June 25th, 2009 larry
Last year we took our grandson to the Morton Arboretum to visit the Giant Bugs. We all thoroughly enjoyed the walk around the lake as we discussed each bug. This year’s summer follow up at the Arboretum is Animal Houses. Morton Arboretum is 11$ for adults, $8 for kids 2 to 17, and $10 for seniors. Wednesday is Discount Day and you pay $3 to $4 less for each person.
We took our grandson, almost 5 now, to see the 11 Animal Houses built to human scale so you can experience how animals live. They are built in 3 different habitats, the Woodland, Wetland and Prairie sections of the Arboretum. So, in order to visit every animal home, you must drive to these three different areas, allowing you to see how expansive and beautiful the Arboretum is. At each habitat, you park and walk to the homes which are immediately off the road.
The outside of the homes are built realistically trying to duplicate the materials the specific animal would use. Some are more true to life than others. We felt as if a raccoon had actually built his den, a beaver made his lodge in the pond, and I found my grandson on the blue heron’s nest pretending to hatch her eggs. Some of the other homes are not as impressive because the materials used are not realistic looking. The ant and squirrel homes were not as cleverly designed and our grandson even went back outside to get some leaves and branches to see if he could spruce up the squirrel home. However, there are tables and chairs built inside a couple of the animal homes, which made us giggle, so much for realism.
With each home, there is a placard with informative details about the specific animal and his home. Before leaving each habitat, there is a “mailbox” with questions about the homes in that specific environment that you should have learned during your visit. Our grandson looked forward to getting the questions out of the mailbox and coming up with the answers.
The Arboretum charges only one admission fee for each person, and then you are able to visit everything on the premises. So don’t forget to also take your child to the Children’s Garden which is both educational and fun to explore and climb. Animal Houses has some really great exhibits, but some of the habitats did not get the same attention to detail.
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Bubbie and Pa
Bubbie says: You don’t need to bring your own food. The cafeteria has nutritional and healthy meals for children and adults.
Pa says: Don’t go just for the Animal Houses. Make sure you visit the Children’s Garden.
Grandson says: I liked some of the houses. But, why couldn’t they make them bigger?
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June 17th, 2009 larry
During the opening days of this year’s Taste of Chicago, Grant park will be host to the Dew Tour BMX Open. The competition will take place on June 26 and June 27. The Festival Village is free and open to the public. Tickets for a reserved seat for the individual events are as low as $15 and can get as high as $50. This is a great win for Chicago as the Dew Tour is the premier tournament for action sports in the US. I caught up with BJ Carretta, Director of Marketing for Alli Sports, to talk about the event and what we can expect.
“The Dew Tour is kind of the PGA of Action Sports,” explains BJ. The Dew Tour is a five-city tournament in the US that culminates in October to crown the Dew Cup champion. At each city, prizes are given for each individual competition but the athletes’ performance accumulates through all five tournaments. In the end, a Dew Cup Champion is crowned as well as an Athlete of the Year.
All of the competitions are freestyle based, not races. There are four distinct events in Grant Park this year: BMX Dirt, BMX Vert, BMX Street, and BMX Park. The Vert competition has the u-shaped platform that you might associate more with skateboarding. The Street and Park competition augment their steep hills and jumps with picnic tables, railngs, and walkways like you are flying through an actual city street or park. The Street competition is actually not part of the overall competition as they are trying something new. The Street competition will be a 3 man team competition that also includes a camera man. The race will be judged not only on the biking but also the 3-minute video results. 3-D graphs of the courses can be found on the Alli web site. Just follow the links on Crazykidschicago.com.
We saw an action sports exhibition last year at the Southport block party and it was riveting. They let our kid sit in the front row and he was absolutely mesmerized by the spinning, flipping, and jumping. It was really exciting for the kids and the parents. “There is no doubt that 12-24 year olds are probably following the sport a little more closely, but it is really a family event. It is exciting and fun. The athletes are just amazing,” says BJ. Most of the competitions will have one athlete on the course at a time, but then there are jam sessions with multiple riders on the course simultaneously. “The Friday night show might be the one to watch. Last year we had a double back flip and you might also see a quad whip (four rotations before landing),” advises BJ.
The competition will also feature a Festival Village at no charge. The Festival Village will have booths and attractions from various sponsors. There will be music, tattoos, art, and sample products from Toyota. New this year will be the Nerf sponsored Nerf Dart Tag course. Similar to a paint ball set up, this will allow younger kids to put on some gear and shoot Nerf darts at each other. “Our athletes are real interactive with the fans. There will be a lot of autograph signing, conversations with the athletes. The athletes are really personable when it comes to interacting with the kids,” says BJ.
The Dew Tour broke ground on June 17 and as soon as the courses are ready, the athletes will start practicing, probably most of the week of June 22. If you are passing by Grant Park, you could probably get a bit of a free exhibition as the athletes will be rehearsing their routines. Having seen a couple of these exhibitions in the past, I would definitely recommend checking the Dew Tour out and learning a little bit about the top athletes in biking like Ken Robinson, Mike Spinner, Dave Mirra, and Jamie Bestwick. Just watch your kid closely after attending that he isn’t building a BMX Vert course in your backyard.
Review Dew Tour
Larry
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June 10th, 2009 larry
I love that I get to meet dedicated, creative people who are running great little businesses for our children. This week I met Nora Shafer, the owner of Unicoi Art Studio in Roscoe Village. She has spent the last 10 years growing and refining the classes, camps, and parties for her studio. During the summer Unicoi will offer Summer Camp for children age 5-12 from June 15 thru August 28. You can go for 1 day or every day; morning, afternoon, or full-day; it’s up to you. Camp consists of art, drama, free play, park time and lunch. In the late afternoon the studio will have a full range of drop-off art classes for pre-schoolers to teenagers. You can register at any time during the session and drop-ins are welcome with 24 hours notice.
If you are looking for a new place to have a birthday party, Unicoi will host at the studio or bring everything to the location of your choice. All events are unique and customized to your child’s interest. Nora showed me photos from a recent superheros themed birthday where the children made adorable hero statues. You bring the cake, they supply the activity. Sounds good to me.
This past week I took my son to an art class for 3 to 5 year olds called Happy Hands. It was the last class of the session in which the kids had experienced a wide rage of mediums, techniques, and themes. Nora, an art educator, taught the class with her mother Judy, who is an artist. On this day the project was an Asian Scroll. The children began by tracing an image onto rice paper that had been coated with gelatin. To help them with the concept of tracing Nora told them to, “Pretend you’re a race car and you have to stay on the track.” They then used watercolors to paint their image, all the while being encouraged to paint within the lines and rinse the brush between colors. While the paint was drying the kids went into the kitchen area to wash hands and have a snack together. Judy sat with the kids, told them a story, asked them about themselves. From the next room I listened to the kids chatting away, it was very cute. After snack, the kids came back and finished the project, gluing their paintings onto pretty colored paper. The class begins and ends with free play in the toy area. Overall the class was a nice combination of art and socialization. (I do want to emphasize that this day’s project was far more “product” oriented then anything my preschooler had ever done. It did not bother me, but I know some parents might not want this for their kids until they are a bit older.)
Classes range in size, with a maximum of approximately 10 students. Every class has 2-4 teachers so the kids get a lot of individual attention. I can picture these teachers being excellent with their older students. Seeing the way they worked with the little guys makes me believe that they will really challenge preteens and teenagers. To me this is very positive, because if your child has enough interest in art to attend classes at a studio like this, you want them to learn new things. The teachers here are working artists and art educators who have a passion for art and for Unicoi Studio. If you want to expand your child’s art experiences I would highly recommend Unicoi.
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June 3rd, 2009 larry
The Oceanarium has reopened over at the Shedd Aquarium with some new features for kids, so we went and checked it out this past weekend. The upstairs of the Oceanarium is virtually unchanged, with the exception of additional seating for the dolphin show. The new Polar Play Zone and a snack shop are located downstairs in the underwater viewing area for the whales and dolphins. Total Experience tickets cost $24.95 for adults and $21.95 for kids.
The Shedd has been raising funds through a campaign called Making Waves to upgrade the animal care technology, produce new shows in the Oceanarium, and create new habitats and exhibits. The Polar Play Zone is part of this expansion and fund raising effort. It consists of three new interactive activities for kids.
First, there is a starfish petting zoo where kids can touch an actual starfish. There were a lot of crazy and gruesome looks on kids’ faces as they stuck a finger in the water to touch the animals. In this same area, you can play with some fake fish in water and look through handheld underwater viewers.
Always a favorite with our kid is the penguin area. Now kids can actually be a penguin. The Shedd now provides penguin costumes for your kids to dress up in. They can then climb on what looks like a replica of the penguin habitat. There are tunnels to crawl through and they can slide down a blue slide on their tummy just like the penguins do. Kids can play with pretend penguin eggs and stuffed animals of penguin families. Our kid was mesmerized by the penguin eggs which crack open to show baby penguins. It is then a kind of puzzle to try and put the egg back together. You’ll want to take pictures of your kid in the penguin costume.
Finally, just down the hall from the penguins, is a new submarine. There are plenty of buttons to push that make the submarine propeller stop and start and turn on lights and gizmos. There are also nerf scuba dive tanks and masks that the kids can wear.
We have to admit, on the surface we did not think that the new play zone was that exciting. Yet we could not get our kid to leave and must have been downstairs in the Polar Play Zone for more than 2 hours. It is hard to say if he liked the submarine better than the penguins, but he proudly wore the dive tank on his back for at least an hour. The Aquarium and the Oceanarium are still amazing places to visit, but now there is this fun place for young kids. We think children about 6 years and under will have a great time in the new play area. We would recommend going early or late in the day as there are a limited number of penguin costumes, dive tanks, and space in the submarine to go around during crowded midday hours.
There is more to come in the re imagined Oceanarium. By the end of the summer there will be a completely new whale and dolphin show. They are promising it will be more theatrical and entertaining then the old show (if you saw it before you’ll remember it was a bit of a snooze). Starting July 3rd they will also offer the very high end Extraordinary Experiences. Trainer for a Day will allow your family to go behind the scenes with the marine mammal trainer. The 4 hour experience costs $350 per person and is limited to persons 12 and older.
Review The Shedd Aquarium
Mom Says: The Shedd has always been great, the new Polar Play Zone makes it more fun. Is it worth a special trip just to see the new stuff? No. But the next time you have family/friends in town or are really in the mood to do the entire Shedd you will enjoy the additions. There is a Community Discount Week from June 14-19, 2009. During this week General Admission is free and packages to see the Oceanarium, Wild Reef, etc. will cost $16.95 for adults and $11.95 for children.
Dad Says: I think I sat on the reef rock for an hour and half watching the kid press buttons on the submarine, pretending to be the captain, and pretending to swim under water with the dive tank. He had a fantastic time.
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May 27th, 2009 larry
By now you have probably seen many reviews of the new Modern Wing at the Art Institute, all raving about the architecture, the permantent collection, and the Twombly exhibit. The raves are well deserved - the place is spectacular. Of course you will enjoy it. Not only will it impress you, it will make you feel proud to be a Chicagoan. But is it somewhere you want to bring the kids? Let’s discuss…
Price: There has been a lot of criticism regarding the increase in admission price at the Museum and I think it is unfounded. Yes, they have raised the adult admission to $18, but it now includes all special exhibits and if you are a Chicago resident you receive a $2 discount. As a parent you will be happy to know that children under 14 are free - every day. The Art Institute has also increased the number of Kraft Great Kids Passports available at the Chicago Public Libraries, so they should be a bit easier to obtain so your entire family can visit for free. And, if that is not enough for you, during the summer admission is free on Thursday and Friday evenings from 5-9pm.
The Ryan Education Center: Kids now have a brand new space in the Modern Wing. It is a great retreat from the crowd and the noise of the bustling museum. The Center has many uses. The Family Orientation Room was where we spent most of our time. It is big, bright and loaded with art education fun. There are computer games, puzzles, blocks, books, and building toys, all custom made to relate to works of art in the museum. I’m not sure it was the intention, but there is a colorful multi-level sofa in the room that the kids were having a ball climbing on, which is great because we all know the little guys need to let off a bit of steam. On the weekends the art workshops will now be held in the beautiful, new studios overlooking Millennium Park. The day we were there they were making models of the museum and collages. There is a dedicated group entrance and classrooms to make field trip more organized and comfortable for the kids. As well as a fabulous Kids Museum Shop where you can pick up art materials, books and toys. Since the Ryan Education Center is located just inside the Millennium Park entrance, before the ticket gates, families can stop by whenever they want to play, relax, create and explore - for free.
The Galleries: Of course you have to know your own children and their tolerance levels, but I think the collection on display is really engaging for kids. My son was into the creepy Bruce Nauman clown videos - clearly they were more disturbing to me then him. He loved walking on the Carl Andre floor sculpture. And was amazed that he could actually eat the candy in Felix Gonzales-Torres installation. This did lead to a bit of confusion in the ”Can I Touch It?” department, since so much was touchable we were reprimanded a few times for putting our paws on off-limits pieces of art. The galleries are wide and well spaced. Even though it was crowded, we were able to see everything. That being said, a stroller would have been awkward. If you must bring one, you may want to wait until the crowds die down to visit. The roof terrace is accessible without paying admission to the museum. It affords gorgeous views of Millennium Park and is where Terzo Piano, a sleek Italian restaurant, is located. There is an installation of Scott Burton chair sculptures on the terrace. The chairs are made of marble, granite and limestone, and are fun for the kids to explore.
Bottom Line: Children of all ages will enjoy the Ryan Education Center and the terrace. Preschoolers may enjoy the galleries - judge on a per child basis. School age children should be taken to this world-class museum often, it is inspirational.
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May 20th, 2009 larry
Ridemakerz rocks. And that could be all that needs to be said, but there is more to say. After the Build-A-Bear creator hit a home run with girls at her national chain, the logical next step was to see if the experience could be re-created for boys. Ridemakerz is the output of that brainstorm. Located in Woodfield Mall, Ridemakerz allows kids to build cool cars, with or without a remote control. You can build a car for as cheap as $10 or you could push $100 if you wanted to go crazy.
Walking into Ridemakerz, you immediately see all of the car frames lined up on the wall. Your first decision is to choose your car or truck model. Next you choose if you want your car to be a remote controlled. We couldn’t help ourselves, so we picked remote control cars for both kid and Dad. The next big choice is whether you want to go monster car/truck (big frame, big wheels) or road racer. It was a tough choice for Dad, but the kid did not even hesitate — monster all the way with a blue Mustang frame. Dad chose a road racer - an all black 2009 Corvette.
The next steps involve you walking clockwise around the store. To keep costs low, you can take all of the standard equipment, or you can pimp, trick-out, customize, and muscle-up your ride. You can choose certain sound chips (Dad chose “rock and roll”), rims (Dad chose “pirates” and the kid chose “tarantulas”), tires, spoilers, muffler tips, front and rear end additions, engines, hood scoops, roof tops, and stickers. You have to be careful with these extras because every $3 or $5 upgrade really starts to add up. Dad chose to leave his black Corvette fairly natural, except for an elevated engine and blue light ground effects. The kid went to town with a roof top nitrous tank, blue glowing front end, giant engine, and he stickered that monster mustang with lightning bolts, skull and cross bones, and fire streaks. In the end Dad’s Vette cost about $65 and the kid’s car cost about $88.
With the help of the staff, you assemble your car like any pit crew would, complete with a pit crew pass necklace. There about 10 different assembly stations with electronic drills and screwdrivers. The staff talks you through assembling the chassis to the frame, building the tires and rims, and adding the extras. You are timed for speed so the pressure is on. Once you are finished you go the check out counter where you receive your garage (a box to keep your car in), custom license plate, and you scan your car for upload to the internet.
Picking out and assembling the cars would be fun enough but the staff makes this an experience to remember. Using all of the car lingo they can, the staff gets you excited about the different parts of the car, teaches you how to care for the car, and encourages you to test drive the car right in the store. We went there on a Sunday before noon and beat the crowds, but when noon came around the store was pretty packed and kids (not just boys, plenty of girls too) were driving, crashing, and speeding cars all over the place. The staff was fantastic and showed my kid how to do wheelies and spinning moves with his monster car. Birthday parties at Ridemakerz would be an event to remember.
Ridemakerz is a store, a toy, and an experience. The experience can continue on-line as well. You can create your own virtual garage, decorate your car, interact with other drivers, and race. If you go to a store, you can see your car on-line, race it against other enthusiasts, and even interact with other drivers about tips for racing on-line and offline.
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Larry and Donna
Mom Says: As a parent it is so much fun to see your child overwhelmed with excitement - and that’s the reaction our son had at Ridemakerz. And - he continues to LOVE the car he made. That combo makes it worth the big bucks. The people who work there make it a great experience for the whole family. I was truely impressed.
Dad Says: Since our visit to Ridemakerz on Sunday, we have gone to the school parking lot every day to race our cars. The monster car is brutal and can drive over grass, wood chips and boulders and do incredible wheelies. Both cars seem pretty rugged outdoors as we have run into some walls, each other, and drove down the slides at the park.
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May 13th, 2009 larry
Last week we took our 4½ year old grandson to Brookfield Zoo to specifically see their new exhibit, Dinosaurs Alive! We were pleasantly surprised because it lived up to all the hype it has been given in the news. Dinosaurs Alive is an extra fee, $5 for adults, $3 for kids (3 and up) and senior citizens (so perfect for grandparents) and the exhibit runs through October. The All-In-One ticket provides you an overall discount on general admission and many of the special exhibits. Whereas Walking With Dinosaurs was a huge snooze fest for almost $100 a ticket, Brookfield got it right with being able to walk right up to the dinos and making the exhibit interactive.
There are 18 different life-sized dinosaurs, ranging from adults to recently born including a Stegosaurus and Triceratops. And, of course, the infamous T-Rex was there. Many of the models move when you push certain buttons, tails wag, clawed arms reach out and heads go up and down and side to side. The best is when the mouth opens, you see the teeth and the dinosaur actually makes a very, very loud roar. Not only was this fun, but a great learning experience as we tried to pronounce every name, identified the familiar dinos, and attempted to classify each as a herbivore or carnivore. The pride exhibit is the Ruyang Yellow River which is 60 feet long, 22 feet wide, and 30 feet high.
This is a small exhibit, but the dinosaurs are very realistic. We noticed that some very young toddlers did get upset by the sizes of the models and the loud noises. But even the toddlers might be interested in the pretend digs (sandboxes) where you can unearth some dino bones.
Sadly for our pocketbooks, when the exhibit ends, you are lead directly into the Dinosaur Gift Shop, and it is so difficult to say no to an enthusiastic dinosaur fan. We purchased a creative toy, a puppet of a baby dinosaur coming out of an egg. Anyways, our grandson is still playing with it.
All three of us thoroughly enjoyed Dinosaurs Alive! and felt the trip to Brookfield Zoo was well worth it. Of course, once you visit this new exhibit, you have time to explore the rest of the zoo. We also discovered that now, before it gets too hot, the real animals are all outside and some are happy to “perform” for audiences. So, go and enjoy a great outdoor day at the Zoo.
Review Dinosaurs Alive!
Bubbie & Pa
Bubbie says: Buy a tram ticket. You can ride it all day and get on and off when you want.
Grandson says: When are we going back?
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May 6th, 2009 larry
This week we’d like to introduce you to the newest CrazyKidsChicago.com Contributor, Jennifer Lamb. Jennifer will be focusing on the increasingly relevant topic of free and cheap activites to do with your children around Chicago. We’re super excited to have Jennifer joining our team and hope you enjoy ”Cheap Thrills.”
Rainy days and Sundays always get me down…
If it were always 80 degrees and sunny outside or if a big bag of money fell on your head, you’d always have something to do with the kids. But, sadly, money and sunny (days) are always fleeting. But that’s no reason to sit around the house; there are many things to do in Chicago on the cheap.
Go to Starbucks. Not just any Starbucks. Go to the one at Fullerton and Racine. The most child-friendly Starbucks in town has a special section for kids. It has puzzles, an easel, and toys as well as small tables and chairs. Your kid can be entertained for quite awhile here. Because the toys are donated by the employees, dry erase markers and toys that can be wiped clean are always welcome. Bring your own wipes and clean everything before (and after) playing here. Be prepared for an occasional dirty look from other patrons and try to keep your stay shorter than an hour. There is metered street parking.
Go to Barnes and Noble. The Barnes and Noble located in the shopping center at 1441 West Webster Avenue has a reading area with all the books you can read. This B&N also has a Thomas and Friends train center. If you go early, your child can play for a few minutes by herself. However, be prepared to say “SHARE” hundreds of times. There are also story times Monday, Tuesday and Friday at 10:00 (don’t plan on Thomas table time during these; too many kids). There is a paid parking lot, but any store in the shopping center will validate your parking if you make a purchase.
Go to the Lego Store. No, not Legoland, the Lego Store located at 520 N. Michigan Ave. Lego comes from the Danish phrase leg godt, which means “play well”, and that’s just what you’ll do here. We have gone to the store on cold days when there is nothing to do and just played for an hour or so. Free tables with lots of Legos mean that Dad and kid can do something together for awhile. The shopping center also has escalators for some fun up and down activities. Parking is expensive.
Go to the Zoo. The Lincoln Park Zoo, that is. The zoo is free everyday and a great place to go in the winter or when it is raining (run from building to building and enjoy being one of the few families there). Story Time returned Feb 9th and is held Monday and Wednesday at 9:15 and 10 a.m. in the Farmhouse at the Farm-in-the-Zoo. Professor Boonie performs on Mondays. Mr. Singer takes the stage on Wednesdays. Story Time is free and is geared toward children ages 1–5. Get there early as it fills up fast. There is a slew of parking opportunities but the best one is available by purchasing an annual membership to the zoo. This affords you unlimited free parking. (We also got a reusable grocery bag this year for renewing our membership.)
Go Green. The Garfield Park Conservatory (300 N. Central Park) and the smaller Lincoln Park Conservatory (2391 N. Stockton Dr) are both free everyday of the year and are full of beautiful flowers and warm summer air. The Garfield Park Conservatory has more children activities and a children’s area with musical instruments, books, toys, a big slide and a crawling area for babies. Kids love the ability to spray the plants with the spray bottles that the Conservatory provides. Especially note Garfield Park’s “eye-spy” map on their website and at the Children’s center. Bring a spotting scope (fashioned out of a paper towel roll) and send your Diego lover on a hunt. Mondays at 10:00 there is a story/arts & crafts time in the Children’s Center. A $1 donation is suggested and the quality of the art project is pretty impressive. On the last Wednesday of the month (Wild Wednesday) an animal handler with a special animal is at the Garfield Park Conservatory. Children can touch the animal (sometimes) and ask questions about the animal (always). Garfield Park Conservatory has glorious free parking, but the walk from the lot to the door can seem scary. Best to go with a group. The parking for the Lincoln Park Conservatory is the same as for the Lincoln Park Zoo.
Go to the Adler Planetarium. The Adler Planetarium has anywhere from two to six free days per month courtesy of Charter One Foundation. Check the Planetarium website for dates and times. Adler currently has a show called, “One World, One Sky: Big Bird’s Adventure” staring Elmo, Big Bird and a Muppet from the Chinese Sesame Street. The show is exciting enough to keep the attention of children as young as 18 months to about 6 years. The show is short and not very complex. Note that the price of admission for the show is not waived on free days. Aside from the show, Adler has many hands-on exhibits but most of these are not terribly interesting for children under 4. However, the wavy mirrors upstairs do offer a great photo opportunity and the infrared camera by the classroom is neat too. There are expensive metered parking spaces, cash only parking lots, and paid parking under Soldier Field.
Go to the museum. Any museum. The public library has “passports” for free admission to any of the museums in Chicago. Each passport is good for admission for one week and must be returned to the museum that you checked it out from. Although it is difficult to get prime museum passes (I’ve never even seen prime museum passes), the passport opens up some not so common museums that may be overlooked: The Polish History Museum and the National Museum of Mexican Art may not be places you would think of going until you learn that the admission is free. The library’s website also lists books that complement your visit and extend the experience.
If you still have nothing to do, don’t blame me. Next week, story time: an activity that occurs practically 24-hours a day in Chicago.
If you know about free or cheap activities in Chicago, please e-mail me at jenniferlamb@crazykidschicago.com
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April 28th, 2009 larry
So when I showed up for the mass of hysterical, screaming, running, jumping, and crazy children that was tee ball registration, I got a phone call at just the wrong time. When the Park District rep, Mike, asked who wanted to help coach, the room went silent, but I was still talking on the phone — which he took as an affirmative. All of the sudden, I was Coach Larry of the Green team. Though I have played baseball for years, coaching kids in the fundamentals of the game was something I hadn’t a clue how to do. Like math, I have forgotten more mechanics than I remember. To the rescue came PlaysportsTV.com, a site that helps coach and train clueless coaches.
At its heart, PlaysportsTV.com commissions 2-3 minute videos on the major sports: Football, Lacrosse, basketball, field hockey, baseball, soccer, softball, tennis, volleyball, wrestling, cheerleading, golf gymnastics, skateboarding, and Ultimate Frisbee. The instructor usually has some pedigree that makes them credible to be teaching. For instance, many of the baseball videos were taught by the head coach of Princeton University’s baseball team.
Since I knew there was going to be 14 parents at the next tee ball practice counting on me to make their kids into the next Ken Griffey, Jr, I really focused on the baseball section. Each section has articles for more background on the sport and playlists. Playlists are a collection of videos that the site administrators have grouped together as a collection like “Six Videos For Young Pitchers”. All of the videos are free and they really stick to the 2 minute time frame. You can watch about 10 videos in a half an hour and get a sense of what you need to know and how you might use it to instruct the kids. Each video has a “Coaching Tip” at the bottom of the screen and cliff notes on the right so you can take notes or print the screen.
What really makes this site useful is that the videos are more than just the fundamentals. You can probably get fundamentals from any “how to” book in the last 100 years since baseball has been around (and the Cubs have won a World Series). But these videos teach you how to coach, more specifically, they teach you drills. So instead of just teaching you how to catch grounders, it gives you ideas on drills and games you can do with the kids that help reinforce how to catch ground balls. I need as much help as possible keeping the 4 and 5 year olds on my tee ball team engaged instead of playing in the mud, wearing their mitts on their heads, taking their shoes off, or hitting each other with bats.
There are thousands of videos on the site and the site is fairly well organized. But to help you even more, they have developed Training Plans. Currently they have Training Plans for baseball, girls softball, and lacrosse. Training Plans cost $19.95 and are divided into age ranges. I went into the 5-8 year old age range which is for tee ball and coach pitching leagues. The Training Plan was broken down into throwing, catching, fielding, base running, and hitting.
Each category is just filled with drills. The throwing section has stuff like the balance drill, the knee drill, and the line drill which tries get the kids to actually step forward in a straight line (yeah, right). And the other sections have an equal number of ideas of drills. I found that not only has this been very helpful with coaching the team, but I can take my kid out in the backyard and just run through one of these drills until he starts getting the hang of it. Especially at this young age, I think the kids need some real one on one training and repition to learn what we probably take for granted.
More importantly, I need some major training and ideas to help teach the kids and still have some fun. The site won’t turn you into you Lou Pinella, but it will give you a fighting chance. If all else fails, bring treats to practice.
Review PlaysportsTV.com
Larry
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April 22nd, 2009 larry
When you have held senior positions at Disney, Sony Pictures, and the GAP, your next career challenge is quite obvious — start an innovative, green, arts and crafts boutique in Roscoe Village. That is exactly what Candice Blansett-Cummins decided to do, “I wanted to move out of Los Angeles to somewhere more value based so I moved to Chicago. I thought about what I enjoy doing, my love of kids, fashion, and art and I came up with Wishcraft.” Wishcraft combines art education, fashion, creativity, play time, and theatre to bring a new kind of arts and crafts experience to Chicago. Eight week sessions (1 hour each week) range from $175-$195 and 1 week long summer camp sessions (9am-3pm each day) are $350/week.
Wishcraft is currently offering their Spring Sessions. Each session has a distinct theme and strategy. Except for Parents and Pipsqueaks (1.5 to 3 years old) all of the sessions are drop offs (over 3 years old). Mini Me creates projects that express your child’s personality and the kind of person they are and want to be. Jack Be Nimble is geared at boys where they work with and create cars, roller coasters, superheroes, trains, planes and other boy stuff. Acting Up creates a script, designs costumes, and builds a set for a performance at the end of 8 weeks. Bookworms will write and illustrate a book. And EcoCraft and Ecosessories use (or re-use) natural and recyclable items to create fun and functional items.
“We are at the forefront of teaching green classes. We are teaching people recycling and upcycling by taking trash and making something new. Sometimes its just something fun but it can also be something that can be used over again and again. You are extending the life of something instead of creating a burden for our planet,” explains Candice.
There are many other Spring classes offered, but Wishcraft is gearing up for summer camps which are open for registration. Examples of some of the camps include En Garde! where campers will create a screenplay for an action packed, combat play. Project Wishcraft will teach sewing basics for designing and constructing clothes and accessories. Action! will create a scripts and design a set to film a movie. All of the summer camps end in some sort of performance, either a play, a fashion show, or a movie. To break up the day, the kids eat lunch outside and take some free-play action breaks in the studio’s backyard.
To find out what these classes might be like, we went to an open house on Saturday where you were supposed to bring something in to recycle into an art project. We brought in a cardboard robot that my kid wears around the house. The staff was extremely attentive and enthusiastic which got our kid excited. But they really pushed him to come up with the creative ideas on how to decorate the robot. We wound up with pipe cleaner antennas, ribbon spools for dials, sparkle, and all sorts of colored markers. My kid walked two blocks down Roscoe back to the car in the robot box costume because he was so proud.
Candice explains why Wishcraft is different, “Art education is something we are not. We aren’t teaching about how to draw perspective or color theory. Our philosophy is about the creative experience. [Art Education] is about being taught a specific approach. You might be good or you might not be good. You may have a positive experience or a negative experience. For us the outcome isn’t important. We aren’t in a category, we are making the category.”
We agree with Candice that this is a very different place that is hard to pigeon hole. The classes are very different, the staff’s attitude is different, and so the experience is different. We think this will be a great place to learn about art, theatre, or fashion, but probably more importantly, it is just a lot fun. Though Candice (who has a son 6 and a daughter 10) is the founder, her official title is Chief Giggle Officer. “I want to tap into the kids’ creativity. I want to make sure it is clean and safe. But I primarily make sure that everyone is having a good time”
Review Wishcraft
Mom Says: During the summer, the studio’s huge backyard will be a great asset. It is completely enclosed by a high fence so kids can run around safely. Wishcraft offers crafty and creative birthday parties too.
Dad Says: It is not easy to get my son to sit through any type of class, let alone art, but the staff really drew him in and he really wanted to make the best robot possible. We got a lot of smiles walking down Roscoe in a glittery robot costume.
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