Right before the busy stream of Hanukkah events began, Jewish bloggers gathered together at the Hanukkah Hangout for a night of Giving, Crafting, Creating, and Sharing. The price for entry was a toy for families affected by Superstorm Sandy.
The evening started out with a welcome by Hanukkah Hangout co-hosts Jodi Samuels (jdeal and Metroimma) and Abbey Wolin and Esti Berkowitz (SweetUP). What better way to get better acquainted than using no more than 140 characters as the perimeters. The crowd of bloggers represented both traditional and online media. In traditional blogger event style, iPhones, Androids, and iPads shared the event as it was happening using the hashtag #hhangout. Once all of the introductions had been made, the bloggers started “creating”.
Abbey Wolin, SweetUP co-founder and founder of Not2Shabbey.com, gave a quick demonstration on how to take an ordinary piece of glass and make into something special. While some bloggers were with Abbey, the other bloggers competed in the Manischewitz Chanukah House Decorating Contest. Bloggers were split up into teams and created their own Chanukah House.
The bloggers were having so much fun creating and schmoozing that some of them did not get a chance to finish decorating their Chanukah Houses. However, the Chanukah Houses that were completed before the end of the evening were judged by a friend of our host for the evening. The decision was challenging, as each house had a unique and attractive design. The winning house was selected and the winners (Jessica Bernstein, Rafi Bernstein, and Gloria Kobrin) took home this beautiful kosher Godiva Chocolate package as their prize.
The neighborhood of Chanukah Houses created at our event
Not to worry, each Chanukah House is still eligible to win the Manischewitz Chanukah House contest. All photos can be uploaded easily to the Manischewitz Facebook page up until December 15th. Who couldn’t use an extra $500 this year? Besides, it is a lot of fun and a great activity for a Hanukkah party!
Manischewitz also has a fun Chanukah Cookie Decorating kit that your kids will just love. Just make sure they use their fingers to spread on the icing, not to eat it. Yes, this is the mission impossible!
Thanks again to all of our wonderful bloggers that came out to join us for the evening! Also, thanks to all of our fantastic bloggers that were tweeting and facebooking along with us that evening.
This holiday, consider giving back to those that suffered from the devastation of Superstorm Sandy. Many, many families have been affected and finding the extra time and money to give their children a gift this holiday season has had to take a back seat. Now, we can all help make this holiday special for them.
All toys collected from this event were donated to Achiezer.org.
All I want is to raise children who think. “Thinking” defined by Websters is to have an intention; to have an opinion; to exercise the powers of judgment, conception, or inference.
I believe that cultivating ‘thinking’ starts young, very young and requires time spent learning and exercising the mind in conscious, intentional ways. I’ve heard lectures on early childhood education. The main theory is that unstructured play develops thinking and creativity. Children naturally engage in play when unobstructed, so I wondered what could enhance children’s natural inclination to play and learn, and think.
As I walked into 2012 Time To Play Holiday Showcase looking for what toys are on the horizon, my experience would be framed in…Which will help my kids develop their thinking and emotions? Are there any toy brands conspiring with me to raise thinkers?
If your desire for thinkers is similar to mine then please take a look at the special toy finds from this year’s Time To Play event…
It’s easy to tell an Eric Carle item. The incredible artist and children’s storybook writer has an admirable understanding and appreciation for the minds of children evident in his toy and book product line. Colors so vibrant and saturated are an instant draw for children, almost like looking at luminous colors in a bed of flowers. His characters, animals and bugs have perfect imperfections; quirky, boxy, rigid edges. It gives an illusion as if he cut shapes and textures from various materials and pasted them together. I’m glad my children will be exposed to Eric Carle’s art because I want them to have appreciation for the natural, not things that have been worked over…10+ times!
Enhancing what naturally exists in children, I was happy to see he’s branched out into the tactile realm of toys and play. There’s the Days of the Week Playmat for children and the activity bar for babies which attaches to a car seat or play pen and helps to widen the baby’s awareness for details, since it has so many. It’s a beautiful, soft version of his hungry caterpillar.
To note his persevering influence, I found The Grouchy Ladybug in a second hand children’s store in Phoenix AZ, The Very Hungry Caterpillar in a box of random books a friend game me and as part of Kohls’Cares, which donates profits to children in need, I found Eric Carle books and toys near the checkout at Kohls.
vtech always operates on the forefront of what’s next in technology and how they can bring it to children. Children’s tablets are expected to be a big hit this holiday season. You can see vtech‘s InnoTab tablet in the picture above. Leap Frog also has a tablet, LeapPad but vtech’s rep assured me in comparison it’s InnoTab is superior and point for point a better buy. Vtech’s InnoTab is $80 and LeapPad $100. LeapPad has a set 2 GB while Vtech expands to 16 GB. While they have the same size screen, the InnoTab is a bigger frame, which I like as a shock absorber. I find vtech very durable in design. Just this morning my 2 year old, Azzie, was throwing the vtech Move & Crawl Activity Ball repeatedly on the floor. It’s still working!
The vtech also has the Alphabet Activity Cube which is an electronic version of the standard activity cube, but with removable pieces. While I have not personally tested the InnoTab (or the LeapPad, or the Alphabet Activity Cube), I do trust vtech to produce educational and stimulating toys at a decent price, and that will last for years.
Another avenue of the tech and electronics genre is social gaming networks. While I definitely don’t want my children to replace friendships with electronics I do acknowledge social gaming networks are here and are reaching children younger and younger. So it’s my responsibility to investigate this arena and see how it can fit into the goals I have as a parent.
Moshi Monsterswww.MoshiMonsters.com is one of the most popular social gaming networks for kids right now. The brand, Moshi Monsters, is committed to “fun, education and safety.” My children are too young, but I did go to the site to see how they execute “fun, education and safety”.
One of the first things that happen is parents are asked to permit their child to become a “User”. As a User, children may invite their friends for heavily monitored interactions within the social network. The next layer includes the User to adopt a pet monster. Their monster becomes like their child, and requires the User to care for the monster while solving puzzles and playing games. With successful solving of puzzles and games your child earns a form of money which they spend on items for their monster. What a valuable experience.
It will be a few years before my children will be of age for the Moshi Monster experience but I strongly encourage parents of children 6-12 years old to at least visit the site. It’s a beautiful concept.
Do you think Mit Romney lost the Presidency because he threatened Sesame Street funding? It’s believable! Sesame Street is inarguably a pillar of American society and deeply loved by millions. More than just having a childhood memory of Sesame Street, Big Bird, Elmo, Grover and the Count, many people attribute their early childhood education to the gang on Sesame Street. Now the Sesame Street character can interact with your child, or Mit Romney.
Yes, it’s Xbox & Elmo! It’s Kinect Sesame Street. Children ages 3+ can participate in a story plot or play a game and with Grover or Elmo. The characters can virtually catch a ball your child has thrown at them. It’s crazy and fantastic at the same time. Individual episodes are $5. Eight 30-minute episodes on two discs is $30.
This year I fell hard for Nickelodeon. Probably because I have a child of age that shows me how powerful the Nickelodeon programs can be. At the event I was given a Team UmiZoomi DVD. I had not seen the program before this. It’s now one of Azzie’s favorite DVD’s! Prior to Azzie’s love of Team UmiZoomi and Sid The Science Kid I was against sitting “my child” in front of TV believing it would encourage mental and creative LAZINESS. Honestly I have changed my viewpoint with the quality that is coming from Nickelodeon…and StoryBots… and Disney.
I have depended upon the iconic Disney to support my quest for purity and creativity. I could go on about Disney products for days. My newborn is in DisneyBaby clothes. I have used The Lion King as a bribing tool to get Azzie to eat his dinner. And Disney inspired baby and child gear have helped me get this far (as mom). Tigger has been in Azzie’s crib since he’s 7 months old. New Disney product this holiday season is Bouncing Tigger. He bounces on his coiled tail. You might ask why I’m mentioning a Tigger doll when I’m talking about raising thinkers. In my opinion, Azzie’s 3 Tigger dolls have offered him security and an experience of friendship. And part of being a thinker and having confidence stems from a healthy emotional foundation.
Shrinky Dinks continues to be a favorite. The Incredible Shrinky Dinks Maker has been chosen one of the Best Picks For Children’s Products 2012. How do you improve upon great? I love Shrinky Dinks for the amount of involvement it requires; eye-hand coordination, artistic expression, planning the design to fit its final purpose. For example, if you are making a charm to wear then you need to cut a hole where a cord can be strung through. Answering the question, ‘How do you improve upon great?’ With the Incredible Shrinky Dinks Maker being an oven children can put Shrinky Dinks cutout on the small tray and slide it in the Incredible Shrinky Dinks Maker themselves. From a window on top they can watch the plastic take form which will mesmorize them for at least the first 50 Shrinky Dinks.
From classics like Disney, Sesame Street and Shrinky Dinks to new comers, Armorteriawww.armorteria.com The brand is the essence of what you would expect from people raised to think and create. The product is Sani-CuFFS, a wrist cuff that stocks hand sanitizer, squirting out a portion when it’s squeezed. The Sani-CuFFS are trendy wristbands designed with various characters and colors.
Ever had a teacher whom you feel impacted your future? I had a few who I still think about things they said, what they believed in or how they carried themselves. Because of the impact that school teachers have on the minds of children I want to share the process that led up to the creation of Sani-CuFFS… Two school teachers from Queens, NY, started working on this product after teaching their classes. They encouraged their students to be part of the project, interjecting students’ ideas, opinions and designs. What a strong message to their students about thinking outside convention and about their own ability for creating something in the world! I like everything about this product and am happy to see teachers who inspire our kids.
Summing up: On my quest to raise thinkers… (with brands like these) I can see I’m not alone.
My friends at Jdeal.com just shared the perfect present for little girls. For just $17, you can get her a Lite Girl gift pack valued at $26. Continue reading →
I wanted to start a list of some of the Chanukah events I found going on in the New York area this year. This was not easy to do, as most of the events that came up in my search were from last year or even a couple of years before that. I was looking for events specifically for families with small children. If you are single, newly married or thought this list might have more parties, you should definitely check out Bangitout.com.
I tried to find events that were completely free, but there are some events included that aren’t free, but the event looked like a lot of fun so I just had to post it. Chanukah is one of my favorite Jewish holidays.
I’d love to hear if you attended any events from the list below and what you thought about it. If you have an event to post, please share it here!
Sunday, December 6
TEMPLE SHAARAY TEFILA ANNUAL BOOK FAIR
TIME: 9:00 am to 3:00 pm
LOCATION: Temple Shaaray Tefila is located at 250 East 79 Street, New York, NY. We are at the intersection of Second Avenue and East 79 Street.
COST: Monies raised go to support The Children’s Library Fund and The Library Fund.
ACTIVITIES: Books for Gifts, and Gifts for Chanukah! You’ll find books for children and adults, fiction and non-fiction, Jewish cookbooks, culture, history and more. Judaica gifts, too!
Sunday, December 13
MENORAH MAKING
TIME: 12:00 p.m.–3:00 p.m.
COST FREE
LOCATION Central Park, Belvedere Castle, Central Park (Located mid-park at 79th Street), Manhattan
PHONE: (212) 772-0210.
ACTIVITIES Let your holiday spirit (and appetite!) grow while creating your very own edible Hanukkah menorah. This program is part of the Central Park Conservancy’s Winter Holiday Programseries. For more information and to view the complete Winter Holiday Programs schedule, please visit www.centralparknyc.org/winterholidays.
HANUKKAHTHON
TIME: 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
LOCATION: Children’s Galleries For Jewish Culture, 515 W. 20th Street, Suite 4E
PHONE: 212-924-4500
COST: $8
ACTIVITIES: Exhibitions, treasure hunt, music, prizes. Make Hanukkah lamps out of clay; create large dreidels; design “stained glass” decorations to hang in the window. http://www.cgjc.org/
CHANUKAH MENORAH LIGHTING
TIME: 6:00 p.m.
LOCATION: Bay Terrace Shopping Center (upper level next to entrance to movie theater)
PHONE: 718-279-1457
COST: FREE Sponsored by Chabad of Northeast Queens
ACTIVITIES: Huge 18 foot Menorah * Live Music & Dancing * Sizzling Potato Latkes * Raffle * Edible Chanukah Gelt * Be entertained by Keith Leaf the Amazing Fire Juggler. For more information and for a listing of additional Chabad Chanukah activities go to the Chabad of Northeast Queens website, http://www.chabadnortheastqueens.com
Wednesday, December 16
CHANUKAH ON ICE NYC
TIME 6:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.COST: In Advance $22/Adult; $18/Children 3-13,
At the Door 25/Adult; $20/Children 3-13LOCATION: Trump Wollman Rink in Central Park
ACTIVITIES: Now in its third year, Chanukah on Ice NYC is fast becoming a New York Chanukah tradition! On Wednesday, December 16th, with the dramatic New York skyline as a backdrop, Jewish families and singles will converge on Trump Wollman Rink in Central Park for a celebration on skates. Chanukah on Ice features Jewish music, traditional Chanukah refreshments and a giant sparkling Ice Menorah which is lit at the start of the program. In attendance this year at the Menorah Lighting is the popular acapella group Six13, who will serenade the audience with their version of Chanukah classics. The Chabad Centers of upper Manhattan are sponsoring this event, which drew close to 1,000 participants last year
CELEBRATE CHANUKAH AT THE JCC
TIME:10:30 AM – 12:00 PM
COST: Free Member/Free Non-Member
LOCATION: 334 Amsterdam Ave, New York, NY 10023
PHONE: (646) 505-4444
ACTIVITIES Celebrate the holidays in the lobby of the JCC. Crafts, stories, and more—a free drop-in program for your little one to enjoy.
Primetime Parenting 