Last Week of Phoenixville Library Kids Programs for Summer

All good things must come to an end as the school year come to a beginning.  This Friday will be the last day of the PHX Library's summer kids program at the high school. Beloved "Miss Bridget" informs me that once the renovations are complete at the library (probably mid-September), the kids programs will resume as always.  For the last remaining days of summer, I will be sorely missing the Learning Explorations and Storytimes! 

Here are some alternative storytimes you can check out in the meantime:

Retold Tales- (Phoenixville's new used bookstore on Bridge St)
    Sundays and Tuesdays at 10 a.m. and Thursdays at 2 p.m

Towne Book Center (Collegeville, in the Wegman's plaza)
     Wednesdays 11am

Barnes and Nobles (Devon)
    Saturday and Tuesdays at 11am, Pajama story time Fridays 7pm

Barnes and Nobles (Exton)
     Saturdays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays at 11am

Chester County Book & Music Company (West Chester)
     Wednesdays at 10:30am

PHX Library Kids Programs are Returning!

On a whim, I decided to check in with the progress of PHX library's renovations and if this summer would be one without toddler storytime... The good news is that PHX library kid's programs are back, but in a temporary new location for July.  Get ready to head to the PHX High School Room E1 and E8 for all the programs you know and love from our local library:

Learning Explorations 1-3 yr olds
Toddler Storytime 1-3 yr olds
Yoga ages 2-5 yr olds and 5-12 yr olds
Thrilling Thursdays with magicians/comedians
Make and Take Mondays 2-12 yr olds
Preschool Storytime 3-5 yr olds
Gaming 5-12 yr olds
Family Movie Matinees (Fridays at 2pm)
Lego Club 5-12 yr olds
Gaming 5-12 yr olds
Pajama Storytime
Teen Gaming
Teen Movie nights

Check out out the calendar for exact dates and times!  See you there!

Top Five Kid Friendly Activities in the Area

First, let me sincerely apologize for letting my readers down in the updating department.  Working full-time and baby creates very little free time to blog about all the fun things we only get to do on the weekends.  My husband, who is my daddy around town during the day, keeps me updated on all the cool stuff for kids that I'm missing out on.

Here's the TOP FIVE KID FRIENDLY ACTIVITIES we have given the "thumbs up" to in kid friendly events:

1. PHX Library's "First Steps to Reading" (formerly "Baby Story Time") program.  (I've included a link to the PHX Library Kid's Calendar to the right and posted some, but not all, of the events they have going on right now).  It's the same fun with books, music, and parachutes that I reported on before.

2.  The Freedom Valley YMCAs Currently he's taking the baby to free "Peewee Playground" on Tuesday afternoons and "Parent and Me Gym" at on Thursdays at the Spring Valley Y.  He takes her to "Baby Sign Language" on Wednesdays and Swim Classes on Saturday at the PHX Y.  (Yes, our baby is very active).  Click here to find a YMCA kids' program you like.  On a side note the Spring Valley Y has a SHALLOW INDOOR POOL for kids.

3. Elmwood Park Zoo- Who knew that Norristown had a zoo???  Not me, until a Groupon showed me fun practically in my backyard.  While this place certainly deserves it's own blog post...who knows when I'll get to that.  They have a variety of cool animals, educational programs for all ages, have an extensive playground, host birthday parties, and you can even camp out there if you are brave!

4. Franklin Commons  - It's rainy, you're hungry, and you need an indoor place to set your child loose to alleviate boredom.  Franklin Commons is your sanctuary.  For those who haven't been there, it's a "mixed-use educational, corporate and recreational facility" located on the north-side of PHX and houses two daycares, Renaissance Academy, a very nice bistro with a very nice indoor play yard (complete with toys) for your little one to explore.  This is the place to meet for a playdate when no one wants to host at their own house.

5. Please Touch Museum- I know it's in Philly, but it's seriously close enough and cool enough to risk 76 traffic and have some fun. Plus, I guarantee your kid will sleep like a rock afterwards.  See all about it in my previous post!

So, now that I've updated the blog, I can put my guilt to rest.  As always, please leave comments of fun places we can review for future blog posts!

Baby Story Time at the Phoenixville Library

It took a lot of effort and coordination to get to Baby Story Time this morning at the Phoenixville Library, and I still managed to get there late.  Apparently story time starts at 9:30am sharp.  So I drug myself out of bed a half hour early to shower while the baby was still asleep, then dressed her, fed her, changed her diaper, bundled her up in her bear suit, got her into the car seat, and then into the car, scraped the ice of the windows, and drove the three blocks to the library.  Why didn't I walk, you wonder?  It was 6 degrees outside...I'm not that cruel.  Why does leaving the house require so much work???

So we arrive at the children's reading room and several parents with their babies are gathered in a circle around a woman giving a stunning performance of children's book.  I wondered how all these parents had managed to get there on time given the crazy amount of prep it takes to get a baby out of the house. I unbundled my little bear and plunked down between two babies and their parents.  Callie was obviously the youngest baby there.  Every other baby could sit and crawl unassisted.  Callie could only stare ahead in wonder at the other tiny humans in the room.  My neighboring parents said hello, and we exchanged baby ages. 

If I thought baby story time would just be an animated librarian reading books, I was WRONG. After the book, the librarian passed out streamer wands, and we sang songs and waved our colorful wands.  As if that wasn't stimulating enough, she got out a giant rainbow parachute that the babies could crawl over and under as we again sang songs about it.  At this point I was more than impressed. But it gets better.

She read us one more book, and then we were given egg shakers....yes you heard me, egg shakers.  I really wished Callie could have been able to grab it and shake it.  The other babies were really diggin' the tiny maracas. We segwayed into a scarf song and were each showered with several colorful mesh scarves to play with. After a finishing round of "wheels on the bus" all the babies were nice and tired (Callie zonked out before I even got her back in the car seat).  We packed up, and home we went! It's hard to believe baby story time was only a half hour long...but what a half hour it was! 

I give Phoenixville Library's Baby Story Time a five star rating for being the best darn activity I've done with Callie yet.  I will definitely be back next Monday...on time!