Stages

Before we put a man on the moon, before Diane von Furstenberg debuted her iconic wrap dress, and before the Dow ever crossed 1,000, PLAY-DOH was introduced. Now, half a century later, a New York City pre-school teacher is putting her own spin on the classic molding compound.

Brittany Shapiro (AKA “Miss Brittany”) has been making homemade play dough for years for her preschool classes and has witnessed plenty of impromptu snacking on her concoctions. She came up with the idea for organic play dough after hearing about all the toy recalls due to lead paint, etc. (PLAY-DOH has been non-toxic since its creation in 1956.) The ingredients for Miss Brittany’s Organic Preschool Fun Dough are listed on the side of the box and include organic canola oil, Mediterranean sea salt and kosher cream of tartar (healthier than raw cookie dough!). The deluxe kit comes with three colors, an apron, rolling pin and shapes for making impressions.

Finally, a way to keep rolling in dough.

Available online at organicfundough.com and locally at apple seeds and The Craft Studio.

Your iPhone/BlackBerry has gone a long way in streamlining your life. Your MP3 player has helped you organize decades of music, including finding a home for all the songs from the Pretty in Pink soundtrack. But the whole pregnancy thing has thrown you for a loop, and no little piece of technology can help you navigate this strange new world. Time to go low-tech with some face-to-face interaction with live human beings … and a hula hoop.

This Wednesday, The Pregnant New Yorker is hosting an “alternative health event” featuring a panel of experts who will discuss tips for labor and delivery, breastfeeding, prenatal massage and yoga, and acupuncture. Joanna Lindenbaum, the woman behind Soulful Coaching for Busy Women, will be on hand to advise moms-to-be on managing their time and energy in the first few months of life with baby. (There’s no app for that.) And the piece de resistance - a prenatal hula hooping demo. It’s called Pre/Postnatal Hoopnotica Hoopdance and combines hula hooping with dancing. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Long live the 50s … minus the saddle shoes.

When: Wed. 9/16, 6:30-9pm; $10 in advance, $15 at the door. Register at thepregnantnewyorker.com.
Where: Yummy Mummy, 1201 Lexington Ave. (bet. 81st and 82nd Sts.)

As people summering away from the city head back into town, and kids head back to school, it’s easy to overbook yourself and your family in September. Well, before the calendar in your BlackBerry/iPhone/Filofax accumulates too much print, consider these events:

Biggest Baby Show Ever
A “must” before you have your own urban baby. Big City Moms and Cookie magazine are throwing a baby shower that’s probably twice the size your wedding was. Four-hundred moms-to-be can wine (mocktails!), dine and peruse the latest essentials for a modern parenting lifestyle. Cybex, Bugaboo, Born Free, Giggle and Skip Hop are just a few of the companies that will be represented there. The shower will also feature baby seminars, including one on greening your home and life for baby, and a section highlighting mompreneurs. And just like at the Oscar parties, there will be swag (translation: freebies).
When: Tue. 10/6, 7:30-9:30pm (6:30pm start time for Super Pass holders), $65 for a basic ticket, $85 for a Super Pass (which includes a gift bag as well as the 6:30pm early entrance). Tickets are starting to go, so now’s the perfect time to motivate and purchase one.
Where: The American Girl Place, 609 Fifth Ave. at 49th St. RSVP to events@bigcitymoms.com or call 917-488-8542. For more info., visit bigcitymoms.com.

Citibabes Scarsdale
This chic Soho parenting mecca is opening a location in Westchester. Enjoy two free trial weeks at Citibabes’ Northern outpost from 8/31-9/13 and sample all the club has to offer. Also, Citibabes Scarsdale is hosting a Grand Opening Party on Sat. 9/12. Festivities will include cupcake decorating, face painting, balloon art, live music, a Think Tank Science Room with exploding volcanoes, arts ‘n’ crafts with the Westchester Children’s Museum and complimentary spa treatments.
When: Trial Weeks, 8/31-9/13. For a class schedule and registration, contact kim.proal@citibabes.com. Grand Opening Party, Sat. 9/12, from noon-5pm. RSVP by 9/8 to kim.proal@citibabes.com.
Where: Citibabes, 7 Popham Road, Scarsdale, NY 10583, 1.800.697.0107. citibabes.com.

Whether your kitchen is the eat-in kind with a shrine to the likes of Sub-Zero and Viking, or a little galley version used mainly to heat up Ramen noodles, chances are it doesn’t get as much of a workout as its non-urban counterparts. That’s because dining (or ordering) out is a way of life in New York.

One rite of passage for budding foodies here is a meal at The Four Seasons Restaurant. And what better way to partake in that ritual than by enjoying a free meal at the esteemed eatery. This Friday is Children’s Day. Kids ages 5-14 eat for free (two children per adult). Restaurant co-owner Alex von Bidder jokes that they didn’t always have these limits for Children’s Day. “We had no restrictions the first year, and so Manhattan parents would show up with their 35-year-old kids,” he recalls. “Or we had people show up with 10 or 12 kids. So we had to put a little fine print down.” The Four Seasons is offering an Almost Grown Up Luncheon in the Pool Room as well as a Junior Executives Dinner in the Grill Room. Kids can order anything from the a la carte menu, and the restaurant, as always, is ready, willing and able to accommodate picky eaters.

It doesn’t get much better. A free lunch at the home of the power lunch.

Where: The Four Seasons Restaurant, 99 East 52nd St. (entrance bet. Park and Lex.)
When: Fri., 8/21, RSVP soon to 212-754-9494, fourseasonsrestaurant.com.

Being pregnant doesn’t mean you’ve got to give up your sense of style for drawstring pants. But in this economy, it’s hard to justify spending a lot of money on designer maternity garb that won’t be a mainstay in your wardrobe nine months down the road. Even so, vanity calls (and not in a bad way)!

Madison Rose is a new resale maternity store in Brooklyn and carries brands including Diane von Furstenberg, Cadeau and A Pea in the Pod. Ninety percent of the clothing is pre-owned, but do not confuse this boutique with a consignment shop. Husband-and-wife team Jilian and Chris DiChiaro scour the country, carefully edit potential donations and give 30%-40% of the original cost of each item to the donor upfront or a 40%-50% trade credit. MR also has a divine denim collection. Think Seven for All Mankind, Citizens of Humanity and Rock & Republic. The clothes sell for at least 50% off regular retail prices. Madison Rose also offers new nursing-wear items from Milk and Lait. Almost every piece in the store is less than $150.

That means more money for the 529.

Visit madisonrosematernity.com.

We’re used to reading (and panicking) about the record number of young kids in the city and the competition for spots at both nursery and ongoing schools. And you’re probably aware of the waiting lists for public school kindergarten classes in Manhattan this year. So it’s refreshing to hear about a new school that’s opening.

Bilingual Buds, a Mandarin Chinese immersion preschool (and primary school), is coming to the UWS. The program is for kids from Mandarin-speaking as well as non-Mandarin-speaking households. Classes will be taught by native speakers, and preschoolers will spend most of the day learning math, science, language arts, art and music in Mandarin. They’ll also study many of these subjects in English. Bilingual Buds’ NY outpost opens this fall for preschool and Mommy & Me classes. The school will eventually expand to include kindergarten through third grade. Hey, there are benefits to learning to speak the most common language in the world.

These Buds are for you.

Bilingual Buds, 180 Riverside Blvd. (at 68th St.), 212-787-8088.

For more information on the school and upcoming events Bilingual Buds is hosting this summer, visit bilingualbudsnyc.com.

In this post-Madoff, post-mortgage-meltdown world, it’s hard to walk a city block without seeing an empty storefront or a “for lease” sign. So it’s refreshing to hear about a business that’s expanding.

Citibabes, Soho’s mod mecca for parents and kids, just opened CitiGym, a new playspace and classroom at the club for mini members ages 0-5. That’s in addition to Citibabes’ 1,500-square-foot playground, adult gym and cafe. CitiGym (open to Citibabes members) offers new classes, including Master Movers, CitiSports and CitiMoves. Older kids can literally hit the wall - the club’s state-of-the-art climbing wall. And for those of you who have fled to the burbs, Citibabes is opening a second Scarsdale location in late August.

Support the local economy.

Citibabes, 52 Mercer St. (bet. Broome and Grande), 1-800-697-0107, citibabes.com.

Do
The Ego and the Id
On your way to the zoo or midtown, head to the base of Central Park and check out this newly-installed sculpture from internationally acclaimed artist Franz West. No major time commitment and the trip is worth it. In bubblegum pink and other whimsical colors, the aluminum sculpture soars 20 feet high. Visitors can sit in stools that are built into the sculpture. West’s work has been featured at MoMA and other museums around the world.
When: 7/15-3/10; free.
Where: Doris C. Freedman Plaza, 60th St. and Fifth Ave., at entrance to Central Park, publicartfund.org.

Hear
Nation Beat
Give me a beat. Enjoy this concert/dance lesson combo. Nation Beat is mixture of thunderous Brazilian drumming, New Orleans rhythms, Appalachian-inspired bluegrass, funk, rock and country blues. Before the concert, Nation Beat will teach a free Brazilian dance class.
When: Sat., 7/18, 4-5pm, Brazilian dance class; 5-6pm Nation Beat concert; free.
Where: Riverwalk Commons on Roosevelt Island, (Take F train to Roosevelt Island or Roosevelt Island Tram at 59th and 2nd), rooseveltlive.com.

See
The Secret of Kells
Catch the U.S. premiere of this new animated film that just picked up an award at the Edinburgh Film Festival. Presented here by the New York International Children’s Film Festival, the Irish movie tells the story of 12-year-old Brendan who must take on Vikings and a serpent god to finish the legendary Book of Kells. A cut above typical kiddie fare on the silver screen.
When: Sat., 7/18 and Sun. 7/19, 11am. Ages 6 and up; $8.50 for children, $12.50 for adults.
Where: IFC Center, 323 W. Sixth Ave. (at W. Third), (212) 924-7771, gkids.com.

Shop
Firefly Children’s Boutique
Who doesn’t love a sample sale? Coats and vests are 10% off already reduced prices.
Where: South Street Seaport, 224 Front St., 646-416-6560; Park Slope, 240 Seventh Ave. (at Fourth St.), 718-965-3535 fireflychildrensboutique.com

Photo credit: Seong Kwon, courtesy of Public Art Fund

For many of us, The Jetsons will forever be our benchmark for a high-tech utopia. Forget about MP3 players and e-mail. George, Jane, Judy and Elroy had aerocars and machines that dispensed fully-cooked meals at the press of a button.

The Sony Wonder Technology Lab may be our best bet for experiencing life a la the Jetsons. The state-of-the-art technology and entertainment museum has revamped two floors with 14 new interactive exhibits. And the Lab takes that “interactive” component seriously. Kids can learn about the science behind all the modern gadgets that allow us to create and communicate electronically. They can record their voices, digitize images and then send them to screens around the room. They can also see their own dance moves performed electronically by an animated character, participate in an HDTV broadcast and program a robot. The sandbox set will want to take a spin on the interactive floor. (Saturday Night Fever lives on.) For perspective, check out Sony’s display of technology past which includes a gargantuan cell phone, a 10-inch floppy disk and a record player. How old do we feel now!

Take heart. A new, live-action Jetsons movie is supposedly on the way.

When: Tuesdays through Saturdays, 10am-5pm; Sundays, noon-5pm; free.
Where: The Sony Wonder Technology Lab, 550 Madison Ave. (at 56^th), 212-833-8100, wondertechlab.com.

The irony of being in this age of information overload - it’s never been harder or easier to learn what to expect when you’re expecting.   Try Googling “pregnancy.”  Got time to sift through 137 million hits?  And we haven’t even started with Facebook, Twitter (and, of course, UB), and the parenting magazines and books.

Midwife Cara Muhlhahn, featured in Ricki Lake and director Abby Epstein’s film The Business of Being Born, is headlining a seminar to pare down the essentials for you.  A vocal advocate of home birth, she’ll explain birthing options plus touch on key topics related to maintaining a healthy pregnancy.  Other speakers at The Pregnant New Yorker’s “alternative health event” include a doula, registered dietitian, prenatal massage therapist, GYROTONIC/GYROKINESIS trainers and an acupuncturist.  You can also learn how to green your home for Junior.  And there will even be a Henna artist talking about temporary body painting for pregnant women.  Visuals included.

Tweet that.

When: Tue., 7/14, 6:30–9pm; $10.
Where: Kinespirit, 40 E. 23^rd St. (between Park and Madison), 3rd floor.
Register at thepregnantnewyorker.com.