Tag Archives: Berkeley kids
Let in snow: Kids, adults come out to play in Berkeley
Never let it be said it doesn’t snow in Berkeley. Kids turned out in their warm fleeces and mittens on Sunday to enjoy a winter wonderland on Snow Day in the Gourmet Ghetto. The Snow Queen paid a visit to the transformed parking lot near Virginia Street, there were holiday crafts, and warm cider and cookies courtesy of Andronico’s Community Market. The event was organized by the North Shattuck Association. William Newton dropped by and took these photos. … Continue reading »
A guide to Halloween celebrations for kids in Berkeley
Halloween is just over a week away and our friends at 510 Families have compiled a hugely useful guide to Halloween activities for kids in the broader East Bay. They kindly let us cherry pick those happening in Berkeley for your delectation.
MLK Middle School Pumpkin Patch Dash: Track races for all grades K-8th, plus carnival with games, prizes, and face painting. Sunday, October 28, 9.30 – 12.30. $5 per child who participates. See City of Berkeley website for race times for each age group.
James Kenney Harvest Festival: Wednesday, Halloween Day 3:30–5:30pm. Free carnival games, costume contest, costume parade, arts and crafts, and light refreshments.
Live Oak Park Rec Center Halloween Party: Wednesday, Halloween Day at 3 pm. Free event includes costume contest with prizes, Halloween parade and games. Refreshments will be served. … Continue reading »
Five kid-friendly Easter activities in and near Berkeley
Our friends at 510 Families have researched fun Easter activities you may want to do over the next few days in and around Berkeley:
Eggster Egghunt and Learning Festival On the Cal campus, this free event put on by student volunteers will be from 10-3 pm on Saturday and features 40 learning activity booths in addition to an egghunt. Find the Eggster event in front of the Campanile.
Egg week at Habitot For toddlers and preschoolers, the activities in Habitot’s art studio for the remainder of the week will be spring-themed. Habitot is best for kids 2-3 and admission is $9.75.
Spring Egg Hunt Extravaganza On Saturday, Willard Park will host a bunny petting zoo and a mini-carnival for kids, along with an age-segmented egg hunt. … Continue reading »
Young chess masters head to Brazil for championships
Most second and third graders probably have fairly modest plans for next week. Josiah Stearman and Ben Rood, however, will be getting on a plane for Brazil to compete in the World Junior Chess Championships in Caldas Novas. The boys are the latest students of the Berkeley Chess School to represent the United States at the world championships.
From modest beginnings nearly 30 years ago, the Berkeley Chess School now runs 120 different classes throughout the Bay Area. Stearman and Rood attend classes in Orinda and work under John Griefe, an international master who was US chess champion in 1973. Both boys started playing chess when they were four years old.
“It was fun to play,” said Rood. “Now I like it because it’s strategic.”
“I think it’s challenging and I like to study and practice,” said Stearman. … Continue reading »
How toxic is Halloween face paint on your child’s face?
By Belinda Lyons-Newman
With Halloween approaching, I set out last week to find make-up to decorate my three-year old daughter Ella’s face to go with her ladybug Halloween costume. I saw a variety of brands of face paints at the drug stores and toy stores near my north Berkeley home. Before choosing one to buy, like many Berkeley moms wanting to find the most natural products for their kids, I decided to first research online for the most natural brands available. I was amazed at what I found.
Two minutes into my online research, I pulled up a report published in 2009 by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics (CSC), a national coalition of non-profit groups working to eliminate harmful chemicals from personal care products. After testing ten major kids face paints sold in the US, the study found that all ten of the face paints tested contained lead. Six out of the ten face paints tested contained the known skin allergens, nickel, cobalt and/or chromium, at levels far exceeding the recommendations of industry studies. … Continue reading »
Camp Galileo opens new branch in Berkeley
Camp Galileo, the Oakland-based learning camp whose programs cover subjects including science, art, outdoors and technology, has moved into Berkeley with a branch located at Cragmont Elementary School.
The campsite used to be in El Cerrito, but many of the children who attended lived in Berkeley, and so when the site at Cragmont became available, it made sense for Camp Galileo to make the move.
“We’ve always wanted to have a campsite in Berkeley, as the community values the things we have to teach,” said Chris Goetz, Galileo Camp Director for the East Bay. “Every one of our camps takes on the personality of its community. Each camp has different traditions, but they all have the same curriculum and quality,” he said.
There will be six weeks of Camp Galileo in Berkeley this summer, each of which has an intricately designed theme and related activities. The week of July 4th through 8th was called “Detective in Paris”. “We’re helping Sherbock Holmes solve the mystery of who stole the painting and the sculpture,” said camper Alexander S. The famous detective’s name is modified to include a reference to the camp’s mascot, a delightful rubber chicken. … Continue reading »
As kids grow up, it’s time to swap
By Izzy ben Izzy
Any parent will tell you how fast their kids grow up. One minute they’re crawling on the floor, the next, leaving for college. Babies, especially, grow out of their clothes and toys faster than their parents can buy new ones, or can afford to. Realizing this, Berkeley mother Jennifer Pesetsky founded KinderCycle, an organization that hosts “swaps” where parents drop off things they’re done with, and pick up the things they need.
Pesetsky said that it was “amazing to me the specificity of stuff that my daughter needed”, referring to her child born in April last year. She grew tired of purchasing new items, and began to shop at used clothing stores, and giving her daughter’s old things to charity. Still, this was a hassle, and she realized that most families wouldn’t bother. Soon she found a simple solution.
Pesetsky said that essentially, families “get rid of stuff they don’t want, and take stuff they do”. Since March of this year, she has hosted a swap each month at different locations in which families do exactly that. They pay an admission fee ranging from $5 to $20, and drop off their old clothes, toys, books, strollers, bathtubs, highchairs, and more, for volunteers to sort and put on tables around the room. A swap will last about two hours, but families can stay as long as they want. … Continue reading »
