Gymboree's Pumpkin Patch

It's a Gymboree Day!



My daughter and I go to Gymboree Play & Music classes in Bellevue, WA twice a week, and we love our time there. Not only do they help create special moments for me and my baby, but also help her learn through fun activities. So of course when Gymboree was having their annual Pumpkin Patch I had to sign us up for it!

 

When Friday came I was actually more excited than my daughter since I doubt she knows what Halloween is, or even cares if she's in a costume or not. Nonetheless, I got her a Minnie Mouse costume and got her ready for the PARTY! When we arrived, they didn't have our name tag, which was a little disappointing because I am sure I registered for it. However, they did say we can join in the festivities since they have some open spaces. When we got there everyone was in costumes, the teachers, the babies and even some parents (well not an entire costume, but some accessories).

 

The play area was nicely and simply decorated with some orange balls, pumpkin cutouts, pumpkin toys and  of course what is Halloween without spiders! Everything was arranged in a way to engage infants and toddlers -since it was a party for children aged (0-14 months)- to walk/crawl the ramps, climb or go down a slide, or even pass through what I like to call the "rainbow" tunnel!

 

 

 

At the beginning of the party the teachers explained the different activities that the kids can do, and how to help them through them. Then we were set free to roam the play area! The teachers moved between groups and played and interacted with each one. Most of the parents -me included- cared more about taking photos of their kids than actually doing the activities, maybe because they are the same exact thing we do at class, or maybe because we thought our kids looked cute in their costumes and wanted to document it!

  

Then, we were called to join the circle and sing some songs together. We sang "Itsy Bitsy Spider", "Row Row Row Your Boat", and what I'm assuming is a Gymboree original song "Sitting on my highchair".

After that, we were led to the music/art room, where we did some crafts. I enjoyed the final outcome, however, I do believe that maybe the activity was a little bit of a stretch since kids didn't really care about participating and were wither crying, running, or trying to play with the paint. But As I said, we ended up with a ghost made out of a foot stamp! Pretty cool!

 

Finally the real fun began when it was "Parachute Time"!!!, since the group included mostly infants who have just started crawling my baby and another toddler where wrecking havoc! I could see the disapproval in some of the moms' eyes, which I believe was uncalled for since they didn't do anything wrong they were just excited and walking around trying to catch the bubbles! Anyways, parachute time started with bubbles, and then we did the parachute and bubble song, and ended with "Everybody up and children under" the parachute, which my daughter loves since it is a giant Peek-A-Boo game for her.

 Overall it was a fun experience, that I would definitely recommend for children at this age, and would definitely do it again.

Decorating Tips



Easy tips for decorating your baby's room

 

When my daughter was born, my husband and I were living in a one bedroom apartment, which looked more of a studio apartment than a one bedroom apartment. So we made the brave decision to keep living their after the baby comes until our lease ends, and boy was that hard! Our bedroom was too small that it hardly could fit a bassinet let alone a regular sized crib. Our bathroom was a good sized bathroom, yet, we couldn't fit a changing table in there without cramming everything up, so I decided to improvise and folded a couple of towels and placed them on the countertop, and Voila, that was our changing table!  Our poor daughter had to keep up with those living conditions for almost 7 months when we finally moved to a spacious two bedroom apartment. Not being able to decorate my baby's room when I was pregnant actually depressed me, that is why when she finally had her own room I wanted to go all out (it also helps when your family offers to buy you all of her furniture!)

So what I'm trying to show now is that with a huge budget or with a tiny budget some small touches can lighten up any room.

The first thing was actually a tip from the saleswomen that works at pottery barn kids in Uvillage in Seattle. I wanted to hang my baby's name on the wall above her crib (I know nothing new about that!), but the problem was that pottery barn only had two colors dark blue and white. The walls in her room are painted white, and I couldn't paint them since we are only renting, so the sales women gave me a suggestion, which I am really glad I listened to. She said that I can add color easily to the letters by using a round eraser and some paint. Thinking that it would take a lot of time I decided that I'll work on it at night when the baby's asleep and there are no distractions. However. it did not take as much time as I expected.

First, draw a grid on the letter with a light pencil and a ruler (I didn't have a ruler so I used....a protractor, yes I did search what it is called before writing it here), don't worry about being very accurate, it is alright if the lines are a little bit crooked or don't have the same thickness. Aim for perfection but accept imperfection! That is my model!

 



Second, dip the eraser into the paint, and place a dot where the lines intersect. Make sure you skip the next intersection, and then place another dot at the third intersection and so on.

 



Don't pay attention to the brushes in the picture, I thought they would be better than the eraser, but I was wrong! So now you're almost done. Just keep doing that to all the letters and you'll have a unique looking art piece. You could use more than one color, or you could use different shapes, it doesn't have to be round, you could even draw strips or waves or whatever you feel like (The sky is the limit)!

 

The Final look...

 

 

 

Another tip... is to use different shaped frames and hang them on the wall either following a uniformed pattern, or just keeping the shape free. Then, you can keep adding photos as your baby grows up, and different occasions pass by. That way you will end up with a story book framed on her wall, something comforting for her to look at as she plays, and sleeps in her room.

 

 

I hope those simple tips have helped you in what you're looking for or even inspired you to have some ideas of your own.

 

 

Deema