Beltway Bambinos

(re) discover Washington DC through the eyes of your children

Bookroo: A curated book subscription service for children

Bookroo is a monthly subscription for kids ages 0-10 that helps them fall {even more} in love with reading by combining the excitement of opening a gift with the discovery of a new, wrapped, treasured book! The mission is to enable and empower parents to build their children’s book collections in an affordable and exciting way through curated monthly book deliveries. Bookroo believes in the power and impact of the written word in the life of a child and believe it’s never too early to start reading to children. Use this link to get 15% off your first order.

  • Bookroo‘s books are reviewed by a panel of families attending Stanford University.
  • The company is women founded and run, by three sisters-in-law.
  • They offer board, picture, and chapter books.
  • Boxes with picture books come with 2 hardcover books. Boxes with board books come with 3 books. Boxes with chapter books come with 2 chapter books.
  • If you are sent a book you already have, Bookroo allows you to send them a picture of you giving the book to someone else and they’ll give you $5 off your next subscription.
  • Order month-to-month, 3 month, 6 month or 12 month. Cancel at ANY time!

Wondering how they choose the books? For the board and picture book boxes, the goal is to send hidden gems rather than classics. For the chapter book box, they send one hidden gem and one admired favorite per box. The books are chosen by in-house reading experts in consultation with librarians, parents and kids alike to help your child build their library, discover new books, and fall in love with reading. They’re focused on books with high quality illustrations, stories, messages and re-readability! The flyers in each box will tell you a little about why they loved each particular book. Because they know it’s important for parents to be aware and engaged, each chapter book box flyer contains information and talking points to help you know what your child will be reading, so you can relax, knowing they’ve carefully selected kid-friendly books. To see past boxes visit What’s in a Box page.

Place your first order here

Reading = Bonding, get 15% off today at bookroo.com. Picture with a dad reading to his kids.

Coding Lab for Kids: Sphero Robot Obstacle Challenge and more at Apple

Do more with the Apple products you love and join a creative session! Did you know Today at Apple offers various hands-on and free classes for kids and adults relating to Photography, Video, Music, Coding & Apps, Art & Design and Health & Fitness. Today my 7 year-old attended the Coding Lab for Kids: Sphero Robot Obstacle Challenge which was more than I expected. 

The students helped a Sphero robot navigate obstacles using code in the Sphero Edu app on iPad. They explored block-based coding by programming simple movements, adding voice commands, changed colors, and more. The instructor set up obstacles throughout the Apple store and the kids used iPads to program a path for their robot to navigate. iPad devices are provided or you can bring your own. This particular class was recommended for ages 6–12.

Other Programs for Kids & Families:
  • Coding Skills: Programming Robots with Swift Playgrounds
  • Art Lab for Kids: Make Your Own Emoji
  • Music Lab for Kids: Making a Theme Song
  • Photo Lab for Kids: Fun Family Portraits

Holiday Gift Guide for Families and Children + 5 Days of Giveaways!

Below are our holiday favorites in case you need some inspiration or ideas. Some ideas specific to Washington, DC while others are products or companies you may not be familiar with. There are also plenty of ways to incorporate giving into your holiday which doesn’t include actually giving a gift. Be sure to read through to the end where we explain our 5 days of GIVEAWAYS! 

Books (this is one category I could go on and on and on with, so if you want more suggestions, ask!):

Music

  • Mr. Jon & Friends CD, Rock & Rhyme
    From out of the DC metro area comes unanimous praise for the Parents’ Choice Award® winning kindie band Mr. Jon & Friends, powered for nearly a decade by the husband-and-wife duo of Jon and Carrie Lewis. Now kids and families across the country can tune into the energy, fun, and sweetness of Mr. Jon & Friends’ brand of Raffi-inspired good sounds with the band’s third album, Rock & Rhyme.
  • Marsha & the Positrons CD, Positronic
    Catchy songs about science and how the world works with subtle themes of friendship.
  • Alphabet Rockers debuted a collection of T-shirts which give young change-makers and their parents a chance to wear what they believe. These vibrant shirts were designed by original AlphabetRockersmember Stefanie Liang Chung, and feature song lyrics from their GRAMMY-nominated album, Rise Shine #Woke. 

Sports

Healthy snacks for stocking stuffers

Games

Toys

Class Drop-in Pass

  • Pearachute–Their mission is to inspire children’s curiosity and passion by empowering parents and caregivers through convenience and choice. Making the best kids’ classes and activities available to you at the touch of a button, allowing you to drop-in and explore during times that fit your schedule with the flexibility to accommodate late naps, stuffy noses, and unplanned visits from grandparents. Click link above for a discounted code when signing up.

Subscription Boxes

  • Subscription boxes have become a great way for kids to make memories, create something hands-on and have an experience where all of the necessary materials come delivered to their doorstep.

Memberships

  • Smithsonian National Zoo–Friends of the National Zoo (FONZ) helps the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute save species through educational and fun experiences, the power of our members, and funding for critical work. Membership levels vary, but most come with free parking (a $23 value!) as well as carousel ride vouchers.
  • Port Discovery Children’s Museum— The premier children’s museum in the Mid-Atlantic and a place that values learning through play. Not enough space to say how great this museum is; lucky to live so close to it.
  • National Building Museum— Inspires curiosity about the world we design and build. Building Zone & Play, Work Build are permanent while the museum has rotating exhibits and events throughout the year.
  • Politics & Prose— Support one of our local and amazing bookstores!
  • Sign your Bambino and self (or nanny, grandparent) up for a session with Tinkergarten

Theatre tickets

Experiences 

  • Holiday tree lighting and fireworks began on Nov. 10, 2018 and take place each Saturday through December. Complete with Santa appearances, holiday movies and fireworks. Be sure and warm up inside the Gaylord Resort, see the hanging tree and Christmas Village and then bundle up to check out ICE!. Get your tickets in advance. Use code: SNOW18 for $4 off ICE tickets valid Sunday-Thursday through Dec. 20. 
  • Tidal Basin pedal boating and swan boat tickets
  • Ice skate at various rinks in DC
  • Take your Bambinos and experience holiday tea

Gift of Creativity

Functional 

Giveaway Rules: The giveaways will be posted each day on Instagram and/or Facebook depending on that day’s giveaway- so be sure to check both! You can enter as many giveaways as you want. Directions on how to enter will be on each individual post.

Giveaway Day 1: One copy of Laurie Berkner’s new book, Pillowland

Giveaway Day 2: “Lucky’s Happy Home” Playmobil

Giveaway Day 3: 8 boxes of fruit punch from ReThink Water

Giveaway Day 4: The newest Mr. Jon & Friends CD, Rock & Rhyme

Giveaway Day 5:  4 tickets to ride the Capital Wheel 

There are no affiliate links associated with the Amazon links that are included above. 

Top picks for subscription boxes for children

The last thing my children need are more toys and clothes this holiday season. I love giving my children (and others– this is a great gift!) experiences rather than another toy. Subscription boxes have become a great way for kids to make memories, create something hands-on and have an experience where all of the necessary materials come delivered to their doorstep. Choose a topic that interests your child and test a box out before committing to receiving one every month or every other month. Many of these subscription services offer first time sign-up deals as you visit the homepage which is an added bonus. I tried to cover a variety of topics which includes a cooking subscription box. I can get on board with this and perhaps my Bambinos can begin to cook the family meals 😉

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Raddish is a culinary lesson, creative project, and mealtime solution all-in-one.

They make it easy for families to share delicious, quality time together. Raddish kits never repeat! Kids love mail. They’ll tear into Raddish kits filled with a collectible apron patch, illustrated recipes, tools, and thematic culinary fun like, “Ticket to Japan”, “Food is Art”, and “My Dream Restaurant”. Delicious recipes are packed with math, science, geography, history, culture, and more. Raddish takes the guesswork out of cooking with kids at a fraction of the price of a cooking class. 6 options to choose from for purchase.

Also check out Kidstir.

Sensory TheraPlay Box Curated by a Pediatric OT

Toys to help develop important sensory motor skills & stimulate the senses. Engage your child in fun, silly sensory play! Items are therapeutic & can be calming or help manage anxiety. Curated for children with autism/ sensory needs in mind, but suitable for children of all abilities. Each month’s box is carefully curated by a licensed occupational therapist and includes a description card inside.

Bits Box  provides monthly coding projects that teach elementary aged children how to program apps. 

Kids look through the materials and pick an app. Every box comes with dozens of coding projects, ranging from simple to more advanced. Kids type the app into the Bitsbox website and start with the code from the book, then change it to make it their own. Kids use and share their apps on any mobile device. Bitsbox apps run on any computer, tablet, or phone with a web browser. There are 4 different pricing options available.

Girls Can! Create inspires girls to BE and DO anything by introducing them to fearless women who made the world better.

Each month, meet a fearless woman who changed the world. Discover her in a 20-page book filled with games, fun and experiments. Explore her field with 2-3 fun science, engineering or art activities. Play props stickers and more.

Literati helps your child fall in love with reading.

A good book has the power to enchant and transform its reader. At Literati, they seek to create the opportunity for children to experience the deep joy of being lost in the pages of a beloved book. Every month Literati scours the globe and finds 5 exceptional books that are delivered to your doorstep. These 5 books are age-appropriate and curated around a specific theme (art, adventure, science, myth, history, culture and values). Explore the books in your home for up to a week, keep the ones you love, and return the rest in the enclosed pre-paid mailer (shipping is free in both directions). Literati makes exposing your child to a planet of possibility easy while also fostering a lifelong love of literature.

Steve Spangler Science Club allows you to choose from one of three levels of hands-on science kits.

A new theme will be explored every month such as kitchen chemistry, glowing germs, the power of air or bubbling potions, electricity and more. Ideal for kids ages 5-12. Ignite the spark of science and creativity in your child. Learn the real science behind each amazing experiment. 3 packages to choose from for purchase.

how1Junior Explorers includes lots of fun and natural science learning that gets kids excited to explore a new habitat.

Select the right subscription plan for your Junior Explorer! Our monthly adventures are designed for elementary aged kids ages 5-11 and include both a physical and digital component for hours of fun. Every mission starts with a kit sent home to prep kids for their adventure that month.

Little Loving Hands provides a fun and educational method for parents and caretakers to engage children in learning about the importance of being kind and giving back to others.

Within each Little Loving Hands’  kit, they provide the materials for the craft project as well as the documents and other fun items to reinforce what the children are working on and how they are helping others.

Kiwi Crate, Inc  believe that children learn by playing and doing and children are naturally curious and creative.

Koala Crate was created to give preschoolers exposure to new materials, new tools, new techniques, and new concepts that encourage hands-on learning and fun. They are dedicated to inspiring these young scientists, artists, explorers. Below are the various crates they offer. 

Cricket Crate (Ages 0-2)
Koala Crate Play & Learn (Ages 3-4)
Kiwi Crate Science, Art & More (Ages 5-8)
Atlas Crate (Ages 6-11)
Doodle Crate Art & Design (Ages 9-16+)
Tinker Crate Science & Engineering (Ages 9-16+)
Eureka Crate (Ages 14-104)

Little Passports Science Expeditions, World Edition, Early Explorers and USA Editions are the subscriptions to choose from.

Select the adventure and subscription plan that’s right for your child. We offer fun and engaging products for children ages 3-14 and offer several different payment plans and gift options.

Search for various boxes on Pley. 

Volunteering with families in and around Washington, DC

GIVE, GIVE, GIVE!!! (And not just around the holiday season!) There are so many ways you can help others in our area and the best part is they all welcome children to participate. Teaching our littlest the value of giving and not just receiving is critical. Hopefully your child will connect with one of these organizations, making your family regular volunteers.

young-volunteers
(Photo: So Others May Eat)

                                                                                                                    
Volunteer your time:

Generation Hope
A Wider Circle has a variety of ways to volunteer and donate through Holiday Giving Programs
Mary’s Center Reading Pals, Special Events and Patient Portal Volunteers needed
Eliana’s Light has a variety of ways to volunteer
Make sandwiches (throughout the year in your home) for CCPC Transition Assistance Program
Arlington Food Assistance Center
Humane Rescue Alliance 
Children’s National Medical Center
Volunteer your time at Spend Yourself Food Pantry
Helping dogs at Lucky Kids Club
Read to cats at Animal Welfare of Arlington’s Paws and Read
Create and send holiday cards to injured, ill or hospitalized service members and veterans through American Red Cross
Planting trees through Casey Trees
Various events and ways to help at DC Diaper Bank
Sort and pack food for delivery at Capital Area Food Bank
Helping the poor help themselves at Art for Humanity
Organize a drive to collect food, clothing and toiletries for Bethesda Cares
Help prepare meals at DC Central Kitchen
Help prepare and serve meals at So Others May Eat
Assist inner-city seniors at We Are Family
Help with food, clothing and special events at Martha’s Table
List of ways to volunteer in Fairfax County
Lay wreaths at Arlington National Cemetery December 15, 2018

Other ways to show you care:

District Dabble Lab invites you to come to a Kindness Rocks Project Workshop on Sunday’s (ages 4-10) You can also create your own group to attend.
Create holiday cards for Cards for Hospitalized Kids
Find a Toys For Tots drive and donate
Spend time at a Nursing or Assisted Living Center
Host a refugee family
Shop with your children at a local grocery store for non-perishable items and donate them to a canned food drive
Claude Moore Colonial Farm has many ways to volunteer and donate
Star Gazing Farm has many ways to volunteer and donate

Making donations:

Eliana’s Light would be grateful to receive donations of stress-relief items for children with complex medical conditions and their caregivers through an Amazon Wish List
Diapers to the DC Diaper Bank
Kids Crafts for a cause through Little Loving Hands
Seasonal clothing and toiletries to Bethesda Cares

Bowie Baysox continues Louie’s Holiday Hope Project for the 12th year. Beginning now and continuing through early December, the team will be accepting nominations for families that need assistance this holiday season. The Baysox will also be collecting gently used coats, new socks and other warm clothing to be donated to area families. If you know a family who is in need, please email here.

Water you waiting for? RETHINK Kids Water is a lunchbox game changer

I find it incredibly annoying when we go out to dinner with our kids and the server comes by and asks them directly if they want apple juice or chocolate milk with their kids meal. Anyone else? Did you know kids consume an average of 21 teaspoons of sugar a day or nearly ten gallons of sugar a year? We are not as strict as we once were with the amount of sugar our kids get, however, juices and sodas are not purchases we make. Instead our kids drink water and milk on a daily basis are are perfectly fine with that.

The city of Baltimore recently put into effect an ordinance that bans restaurants from offering sodas and sugary drinks on kids’ menus – the first city on the East Coast to make this change. Enter the Maryland-based RETHINK Kids Water, whose sole mission has been to reduce children’s sugar intake.  In fact, RETHINK Kids Water is the only boxed water line for kids that’s zero calorie, zero sugar, and zero sodium.  

The recipe is the first of its kind, made only of purified water and USDA approved fruit essence, and comes in four fruity flavors: Organic Apple Water, Organic Berry Water, Organic Fruit Punch, and Organic Orange Mango. RETHINK is innovating the kids beverage industry by creating the perfect alternative to juice, and something parents can feel good about giving their kids.

Overall, juice + soda consumption has been in decline and the beverage industry isn’t keeping up with the shift in consumer mindset, especially ignoring a huge (rather untapped) group. With the invention of Punchy, the Hawaiian Punch mascot, in 1962, juice makers figured out that the way to sell sugar to moms was to sell it to their kids. Now, RETHINK has figured out how to get their message across to the market that needs to hear the message the most: the kiddie set.

RETHINK (the brand just announced $6.7M in funding) about the importance of going sugar-free and how RETHINK is disrupting the beverage industry. It’s that important. So next time you pack the lunch, add RETHINK, when it’s your turn to bring drinks to the soccer game, toss RETHINK to the players, picnics + bbq’s are another great place to pack the cooler full of RETHINK.

Sold at over 11,000 stores nationwide, in our area you can find RETHINK at Safeway, Target, Walmart, Shoppers as well as on Amazon.

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Bookroo: A curated book subscription service for children

Bookroo is a monthly subscription for kids ages 0-10 that helps them fall in love with reading by combining the excitement of opening a gift with the discovery of a new, wrapped, treasured book! Their mission is to enable and empower parents to build their children’s book collections in an affordable and exciting way through curated monthly book deliveries. They believe in the power and impact of the written word in the life of a child, and believe it’s never too early to start reading to children.

  • Bookroo‘s books are reviewed by a panel of families attending Stanford University.
  • The company is women founded and run, by three sister-in-law.
  • They offer board, picture, and chapter books.
  • Boxes with picture books come with 2 hardcover books. Boxes with board books come with 3 books. Boxes with chapter books come with 2 chapter books.
  • If you are sent a book you already have, Bookroo allows you to send them a picture of you giving the book to someone else and they’ll give you $5 off your next subscription.
  • Order month-to-month, 3 box, 6 box or 12 box.

How does Bookroo decide which books to send?

For the board and picture book boxes, the goal is to send hidden gems rather than classics. The books are extensively reviewed by a panel of 12 families attending Stanford University and their combined 22 kids. They rate each book on a 7 point scale and on its re-readability. Books that emerge as clear winners are sent out in our Bookroo boxes. For more details on the review process, check out Bookroo Review Process. To see past boxes visit the What’s in a Box page.

For the chapter book box, they send one hidden gem and one admired favorite per box. Books are chosen by in-house early reader expert in consultation with librarians, parents, and kids alike to help your child build their library, discover new books, and fall in love with reading. Plus, each box includes information and talking points to help you know what your child will be reading. You can relax, knowing we’ve carefully selected kid-friendly books! To see past boxes visit the What’s in a Box page.

Get 50% off your 1st board & picture box or 40% off your 1st chapter box using code: BELTWAYBAMBINOS 

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Plum Print: Children’s artwork turned into a beautiful book

Anyone like me and save every piece of art work your child creates until you have an overflowing pile sitting on tables and covering the refrigerator? For five years, I divided my sons masterpieces to send to grandparents while guiltily slipping some in the trashcan and hanging several in the playroom while the remaining are collecting dust in the attic. That was until I stumbled upon an amazing service that solves the issue of keeping every drawing around and I want EVERYONE to know about it- Plum Print.

PlumPrint1

It is so simple! They will take piles of your child’s artwork and transform them into elegant coffee-table books. It is so simple and such a genius idea!! Simply put a $39.99 deposit down (which later is applied to the cost of your book), they will send you a large box to pile your child’s artwork, report cards, photos (anything!) in along with a prepaid shipping sticker for the box to be picked up from your doorstep. If you want, you can organize the art work and include captions or you can simply throw everything into the box and be done with it. A few days later you will receive an email indicating they have your art, you will approve a digital proof before it is completed and sent out to you. You can choose between different sized books as well as turning artwork into pillows, calendars, posters, shower curtains and more.

PlumPrint5

Sign up here to get the empty box sent to you this week and get the clutter off of your table and bring happiness to your child as they will flip through their very own book of masterpieces that will be treasured forever. You will be amazed by the final product and will be eager each June to order your box as the school year ends and get the artwork made into the book.

logo design courtesy of New Leaf Design