Friday, September 16, 2011

Digital Discovery Room
The Carnegie Museum of Natural History (in partnership and sponsored by a bunch of people) is launching a program called the Digital Discovery Room. Here is what they have to say about it:

The new Digital Discovery Room hosted by Carnegie Museum of Natural History invites children ages 3–8 to explore their world and share their discoveries with museum experts and science educators!
What is the Digital Discovery Room?
Digital Discovery Room is an innovative technology-based nature program that encourages your early learner to interact with the natural world and to share discoveries with science experts who can cultivate your child’s interest in the animals and plants that live all around us.
Research shows that self-directed exploration is an important part of a child’s learning development, and as anyone with a child in their life knows, kids love playing in nature! Digital Discovery Room provides families the opportunity to turn outside playtime into learning time, through the use of modern tools such as digital cameras and the Web. Posting their nature photos and observations to the online Digital Discovery Room forum opens up an interaction with museum experts and science educators that allows families to foster their child’s crucial relationship with the environment. 

Sounds like a pretty cool idea.  If you think so too click on the link above to check it out more and register to recieve an email when they start the program (in Fall 2011).

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Free Museum Admission Sept 24

Smithsonian magazine is promoting a free museum day (in the spirit of Smithsonian museums that are always free) with participating museums across the country. Go here and request tickets to one near you! For those of you in Pittsburgh the list includes the Carnegie Museums of Art and Science :)

Make a message board at Home Depot



Home Depot has another Free kids workshop coming up this weekend -Sept 3rd. from 9am-12pm


This one is to make an ESPN themed locker message board - pictured above. I imagine you could use more places than a locker if your kids don't have one.


These events are designed for children ages 5-12 (though my home depot at least isn't too particular about that, my 4 year old has participated with no problem). Your child gets a home depot apron to keep and a pin for each workshop they complete. More details here.

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Chick-fil-a free breakfast

Chick-fil-a is offering a free breakfast entree next week (Sept 6-9). All you have to do is make a reservation in advance, then show up with your printed "invitation" and they give you free food!
I did this at the Monroeville location when they were promoting their new spicy chicken sandwich, and it was great. I showed up and they had a reserved section for people trying the new sandwich, where they had me sit and took my order (how I wanted the sandwich prepared and I think they gave me a free beverage too), then brought it to me. When I was done they had me fill out a survey then gave me a bunch of free coupons for spicy chicken sandwiches (some for me, some for friends). I also had my kids with me who both ended up with free chick-fil-a stuffed cows and crayons. I can't promise any of that will be the same (but I would guess so), but I can at least promise some free food :) So, if you're interested click here to sign up. (Be prepared to pick a date and time you want to go, and which breakfast entree you want.)

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Summer Reading Extravaganza

Okay, this even is on a Sunday, but it is so much fun to go to 
(it's free family fun, so it is not that much worse than going to a park... is it? *sigh*)

Anyway, if you can free your conscience enough to go, do it.

So, mark your calendars and head on over to Schenley Plaza for loads of fun (and FREE stuff!!!)

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Three Rivers Arts Festival

The Three Rivers Arts Festival is almost here! It runs June 3rd- 12th in downtown Pittsburgh (including the Point). They have all sorts of films, galleries, concerts and other performances and a great (at least it has been before) kids area. This year the Creativity Zone (kids area) features Seuss themed activities on the weekends, building of a plastic castle, launching paint-filled rockets at a canvas (how cool is that?), and lots of different crafts and other creative things for the kids to do. And best of all - it's all FREE!
You can get all the additional information you want from their website here.

Monday, May 9, 2011

PIC Festival Reminder

Remember THIS post?

This is just a reminder that the festival is THIS weekend.
Wednesday, May 11th thru Sunday, May 15th

HERE is the website again for more information.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Mothers day crafts

**I added one more**

There are a few events this weekend (all Saturday) where your child(ren) can make a Mother's day craft/gift for free.





The first is at Lowes this Saturday at 10am where your child can make a heart vase at their build-n-grow clinic. Go here to register. (Side note, recommend ages for these clinics is usually 1st to 5th grade, though that is just recommended...)

The second is at Jo-Ann (all Jo-Ann stores) also this Saturday May 7th from 11am to 1 pm where your child can make a card and envelope using Martha Stewart papercrafting supplies and paint a colorful garden stake.

The third is at home depot where from 9am to noon your child (recommended age is 5 to 12) can make a tulip planter. Home depot has these kids workshops on the first saturday of every month. Looks like they've got a Father's day gift going for the June one...

Also a reminder that National public gardens day is this friday May 6th (free Phipps).

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Half off Rita's

Today's living Social deal is $5 for $10 worth of Rita's yummy goodness. See here. The offer is good today only, so hurry and snatch one up :)

Monday, April 25, 2011

Deal on organic produce

Today (and probably not all of today since it appears to be going fast) there is a deal on MooLaLa for a box of produce from MyOrganicAcres.com for $19 (shipping is included in that). If you are interested it's going fast!

If you go here to sign up I get a bonus too.

The Scoop for 31¢

Wednesday, April 27th
5pm to 10pm
 Head on over to Baskin Robbins for an ice cream cone for just 31¢! 
What a deal!
Not AS good as the free cone at Ben & Jerry's last week, but comm'on, 31¢ is cheap!

Monday, April 18, 2011

National Public Gardens Day

May 6th is National Public Gardens Day. As part of the celebration Better homes and garden is offering free admission (for 2) to many local public gardens (including Phipps!) on that day. There is a little work involved... you have to go here and print out a coupon :) (For those of you not in Pittsburgh you can see the full list of participating gardens through either of the links in this post). I've got my coupon ready!

Friday, April 15, 2011

Extra fun at the zoo


If you have a Pittsburgh zoo pass (or don't, but want to go anyway) there is some extra fun going on the next couple Saturdays. (All activities are free and included with general admission).

Tomorrow (April 16th) at the zoo is the PPG Party for the Planet from 11am - 3pm. Play recycling games, make eco-friendly crafts, and visit with the zoo's mascot. Meet with local organizations that will show you ways you can help the environment. Recycle your old cell phones to help save Western lowland gorilla habitats.

Next Saturday (April 23rd) from 11am to 3pm is the "Zoo Hop to Spring" event. Hop along the bunny trail to have your zoo passport stamped at fun activity stations. End at the Water's edge where you'll play games with Radio Disney and meet the Easter bunny.

Monday, April 11, 2011

Free Ice Cream


Tuesday, April 12th (that's tomorrow folks) is 
FREE Ice Cream Cone Day!!!

That's right. So head on over to your closest Ben & Jerry's for your free cone. 

Who doesn't love free ice cream?
Especially when it give you a chance to try there fun flavors. 

For more info click HERE.
To find a scoop shop near you click HERE.
There's one on Forbes in Squirrel Hill... wanna go together?

Reminder: National Parks Week

Remember THIS post about National Parks Week.

Well it starts this Saturday, April 16th and goes through Sunday April 24th.

Go on, you know you want to go out and become one with nature.
Get your ying-yang on.

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Free Toy at Walgreen's


Saturday April 9th 
Walgreens is giving away a free Gogo's toy while supplies last. 
Don't know how many they are giving away, just know that they are doing it.

So get out of the house early Saturday morning and surprise your little one with a new toy.

Watch a crazy commercial for them HERE
Don't know if we'd use it to throw around the house, 
but looks like those little guys could go on some fun adventures.

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

National Library Week

Next Week (April 10th thru the 17th)
Is National Library Week. 

The Pittsburgh Public Libraries they are celebrating by offering a chance to win a free
NOOKcolor.

How cool is that?!!

Entering is simple, you just print out an activity sheet and do various things to earn entries, 
things you may already be doing. 
Such as, checking out a book, downloading an audio book, attending a library event, 
paying your late fees{eek}, visiting their blogs, "liking" them on Facebook. 
Easy, easy! Maybe you'll be the lucky winner!
Click HERE for more details or HERE to check out the activity sheet.

Check your local library to see what they are doing to Celebrate 
and get out and have some fun!

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Kids Eat Free: IHOP

I don't know why I keep stumbling across all of these free food opportunities.
But hey, who doesn't love a good deal to feed the family?

So, if you don't feel like cooking in April, head on over to IHOP for dinner.

Conference Packets



It's always hard for me to find something for the little ones to do during general conference. I found a little packet last year at Sugardoodle.net that had some cute/fun pages that kept my little guy entertained for a few minutes at least. She's got a whole list of different packets this year that you can find HERE for kids of any age. I'm really excited that the Jr. Primary packet has a bunch of "seek and find" type activities since my 3 year old has been obsessed with them lately (they've been a great help for keeping him quiet in church), so I'm optimistic I might get to listen to a talk or 2 :)

Anyone else have good ideas for what to do with your kids during conference?

Friday, April 1, 2011

Minnie's Masquerade at Ross Park Mall


If you can't read the really fine print in the above picture go here or here for the real info. Or just read on for the jist of it...

Next Saturday (April 9th) Ross Park Mall (or South Hills Village, or maybe somewhere else if you live elsewhere) is having an event hosted by Radio Disney and Disney Junior to celebrate a new Micky Mouse Clubhouse episode. I've been to a couple similar events in the past and they are somewhat fun (some more than others). In one like this I'm guessing they will have the Radio Disney people in the center playing games/doing activities with the kids, with some craft/coloring tables set up on the side while the new episode plays in the background. They've also often had a portrait company there that will take and print (8x10) for you a posed picture of your child (if you want to wait about an hour for processing).

It's not clear in the promo stuff, but the events themselves are open to anyone to attend/participate in, but if you join their kidgits club ($5/year) the kids usually get a little gift pack at the event plus some coupons to use in the mall (which I never have actually). In the past we've gotten some Curious George paraphernalia, a little cooking kit... something else too that I don't remember... just to give you an idea.

Thursday, March 31, 2011

National Parks Week

April 16th - 24th, 2011

Usually there is a small (or kind of a lot in a student's budget) fee for park entrance. 
But, lucky for us, during National Parks week its Free!
Check out a list of participating parks is HERE.

What a better way to welcome back spring than to tour one of our 
beautiful National Parks. 
For more details and a list of featured events click HERE

Ooo, sounds exciting.
Up for a drive? Lets go check it out.

Also, the National Junior Ranger day is Saturday, April 23rd. 
So check out a {free} park then and let your kiddo earn their very own 
Junior Ranger badge. 

Lets get out and enjoy nature!

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Pittsburghs International Children's Festival

May 11-15, 2001
University of Pittsburgh Theaters and Schenley Plaza


The Festival brings together artists from around the world and features professional theater, dance, music and visual arts, plus a festival grounds area bursting with crafts, workshops and activities. For families and children of all ages! The Festival hours are: 9:30am - 5:30pm

Admission: $2 - $8; and many activities free. 

The ticketed events are starting to fill up, so if you're interested in checking any of those out
HERE is their website for more information. 

Mark it on your calendar and hope to see you there!!

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Chick-fil-a

For starters the deal: Chick-fil-a (in Monroeville, I'm not sure about others) is offering 8-count chicken nuggets for free (with no purchase necessary) when you wear green on St. Patricks day (i.e. tomorrow from 11am-7pm).
=


Now the event(s): The Chick-fil-a in Monroeville has a family night once (or more) a month. I unfortunately just missed letting you all know about the one this month (Dr. Seuss story night) that was this past Tuesday. But they have an additional fun night this month on the 24th called "March Madness night". You can see the details and check out all their other upcoming promotions and events on the calendar here. Usually for family night, in addition to whatever else they have going on, you get a free kids meal with purchase of an adult meal.

I guess as a disclaimer you should all know that I really like Chick-fil-a, especially this one. Not only is the food yummy, but it's always clean (including the play area) and everyone is always very friendly and helpful (I have no fears taking 2 small children there by myself, which is really saying something).

For those of you who don't live near or visit Monroeville, you should check your Chick-fil-a locator to see if there is one near you that is as "involved in the community" as this one.

The Knack - Cupcake Craft

Karah was nice enough to let me contribute to her fun new blog. 
So...I just wanted to share a quick event for this weekend. 

Michael's does some of the cutest kids crafts. They are usually done on Sundays (bummer) so I was extra excited to see that they were making these cute cupcakes this Saturday. 
So cute! 

So head on over to Michaels this Saturday, March 19th from 10-Noon and make your own. 

PS - this info was received from the Michael's newsletter - "The Knack"
Subscribe HERE to receive email updates (and coupons!)

Monday, March 14, 2011

Library

I love love LOVE the library! It's like the best free (or nearly so) thing ever. I love that I can get a near constant supply of different books for my kids to read (not to mention the movies and other stuff) without having to spend a fortune or even a penny (except for those late fees). I love that the same applies to books on cd for my hubby to listen to and hard copy books for me to read. Plus we can rent most of the new and old movies we want (even if we have to wait a little while sometimes... we don't usually get to watching them too quickly anyway) and keep them for a week or 3. I also love preschool story time - we've been going for a couple years now - book-reading, a craft and getting out of the house (especially in dreary winter months) is fantastic!
On top of all this, I love the annual book sale that the CC Mellor library has. It's coming up this weekend. Click on the link for more details. How can I pass up 5 children's books for $2? We've got a couple of my kids favorite books past years, I'm hoping to add another couple this weekend :)

Saturday, March 12, 2011

My personal links

I just want to point out quickly that on the side bar over there --> is a conglomerate of all the websites I'm a member of that have personal referral links (i.e. you sign up through my link and I get some bonus). If there are any that you have not yet joined, but would like to, might as well go through my link right? If you have questions about any of them let me know, I have used them all and can report on my experience :)

Friday, February 18, 2011

Dr. Seuss storytime

Target is hosting a storytime this coming saturday (Feb 26th) from 9am to 11am. Its advertised as having giveaways, coupons, and Dr. Seuss stories read. I've seen these types of events at Target before, but never actually been to one - has anyone else? You can see all the details here.

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Minimops


This is a cute little website, I don't remember now how I found it. There are not many games, 5 to be precise, but they are fun for my 3 year old (we found it when he was 2 and he really liked them then, he gets bored a little more quickly now).

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Seussville



Thanks to the new Cat in the Hat show on PBS, child 1 has shown a big interest in all things Dr. Seuss. We recently discovered Seussville.com where there are a number of games and activities to support such an interest. Favorites so far are the A-maze-ing Green Eggs and Ham game (which he is surprisingly really good at) and Horton hears a Tune (the Monkey See Monkey Do game). He also loves to create his own "who". There are also a number of printable coloring/activity pages that look fun (we've done a couple), and a few video clips.

This site seems like a good one for slightly older children too (like early elementary I'm guessing). Preschool would be on the low end of the ages that would be able to play the games and still find it fun.

Registration is not required to play anything, but if you do register (free) you can save your "who" and earn dooklas which you can use to get more who accessories. There may be other advantages to registration I am unaware of yet.