dance classes for preschool boys

I've been looking for a dance class for my preschool son for awhile now.  It is so easy to find preschool girls ballet, tap, and even modern dance classes, yet nearly impossible to find classes for boys.  Why?  Everyone knows that ladies love to dance and since my son will likely have a girlfriend or marry someday it seems somehow cruel to not teach him how to dance.  He loves music and even sways when he hears a catchy tune!

Finally, I discovered a dance studio in the San Francisco Bay Area which offers modern dance classes just for preschool boys, it is called Shawl Anderson and is located at 2704 Alcatraz Avenue between College avenue and Lewiston.  In the fall 2012, these are the classes that are available:

Modern Dance for Boys  ages 4-5  Fridays, 3:45- 4:00PM  $215.00

Modern Dance for Boys  ages 6-8  Fridays, 4:00-5:00PM   $215.00

Resources:

Shawl Anderson Dance Studio
2704 Alcatraz Avenue
Berkeley, CA  94705

www.shawl-anderson.org/classesYOUTH.htm

Treasure Chest

Here's a picture of the treasure chest:

One downside:  We lost the spyglass somewhere between the gate and the plane when it fell out of our son's belt.  Still a fun toy kit!

Disney Souvenirs-Pirate Chest

Today was our last morning at Disneyland.  We left a group of friends there who were going to spend another night.  I had promised my son a souvenir, so we braved a souvenir shop.  We went to Elias and Company inside of California Adventure.  My son picked out a pirate role-play kit which includes items like gold coins, a hook, a spy glass, a patch, a map, and a pirate hat.  My son was so surprised he got through security at the airport with his treasure chest. My son loves the show, "Jake and the Neverland Pirates," so this was a perfect souvenir for him and kept him busy at the airport and the plane.  The model # for the pirate kit was #400127498009.  I would highly recommend this for the four year old in your life.

Disneyland with a Four-Year Old

My son and I are at Disneyland for a few days.  We are staying at the Sheraton Park Anaheim.  I would highly recommend it.  The hotel is reasonably priced and has various dining choices including poolside dining.  Today, we got up and had breakfast at Molly's Kitchen, which opens at 6:00AM for early risers.  Our friends had lunch at the pool bar and really enjoyed it!

Please don't stay at the Sheraton Anaheim.  It is dark and the staff is not as friendly as the Sheraton Park Anaheim.  They are franchised and so the hotels have different owners.  There are actually three Sheraton hotels near the Disneyland Park, and the Sheraton Park Anaheim is the only one I'd recommend.  One word of caution - room service is supposed to stop at 11:00PM, but when I called at 10:30PM no one answered so don't wait to order food.

There is an app for your  smart phone called, "Disneyland Wait Times" which our friends used.  It really helped us figure out which rides to go on next.

When we left the park last night we got a card with directions for how Annual passholders can get early entry.  Advance registration is required at http://tinyurl.com/earlyentryap.  Unfortunately, when I tried to register for the early entry the next day, there was no availability, so do this early!

Yesterday and today we explored the Disneyland Park, and tomorrow we'll spend the morning at California Adventure.  My son is four years old, and many rides are too scary.  The following rides are great for four-year-olds.

Adventureland-
*Enchanted Tiki Room
*Jungle Cruise
*Tarzan's Treehouse

Critter Country-
*Davy Crockett's Explorer Canoes
*The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh

New Orleans Square-
*Disneyland Railroad

Frontierland-
*Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer Island.  This was especially fun for my son and his friend as they both love the Disney Junior show, "Jake and the Neverland Pirates."  My son pretended he was Jake and she pretended she was Izzy.  There was a raft ride to the island and once there the children explored caves, rope bridges to walk over, a pirate chest, etc.
*Mark Twain Riverboat

Fantasyland-
*Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough
*King Arthur Carousel
*Dumbo the flying elephant ( a classic)
*Disney princess Fantasy Faire (perfect for those who love princesses, my son tagged along last year as a little girl wanted to see it, though this year he passed.)
*Storybook Land Canal Boats (My son loved this ride today and wanted to go a second time.  It is really sweet and mellow.)
*A Small World (a must see, we did this ride with friends at least four times today and each time my son loved it!)

Mickey's Toontown-
*Disneyland Railroad
*Goofy's Playhouse
*Donald's Boat (My son really enjoyed this feature, it is not a ride but more of a play structure.)
*Chip' n Dale Treehouse
*Mickey's house and Meet Mickey (This starts out fun, but there ends up being a long line at the end since the children meet Mickey Mouse at the end.  Don't do this if you are in a hurry.)
*Minnie's House

Tomorrowland-
*Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage
*Disneyland Monorail
*Autopia
*Disneyland Railroad
*Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters

We had dinner tonight at Goofy's Kitchen in the Disneyland Hotel.  I would highly recommend this Character dinner.  The buffet was really yummy and they had extra special entrees for the children such as macaroni and cheese pizza as well as peanut butter and jelly pizza.  We did this last year with the same group and really enjoyed it then too.  This is a fun place to go with a group as it is really family friendly.

I'll add more resources this week!

Discovery Museum in Sausalito as a Party Spot

We love the Discovery Museum in Sausalito.  It is an outstanding place for the Eight-and-Under Set.  A few weeks ago, we saw a concert that was part of the concert series we talked about in a previous post.  It was our son's birthday and we had about 25 of our family members join us for a picnic and concert there.  

Though this museum is one of our son's favorite outdoor places, we would not recommend having a party here.  They have a choice of renting a room for 2 hours, but you can only have the room for 2 hours.  That seems rushed to us, especially if your family and other guests are coming across a bridge to get there.  Plus, you have to bring all your own food and drink, and it is a long trek from the parking lot.

Toys for Four-Year-Olds

I hesitated in getting my son Hot Wheels cars.  This week my son got his first brand new "Hong Kong Phooey" Hot Wheels car as a present.  It was a hit!  

I had a storage kit for 25+ die-cast cars in hiding as maybe I knew the day would come when he'd want to start collecting cars.  I highly recommend the combination of the hotwheels cars by Mattel as well as the Mattel "Pop-open speedway race case."  It is also perfect for summer traveling, and at this age children love to start collecting cars or other items.

Cars and Pop-Open speedway race case from www.MattelShop.com

*Since this is a new toy item for us, I'll be researching Mattel to make sure they use lead free paint, treat employees fairly, etc.

Of course, I'd rather have my son collect natural wood toys, shells (which we did in Florida), rocks, etc.  

--TC Mama

Bay Area Kidfest

This weekend marks the 23rd annual Bay Area Kidfest in downtown Concord, California.  Hours are from 10am-6pm.

There are tons of activities each day.  The Kidfest holds a Memorial Day ceremony at noon on Monday.

Some highlights:

Ballet Folklorico, 1:30pm daily

Memorial Day Ceremony, Noon Monday

Concord Police K-9 Team, Saturday and Sunday 11am, Monday 12:30pm

Resources:
Bay Area Kidfest
Location:  Mt. Diablo High School
2450 Grant
Concord, CA
Parking is $5.00
www.kidfestconcord.com

Open 10am-6pm (no admission after 5:00)