is so much fun for the kids.  Camping indoors ... minus the bugs and the scary noises!  It adds an element of fun to going to bed.  Believe us ... the kids stay in a tent when they visit their grandparents.  And there are no complaints when it is time to go to bed, in the tent,  in their grandparents room.  They really look forward to this adventure.

If the kids are planning a sleepover party, with just a few kids, this will work also.  Incorporate some flashlights or a little battery-operated camping light for some additional camping fun.  The kids can play the flashlight "Shadow" game and tell some funny stories.

This is a perfect winter activity and we all know how things get a little antsy when the kids are stuck indoors with cold weather and short days.  Happy camping!