Free Stuff at Long Island Restaurants

Hi All,

Who doesn't like to get free stuff while you're at a restaurant.  Getting 'comped' like that makes you feel like a special guest - and the food or the drink or whatever you are getting for free - is usually extra good.  Because, well, its free!

Forthwith - a link from the Long Island Press from October 2017.  The article is titled, 'The A List: Free Stuff Restaurants Will Give You Just Because It's Your Birthday'. 

As is the case in life...there is a section in the article titled 'Fine Print'.  Which basically explains that the various restaurant(s) might require you to sign up for email or become a member of the restaurants 'club'.  (Which might entitle you to more free goodies in the future...)

As if that isn't enough; click on this link for an article titled, 'Free Things To Do With Your Kids on Long Island' published in September 2017 by TripSavvy.com.

The article has a nice list of interesting and obscure - but family friendly - things to do on Long Island with kids!!!

Enjoy the links and the free stuff that Long Island has to offer!

Regards,
Stu 

MommyPoppins - Get More Out of Life With Kids

Hi All,

Today's blog entry talks about MommyPoppins.  It bills itself as 'Getting More Out of Life With Kids'.


Users can use the site as a way to find things to do with kids based on Age, Area, Things to Do and Family Fun.  The Activity Guide link on the site has links for a wide variety of things to do - including, but not limited to - Birthday Parties, Classes/Enrichment, Crafts/Recipes, Free Activities, Museums, Parent Talk, Shows, STEM, Summer Activities, Theme/Water Parks and more.

Just who is MommyPoppins though? Indeed, click on this link to find a bit more about them...spoiler alert though - there isn't that much info on the page...

There are also links to Camps & Classes, Parties links to Trips. At the top of the page is a link to search the site.  There are also links to Connect with MommyPoppins, a Directory, and a Calendar.


Before you starting clicking on any link that you think is important you'll need to click on your region at the top left side of the homepage.  Once you do that you are free to roam!

I found the Calendar link especially useful. Pick a day and the vents that are available appear on the screen.  Links are available to that particular event!  Links by Age are interesting to visit as well. 

On 7/24/17 when I wrote this blog entry there were article on 'Old Fashioned Ice Cream Parlors Long Island Kids Will Love, Summer Day Tirp for Long Island Families  and and article on Long Island Aquarium Exhibits.

Users can signup for the MommyPoppins newsleter by clicking on this link.

Finally, just as another example of the utility of the site, the link for Family Fun had the following information on 7/24/17: Guide to Indoor Play Spaces for Kids, Museum/Art Guide to Kids.

Articles are dated and an author is listed - and the authors name is linked.   One of the better parts of the site are the tabs at the top of each article.  Basically these tabs are like subject headings for the topics that the article deals with.  One such article that I clicked on was titled 12 Places Where LI Kids Can Learn and Have Fun in the Hamptons and North Fork.

Other useful links on the site include This Week in Long Island, July Go List and Neighborhood Guides (can choose between Nassau Suffolk and the East End.

Listed tabs at the top of the page for the article included Classes/Enrichment, Family Travel, Farm/U Pick Up, Museums, Shows, Visitors Guide and more.  Talk about comprehensive lists and topics!

Enjoy the site and the links!

Regards,
Stu

Things To Do In the Summer With Kids On Long Island

Hi All,

Its summertime and the livin' is good - as they say.  But wait...you've got kids and you need to keep them occupied - you don't want them on a tablet or a phone or a tv or a computer screen all day!  What's a person to do?

Great question and we've got some answers at least.

This first link is from Click on this link from Mommypoppins for an article titled Summer Fun Guide For Long Island Kids. There are some great ideas lurking in there!

The next link is  also from Mommypoppins - this link is titled 50 Free Things To Do With Long Island Kids This Summer.  Awesome resources and ideas. 

A website called TripSavvy got into 'let's keep kids busy during the summer racket' with a link on their site called 'Top 10 Children's Attractions on Long Island'. 

Mommypoppins seems to be a getting a lot of play on the blog today.  Here's another valuable article titled '25 Things We Can't Wait to Do With LI Kids This Summer' - note that the article is very, very recent - as in from June 2017.

Finally the Long Island Press wrote an article titled '43 Things To Do With Your Kids on Long Island' some time ago.  The article is well worth taking the time to peruse if you want to keep the little ones busy this summer!

So there you have it - a bunch of websites that'll help you keep the kids busy this summer.  Remember there are about 65 or so days left until school starts! :)

Enjoy the resources and if you think that I've missed any good ones send me an email at fdaleref@nassaulibrary.org and I'll include them in an upcoming blog post!

Regards,
Stu

Fun at the Library?

Hi All,

Fun at the library?  You bet!  Read on. (A list of fun things to do in the library...)

1000+ images about Library fun and ideas on Pinterest.

Fun activities @ you library! 

8 awesome ways libraries are making learning fun 

LibraryGames.com - making libraries fun!

Fun websites - Broome County Public Library

Fun and games at the library

Games for kids - Monroe County Public Library

Free to play games in Steam library

Games - NYPL Kids

Library Learning Games - Media Center

Enjoy the links.

Regards,
Stu

Keeping the Kids Safe When They are Online

Hi All,

The world has changed - that's for sure.  Now kids can access the internet from not just a desktop computer, but from a smartphone, tablet or even a laptop.  And, of course, they can get to the web via the 'traditional' desktop computer.  The web is everywhere - its ubiquitous!

So how do you keep kids safe when they are online?  Great question - here are some steps and some sites to help you keep the kids safe when they use the computer and the internet.

This interactive site (called Kidsmart) offers videos, tips, activities, and ideas that teach kids to be smart and be safe online. Categories such as file sharing, social networking, games, chat, safe searching, digital footprints, and competitions allow kids to learn more about the areas they use most often.  Notice the tabs at the top of the homepage for 'I work with kids', 'I have kids' and 'contact'...

PCMag had an article titled 'Keep Your Child Safe Online' back from 2011.  The article still has decent content and is helpful for parents and educators.

PCWorld (a competitor to PCMag) had an article called 'How to Child-Proof the Internet'. Its a bit more current, but again, is a decent starting point for parents.

Even the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) has gotten into the act of child safety on the internet with this link. 

This comprehensive site has links to Cyberbullying, Talking to Your Kids about Being Online, Kids and Computer Security, Kids/Mobile Phones and Kids/Socializing Online, Kids and Virtual Worlds and, finally, Kids and Texting/Sexting. It is a central repository for lots of valuable (and useful) information for parents whose kids use the internet!

Enjoy the links and the sites.

Regards,
Stu

Hi All,

With Memorial Day being over now, folks can move on to the next big thing...which is....Summer.

Traditionally Memorial Day is the start of the summer holiday season.  Forth with...a few sites that will assist you in enjoying those beautiful days off during a Long Island summer.

One of the better 'things to do' links for Long Island is the site LongIsland.com - it bills itself as 'your guide to Long Island since 1996 (which makes it almost 20 years old!)

Some of the better features of the site include links to Restaurants, Hotels, Nightlife, Weddings, Kids Fun, Day Camps, Wineries, Events and Guides.  Click on any of the previous links and you'll go to that part of the website.

Newsday - the Long Island newspaper - has a special section on their website for 'things to do on Long Island'.  The link comes from the Lifestyle section and can be found by clicking here.

The current page has link for the 2015 Jones Beach Air Show, 50 Must-Have Summer Toys for Every Kid, Your Ultimate Guide to 99 Long Island Beaches, 12 Favorite Outdoor Dining Spots on LI, 10 Safety Tips When Boating With Kids and more.

Finally, for another point of view, users might want to visit the Long Island Convention & Visitors Bureau and Sports Commission website. The site has links to Arts & Culture, Beaches & Ocean Fun, Golf/Sports/Outdoors, Wine and Dine, Shopping, Kids and Families, Farms and Orchards, Maps and Transportation and Coupons/Brochures.  Its a great site to get ideas to do things during the Summer - and Winter and Spring and Fall!

Enjoy the links,

Regards,
Stu

National Gallery of Art - Kids Section

Hi All,

Betcha you didn't know that the National Gallery of Art (NGA hereafter) has a section just for kids!  Well, it does...This next link comes from TechLearning.com and is dated March 10, 2015 so it is a current article.

This is the gateway to the NGA site Kids Art Zone - what a fancy site.  And btw, the site is formally known as the NGAkids Art Zone - so there!  Note also that the NGAKids Interactives sections requires Adobe Shockwave Player - which can be downloaded from this link.

Once on the site kids can click on links for Sea-Saws (craete seascapes or abstract compositions), Brushster (brushes, palettes and specials effects let kids make abstract paintings) or Faces & Places (students can create animated portrais and landscape paintings) and many, many more. (Examples of the many more include  jungles, still lifes, Dutch Houses, Collage Machine, Flow, Paintbox, Swatchbox, Wallovers, 3-D Twirlers, Mobiles and Pixelfaces....)

Further down on the page are links for Learning Resources, Children's Guides and Family Programs (if you are in the Washington, DC area!).

So there you have it - a world renowned museum that has made its resources available to kids and children - in the hopes of fostering the love of learning (with an artistic twist).

Regards - and enjoy the site!

Stu

Tips For Getting a Better Night Sleep

Hi All,

We've all heard it from friends or coworkers or family members, "I'm tired, I didn't sleep at all last night.".  Well, sleep is ridiculously important.  It affects your heatlh, performance at work, and much more.  Click on this link from WebMD about chronic lack of sleep and the affects it has. It's not pretty - so try to catch up on your zzzz's.  And, if the prior article hasn't persuaded you to get more sleep, perhaps this article will...  This link is from the National Institute of Health - a US government agency - and is written so that the layperson can understand the affects of not enough sleep.

Now, onto the meat of this entry.  Click on this link for an article from MoneyTalkNews entitled 'How Much is Enough?'.  Article gives NIH recommendations for the amount of sleep that school-age children, teenagers and adults should get.  Section titles include '3 Reasons Why You're Not Sleeping' and other tips on how to set the mood for a good nights' sleep. 

Finally, click on this link - which goes to the library card catalog.  Specifically the link goes to the subject of 'sleep' in the card catalog.  I also did a sort so that the newest books come up first. 

Here's to getting a good night sleep.

Regards,
Stu

City Travel Planner - Plnnr.com

 Hi All,

Just found out about this wonderfully odd, interesting travel planner website called Plnnr.com.

So, what does Plannr.com do for you? Plnnr automatically generates your free personalized ready-to-use itinerary in a few short seconds.

Clicking on the 'Get Started Now' icon on the Plnnr.com homepage takes you to the Plannr.com wizard.  There are five steps to get your itinerary:
1. Where to
2. Dates
3. Theme
4. Intensity
5. Luxury Level

Clicking on Where to leads you to a screen with  choices like Amsterdam, Berlin, Dublin, London, Milan, New York City, Paris, Rome, San Francisco and more.

Clicking on one of the options - I chose Rome - sends you to a page where you choose the date you intend to leave - and an option for you to select how long your trip will be.  Length of trip runs from 2-7 days.  I chose, a four day trip.

Next you come to a screen that asks you to select what your trip is going to be like?  With Kids, Outdoors, The Best of..., or a Culture based trip.  I chose Outdoors.

Users can make choices that vary from Light, Easygoing, Moderate, Vigorous and Extreme.  I chose a Moderate trip.

Users are then brought to a page where you can select the number of stars for your hotel (1-5).  I chose 3 stars for the hotel.

At this point the Plnnr wizard jumps into action and a new screen appears with the trip options that you've chosen.   Users can click on the orange dialog box to view the final results.  And oh, what results! Users can see the itinerary day by day. 

There is a list of sites to visit - and the length of time it should take to view the site.  Specific category of the particular site is listed as well (historic site, panorama, world heritage, history and culture and more). Users have the option to 'rank' the particular sites to either include them in their itinerary or not.

A map of all the sites is available as well.  Users can also book a hotel on Plnnr.com in order to actually make the trip a reality.

Finally, on the right side of the page are a few choices that users can use to further customize their trip. Most importantly is the 'Trip Profile' option which lets users change  the number of adults, the number of rooms, update the mode of preferred transportation and intensity of the trip.

There is also a 'word cloud' in which users can change each category weight to best match their trip preferences.  That is, users can add, delete or enlarge or shrink various categories - which will then be used to further customize the trip experience.

Hope you enjoy the site - Plnnr.com is a great way to get a customized trip if and when you want to go to some of the worlds greatest cities.

Regards,
Stu

Parenting Books - Titles of books in no particular order...

Hi All,

Here is a list of parenting books that might help you parent your child...or not.  Its worth a look at least...At the time of writing the Farmingdale Public Library owned all the titles listed.

Parenting a Defiant Child: A Sanity-Saving Guide to Finally Stopping the Bad Behavior - Philip S. Hall

Parenting Gifted Kids: Tips For Raising Happy and Successful Children  - James R. Delisle

Sh*tty Mom: Parenting Guide For the Rest of Us - Laurie Kilmartin

Parenting Inc.: How We Are Sold on $800 Strollers, Fetal Education, Baby Sign Language, Sleeping Coaches, Toddler Couture, and Diaper Wipe Warmers and What It Means For Our Children - Pamela Paul

Parenting: Illustrated with Crappy Pictures - Amber Dusick

Parenting the Strong Willed Child: The Clinically Proven Five-Week Program For Parents of Two-to-Six Year Olds - Rex Forehand

Parenting Without Power Struggles: Raising Joyful, Resilient Kids While Staying Cool, Calm and Connected - Susan Stiffelman

Parenting Without Borders: Surprising Lessons Parents Around the World Can Teach Us - Christine Gross-Loh

Many of these books can be found in the Children's Room in the Parents Collection of material.  This collection of material is dedicated to help parents 'parent'.  Topics include discipline, teaching children how to potty train, sleep issues and much, much more. It is a very, very helpful collection of material that new parents would do well to visit.

Enjoy the books and the material in the Parents Collection. 

Regards,
Stu

American Academy of Pediatrics' website: HealthyChildren.org

Hi All,

The umbrella organization for Pediatricians' is called the American Academy of Pediatrics.  Click here for their awesome website.  Click here for the parents version of the website (HealthyChildren.org) - which is the subject of todays' blog entry.

The parents version/edition of the site is HealthyChildren.org - and what a site it is! All parents should visit this current, comprehensive, unbiased, remarkably reputable website.  It is the gold standard for infant, toddler, pre-schooler, school-aged and teen-aged children. 

So, what makes the site worth the visit?

Well, for one, there are multiple ways to get to the same information. For example there are links with headings like Ages & Stages, Healthy Living, Safety & Prevention, Family Life, Health Issues, News, Tips & Tools and the ever-present 'About Us' and 'Contact Us' links'.  And that is just the ribbon at the top of the website. 

An interesting part of the site is the link 'HealthyChildren Bookstore'. Clicking on the link brings the user to a page where they can browse the bookstore by child's age and other ways to search.  There are links for Baby, Toddler, Preschool, School Age, Teen, Illnesses and Conditions, Fitness and Nutrition, Health and Wellness, Spanish, Child Care Centers and Schools and more. Users can click on a particular title and you can actually purchase the book on the website using your credit card.

When users scroll down a bit on the homepage, you can enter a phrase or keywords in the searchbox to search the whole website for children related material.  The homepage has a section where a scrolling box changes every 3 seconds or so.  Topics vary daily, and on the day that I wrote this blog entry the topics varied from 'How Pediatrician's Screen For Autism?', Autism Spectrum Disorder, 'Alcohol and Pregnancy: It's Just Not Worth the Risk', 'Breakfast For Learning' and 'Is Your Child a Budding Artist'?

Further down on the page is another with rotating topics.  This section is called 'Ages and Stages' - and rotates between GradeSchool, Teen, Young Adult, Baby and Prenatal.  All titles on the list link to other pages on the website.

On the right side of the page is a box titled 'Hot Topics'.  Users can click a tab to go to 'more hot topics' related to children. 

Toward the bottom of the page is a section called Your Family Health Center where new users can register for the site in order to receive up-to-the-minute pediatric health information and a monthly HealthyChildren.org newsletter.  It is very well worth the time spent signing up for the site!!!!

Last, but certainly not least is a link on the right side of the page that enables users to 'Find a Pediatrician'.  Users enter a zip code to generate a list of pediatricians in their area.

Finally, and this is a not-so-shameless plug for the Farmingdale Public Library!!!!

Did you know that we have an absolutely wonderful collection called the Parents Collection at the library?  If not, you do now.

The collection is housed in the Children's room and material is in print and DVD and book-on-CD format.  Topics include, children's physical and emotional needs and growth, health and wellness, school-related issues, potty training and much, much more.

New parents, experienced parents and parents in-between would do well to take a look at this comprehensive, current and well-organized collection.

Enjoy the links and the site! You'll be happy that you visited the site

Regards,
Stu