Blog
-
Cradle to Crayons Charity Event
Cradles to Crayons – Event Change
Overwhelming feedback this past week has convinced us to change our Cradles to Crayons event from an evening event to an afternoon drive to collect winter gear.
Cradles to Crayons gives us a unique opportunity to engage and teach kids about giving back and we did not want to leave them out. Please over the next few weeks pull together winter gear with your family that less fortunate children could use this upcoming New England winter.
If kids winter gear is not packing your closets feel free to purchase a few items and bring them along.
You can also still donate and 100% of the proceeds will go to purchasing winter gear for kids http://mbassociatesre.
com/events On Sunday November 22nd – 1pm – 4pm.
Light snacks / refreshments and some kids activities will be part of the afternoon.
West Newton Neighborhood Club – 24 Berkley Street West Newton MA
Hope you can make it,Mitch & Maxine
Cradle to Crayons – Our vision is that one day every child will have the essentials they need. http://www.cradlestocrayons.
org 
Cradle to Crayons – Our vision is that one day every child will have the essentials they need.
-
Newton Inspires: A FREE Evening of Ideas and Community
Bestselling Authors, Seafood Entrepreneur, Worldwide Travel Executive, Business Startup Guru, and Fundraising Visionary Headline …
Newton Schools Foundation presents the fifth annual Newton Inspires: An Evening of Ideas and Community, Monday, November 9, 7-9:45 p.m. at Newton South High School.
The program, featuring 18 of Newton’s most accomplished and interesting personalities, is free to Newton residents. High school seniors are welcome. Space is limited, so register today! Click here for a list of speakers and more information.
A big thanks to the following local businesses that are supporting Newton Inspires: Anna’s Taqueria, Baker’s Best Catering, Better Life Food, Fleck Coffee House,, L’Aroma Café & Bakery, Peet’s Coffee & Tea, Rancatore’s Ice Cream and Yogurt, Rosie’s Bakery, Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods Market.
-
Youth Arts for Social Change Conference: #LeadNotFollow
CITI PERFORMING ARTS CENTER TO HOST FREE CONFERENCE ENCOURAGING TEENS TO #LEADNOTFOLLOW
Inaugural Youth Arts for Social Change Conference to be held on November 7
Citi Performing Arts Center announced today that its Teen Leadership Council will host its first annual Youth Arts for Social Change Conference (YASCC). The conference, titled #LeadNotFollow: Navigating Identity through Media and Art, seeks to spark a transformation in the way youth think about media, art, their identities, and social change. YASCC will be held onSaturday, November 7, 2015 at the Dudley Branch of the Boston Public Library from 10:00am to 4:00pm.
“The mission of our Teen Leadership Council is to empower teens to recognize and embrace their potential as creative leaders and community advocates,” said Josiah A. Spaulding, Jr., President & CEO of Citi Performing Arts Center. “This conference is just one example of how we’re using arts to drive social change and make a difference in communities across Boston.”
The Youth Arts for Social Change Conference is a free program, and all teens, organizations, and programs that work with young people, and those who support youth, students, artists, and activists, are welcome to attend. Topics include Forgotten Headlines: The Stories that Go Untold; #Nofilter: Do you show the real you through social media?; and Picturing the Future: How do we use the arts and media to spread social change?
When asked about the impact of the arts on social change, Teen Leader Jacarrea Garraway, 17, from Dorchester asked, “How can the arts not effect social change? If teens work together in a positive manner, and use the arts to achieve social justice, it will greatly impact the future.”
Richard Andujar, 17, from Roxbury said, “During the conference, we’ll talk about our identities and social media, and how easy it is to follow other people’s ideas. People hate what they don’t understand, so we want to talk about expressing what we think and feeling safe.”
The conference will feature presentations by Hyde Square Task Force, Theater Offensive, and Urbano Project, and will include a keynote panel with Anthony Thomas of Thomas Ent, Justin Kang of City Awake, Cedric Douglas of The Up Truck, and Thato Mwosa, Artist & Award-Winning Filmmaker. The Youth Arts for Social Change Conference is sponsored in part by the Fellowes Athenaeum Fund.
Click here to learn more about YASCC and learn more about Citi Performing Arts Center’s Education and Community programs here.
-
Halloween Safety Tips for Parents of Pre-Teens & Teens
Halloween Safety Tips for Parents of Pre-Teens & Teens
Your teenager may no longer need your help dressing up as a super-hero, but it’s important to continue to be involved in your teen’s Halloween plans. Here are a few important safety tips and ideas from Day Middle School’s Nurse Gayle’s Newsletter:
- Find out where your teen is going, get the phone number, and agree on a time for him/her to be home
- Make sure adults will be present at parties your teen will attend
- Explain how Halloween pranks can be vandalism and result in serious consequences
- Remind your teen you don’t want him/her to use alcohol, drugs and tobacco
- Offer to drive your teen to where he/she wants to go for the night
- For teen drivers, remind them to watch carefully for young trick-or-treaters and drive slowly
- Give your teen reflective tape & a flashlight if he/she is going to be out trick or treating
-
Help Out on Online Reading Study to Win $200
My name is Andrea Mooney. I spent my early career working at Boston Children’s Hospital writing to parents and children, and now I’m working on a study being conducted by researchers at the George Washington University, hoping to find out more about how kids learn from children’s books. If you feel that your readership might be interested in participating in this study, would you consider promoting it on your blog?
Here are the details: If you’re a parent of a child ages 6-8 (or you know one) and have regular internet access, you can participate in the study by simply reading to your child four nights over the week of Nov 2-9, and taking a 15 minute online survey by Nov 15. All participants who complete the survey by Nov 15, 2015 will be entered into a lottery, and one participant will be randomly selected to win a $200 Target gift card, sent via email.
Please feel free to pass this message on to other eligible parents. Email kidsliteracyGW@gmail.com to learn more.
Kindly,
Andrea Mooney
-
Upcoming Boston Charity Fitness Class = Solar Light for a Girl
Buy your tax deductible ticket and get ready to power up and power her! -
Foodie Guide to Boston’s Chinatown
I keep running into my friend Stella in Chinatown even though we both live here in Newton so I am calling upon her expertise to help me with this guide to Chinatown in Boston. It’s a little mystifying to find the best of the best in Chinatown. We usually agree, but when we don’t, I’m going to list both options.
My kids are of a different mind. They think I am being a “Bruce Lee” by spilling Asian secrets and thereby making their favorite haunts even more crowded than they already are. There is plenty for everyone!
What makes you hesitate to go to Chinatown? Is it the bad drivers? Is the lack of parking? Is it because you don’t speak Mandarin? The drivers are terrible; this is true. We park at a lot on Tyler Street. It’s impossible to get meter parking but we manage once or twice a year to score a spot. And not everyone in Chinatown speaks Mandarin; there are hundreds of Chinese dialects so not everyone who lives there can understand each other. Your English will be fine!
Hope you venture into Chinatown. There are a lot of delicacies waiting for you there!
Best Dim Sum
China Pearl Restaurant
9 Tyler St
Boston, MA 02111Everyone I know agrees that this is the best Dim Sum in Boston. It still doesn’t compare to Dim Sum in Hong Kong, or in Chinatowns in Los Angeles or San Francisco though so don’t get your hopes up too high. Still, their Har Gao is as good as any in the world.
Go before 11am on the weekend or expect to wait in line.
Best Soup Dumplings
Gourmet Dumpling House
52 Beach St
Boston, MA 02111
There’s usually a line out the door for dumplings so your best bet is to call ahead and pick up. Or do what we do. We order the soup dumplings when we are seated for Dim Sum (but before we start eating), then we pick them up on our way out for an afternoon snack.
Best Asian “Starbucks”
Tea Do
8 Tyler St
Boston, MA 02111
Stella turned us on to this contemporary tea house and my kids like their smoothies and bubble tea. Their Japanese snacks are great too! This is a popular hangout for teens in the area and stocked with board games so you can hang out while sipping your drink! This is a de rigeur stop for us when we come to Chinatown for Dim Sum!
Best Cantonese Seafood
We have a split decision. I have been going to Peach Farm for more than 10 years and therefore haven’t tried anything new since finding it. Stella likes Jade Garden and she’s Cantonese!
Peach Farm
4 Tyler St
Boston, MA 02111
Try the Salt and Pepper Squid. We order it half squid and half beef with bone. I like their ginger and scallion lobster too. Even our kids will eat the shrimp — that’s live from the tank (with the heads on), then steamed and served with sauce. Our kids like the sauce that isn’t spicy.
Jade Garden
20 Tyler St
Boston, MA 02111
Best Chinese Cake Bakery
101 Bakery
56 Beach St
Boston, MA 02111
My kids like their sponge cakes; a piece with just a thin layer of frosting in between.
Best Chinese Pastry Bakery
Hing Shing Pastry
67 Beach St
Boston, MA 02111
They make Moon Cakes when it’s that time of year but no one I know actually likes Moon Cakes as they are very dense and sweet. They are made of sweetened bean puree. Instead, try the sponge cake in the paper cones. I also like their beef curry pies, apple turnovers and their version of Pigs in the Blanket. They have Chinese specialities too like pork buns (baked not steamed), and sticky rice wrapped in leaves.
Best Roasted Meat Shop
Hong Kong Eatery
79 Harrison Avenue
Boston, MA 02111
The restaurant is always busy but I’ve never eaten there. Instead, I stand in line to order their roasted meats. My favorite is the soy sauce chicken but the salt chicken is equally popular. They have roast duck and roast pork — both Char Shui (BBQ) and suckling pig style.
Best Vietnamese Sandwich Shop
163 Vietnamese Sandwich
66 Harrison Ave
Boston, MA 02111
Even if you are full, get a sandwich to go. You won’t regret it!
What are your favorite eats in Chinatown? Please share in the comments below!
-
NewTV House of Haunts
NewTV’s Annual House of Haunts event is coming up.
It’s that time of the year again when ghouls and goblins will be out looking for a scare! NewTV’s third annual House of Haunts is a free family-friendly event offering fun and games for the kids, a costume parade, and a scavenger hunt.
The event runs from 4:00pm-7:00pm on Thursday, October 29th, NewTV Studios 23 Needham Street. For more information, visit here.
-
Teal Pumpkin Project for Allergy-Free Halloween
JOIN THE TEAL PUMPKIN PROJECT FOR AN ALLERGY-FREE HALLOWEEN
Choose Big Buckets of Monsters and Zombies for a Healthy Halloween Handout
Halloween is creeping around the corner and kids are gearing up to trick-or-treat. With this spook-tacular holiday comes the thrill of dressing up and collecting treats at every door. But for the 6 million children with food allergies, collecting candy is a dangerous risk. Kids affected by allergies must rifle through buckets of candy, searching for treats that they’re able to enjoy. Those with severe allergies can’t even consume candy that so much as touches an allergen.
Food Allergy Research & Education (FARE) is encouraging families to participate in a new Halloween tradition: The Teal Pumpkin Project. This national campaign encourages parents to offer non-food treats for children with food allergies. Participants will mark their intent by placing a teal-colored pumpkin in their yard, informing trick-or-treaters they have non-food Halloween handouts.
Stop letting big buckets of Halloween candy haunt your home…Offer trick-or-treaters a safe and healthy treat that lasts… Big Buckets of Monsters and Zombies!
Each Big Bucket comes with 100 assorted spooky action figures- including zombies, gravestones, humans, werewolves, and even Frankenstein! With over a dozen unique sculpts… down to the poses!
Unlike the average figurine, these menacing monsters stand up on their own, and they definitely put the action in action figure. Each collection includes 12 uniquely posed pieces full of personality. The bucket of monsters includes: a freaky Frankenstein, creepy crawly spiders, howling werewolves, a clawed-at tombstone, and a monster with an appetite for arms. The assortment of zombies includes: an on-the-go zombie girl running with her teddy, creepy corpses escaping from the grave, hungry zombies munching on their brain-food, and a human with a hatchet in his head!
Give your guests a lasting treat. Hand out Big Buckets of Monsters and Zombies this Halloween!
*Big Buckets of Monsters and Zombies are non-edible and are recommended for children ages 4 and up.
Big Buckets of Monsters and Zombies are available for purchase on www.scsdirectinc.com, www.amazon.com and at specialty retailers nationwide. Retail: $19.99
Please consider including Big Buckets of Zombies/Monsters in your Halloween segments, editorials and give-aways. Product samples available upon request.
The Big Buckets line of products also includes: Animal Adventure Action Figures, Civil War Soldiers, Farm Animals, Firemen, Safari Animals; Sea Creatures and Dinosaur Skeleton figures.
