Children

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Monster Mini Golf

The final hole at Monster Mini Golf in Warwick.


Madeline loves Halloween so much that she decided she wanted to have a Halloween birthday party — in April. So, we decided to test out the Monster Mini Golf in Warwick as an appropriate place for a spooky (but not too spooky) costume birthday party.

The indoor course glows with neon colored monsters and clowns, and they have chairs set up outside the course so parents can sit and watch. It can get crowded (especially the skee ball and other games in the front), but it wasn’t too bad last Sunday afternoon. Geoff’s only complaint was that the golf course isn’t actually designed to make a hole-in-one physically possible. Of course, Madeline didn’t care. Most of the time, she swung a few times at the ball and finally wound up dragging it into the hole.

Monster Mini Golf
33 Lambert Lind Hwy (Rte. 5)
Warwick, RI
http://monsterminigolf.com

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Providence Children’s Film Festival

Madeline was the star of her own movie flipbook this morning at the RISD Auditorium.

It’s nice to see some things continue to flourish in Providence.

This weekend, we attended a few of the films as part of the 3rd Annual Providence Children’s Film Festival. The all-volunteer festival staff puts together an extraordinary event with a collection of children-friendly shorts and features from all over the world. Whether your kids watch too much TV or you’ve avoided TV altogether (or somewhere in between), this festival introduces children to the artof film — and in my opinion, nothing could be better than that.

Photo by Frank Mullin

The festival’s films, events and workshops continue through Tuesday, February 21 at venues throughout Providence. See their website for a complete schedule of events and to purchase advance tickets.

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Children’s Rhode Island Holiday Shopping List

Baby Doll play set available on Etsy in Rhode Island: http://www.etsy.com/listing/46824903/

If you’re doing some last-minute shopping, that’s all the more reason to keep it local. Here are a few ideas (feel free to post others in the comments) for great children’s gifts that are either invented and/or made in Rhode Island.

Handmade local items at Craftland.

Craftland
Located on Westminster Street in Providence, this packed little shop sells jewelry, t-shirts, cards, puppet-making kits, toys, you name it. All the items are hand-crafted by regional artists.
www.craftlandshow.com

Seven Acre Toys
Providence, RI
Wood blocks, rattles, mobiles, teethers and more.
http://sevenacretoys.com

Pockets of Learning
Warren, RI
This children’s toy company makes unique soft toys. We still have the three little pigs set that Madeline got as a gift years ago.  I’m not sure they still make that, but they have a soft tea set that I’m sure Lucy would love.
www.pocketsoflearning.com

Etsy
Local searches in RI
On Etsy, you can find local artisans who make dolls, toys, clothes, etc. A quick search for “children” in Rhode Island brought me to this adorable mini baby set (pictured above), owl wall plaque, and toddler aviator hat. See the full list of children’s items in Rhode Island.

Mill Street Puzzle Company
Newport, RI
Located in Newport’s Historic Hill, this company creates American-made jigsaw puzzles that celebrate American heritage.
www.millstreetpuzzles.com

Bananagrams
Providence, RI
Let’s not forget one of my personal favorites — a word game for the Scrabble-obsessed.
http://bananagrams.com

Hasbro
Of course, Hasbro, the maker of Mr. Potato Head, Play-Doh and a plethora of other toys and brands is also located in Rhode Island. In fact, it’s one of the big national public companies located in the state (CVS is another), and as such is a major employer here.  Buying Play-Doh doesn’t have the same feel as buying a hand-crafted item. Still, a local job is nothing to scoff at when you’re unemployment rate still exceeds 10 percent…
www.hasbro.com

Who out there has other suggestions?

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The Art of the Brick: A Lego Art Exhibit

Madeline found a cello made of legos at the Narrows Gallery exhibit.

When Lucy started to crawl, I moved Madeline’s ten pounds of legos out of the girls’ room and into the living room. I feared that the tiny brightly colored pieces would make too tempting a snack for an infant.

The Narrows Gallery's exhibit "The Art of the Brick" is open through November 19, 2011.

But Madeline seldom went to the living room to play with them. What was once her favorite activity was no longer part of her daily play.

So I decided, it was time to bring back the legos.

Yesterday, we drove to Fall River where the Narrows Gallery is currently hosting a free art exhibit of work by New York artist Nathan Sawaya. The pieces, entirely made of legos, don’t match the intricacy of the displays at Lego World (in Germany we saw a lego stadium with 30,000 lego people fans), but they were inventive — a giant pencil writing the word yes, a yellow man with an open chest pouring out legos (which Madeline said looked like a jack-o-lantern), and a full size cello.

Lego walls down the hall give children the opportunity to build their own lego art.

Of course, it’s hard enough to prevent kids from touching art when it’s not made of legos, so wisely the center set up an accompanying build-your-own exhibit down the hall with logo walls so low even Lucy could try her hand at building.

The exhibit inspired Madeline to build her own at home too — so far she’s made her own lego family, a sewing machine, and a robot. Legos are now strewn all over the kitchen and our bedroom floor. Lucy loves running her hands through the giant bucket of legos. As expected, I have caught her eating one a few times, but so far she hasn’t swallowed any. At least, I don’t think she has.

Madeline's lego girls.

The Art of the Brick
through November 19, 2011
Narrows Gallery
16 Anawan Street
Fall River, MA
www.ncfta.org

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Hill Orchards: Pick Your Own Apples, Peaches and Plums

Lucy makes her pick...

In our few years in Rhode Island, apple picking has become one of our fall traditions. We’ve gone to Jaswell’s Farm, which has a great farm stand and pasteurizes their own cider, and Sweet Berry Farm, which I love for their café/farm stand (their pumpkin muffins are addictive). This year, to try something new (and because we heard they still had peaches), we headed to Hill Orchards in Johnston, RI.

At most orchards, they discourage you from sampling the fruit, but at Hill they invited us to try before you buy. And sure enough, they still had peaches and plums in addition to plenty of apples — although not all of them ripe quite yet. This weekend, they recommended picking the macintosh, cortland, gala and macoun, although we also found some ripe golden delicious.

There do have a bare bones “farm stand,” which consists of a folding table where you can buy some cider and pumpkins in a variety of sizes (we got both). And they also offer horse-drawn carriage rides around the farm — we passed on the ride, although Madeline insisted on petting the horses.

As usual, we left with enough fruit to make several pies, except this time, we’ll have to add peach pie to our to do list.

Hill Orchards
86 Winsor Avenue
Johnston, RI
www.hillorchards.com

For other suggestions on where to “pick your own,” visit Farm Fresh RI.

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Adventureland: The Mini Amusement Park

The bumper boats are equipped with water guns for maximum soaking.

Apparently it takes a few friends from France and Germany on holiday to help me find the only amusement park in Rhode Island. Granted, it is small — I’ve passed it dozens of times and never even noticed the sign. That, and I’ve never gone looking for go-karts, although having since ridden one, I can tell you that’s no longer true.

Go-karts speed around the track.

At Adventureland, there are batting cages, go-karts, bumper boats, a carousel, and a 18-hole mini-golf course. Madeline and I rode a go-kart together since she’s too short (under 44 inches) to ride herself. We picked a car with two steering wheels, and I double-checked to make sure mine was the working one before getting started. I did notice that the double go-karts appeared rigged to go a slower — even though we started in the front and had petal to the metal, some over 44-inch tall kids traveling alone passed us.

Madeline equally enjoyed the carousel and the bumper boats. It’s not exactly the full-day event that many amusement parks are, but it may actually be just enough…

Adventureland
112 Point Judith Road (Route 108)
Narragansett, RI
www.adventurelandri.com

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Flying Horse Carousel in Watch Hill

Madeline joins the riders on the Flying Horse Carousel in Watch Hill.

There are a handful of things that Rhode Island can claim to be the “oldest in America” — such as the oldest synagogue and the oldest lending library. Apparently, we also have the oldest carousel.

The Flying Horse Carousel in Watch Hill originated in 1876 and is named for the fact that its 20 horses are not attached to the floor but remain suspended from a center frame, swinging out or “flying” when in motion. There is an age limit — no one over 12-years-old may ride, and I particularly liked the sign recommending you re-consider if you are over 100 lbs or over 5 feet tall. Rides are $1 for an inside horse and $1.50 for an outside horse.

The Easton's Beach carousel makes for a great rainy day activity.

Madeline chose an inside horse, and after two rides appeared sufficiently mesmerized so I figured she’d had enough. Our next stop will be either the Crescent Park Carousel in East Providence or the Slater Memorial Park Carousel in Pawtucket…

Carousels in Rhode Island

Flying Horse Carousel
Westerly, RI
www.visitrhodeisland.com/what-to-do/amusements/458/flying-horse-merry-go-round/

Atlantic Beach Carousel
Westerly, RI
www.atlanticbeachpark.com/amusements

Easton’s Beach Carousel
Newport, RI
www.cityofnewport.com/departments/economic-development/beach/home.cfm

Carousel Village, Roger Williams Park
Providence, RI
www3.providenceri.com/parks-and-rec/carousel-village

Crescent Park Carousel
East Providence, RI
www.eastprovidence.com/content/668/830/834/default.aspx

Slater Memorial Park Carousel
Pawtucket, RI
www.pawtucketri.com/about/pointsofinterest.php

For more information on Rhode Island carousels, see http://sos.ri.gov/kidszone/carousels/ or KidoInfo’s list.

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Wrights Dairy Farm: Cows, Cake and Coffee Milk

See the cows being milked, then enjoy some of that milk (plain, chocolate or coffee milk) at one of their picnic tables.

This may seem strange, but I don’t like cake. I do make an exception for a perfectly conceived cupcake, but I never order it at restaurants, and I always pass on it at weddings and parties.

So recently at a 4-year-old’s birthday party, I instinctively replied “no thanks” to the offer of cake. But when I learned that it came from Wrights Dairy Farm, I immediately admitted I had made a huge mistake and got myself a slice. And yes, the cake from Wrights Dairy Farm lives up to its reputation — soft, buttery and layered with real whipped cream from their very own cows.

The cake at Wrights Dairy Farm -- I wish I were eating it right now.

A few days later, we were at the farm, admiring those cows.  At Wrights Dairy Farm, you can watch the cows being milked every day from 3-5 pm.  As we watched, I realized I’d never actually seen a cow up close being milked by a machine before, which is quite mesmerizing. Apparently, each cow provides about 5 gallons of milk during each milking — impressive output for a diet of corn and grass.

We then made our way into their bakery, which displays an array of pastries, pies, cakes, cookies and more. Ultimately, I couldn’t resist the strawberry shortcake layered with whipped cream. And as I enjoyed it with a side of their own coffee milk on a sunny day at one of their picnic tables, I decided this is definitely one of my favorite excursions in the state.

Wrights Dairy Farm
200 Woonsocket Hill Rd
North Smithfield, RI
www.wriwghtsdairyfarm.com

Note: The farm has a bakers’ vacation from July 18-25, 2011 so you might want to plan your trip before or after that…

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RISD Museum: Tours for Tots

Madeline creates her own art during the RISD Museum's Tours for Tots.

Someone recently asked Madeline what she wanted to be when she grew up.

“Well,” she replied. “I’m already getting started. I’m an artist.”

So apparently in support of her current career, we visited the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) Museum yesterday during their Tours for Tots. The hour-long program, which continues Thursdays in June, offers children ages 3-5 an interactive tour of one of the museum’s exhibits, along with a chance to create their own art. Yesterday’s tour brought us to the wooden Dainichi Nyorai Buddha, which sits 9-feet tall in its own dimly lit gallery. The children learned the story of Siddhartha, as they discovered how to sit and think like Buddha. We then moved to an open room where the kids spread out on the floor and created their own crayon drawings inspired by the story. The event ended with all of the new ‘artwork’ on display for everyone to admire.

A still from Schnitt's "Once Upon a Time"

Each week brings a different tour, so you can attend more than once. And while you’re there, you can get your fix of Van Gogh, Monet, Manet, and other masterpieces, along with some less traditional art like Sarah Sze’s notepad cut into a tiny and intricate fire escape or Corinna Schnitt’s video loop Once Upon a Time, which shows what happens in an unsupervised room full of chickens, cats, birds, fish, bunnies and a goat. Who says art museums are for adults?

RISD Museum
Tours for Tots
Thursdays June 2, 9, 16, 23 at 2 pm – 2:45 pm
(meets in the Chace Lobby, free with museum admission)
www.risdmuseum.org (also see family programs)

Sarah Sze
artist website | exhibit info

Corinna Schnitt
artist website | exhibit info