Posts Tagged ‘sippy cups’

Next weekend it’s going to be all turkey sandwiches all the time. Enjoy your family-free hours this weekend.

Pixar Party at the Cartoon Art Museum

A very rare chance to get a behind-the-scenes look at what Pixar does, with artists and insiders displaying cels and discussing how the studio made movies like Up and Toy Story. All proceeds benefit the museum.

When: Sat., 11/14, 1-4 p.m.; Age 6+; $100 per family of four (no tickets sold at the door; all families must have a reservation).

Where: Cartoon Art Museum Benefit, 655 Mission Street (at New Montgomery Street), San Francisco; 415-227-8666 Ext: 300; cartoonartlivejournal.com.

San Francisco Green Festival

Three days of organic food, recycling, eco-consciousness, and random acts of urban renewal at this festival. Tree Frog Treks brings its reptiles to the party each day of the festival from noon to 2 p.m. and kids will get a lot out of the hands-on off-site greening activities.

When: Fri., 11/13, noon-7 p.m., Sat., 11/14, 10 a.m.-7 p.m., Sun., 11/15, 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.; Age 3+; Free-$15

Where: Various locations including the Concourse Exhibition Center, 635 Eighth Street (at Brannan Street), San Francisco; greenfestivals.org.

The Sippy Cups

The popular kids’ band plays at a snazzy, retrolicious venue with the most important ingredient for parental enjoyment: a full bar.

When: Sun., 11/15, 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.; Age 4+; $17.

Where: Bimbo’s 365 Club, 1025 Columbus Avenue (at Chestnut Street), San Francisco; 415-474-0365; bimbos365club.com.

Gobble Gobble Turkey Dance Party

Exuberant kids’ band Candy and the Sweet Tooths gets the kids up and moving at this family dance.

When: Sat., 11/15, 3 p.m.; All Ages;$18.

Where: Fort Mason Officer’s Club, Upper Fort Mason (at Franklin Street), San Francisco; candyandthesweettooths.com.

Outdoor festivals or indoor science fun: your choice.

Life Is Good Festival

Kid-focused festival features live music (Sippy Cups!), art activities, and old-fashioned games like badminton and tug o’ wars.

When: Sat., 5/16, 11am-5pm; All ages; Free.

Where: Speedway Meadow in Golden Gate Park, John F. Kennedy Drive (at Crossover/Transverse Drive), San Francisco; lifeisgood.com.

Kids ‘n Kites Festival

Look! Up in the sky! It’s a cat! It’s a whale! It’s a bunch of kites for kids to fly or just watch. There’ll be food, art activities, and free kites too.

When: Sat., 5/16, 11am-4pm; All ages; Free.

Where: Central Park Softball Complex, 40500 Paseo Padre Parkway, Fremont;  510-790-5541; fremont.gov.

The Science of Ice Cream & Chocolate

Learn the scientific principles behind the making of these two favorite treats. Hands-on science activities are bookended by tastings from Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream and Ghiradelli Chocolates.

When: Sat., 5/16, 11am-2pm; Age 4+; $5-8.

Where: The Junior Center, 558 Bellevue Avenue, Lakeside Park, Oakland; 510-839-5777; juniorcenter.org.

California Academy of Sciences Grand Opening Party

After years of wait and speculation on the retrofitting/renovation of the famed museum in Golden Gate Park, the Academy throws open its doors this weekend for a big party. Live music, food, family activities and tours of the new facility happen all weekend, with free admission into the museum Saturday. Huge crowds are expected to be checking out the new digs of the Morrison Planetarium, Steinhart Aquarium, and Kimball Natural History Museum, which are rumored to be palatial and a far cry from the cramped space on Howard Street the museum just moved from. The event begins with a Native American blessing, followed by a butterfly release to symbolize the Academy’s new life. Then performances of dance and music companies begin in the bandshell (performances are free both days), and family activities crank up. Of possible intense interest to your preschool-age kids: The Sippy Cups play at 10:30am Saturday.

When: Sat.-Sun., 9/27-28; 9:30am-9pm Sat., 9:30am-5pm Sun., Age 2+; Free-$25.

Where: California Academy of Sciences, 55 Music Concourse Drive (at JFK Drive) in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, 415-379-8000, calacademy.org.

How Berkeley Can You Be? Parade and Festival

The wacky city commemorates its weirdness with this annual parade, replete with art cars, crazy floats, and costumed revelers. One word of warning: You may see boobs. A family festival follows the march, with live music, magicians, jugglers, children’s activities, and food stands. The art cars park on Center Street, so it’s fun to march up and down the rows, checking them all out closely.

When: Sun., 9/28, Parade starts at 11am, Festival runs 12-5pm; All ages; Free.

Where: Parade begins at California and University Avenues and ends at Center Street at Civic Center Park, Martin Luther King, Jr. Way (at Center Street), 510-644-2204 #15; howberkeley.com.

The Great Train Expo

Tiny trains by the thousands crowd into this celebration of all things on tracks. Try your hand at operating model trains, get some instruction on building railroads, or spend your spare cash on wares from hundreds of vendors.

When: Sat.-Sun., 9/27-28, 10am-4pm; Age 3+; $7 (Free for kids under 12), admission good for both days.

Where: Santa Clara County Fairgrounds, 344 Tully Road (at Seventh Street), San Jose, trainexpoinc.com.

Leaping dancers, creeping bugs, reading kids and sippy cups: get out of the house this weekend.

Bug Day

The cutest, most-child-friendly museum in the city is even better today at its annual Bug Day, with special exhibits and activities to teach kids about all that creep and crawl. Kids can participate in maggot races, touch silkworms, walking sticks and millipedes, create insect art, and play amongst the Randall’s other cool regular toys, including the model train station open only on Saturdays.

When: Sat., 4/26, 10am-2pm; All ages; Free.

Where: Randall Museum, 199 Museum Way (at Roosevelt), 415-554-9600, randallmuseum.org.

Dia de los Niños/Dia de los Libros

This San Francisco version of the Latin American holiday celebrating children has morphed into a storytelling festival, with on-stage reading of kids’ books, music, dance performances, and a visit from the Bookmobile.

When: Sun., 4/27, 1-4pm; All ages; Free.

Where: Dolores Park, between 18th and 20th Streets and Church and Dolores Streets, sfkids.org.

Young Choreographer’s Festival

Bring budding dancers to this National Dance Week celebration, which stages shorts works from Bay Area choreographers aged 16 to 21. Following the hour-long festival, 30 dance companies and solo artists will perform until 5pm. The Bandshell stage is open-air; dress accordingly.

When: Sat., 4/26, 12pm-5pm; All ages; Free.

Where: The Golden Gate Park Bandshell at the Music Concourse between De Young Museum and Steinhart Aquarium (at Martin Luther King Jr Way), San Francisco, 415-640-2784, mfdpsf.org.

The Sippy Cups: A Rock & Roll Circus

Kids go absolutely apesh*t for this band, a bunch of cheerful adults who do kid-friendly versions of songs parents will recognize, such as The Velvet Underground’s “Who Loves the Sun” or Kool & The Gang’s “Jungle Boogie,” accompanied by puppets, juggling, acrobatics and the like. Parents will be thrilled with the venue, sleek Bimbo’s 365 Club. Alternadad author Neal Pollack emcees the show and will sign copies of his book.

When: Sun., 4/27, 1pm & 4pm; Ages 0-8; $17.

Where: Bimbo’s 365 Club, 1025 Columbus Ave., (at Chestnut Street), San Francisco, 415-474-0365, thesippycups.com.

It’s becoming more and more clear that exposure to bisphenol-a, a.k.a. BPA, is harmful for humans — particularly teeny ones. That particular hormone-disrupting chemical nasty, found in many plastic baby bottles, sippy cups, can liners (most notoriously cans of baby formula), sealable storage containers, etc. etc., can leach into liquids and thus be ingested, potentially causing everything from breast and prostate cancer to early puberty.

How to minimize your exposure? SafeMama has a great list of BPA-free bottles, milk and food storage systems and sippy cups. Print it and take it when you when you buy baby supplies, because even though San Francisco banned the sale of BPA-containing baby bottles in 2006, you can still find plenty of tainted polycarbonate on grocery and drugstore shelves around town.

For the sippy-cup set, BPA-free SIGG kids’ water bottles are all the rage amongst San Fran parents. You can buy gorgeously patterned ones at the ACE Hardware/Standard 5 ‘n’ 10 in the Laurel Village shopping plaza, at most Whole Foods, or REI, though they don’t have as many cute kids’ bottles as Whole Foods or ACE. My own kid’s wild about a Hello Kitty BPA-free Thermos FUNtainer we got at Target, but you’ll look a whole lot cooler carting around a SIGG, trust me on this one.