Kid Baltimore | Family Activities with Children in Baltimore, Maryland

Mother Goosed

President Humpty sat on a wall.
President Humpty had a great fall.
Will the voters of Nurseryland put him back together?

Anne emailed me to tell me about the latest production by Fluid Movement – a politically charged water ballet extravaganza called "Mother Goosed: The Nurseryland Campaign Tales". I have to admit, my curiosity is getting the best of me with this one. You can buy tickets for $9 through brown paper tickets for both the Riverside Park shows and the Patterson Park shows.

That's scene director Holly (above), giving us a sneak peek at the costumes for the red (Republican) team The final costumes are a bit different, and feature one-of-a-kind personalized sequin swim caps. Oooo...sequins... [Thanks, Anne!]

Riverside Park
1800 Covington St.
Baltimore, MD
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Patterson Park
148 S. Linwood Ave.
Baltimore, MD
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National Museum of Dentistry

The Museum of Dentistry?

I figured I was going to see some quirky little row home stuffed with old dentistry tools, but nothing could be further from the truth. (I'm going to make a point here of avoiding all tooth related puns. I'm so tempted though). The Dr. Samuel D. Harris National Museum of Dentistry is actually 7,000 square feet of beautiful museum space. It is affiliated with the Smithsonian and houses an amazing collection of dental ephemera, from George Washington's not-so-wooden denture to a life-sized model of Penny Wilson performing her "iron-jaw" act.

I felt a little guilty walking around this great big space, practically all by ourselves. We stopped by for story time (Wednesdays through the summer) and then practiced  brushing my daughter's favorite set of chompers – appropriately named Giant Mr. Gross Mouth^TM (Yes, there is really a ^TM on that). There is so much to see here, even with little ones, including a mini-dentist's office complete with lab coats and dentist chair; vintage TV shows and films; and our favorite – old stone lithograph dental posters. Now what toddler wouldn't love those? Okay, maybe that last part was for me. 

410-706-0600

National Museum of Dentistry
University of Maryland
31 South Greene Street
Baltimore, MD 21201-1504

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Bring on the Chores

I'm a firm believer in chores. Helping out the family (without eyerolls and shoulder slumps) is a skill that can take years to master, so today was wood stacking day. We've had a few trees come down lately and many hands make light work, right? Actually, sometimes the chores take a bit longer with "help", but I am determined not to let that stand in my way. As always, there were a few neat things to see along the way: a log covered in ants, a lichen holding tight to a tree, and a creepy crawly centipede. The kids took turns loading the wheelbarrow. For my oldest, it's a lesson about using our resources (we rely on wood for a fair amount of our heat in the winter) and for the younger ones, it's a chance to show Mom and Dad what big muscles they have.

Fresh Mozzarella Cheese

My sister beat me to it. The story of my life. But maybe it doesn't matter, because after all, I still get to savor the spoils. I had no idea how easy making homemade cheese could be until my sister showed me during our most recent cousin get-together. We had seven kids gathered around the stove waiting for turns to separate curds from whey. And yes, for good measure we had to repeat the nursery rhyme. For mozzarella, the temperature stays pretty low, so while there are a few parts that require a grown-up to take over, there are many parts for kids to help too. The whole process takes about 30 minutes and involves only a handful of ingredients: milk (the fresher the better), citric acid, rennet, and non-iodized salt.

Mother Earth News had a great article this month and you can see the recipe on their site. The supplies are available from the New England Cheesemaking Supply Company.

Welcome BMA!

I'd like to welcome our new sponsor, the Baltimore Museum of Art! The BMA has a lot to offer families, and looking over their upcoming events I am so excited. My daughter has spent the last few days quilting with my mom, so we may just have to check out the quilting workshop next weekend. Upcoming events also include a kaleidoscope workshop, sketching in the garden and more!

Second Chance

 
Daddy Day at Kid Baltimore...which means potato skins for lunch, long hours without a potty break, and visiting Baltimore's great architectural salvage yard and enchanted kingdom of creative possibilities... Second Chance. Most of the merchandise is pretty indestructible (old bathtubs, doors, radiators, etc.) so there's not much worry about kids breaking stuff but I'd discourage running to avoid injury because it is warehouses full of metal and glass after all. Toddlers are going to like the shelves of old doorknob hardware, various concrete beasties, the interior rain puddles and friendly warehouse cats. Older kids can be introduced to a different level of recycling and have fun discovering a drawer full of iron seahorses (radiator legs in their first life)! At the very least, everyone will be ready for a nap after exploring all of the warehouses and dragging Dad back to the car.

410-385-0435

Second Chance
1645 Warner Street
Baltimore, MD 21230

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Cherry Picking at Shaw Orchards

The cherries are ripe at Shaw Orchards, but the season only lasts about 3 weeks so hurry! The drive to Pennsylvania is beautiful, and more importantly short. When we arrived at Shaw Orchards we grabbed some buckets and headed over to the sweet cherries. The trees in most areas are low enough for toddlers to pick all by themselves and they are absolutely loaded with fruit. My youngest two decided to forget the buckets and filled up their hats instead. Very effective.

Of course we ended up with way too many cherries, but that's what freezers are for. When it was time to pit the cherries, all my helpers disappeared. Seriously, after about 15 minutes, the crickets were chirping, but that's okay. I had my trusty paper clip. No fancy-schmancy cherry pitter for me.

Martha does it the same way, so apparently, I'm a domestic goddess.

Note: Blueberries are ready too and have a longer season.

717-993-2974 (PA)
410-692-2429 (MD)

Shaw Orchards
21901 Barrens Rd South
Stewartstown, PA

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Young Birder's Guide

Bill Thompson stopped by our studio last month, and dropped off a signed copy of his new book Young Birder's Guide to Birds of Eastern North America for my daughter. The book traveled back and forth from school the last few weeks of the year so that she could study it on the bus and during free time. It is now sufficiently dog-eared enough that I thought it deserved to be mentioned as a really great regional bird guide for kids. The book is filled with lots of fun facts and color photos. The beautiful illustrations by Julie Zickefoose are an added bonus.

To find out more about Bill Thompson, listen to his recent NPR interview with Melissa Block, or visit his blog, Bill of the Birds.

Timer Time

The death of nap time is a horrible thing. I remember when my oldest was giving it up, whether or not she still needed it. I instituted a rule. Naps are optional, but quiet time is not — especially for Mommy. The only problem is that explaining how long an hour is to a three-year-old is nearly impossible. Quiet times were almost always on a sofa in my studio and I kept hearing a tiny whisper, "Is quiet time over yet? Is quiet time over yet? Is quiet time over yet?"

My solution was an hour glass. I figured that if she had a visual reference, she would get it. I scoured the internet and found very few hour glasses that actually measured a whole hour. I ended up settling on this ginormous, ornate, gold thing that reminded me of a certain wicked witch. The fact that my daughter was right in the middle of a huge Dorothy phase probably didn't help. In hindsight, it all seems rather cruel. She, being forced to abandon her ruby slippers, and held hostage on a comfy sofa. I, cackling wildly and as I turned over the hourglass.

Anyway it worked for a while until the Baltimore humidity got the best of the hourglass. As the sand would clump, time would magically stop. That was the end of the hourglass and the end of quiet time.

So here I am again, but with twins, facing the end of two nap times simultaneously, and not ready to give up just yet. Finally, I found the answer. The Timer Time is a visual timer. It comes in three sizes and is just so simple. So perfectly simple.

Note: I ordered mine from EAI Education and it arrived incredibly fast.

Meadowood Regional Park

Meadowood Regional Park is my new pick for best place to learn to ride a bike. My kids are bicycle deprived. We don't have a good place to ride, so it was a challenge getting my daughter to give up those training wheels. Now I know better. Meadowood has a easy bike loop that circles the park -- the perfect place to kiss those training wheels goodbye. To top it off, they have a nice playground, covered picnic area, 7 sports fields and (my favorite part) Deep Run Stream.

410-887-6747

Meadowood Regional Park
10650 Falls Road
Lutherville, MD 21093

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