Kids VT, March 2018
Home Grown Entertainment; Classic Movies for Kids; 4th Grade DJ; Juggling 7 Sons; Summer Camp Guide
On the Fly
Burlington-based Mamava and online retailer Zappos have teamed up and installed deluxe lactation pods in the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The six pods, covered with images of smiling babies, feature lactation pad dispensers, cleaning wipes and trash cans. An upgraded Mamava app features a special soundtrack with baby giggles and ocean waves meant to get…
Piles of Pampers
Got diapers? One in three U.S. moms say they don’t have enough, according to the National Diaper Bank Network, an organization that supports more than 300 community-based diaper banks across the country. The Junior League of Champlain Valley hopes to address this shortage locally by opening Vermont’s first diaper bank early next year. The 55-member…
Irish Barmbrack: Tea-Infused Fruit Bread for St. Patty’s Day
My cooking is heavily influenced by my Swedish roots, but I’m also part Irish. Because of this heritage, my family has always held a special place in our hearts for St. Patrick’s Day. Most people are familiar with corned beef and cabbage, accompanied by a nice frothy Guinness, but there’s much more to Irish food…
Music Mixer: Fourth Grader DJ Zandro Finds His Groove With Electronic Music
Name: Zane White Age: 10 Town: Richmond Disco lights throw flashing medallions over a darkened dance floor. The music is thumping, the crowd is rocking, and the DJ is 10 years old. Dancers may be able to see only the top of his head bobbing behind the controls, headphones clapped over a baseball cap. Clean-cut,…
Ann & Ariel
Ariel, how long have you been playing the cello? Ariel, 11: Seven years. Ann, when did you start playing music? Ann, 49: I started playing classical music when I was young but came to the drums by accident, really, when I was in my mid-twenties. Do you play together as a family? Ann: Yeah. Ariel…
Grim and Me: Building a Legacy, Moment by Moment
My kids wake up and eat breakfast, go to school and come home, and eat dinner and go to bed, just like kids in ordinary homes. But we aren’t an ordinary household. Two and a half years ago, the Grim Reaper came to live with us. Some days, when the kids are at school and…
The Art of… At-Home Kids’ Haircuts
Hair salons and toddlers don’t always gel. Sitting still in a new environment while a stranger touches your head? The experience can be stressful for parents and kiddos alike. I’ve heard tales of stylists who are magicians with the under-3 set. But last year, when it was time for my son Mo’s first haircut around…
Omnipresent Entertainment
When I was a kid, TV and movies played a formative role. I remember waking up early on Saturday mornings to binge on Snorks and Muppet Babies. Once a week, my parents let me stay up late to watch Family Ties, which taught me about weighty issues, from politics to addiction. I have vivid memories…
How Do I Help Instill Confidence in my Kids?
I need to tell you something important. The majority of us are raising average children. Not Olympians, not Nobel Prize winners, not multilingual, entrepreneurial, world-saving geniuses. Before you write me an angry email explaining the many ways your kids are very much above average, please understand, I think my own children are spectacular. When my…
Raising Seven Sons: A Large Family on Keeping the Faith and the Gift of Giving
Her dishwasher has been broken for a year and a half; still, Lisa Laverty seems cheerful about doing dishes and keeping her small, three-bedroom house in order for her family of nine. A devoted caregiver, Lisa’s contentment is rooted in her Catholic faith. She and her husband, Kevin, are actively involved in their local parish,…
A Science Story
When Vermont writer and educator Katy Farber was growing up in Pennsylvania, she saw another child throw an Eastern newt against a wall at summer camp. “Knock it off!” she remembers shouting. Farber’s lifelong love of the natural world and her drive to protect the environment — and amphibians in particular — have carried her…
Tell Us About a Favorite Camp Game, Activity or Song
In addition to riding, one activity the kids love is doing a beauty contest with the ponies. They love to decorate them and parade them around the ring. They also like to paint the horses and have Tasha, our face painter, paint their faces as well. — Kim Johansen, owner, Livery Horse Farm, Hinesburg My…
How Does Learning to Play an Instrument Affect a Child’s Brain?
Anyone who’s learned to play a musical instrument knows that it helps to develop discipline, coordination and time-management skills. But research from the University of Vermont indicates it can also make kids smarter and more emotionally balanced. Dr. Jim Hudziak is a professor of psychiatry, medicine, pediatrics, and communication sciences and disorders at UVM’s Larner…
Destination Recreation: The Barns at Lang Farm
As anyone who has taken a day trip with a toddler knows, getting a squirmy tyke in and out of a car seat can be challenging, especially when making multiple stops. Three businesses located at the Barns at Lang Farm in Essex Junction offer a one-stop, family-friendly destination for food, play and retail — without…
Oldies but Goodies: Classic Movie Recommendations for Kids and Teens
It only takes one movie to change a person’s life. In 1946, Catherine Scorsese took her 4-year-old son, Martin, to see the lavish Technicolor epic Duel in the Sun. Though the saucy Western melodrama, nicknamed “Lust in the Dust,” might seem like an odd choice of cinematic fare for a child, it was a transformative…
Habitat: The Little Pink House
When Jamie Cudney’s husband, Ken, began building a structure in their Hinesburg backyard in the fall of 2016, neighbors were curious. When they asked what it was, Jamie told them to wait and see; it would be obvious soon enough. Once the paint — in a cheerful shade of bubblegum pink — was applied, the…
Bountiful Books
In 1997, management consultant Duncan McDougall left his corporate job in Boston for a farmhouse in New Hampshire, in search of more meaningful work. After months of researching how to meet the needs of low-income, at-risk and rural kids, the Tuck School of Business grad founded the Children’s Literacy Foundation (CLiF), providing small-town public libraries…
Home-Grown Entertainment: Hardwick’s Modern Times Theater is a Family Affair
Hardwick, Vermont, has a reputation as a local food hot spot thanks to Ben Hewitt’s 2010 book, The Town That Food Saved. But puppeteer Justin Lander makes a case for another savior. “As much buzz as local food gets,” says Lander, “local entertainment is also really important.” That’s what Lander and his wife, Rose Friedman,…
