FSP Passion Flower

FSP PASSION FLOWER (Courtesy of Scott Peterman)

Pirates, Ho - Wednesday

Wednesday looks like a gorgeous day to welcome our first Stories by the Garden Program. The theme is Pirates, with author Sarah Thomson reading from her new book, Pirates, Ho! We will also make some sailor/pirate hats, so bring nimble fingers if you can!

If your kids leave excited for more, check out these crafts and booklists. Picture books (from my favorite resoures, the Center for Children's Books, but from 2005)

For older kids : an annotated bibliography of pirate related chapter books

Google search of Pirate Crafts

And if you get completely inspired, check out the New England Pirate Museum in Salem MA (or just their activities page)

Kids Art Spots

Tis the season to get out the finger paints, for sure, but when staying home another minute doesn't seem like a good idea, there are a bunch of spots around town for kids to paint over a different floor. The Children's Museum of Maine offers "Big Messy Art" a couple of times a week, plus other craft and art projects. (BMA is today (sunday) @ 2:30 and tomorrow (June 15) there is a Father's Day Craft at 11am)

Color Me Mine, in Portland, is a paint-your-own pottery studio... Monday is "1 child paints free" day and Tuesday is 2-for-1 day...

Clay Play, in Yarmouth, is similar, and is offering a 2-hour "class" for kids on Wednesdays in the summer, if parents need a bit of alone time midweek. (It starts at 1 so would be a perfect post-Stories by the Garden destination)

There is also the Pick and Paint Pottery Shop in Westbrook and the Paint Your Own Pottery studio in Old Orchard. Aly, our fabulous babysitter, took the girls to the Beadin Path in Freeport and managed to entertain them for a long time on about $10.00 worth of beads... they also offer some kid classes.

Also in Freeport, is Smudge, a drop-in art spot for kids (they also have summer camp). The Portland Art Museum has quite a lot for kids, on regular days, and offers a special grandparents program on Tuesday June 30th!

Library Day

Nicole sent our class some links for the Maine State Book Award lists (for grades 4+)

http://msba.msad56.org/myweb/index.htm

http://www.nya.org/library/mestudentbookawards.asp And the Maine Humanities Council's Born to Read program offers great picture book lists. There are other great book review / book lists cites around -- I have some listed at the very bottom of my "parenting for peace blog" Also - Library Summer Reading Programs are about to start... Portland Public Library has a lot of cooking programs listed.... please share anything fabulous happening at your local library!

Fwd: Wednesday Night at the Northstar Cafe - Hope to see you on the 17th!

Thought this might be of interest... 

Please join us June 17th for an interesting, informative, and informal event that is
open to the public.  Come on down to the Northstar Cafe, get yourself a coffee or tea and treat and settle in for a great discussion.  Bring a friend!

Pollution in and Around Us:
Moving from Knowledge to Action
June 17th, 7-8:30 p.m.
Northstar Cafe, 225 Congress Street, Portland

Each of us is polluted with dozens of hazardous industrial chemicals, according to several studies. These chemicals are found in products we use every day: plastic containers, toys, furniture, fabric, automobiles, TVs and stereos, water bottles, medical supplies and personal products like shampoo, hairspray and perfume. They are in our homes and offices, food and water, and the air we breathe. Increasingly, we are learning that they are also in us.

In 2006, 13 Maine women and men vounteered to have their bodies tested in the first-ever study of chemical pollution in Maine People. This study found a total of 46 different chemicals (of 71 tested) in samples of blood, urine, and hair. On average, each participant had measurable levels of 36 toxic chemicals in their bodies. (to download the study, visit www.cleandandhealthyme.org)

 

Increasingly, such chemicals are being linked to health problems, such as reproductive health disorders, cancer, learning and behavioral disabilities, diabetes and obesity. 

On June 17th, 7:00 - 8:30 pm at the Northstar Cafe (225 Congress Street,
Portland) the Environmental Health Strategy Center will host an informal
conversation with three women who used their own experiences with environmental toxins to create different types of positive, constructive engagement:

Beth George, lawyer, mother and founder of Speltright Baking
Elisa Boxer Cook, journalist, educator, and mother
Lora Winslow, founder of the Naked Truth Project, and Director of Marketing
and Sustainability for O'Natural's Inc.

We'll listen to their stories, and have an open exchange about how each of us deals with toxins around and in us. We'll learn about local resources for more information and ways to get involved and active to create safer products, homes and workplaces for us all.

 

This is a WiFi and cell phone free event.  Thank you for your cooperation!

For more information, please contact: Kristine Jenkins, Environmental Health
Strategy Center, www.preventharm.org, 878-0082/ 409-9193 (cell),
kristinej@preventharm.org

 

Open Gymnastics / Bounce Zone

We're all in need of the decompression time a few rainy days can bring, but soon the kids will be bouncing off the walls (and on the couch) and we'll need more exercise.

The Maine Academy of Gymnastics has a few Open Gym days left (until June 20th) -- ages 7 and under only, except for Friday nights. $9.00 per child

Bounce Zone is not really my kind of place, but I think it would be Kate's dream rainy day excursion... friends have recommended it, too... any comments? $7.00 per child for an hour or $10 unlimted for the day (Portland bouncezone is closing but Saco is open) Bounce Zone Saco (note: not open Mon/Tues 'till after 6/19)

Falmouth Family Ice offers indoor public skating in the summer, which seems even more fun on a really hot day, but could be a nice escape from the rain, too And, of course, there are puddle walks, which need no links, no prices, and no schedules...

And another cool Brunswick happening...

Barbara Cooney's illustrations from Miss Rumphius are on display at Bowdoin's Museum of Art... (Check it out and see the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe this coming Friday or SchoolHouse Rock Live in August...) Or, go to Storytime @ the Brunswick Farmer's Market on Tuesdays @ 11am There are tons of cool events at the library too, including Friday June 26th: Earth Jams @ the Curtis Memorial Library...

To Do in Brunswick, Monday June 8th

A bunch of us are meeting for Frog and Toad on Monday, and would welcome anyone to join us for a picnic @ noonish @ Bowdion or for the show...

Also, in Brunswick, the Frontier is showing Swan Lake on film... could be fun for older kids!

SPECIAL EVENT | Ballet in Cinema | "From Russia With Dance" Series From the Kirov Ballet Company, Performed at Mariinsky Theatre, Presented in HD First in Three Part Series Swan Lake | 128min, One Intermission Monday, June 8 | 3pm & 6pm | $15 | Advanced Ticket Purchase Recommended: 725-5222 “The Kirov’s production is breathtakingly gorgeous.” – The Boston Globe “Ulyana Lopatkina is the company's supreme swan queen.” – The Observer Tchaikovsky’s first ballet, Swan Lake is considered by many to be one of the greatest classical ballets of all time. Its romance and beauty has allowed the classic ballet to mesmorize audiences for more than 100 years. This timeless story of a young man's love and eventual betrayal of a swan queen, set to one of Tchaikovsky's most enduring scores, continues to engage audiences and inspire new generations of dancers. Recorded in high-definition television at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, this special captures all the grandeur of ABT Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie's visually stunning new production, which was hailed by THE WALL STREET JOURNAL as "giving the 123-year-old ballet fresh splendor, depth and momentum." The elegant production stars ABT's newest sensation, Gillian Murphy, as Princess Odette, and the great Angel Corella as her suitor, Prince Siegfried.

Let's Go Maine

The Let's Go Maine site has some great summer resources. Here is a link to lists of parks and playgrounds in a bunch of towns around Greater Portland.

This link brings you to the Recreation/Community Services departments of local towns, including a link to a pdf of a map of Portland Playgrounds (from the City of Portland).

Fwd: Please join us in Portland, Augusta and Bangor to call for safer products!

Our next Parenting For Peace Event will emphasize children's health and the enviornment... this could be a a great prelude

---

	Environmental Health Strategy Center Preventing harm where we live, work and play www.preventharm.org
	Action Alert: Maine Kid-Safe Products Campaign     Send Maine Businesses and Government a “Message in a Bottle” – a Baby Bottle   “Make it your business to protect Maine families from toxic chemicals”   Join the Alliance for a Clean and Healthy Maine for three special events to let public officials and retail stores know that we want toxic chemicals out of children’s products and dangerous products off store shelves.   We’ll hand out information to shoppers, talk to the media, and collect messages to businesses and public officials. Please take an hour out of your day to join us.   SPECIAL GUEST – A giant, twenty-foot-tall inflatable baby bottle! You don’t want to miss it. Portland – Thursday, June 4 Noon in Monument Square downtown (* Please arrive by 11:45 AM *) Augusta – Tuesday, June 9 Noon(near the Rotary - please contact kristinej@preventharm.org, 878-0082, 409-9193 for details) (* Please arrive by 11:45 AM *) Bangor – Thursday, June 11 Noon at Rite Aid at Union Street & Hammond Street (* Please arrive by 11:45 AM *)   Every Maine family deserves a home free of toxic chemicals. Our children deserve to grow up without dangerous chemicals in their bottles, cups, and food harming them. Parents deserve to know that the products they buy for their babies and children are safe. Retail stores deserve to know what chemicals are used in the products they sell.   Despite overwhelming scientific evidence that chemicals like bisphenol-A (BPA) harm developing brains and bodies, these dangerous chemicals are still used in baby bottles and other infant and child feeding products found on store shelves in Maine.   Replacing toxic chemicals with safer alternatives is good for business and good for our families. Let’s tell Maine stores and government: “Make it your business to protect Maine families from toxic chemicals.”   For more information or to RSVP, contact: Kristine Jenkins, EHSC, kristinej@preventharm.org, 878-0082/ 409-9193(cell)
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