HopScotch

Salta Jump into Spanish - New Jersey

2009-02-06T05:30:00.000-08:00

I recently visited Salta-Jump into Spanish to check out their program of full Spanish integration AND their full day (3 or 5 day) a week summer camp. I'm registering my son for the camp this year and will hopefully the budget will afford me the advantage of having him scheduled for weekly classes at the school during the next school year. You all know I'm picky I am and I fell in love the program, its philosophy and the full integration of Spanish. They're main 'campus' is located in Edison but they have other locations including the new Westfield location. I spoke at length with the director Jacqueline, and I really feel she not only has a passion for this but she by far has the best program available in New Jersey. I got to watch a class session underway and then heard the excitement of a child speaking Spanish to his non-Spanish speaking mother and I knew this would be a great program for Ari. I’m so excited to have him in it this summer.

Summer Camp Program - Edison Location
OPEN HOUSE April 18th from 2:00 – 4:00pm

Join us for this unique program in which we combine learning Spanish with all the fun and excitement of a vibrant summer camp. Once the children walk through our doors, it is as if they’ve stepped into a Spanish speaking country!

Our program offers:
• creative and engaging themes
• outdoor sports such as volleyball, tennis, soccer and basketball
• swimming
• music
• Latin dance
• games to challenge their knowledge of Spanish
• storytelling, improvisation and dramatic play
• arts and crafts
• NEW! Visits from our animal and reptile friends

…all with the underlining purpose to increase their Spanish repertoire.

Salta’s method of teaching is called “Think in Spanish” which means that we encourage all the children that enter our program to not only listen to what the teachers are saying but also to speak back to them. We strongly believe that this is the only way children will become fluent. When children need anything in the classroom, the teachers will work with the children to help them create sentences in Spanish and ask for what they need. It takes patience and dedication, which are two of the many qualities our teachers possess.

Come join the fun this summer with Salta and work on your Spanish fluency! It’s the best of both worlds combined. Fun and Learning!

Thinking of Summer Camp in the Winter

2009-01-07T09:37:00.000-08:00

Just got this via e-mail and I figured I'd share...

SUMMER ART ADVENTURES 2009 - Multi-media art camp

Ages: Open to kids 8 years & older

Fee: $225 (plus tax) per week

Time: 10.00 am till 2.00 pm

Dates: June 29th - August 28th

Lunch: Bring bag lunch Mon —Thurs, drinks provided. Pizza Party on Friday.

Format: Every week, the camp will have a different theme. Each morning, kids will paint a ceramic piece in that theme or in an idea related to that theme under the instruction of our studio teaching staff. After lunch, the children will use a different medium, as described in the schedule, and create a craft which further explores the day’s topic. Ceramic pieces can be picked up seven days from the day of the class after being fired in our kilns. Afternoon art projects will be taken home the same day. The afternoon project schedule is listed below.

Reservation Information

Reservations and prepayment are required for all programs. Class size is limited, so we cannot hold a space without payment. MasterCard, Visa, Discover & American Express can be accepted by phone. There are no refunds or store credits given for missed classes. Camps fill quickly. For reservations, call (908) 598-0248

AFTERNOON PROJECT SCHEDULE

The World Around Us
6/29 Abstract Tissue Paper Cityscape
6/30 Pastel and Paint Planets
7/1 Southwest Cactus Creations
7/2 Aloha Fish Print Shirts
7/3 Chinese Good Fortune Boxes

Mystical Creatures and Places
7/6 Fairy or Leprechaun Card
7/7 Alien Collage
7/8 Tempura Creature Cut-Outs
7/9 Watercolor Dragons in Caves
7/10 Clay Medieval Castle

Under the Sea
7/13 Japanese Paper Fish Kites
7/14 Clay Fish Tile
7/15 Fish Pen Toppers
7/16 Sea Scene Tissue Collage
7/17 Watercolor Resist Underwater Picture

How Does My Garden Grow?
7/20 Beaded Bonsai Tree
7/21 Sunflower Card
7/22 Clay Flowers in a Pot
7/23 Butterfly Collage
7/24 Leaf Rubbing

The Jungle
7/27 Clay Swinging Tiger
7/28 Jazzy Jungle Cats
7/29 Animal Masks
7/30 “Snake” Baskets
7/31 Clay Lion Dish

Cultural Expeditions
8/3 Indian Wall Hanging
8/4 Egyptian Picture Frame
8/5 African Beaded Curtain
8/6 Native American Shaker
8/7 “Sumi e” painting

Paper Fun
8/10 Paper-making
8/11 Pleated Picture Frame
8/12 Leaf Card
8/13 Bird in a Cage
8/14 Torn Paper Mosaic

CLAY!
8/17 Squiggly Bowl
8/18 Aztec Sculpture Game
8/19 Mini Wall Pocket
8/20 Zany Wire Sculpture
8/21 Beads into Bells

My Room
8/24 Clay Pencil Holder
8/25 Rosy Catch-All Box
8/26 Name Pattern Picture
8/27 Handmade Journals
8/28 Mini-canvas Screen Prints=

AFTER SCHOOL ENRICHMENT

Based upon our popular ART ADVENTURES camp series, we teach AFTER SCHOOL ENRICHMENT at numerous area schools in Millburn, Westfield, Short Hills, Livingston, Chatham, and Long Hill. Please contact the owner, Ann Mills, at (908) 598-0248 if you are interested in having Color Me Mine teach AFTER SCHOOL ENRICHMENT in your school.

Our Address:
438 Springfield Ave.
Summit, New Jersey 07901

Our Phone Numbers:
908-598-0248 Phone
-- Fax

Our Studio Hours:
12 pm to 6 pm	Sunday
10 am to 6 pm	Monday
10 am to 8 pm	Tuesday
10 am to 6 pm	Wednesday
10 am to 8 pm	Thursday
10 am to 8 pm	Friday
10 am to 8 pm	Saturday

Visit our web site: http://www.summit.colormemine.com

Warm Indoor Activities for Kids!

2008-12-10T08:21:00.000-08:00

Let them expel energy and get them out of the house! If any of your kids are like mine, even a small venture out for 1/2 hour will make them so much more enthusiastic to come back home and not drive you insane. Here are some great activities, i.e. sanity keepers, for low cost.

The Soccer Domain Montclair, NJ
Lively Little'uns - Free Play Ages 1 - 4
Fun time in The Dome...a safe indoor space where your littl'un can run and play, jump on our bouncy castles, crawl through tunnels, drive our fleet of Power Wheels vehicles, and just have fun!

This is free play for your child, so use the full hour and a half, or part of the time; whichever works best for you.

Sessions begin: Tuesday's 12noon - 1.30pm; Thursday's 12noon - 1.30pm
$10 per day or 13 Day visits for only $95.00

No classes on: Thursday November 27th 2008 (Thanksgiving), December 23rd, 25th, 30th 2008 and Jan 1st 2009 (Xmas and New Year) Jan 19th 2009 (MLK) Feb 16th 2009 (Presidents Day)

To register or for more information call 973 746 6887 or email info@ashleyssoccer.com

Stories in Motion Maplewood, NJ
Drop in & Romp
Drop in to our beautiful studio for non-structured open dance time! Come play with all our cool stuff- dance props, instruments, dress up and more! Snacks available!

Fall schedule: Tuesday & Wednesday 11:30am - 5:00pm; Thursday 11:00am-5:00pm
Winter schedule: Tuesday, Thursday & Friday 12:15pm - 3:00p

$8 per 30 minutes: $15 per hour (drop off available for children 3 1/2 years of age and older)

Stories in Motion Maplewood, NJ
COMMUNITY STORYTIME (6 mos - 5yrs w/ caregiver)
Join one of our talented faculty members for our FREE Tuesday morning story time. Cuddle up in our cozy studio and enjoy interactive story time at Stories in Motion. Children must be accompanied by an adult.

Stories in Motion, Maplewood, NJ
Friday Night Dance Parties K-4th Grade

$15 includes pizza, drinks & desserts
January 23rd, February 27th, March 27th 6:30pm - 8:30pm

Wiggle & Giggles East Hanover, NJ
Family Fun Night!
Gym & Instrument Time! Also Includes - Pizza Dinner. Extra food and other menu options available for purchase.

Bring the whole family!$30 for everyone(limited to 2 adults and 3 children per family but Grandparents are free)

Call ahead and reserve a private family night for you & your friends!!!

On the Following Fridays from 6:00pm – 7:30pm
Dinner served at 6:30

Fall 2008
Friday, Oct. 3rd
Friday, Oct. 24th
Friday, Nov. 14th
Friday, Nov. 21st
Friday, Dec. 5th
Friday, Dec. 19th

PLEASE CALL AHEAD 973-428-1788 If less then 3 families call ahead - the event will be canceled.

Kidz Village, Kenilworth NJ
11,000 square foot children play facility for ages 10 and under.
Multi level soft indoor playground
9 themed interactive edu-tainment rooms
21 kid friendly non violent arcade games
Build your own pizza area
Restaurant with fresh foods
Daily storytelling of books with a message
Daily arts and crafts
Kid friendly short films a the Village Cinema
FREE WIFI

Play All Day! All children must be accompanied by an adult
Children 2 years and older $9.99
Walkers to under 3 years old $4.99
Infants & Adults FREE
(membership available for unlimited visits!)

Lets Get it started

2008-12-10T08:19:00.000-08:00

I've got one blog post in and I've already dropped the ball! Shameful.

So I've decided to make this a brain dump place as well as a listing of great activities that are out and about. So some of the post here might be disjointed, some will just compile things I've come across that I want to do now - or in the future, etc. I might post multiple posts in a day. There's just so much information out there that I want to share so lets get it started!

Behind the Scenes

2008-10-03T08:57:00.000-07:00

Even before I had kids, I'd collect the calendar of events for various places and build an excel spreadsheet of semi-local activities to consider doing when time afforded me the possibility of doing them. Many of the best concerts I've attended had been free events and I am lucky to see many famous and amazing artists this way.

The zeal of finding stuff to do at low cost or at times completely free just increased with the birth of my two children. I still keep up with all the events I used to record (outdoor movies, etc.) but have added the child and family friendly activities in the midst.

What I was left with was a list of activities many friends coveted and an array of events people wouldn't have even knew existed. I expend so much love to this that I want to share it with everyone. There are various websites out there that highlight events but no real place that brings all events in one central area. Being a GOOGLE queen I'm pretty good at compiling them. So welcome and I hope you enjoy it. Take the time to visit these events and bring family time outside the home without a huge cost!

I reside in New Jersey, just outside of New York City so much of these events are within driving distance of Manhattan. Many of these events are after hours so I actually list events that working parents can attend, because I understand all to well the frustration of not being able to partake in many events that stay at home parents can. If you don't see an event here and want me to include it, please let me know by sending me an e-mail. Share this site with your friends and I hope to see you at these events.