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Kiddie Koncierge: Fun Ideas
What is Kiddie Koncierge?
Kiddie Koncierge is the SF Bay
Area's premier resource for fun,
interesting, unique, and
creative kids activities.
We provide recommendations,
reviews, and resources on all
sorts of fun things to do in San
Francisco, Berkeley/Oakland,
San Jose, Marin, and beyond!
Kiddie Koncierge is the SF Bay
Area's premier resource for fun,
interesting, unique, and
creative kids activities.
We provide recommendations,
reviews, and resources on all
sorts of fun things to do in San
Francisco, Berkeley/Oakland,
San Jose, Marin, and beyond!
We were only half listening to the in-flight entertainment on a
recent flight trying to figure out why we didn't bring any food on
board and whether we could create a big enough distraction so
that we could steal some of that kid's pizza across the aisle when
we caught some morning show guest telling the host who really
couldn't have looked less interested that kids can lose up to two
months of learning over the summer.
Two months.
If you are a private school parent, that's close to $4,500 in tuition
that is going up in a whiff of sun screen. But, you say, summer is
fun time, a break from the 9-to-3 drudgery. You can have both
without enrolling your kid in summer school or library camp.
Summer Reading Programs
A number of libraries and bookstores (Barnes and Noble and
Borders included) are sponsoring Summer Reading clubs. Read
a number of books and get a prize! B&N has a passport that you
can print out so that your child can track their reading. We have
listed a few library programs, but your best bet is to step into your
local public library to get details and sign up!
Marin County
Marin County Free Library (6/12 onwards)
www.marinlibrary.org/kids/summer-reading/index.php
- Read 20 minutes a day for 20 days and win prizes
East Bay
Berkeley Library (6/18 - 8/14)
http://berkeleypubliclibrary.org/children/summer_reading_2010.
php
- visit the library three times and read 10 books or read 1000
pages or read for ten hours and win a free ticket to the Lawrence
Hall of Science and the child's choice of one of the following
- a new paperback
- a free pass for 5 to the Bay Area Discovery Museum
- a gift certificate to Pegasus Books
- a gift certificate to the BPL Friends of the Library bookstore
- a free bowling game at Albany Bowl
- a free round trip ferry ride with the child and their parent
- a cool stuffed raccoon
- a foldable flying disc
Alameda County Public Library (6/14 - 8/14)
http://summereadingame.wordpress.com/make-a-splash-rules/
Contra Costa Public Library (6/8 - 8/17)
http://guides.ccclib.org/srf
Oakland Public Library
www.oaklandlibrary.org/links/kids/SRP2010_eng.html
- Read 8 hours this summer and receive a free book and other
prizes
San Francisco
San Francisco Public Library
http://wateryourimagination.blogspot.com/
- Read 8 hours and win your choice of a book, a specially
designed drawing tablet, or tickets to one of a number of great San
Francisco attractions
- Read 16 hours and get entered into a Super Raffle on top of the 8
hour prize choices. The Super Raffle prizes include family
membership to a local museum or zoo, a sailing trip, a whale
watching trip or a fishing trip
- Local branches will have weekly branch raffles as well for
participants.
Peninsula
San Mateo County Library (6/1 - 8/15)
http://kids.smcl.org/en/node/1164
- Read or listen for 20 minutes a day and win prizes
- visit their site for cool summer events at the library
Santa Clara County Library (6/1 - 8/7)
www.santaclaracountylib.org/milpitas/MIj_program.html
- Set a goal and win a prize
- visit their site for cool summer events at your local library
Palo Alto Public Library (6/1 - 8/31)
www.cityofpaloalto.org/living/news/details.asp?
NewsID=1582&TargetID=39
- Set a goal. If you reach that goal, you will receive a certificate, a
FREE paperback, a buy one, get one free Round Table coupon,
and tickets to the San Jose Earthquakes game.
San Jose Public Library (6/12 - 7/31)
www.sjlibrary.org/gateways/kids/src/participate.htm
- Read 15 books and you are entered in a special drawing
- For each book read, you will get a sand dollar that can be
redeemed for prizes.
Redwood City Public Library (6/10 - 8/31)
www.rcpl.info/ebranch/kids.html
- Keep a record of your reading and get cool prizes
North Bay
Sonoma County Public Libraries
http://sonomalibrary.org/chilprograms/SR.html
Others
Borders
www.borders.com/online/store/MediaView_doubledogdare
- Download the Double Dog Dare form
- read 10 books
- Bring in the completed form and get a free book
Barnes and Noble
www.barnesandnoble.com/summerreading/index.asp
- Download the passport
- Read any 8 books
- Turn in the passport and get a free book!
Sylvan Book Adventure
www.bookadventure.com/index.asp?cid=other-none-other-bn-
book_adv-other-1003&CFID=19633153&CFTOKEN=70247481
- Register at the website
- Read books from the book list,
- Take a multiple choice quiz and win points
- Redeem the points for prizes.
100 Best library websites for parents and their kids
Great library websites with activities, programs, and other excellent
resources. Worth a once-over.
www.onlineuniversitylowdown.com/2007/08/100-favorite-library-
sites-for-children-and-their-parents.html
Reading Caterpillars
Their solution? Reading Caterpillars. The idea is that your kid gets
a segment for each book that they read. They write the name of the
book on the segment and at the end of the summer, they have this
cool display of how much (or little) they read. That's just the
beginning. Your kid like trains? Make a train. Your kid, like mine,
unhealthily obsessed with Star Wars? Then take their favorite
character and give them a body part for every book they read. We
are currently into the lower extremities of a stormtrooper. Get
creative. Encourage them to be creative. The cool thing is that
they REALLY get motivated by the instant gratification of a visible
badge of honor.
If your kid is a little more enterprising (read: coin operated), you
could also make a contract with milestones (a buck per Magic Tree
House book or something) that can be redeemed for a trip to an
amusement park or a trip to American Girl or the American Girl
movie. But bribery is really not necessary in most cases.
As a parent, you don't have to limit yourself to reading. We will be
building a math caterpillar-type activity where he gets a segment
for every worksheet that he completes successfully.
Treasure Hunts
When we went on a family trip over spring break, we weren't sure
how we were going to get our kid excited about visiting all the
cultural sites that we wanted to see. We also knew that this kid
was going to come home with a souvenir. So, we thought, why not
combine the two and kill two birds with one croissant? Our
solution was to set up a treasure hunt. Surprise, the treasure hunt
spots coincided nicely with where we, his parents wanted to go.
The structure was simple: one Euro for every thing or place he
found. For example, he had to find the mummy in the Louvre.
Once there, he could jot down a few notes about what he was
seeing, draw a picture of it, etc. and, of course, collect his Euro.
Some variations:
Budgeting Games
There are another few lessons that you can share with your kid in
the process: budgeting, money, etc. The idea is that your kid can
spend every penny they get when they get it or they can wait, save
their bounty and get something more valuable and interesting with
a larger sum down the road. You can also fiddle with things like
saying, "OK, you can either get five dollars now or you can wait and
get $1.25 each day." Or some such.
Museum Treasure Hunts
On a smaller scale, stop at the gift shop before you go into a
museum and have your child select a few post cards from the
museum's collection (make sure that they are from the current
collection on display or that could be disastrous), talk about their
selections and then go about finding the paintings depicted on the
postcards. Yeah, you may not see the museum at your own
leisurely pace, but it sure beats them whining, "I'm bored!" every
five minutes.
Either visit this site or the museum's site (a listing of every
museum in the Bay Area and their website is on our Resources
Page) to find out about kids activities at the museum you are
visiting. Many, like the de Young and the SF MOMA have terrific
weekend programs (and some weekday programs) that integrate
the collection with art activities for the kids. The SF MOMA, in
particular, has a special family area on the 2nd floor (the Koret
Center) that is open even when there is no scheduled activity. It is
worth checking out.
Lego Ideas
Ever find a bunch of Legos (not Duplo) and wondered what to do
with them? Well, check out this site: http://www.lego.
com/eng/buildinginstructions/default.asp or this site, http:
//creator.lego.com/en-
us/BuildingInstructions/4918_2Group/4918_2Inst.aspx to find
some step by step instructions for some cool building projects.
History of Covered Wagons and Other Cool Topics
Submitted by B.F., Providence, RI
One of our readers found a terrific resource for the history of the
Westward migration in the 19th century. This page is FULL of
amazing resources for understanding what the settlers went
through and the tools and resources that they had at their
disposal. Don't be put off by the host, a box company. Evidently,
this is a pet project of someone at the company. http://www.
packnboxnow.com/library/history_of_covered_wagons.htm If
you go up one level, you can find out about the pony express
(which is a pretty grim child labor case study), box guitars, and
bubble wrap.
That’s it for now!
recent flight trying to figure out why we didn't bring any food on
board and whether we could create a big enough distraction so
that we could steal some of that kid's pizza across the aisle when
we caught some morning show guest telling the host who really
couldn't have looked less interested that kids can lose up to two
months of learning over the summer.
Two months.
If you are a private school parent, that's close to $4,500 in tuition
that is going up in a whiff of sun screen. But, you say, summer is
fun time, a break from the 9-to-3 drudgery. You can have both
without enrolling your kid in summer school or library camp.
Summer Reading Programs
A number of libraries and bookstores (Barnes and Noble and
Borders included) are sponsoring Summer Reading clubs. Read
a number of books and get a prize! B&N has a passport that you
can print out so that your child can track their reading. We have
listed a few library programs, but your best bet is to step into your
local public library to get details and sign up!
Marin County
Marin County Free Library (6/12 onwards)
www.marinlibrary.org/kids/summer-reading/index.php
- Read 20 minutes a day for 20 days and win prizes
East Bay
Berkeley Library (6/18 - 8/14)
http://berkeleypubliclibrary.org/children/summer_reading_2010.
php
- visit the library three times and read 10 books or read 1000
pages or read for ten hours and win a free ticket to the Lawrence
Hall of Science and the child's choice of one of the following
- a new paperback
- a free pass for 5 to the Bay Area Discovery Museum
- a gift certificate to Pegasus Books
- a gift certificate to the BPL Friends of the Library bookstore
- a free bowling game at Albany Bowl
- a free round trip ferry ride with the child and their parent
- a cool stuffed raccoon
- a foldable flying disc
Alameda County Public Library (6/14 - 8/14)
http://summereadingame.wordpress.com/make-a-splash-rules/
Contra Costa Public Library (6/8 - 8/17)
http://guides.ccclib.org/srf
Oakland Public Library
www.oaklandlibrary.org/links/kids/SRP2010_eng.html
- Read 8 hours this summer and receive a free book and other
prizes
San Francisco
San Francisco Public Library
http://wateryourimagination.blogspot.com/
- Read 8 hours and win your choice of a book, a specially
designed drawing tablet, or tickets to one of a number of great San
Francisco attractions
- Read 16 hours and get entered into a Super Raffle on top of the 8
hour prize choices. The Super Raffle prizes include family
membership to a local museum or zoo, a sailing trip, a whale
watching trip or a fishing trip
- Local branches will have weekly branch raffles as well for
participants.
Peninsula
San Mateo County Library (6/1 - 8/15)
http://kids.smcl.org/en/node/1164
- Read or listen for 20 minutes a day and win prizes
- visit their site for cool summer events at the library
Santa Clara County Library (6/1 - 8/7)
www.santaclaracountylib.org/milpitas/MIj_program.html
- Set a goal and win a prize
- visit their site for cool summer events at your local library
Palo Alto Public Library (6/1 - 8/31)
www.cityofpaloalto.org/living/news/details.asp?
NewsID=1582&TargetID=39
- Set a goal. If you reach that goal, you will receive a certificate, a
FREE paperback, a buy one, get one free Round Table coupon,
and tickets to the San Jose Earthquakes game.
San Jose Public Library (6/12 - 7/31)
www.sjlibrary.org/gateways/kids/src/participate.htm
- Read 15 books and you are entered in a special drawing
- For each book read, you will get a sand dollar that can be
redeemed for prizes.
Redwood City Public Library (6/10 - 8/31)
www.rcpl.info/ebranch/kids.html
- Keep a record of your reading and get cool prizes
North Bay
Sonoma County Public Libraries
http://sonomalibrary.org/chilprograms/SR.html
Others
Borders
www.borders.com/online/store/MediaView_doubledogdare
- Download the Double Dog Dare form
- read 10 books
- Bring in the completed form and get a free book
Barnes and Noble
www.barnesandnoble.com/summerreading/index.asp
- Download the passport
- Read any 8 books
- Turn in the passport and get a free book!
Sylvan Book Adventure
www.bookadventure.com/index.asp?cid=other-none-other-bn-
book_adv-other-1003&CFID=19633153&CFTOKEN=70247481
- Register at the website
- Read books from the book list,
- Take a multiple choice quiz and win points
- Redeem the points for prizes.
100 Best library websites for parents and their kids
Great library websites with activities, programs, and other excellent
resources. Worth a once-over.
www.onlineuniversitylowdown.com/2007/08/100-favorite-library-
sites-for-children-and-their-parents.html
Reading Caterpillars
Their solution? Reading Caterpillars. The idea is that your kid gets
a segment for each book that they read. They write the name of the
book on the segment and at the end of the summer, they have this
cool display of how much (or little) they read. That's just the
beginning. Your kid like trains? Make a train. Your kid, like mine,
unhealthily obsessed with Star Wars? Then take their favorite
character and give them a body part for every book they read. We
are currently into the lower extremities of a stormtrooper. Get
creative. Encourage them to be creative. The cool thing is that
they REALLY get motivated by the instant gratification of a visible
badge of honor.
If your kid is a little more enterprising (read: coin operated), you
could also make a contract with milestones (a buck per Magic Tree
House book or something) that can be redeemed for a trip to an
amusement park or a trip to American Girl or the American Girl
movie. But bribery is really not necessary in most cases.
As a parent, you don't have to limit yourself to reading. We will be
building a math caterpillar-type activity where he gets a segment
for every worksheet that he completes successfully.
Treasure Hunts
When we went on a family trip over spring break, we weren't sure
how we were going to get our kid excited about visiting all the
cultural sites that we wanted to see. We also knew that this kid
was going to come home with a souvenir. So, we thought, why not
combine the two and kill two birds with one croissant? Our
solution was to set up a treasure hunt. Surprise, the treasure hunt
spots coincided nicely with where we, his parents wanted to go.
The structure was simple: one Euro for every thing or place he
found. For example, he had to find the mummy in the Louvre.
Once there, he could jot down a few notes about what he was
seeing, draw a picture of it, etc. and, of course, collect his Euro.
Some variations:
Budgeting Games
There are another few lessons that you can share with your kid in
the process: budgeting, money, etc. The idea is that your kid can
spend every penny they get when they get it or they can wait, save
their bounty and get something more valuable and interesting with
a larger sum down the road. You can also fiddle with things like
saying, "OK, you can either get five dollars now or you can wait and
get $1.25 each day." Or some such.
Museum Treasure Hunts
On a smaller scale, stop at the gift shop before you go into a
museum and have your child select a few post cards from the
museum's collection (make sure that they are from the current
collection on display or that could be disastrous), talk about their
selections and then go about finding the paintings depicted on the
postcards. Yeah, you may not see the museum at your own
leisurely pace, but it sure beats them whining, "I'm bored!" every
five minutes.
Either visit this site or the museum's site (a listing of every
museum in the Bay Area and their website is on our Resources
Page) to find out about kids activities at the museum you are
visiting. Many, like the de Young and the SF MOMA have terrific
weekend programs (and some weekday programs) that integrate
the collection with art activities for the kids. The SF MOMA, in
particular, has a special family area on the 2nd floor (the Koret
Center) that is open even when there is no scheduled activity. It is
worth checking out.
Lego Ideas
Ever find a bunch of Legos (not Duplo) and wondered what to do
with them? Well, check out this site: http://www.lego.
com/eng/buildinginstructions/default.asp or this site, http:
//creator.lego.com/en-
us/BuildingInstructions/4918_2Group/4918_2Inst.aspx to find
some step by step instructions for some cool building projects.
History of Covered Wagons and Other Cool Topics
Submitted by B.F., Providence, RI
One of our readers found a terrific resource for the history of the
Westward migration in the 19th century. This page is FULL of
amazing resources for understanding what the settlers went
through and the tools and resources that they had at their
disposal. Don't be put off by the host, a box company. Evidently,
this is a pet project of someone at the company. http://www.
packnboxnow.com/library/history_of_covered_wagons.htm If
you go up one level, you can find out about the pony express
(which is a pretty grim child labor case study), box guitars, and
bubble wrap.
That’s it for now!
Kiddie Koncierge Fun Ideas
Updated June 30, 2010
Updated June 30, 2010
Kiddie Koncierge
A seedling of ImuaPartners, LLC
Copyright 2006-2010 Kiddie Koncierge™, all rights reserved.
A seedling of ImuaPartners, LLC
Copyright 2006-2010 Kiddie Koncierge™, all rights reserved.
