Your guide to activities and fun things to do with your preschoolers, toddlers and kids in detroit, MI

Weekend Roundup March 20-22

by Amy Kuras

March 19, 2009

Let's assume for a second you will not be spending all weekend in front of the TV watching college basketball (go Spartans!!), because you have a life and a child or two or three, and preschoolers frequently don't see the appeal of immersing themselves in what, to my money, is the greatest sports weekend of the year.

So, my friends, here are some ideas to get you away from the TV and our of the house on what promises to be a lovely, springy weekend.

On Friday, the Dinosaur Hill Nature Preserve In Rochester is hosting a family campfire. You can enjoy campfire songs and even make a glow in the dark t-shirt.

The Michigan Opera Theater stages Brundibar, a children's opera on Saturday. It's an allegory about giving hope to children in a seemingly hopeless time. The subject matter seems a little heavy for the youngest kids, but the music sounds lovely.

Looking for something a little lighter? The Macomb Center for the Performing Arts is presenting Flat Stanley on Sunday --- and seats for the 4 pm show are only $10 adults and $5 children.

Or, you know, you could just teach your children about the finer points of the pick and roll.

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Puppet Culture For a Saturday

by Amy Kuras

December 26, 2008

Hopefully you're recovering from a wonderful holiday celebration today. Our plan is to stay in our PJs as long as possible and relax. But eventually you're going to have to leave the house. And what better way to get an antidote to all the commercialism and craziness of the last few weeks than a little culture? PuppetArt Theater is presenting "Oh, Ananse," one of the many folktales  Read more...

Tuesday Top Five: Membership Gifts

by Amy Kuras

December 16, 2008

Sometimes the best gifts are the ones that keep on giving all year. I know memberships and such are some of my favorite gifts to give -- and get! We all have so much stuff cluttering up our houses, and a chance to do something fun for free is a lot more valueable to me than yet another thing I have to care for, get batteries for, wash or trip over. Here are some of the better ones:  Read more...

Gift Ideas for Books

by Amy Kuras

December 04, 2008

More book reviews today, folks! The Color Kittens I must say, I find the rhythm of the prose in the book a little weird. I do, however, love the art, it's so bright and retro-looking. I think it taught my daughter the concept of mixing colors even more than using paint did. As a cat lover, too, I like the purring and pouncing kittens! Velveteen Rabbit I still own my childhood  Read more...

Tuesday Top Five: Michigan Themed Books

by Amy Kuras

November 25, 2008

Today's topic is must-have books for kids in Detroit. Interestingly, there are not a lot of straight-up Detroit themed books for kids out there, but with a combination of truly Michigan books and works by authors that live in the area, I've whipped up a good list for your next foray to the bookstore or the library. First the Michigan-themed ones: Stranger in the Woods and Lost in  Read more...

Check Out Our Book Reviews

by Amy Kuras

November 24, 2008

Did you know that not only do we provide you with the incisive and brilliant content here on Being Savvy Detroit (snort) but we also have tons of reviews of books, toys and more? We do -- and my Christmas/Birthdays list is getting longer by the click. Here's my comments on a few of the posts; look for more in the next few weeks. The Snowy Day : We have the protagonist's name wrong on the main  Read more...

Tuesday Top Five: Funny Books

by Amy Kuras

November 18, 2008

I am a big fan of funny books, especially for little kids. Anything that can get them giggling can make that connection with a love of reading. And let's face it, when you have to read the same book over, and over, and over again, its being funny can save your sanity. And with pretty much every news headline around here blaring doom, a good laugh is something we all need. Here are  Read more...

Charlie and The Chocolate Factory on Stage

by Amy Kuras

November 17, 2008

We all learned this in high school -- trying to get out of reading a book by seeing the movie never, ever works. The book is always different -- plot lines are added or dropped, whole characters appear or disappear, etc. It's a little different, though, with a play. Instead of passively staring at a screen and getting swept up in the visuals, plays require a little more discipline, a  Read more...

by Amy Kuras

November 12, 2008

Our theme this month is books, books and more books, highlighting those special stories that your kids love --and so do you. Fittingly enough with our theme, the 57th annual Jewish Book Fair kicked off this week at the Jewish Community Center's two locations. Along with really interesting lectures from authors of grownup books, there are a ton of events for kids and families. Today at  Read more...

Celebrate Raggedy Ann and Andy

by Amy Kuras

November 07, 2008

When I was a little girl, I apparently had a Raggedy Ann doll I carried everywhere. So when my daughter was born, my grandmother made sure to get a Raggedy Ann doll for my little girl. My grandma died this week, and I actually hadn't remembered the Raggedy Ann story until I found this event at the Children's Museum this Saturday --a celebration of the 90th anniversary of Raggedy Ann  Read more...

Michigan Grows Good Authors

by Amy Kuras

November 05, 2008

Our national theme today is classic books. I'll be dealing with classic Michigan-themed books in a later post, but did you know there are several authors of classic children's books that either live in Michigan or have Michigan roots? For example, Chris Van Allsburg, who wrote classics The Polar Express and Jumanji , is a Grand Rapids native. And Nancy Shaw, author of the popular  Read more...

Read First, Dally Later

by Amy Kuras

September 04, 2008

If you're here, you can read, and probably pretty well at that. You most likely read to your kids, enjoy books yourself, and maybe are even the kind of person who could happily spend a few hours in a library or at a bookstore (in which case, will you be my friend?). Likely, literacy is important to you -- and probably so central to your life you never even think about how you're fostering it  Read more...

Shakespeare In The Park -- And Kids Free!

by Amy Kuras

August 01, 2008

So your preschooler is into Shakespeare, right? Okay, I know all our kids are brilliant and curious and wonderful, but appreciating the Bard is probably a bit of a stretch. But here's a chance to expose them to the wonder that is Shakespeare in a fun, relaxed environment. The Water Works Theater Company is putting on "Romeo and Juliet" at Starr Jaycee Park in Royal Oak, and kids are admitted  Read more...

Summer Reads: Raccoon Tune

by Amy Kuras

July 15, 2008

Summer reading time is here! Maybe it's the longer hours of daylight, or at least the fantasy of lazy afternoons relaxed on the patio with a good book, but I've always got a good stock of things I want to read come summer. And some years I even get through most of them. For my daughter, reading is such a part of her everyday life that the concept of "summer reading" does not occur to her as  Read more...

A First Try at Quality Theater

by Amy Kuras

June 25, 2008

I love live theater, and we're in an exciting place here in Detroit right now, with lots of small, creative theater companies popping up presenting interesting, and sometimes really great, work. However, I've not yet gotten up the nerve to introduce my wiggly, loud little girl to the wonders of stagecraft (unless Sesame Street Live counts). But that's going to have to change, and I've found  Read more...

Summer reading programs kick off

by Amy Kuras

June 11, 2008

It's that time again 'summer reading program time! Libraries across the state, and actually across the country, are going with the theme Catch the Summer Reading Bug. I didn't know this, but a consortium of libraries nationwide chooses the theme each year and then develops high quality materials and activities around it that libraries can purchase at a reasonable cost. This saves individual  Read more...

Book Nooks for Tots

by Amy Kuras

May 23, 2008

There's few more wonderful gifts you can give your child than a love of books, and wonderfully, it's not even expensive. A library card costs nothing, used books abound everywhere from garage sales to awesome musty-smelling stores all over, and even buying books new is inexpensive when you consider how long they will last compared to the latest plastic, noisy toy out there. Here a few of my  Read more...