Have you been to see our new special exhibition Tales from the Land of Gullahyet? Get a taste of what you'll see by visiting Gullah.Net before you come - or check it out after if you're looking for ways to extend your visit.
My favorite part of this interactive site is the Music section - kids can listen to Aunt Pearlie-Sue (a character on the web site and in the exhibit!) explain the origins of African music and instruments, play their own Gullah songs, and even explore a musical map showing how African music influenced music today, from bluegrass to rock 'n roll.
You can also watch videos of Gullah islanders knitting fishing nets with a needle made of palmetto wood, and listen to samples of the Gullah language. Did you know Gullah was developed among Africans as a way to communicate with people from other tribes and Europeans? It's made up of English and over 4,000 words from many different African languages, but sounds very similar to Krio, one of the common languages from Sierra Leone in West Africa.
The National Wildlife Federation is supporting the Bay Area Discovery Museum by donating a portion of each subscription to these award-winning magazines:
Wild Animal Baby (ages 0 - 3): Filled with bright colors and delightful stories, Wild Animal Baby is a wonderful learning and interactive reading experience for parents and toddlers to share.
Your Big Backyard (ages 3 - 7): Let young children know the world is their “big backyard”…a place filled with interesting places to go, fascinating creatures to meet, and fun things to do.
Ranger Rick (ages 7+): Take kids closer to nature with amazing photographs, real adventures, rain-or-shine activities and intriguing information about animals and natural wonders.
I have very fond memories of reading stacks of Ranger Rick magazines on lazy summer days as a child. Your Big Backyard just won a coveted Parent's Choice Award. And it's great to see Wild Animal Baby is printed on coated card stock which will stand up to the gnawing gums of a 1-year-old!
To take advantage of this great offer, visit www.nwf.org/museums enter special order number PACM721.
The performance will feature dance, poetry, and music of the Silk Road —the historic trade route stretching 7,000 miles across Central Asia from the China Sea in the east to the Mediterranean in the west.
Their repertoire includes:
Afghanistan: Attan, Afghan National Dance; Loghari, Herati, Tajiki and Pashto dances
Iran: Classical Persian dances including Barg-e Behesht: The Gardens of Paradise, Dayereh Hasti: Circle of Life, Atash Dar Noor-e Maah: Fire in the Moonlight, and Caravan of Dreams.
Iran: Folk (Mahali) Repertoire: Gilaki, Azeri, Qashqa’i, Armenian, Bandari, Kurdi
Tajik and Uzbek: Safaar-e Zamaan, Time’s Journey, Uzbek Wedding Suite, Kolyabi, Badakhshani, Ferghana, Bucharan, Shodiana, Chashmaqam, and various Tajik Contemporary dances
In our rapidly changing world, the need to understand and appreciate other cultures has never been greater. Saturday's performance is a terrific opportunity to introduce your children to the incredible beauty and artistry of Central Asia. Catch a sneak video preview of their work online.
Please vote for us in the San Francisco / Peninsula edition - it's all write-in categories, but we encourage you to vote for us in the Best Children's Museum category as well as birthday party location, summer day camp, art studio and any other category where you think we fit!
In Rich Winefield's column in the Winter Newsletter, he wrote about the need to let our children take risks - to allow our children to try and fail and try again in order to authentically build up their confidence and self-esteem. Solving their problems for them doesn't help them learn and grow. You can read the whole letter here for his take on risk-taking.
In the same vein, there's a great video from the TED conference from Gever Tulley, founder of the Tinkering School, where he talks about our new wave of overprotected kids -- and spells out 5 (and really, he's got 6) dangerous things you should let your kids do. Now, we're not particularly advocating for giving your 3-year-old a pocket knife or letting her play with matches!, but the provocative video is worth checking out.
What do you think? Are we too overprotective as a society? Or are we simply being reasonable parents? Share your thoughts in the comments...
Join us for grown-up play at the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge! An extraordinary reception, auction, dinner and dancing await on Saturday, May 3 at 6 p.m.
The popular party band Notorious has just been booked - you may have heard they played the infamous wedding of Sarah and No Name on Alice Radio 97.3FM.
Fabulous auction items will include:
Style package: Full service one-on-one spa and stylist session
One-of-a-kind playhouse by designer Barbara Butler
Backroads family multi-sport vacation experience
Week’s stay at a San Diego beach house with amusement park pass
All proceeds support the Museums outreach and education programs in the arts and sciences.
We all know that kids play with toys because it's fun, but did you know that toys also help children develop important cognitive, social and motor skills? They help socialize children, teaching them to share, compromise and cooperate with their peers. Many toys also foster creativity and imagination, critical thinking and problem-solving.
Starting today, the real experts -- kids -- can don a lab coat and embark on an important mission: to inspect toys from around the world in our new special exhibition Top Secret: Mission Toy. They'll use their investigative and playtime skills to check out dolls and balls and secret codes, find out why tops are tops, and how string can be a fascinating thing.
Check out the San Francisco Chronicle's interview with our Director of Exhibitions, Mary Jo Sutton, to find out about the drama of pretend play, why dolls helps kids negotiate power, and why when you make a kite you learn more than when you buy a pre-made one.
Did you know that within the Amazonian, Andean and coastal regions of Peru there are more than 200 distinct ethnic groups and cultures?
The Peruvian Dancers will present an eclectic repertory from eight diverse natural regions of Peru this Saturday at 11 a.m. as part of our World On Stage series.
They will be performing with six live musicians! The dances include:
Huaylarsh, a vigorous dance for young people to flirt, play and liberate themselves, for a couple of weeks, of the responsibilities of the daily work.
Caporales is an Andean dance with strong African roots from the Yungas, Afro-Bolivian descendents of African slaves who arrived during colonial times.
Turcos de Cailloma is danced to thank the "pachamama" (mother earth) for the success of the harvest. This religious dance also has satirical connotations.
Over 1300 visitors enjoyed a (rainy!) celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday, beatboxing to two sold-out performances by SoVoSo, creating Peace Flags in the Art Studios, and learning about his values in the Reading Room.
We made a short video of the day, set to the inspirational a capella sounds of SoVoSo singing live Stevie Wonder's "Higher Ground." View it here, or on our YouTube channel.
The Web is a great resource for parenting commentary and advice, and as mom to an almost-3-year-old and an almost-newborn (due in 23 days!), I'm on the Web all the time for both advice and "I'm not alone!" commentary.
Here's my shortlist:
Parent Hacks - tips from the real experts - other parents
Berkeley Parents Network - you may find the barrage of newsletters overwhelming if you sign up, but a lot of the great advice is archived on their Web site too, and it's all local!
Wondertime - I love this parenting magazine, and their Web site has lots of great play time ideas and crafts - it's a bit like the much-lamented Martha Stewart Kids - very high quality. And don't miss Catherine Newman's laugh-out-loud funny blog.
Babble - Parenting articles with a bit of snark, plus some great blogs, including my guilty pleasures Famecrawler (celeb babies!) and drool.icio.us (stylish clothes, toys, etc for modern babies)
Mommy Track'd - advice on simplifying the chaos for parents who work outside the home. Plus it's created by two Mill Valley moms!
Share your favorites in the comments - what am I missing?
