FREE Family Art Workshops at MoMA This Fall

On weekends this fall, there will be several FREE Ford family art workshops at MoMA. Signups take place the second week of September, and workshops get sold out quickly, due to their small sizes. To make sure you get a spot, the museum recommends signing up for their e-newsletter to be notified when registration begins.

Carnegie Hall Family Concerts - Tix for First Concert Go on Sale on Tuesday!

Tuesday, September 2nd is not only the first day of school, but also the day tickets ($9 each) go on sale for the first concert of the 2008-2009 Carnegie Hall Family Concert series, recommended for children ages 5-12.

Carnegie Hall Family Concert: Bernstein Beat
Orchestra of St. Luke's
Michael Barrett, Conductor
Jamie Bernstein (son of the illustrious Leonard...), Host
Saturday, Nov 1, 2008 at 2:00 PM
Carnegie Hall Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage

2008 New York Statewide Summer Reading Program

There are fun activities for kids on the 2008 New York Statewide Summer Reading Program website, including word games, crafts, puzzles, and more. Click the flyers for more info about the Program!

Humorphous - FREE Dance Performances @ Prospect Park Zoo This Weekend, May 31st and June 1st!

Humorphous, a group of dancers who embody animal behaviors, is getting ready to migrate this coming weekend to the Prospect Park Zoo, performing, Saturday, May 31st and Sunday, June 1st, 2008 from 11:30 AM - 4:30 PM. If you can't make it this weekend, slate in their upcoming shows, also at the Prospect Park Zoo, for Saturday July 19th and Sunday 20th, 2008 from 11:30 PM - 4:30 PM. All shows are FREE with zoo admission!

DanceAfrica Bazaar This Weekend — Children's Village and African Tales Film Festival

Sat, May 24, 12noon—10pm
Sun, May 25, 12noon—8pm
Mon, May 26, 12noon—7pm

Over 250 vendors from around the world converge on the streets surrounding BAM for this weekend's DanceAfrica Bazaar, which transforms the neighborhood into a global marketplace offering African, Caribbean, and African-American food, crafts, and fashion. Rain or shine!

As part of the festivities, BAM presents a live showcase of roaming drummers, dancers, and stilt walkers inspired by the spirit of Africa. Special for kids: FREE storytelling, face painting, and crafts at the DanceAfrica Bazaar Children's Village.

Plus, check out:

BAMCINÉMATEK
DanceAfrica Film
African Tales for Children 72min
Fri, May 23 at 2pm; Sat, May 24 at 2pm; Mon, May 26 at 2pm
This short film program features animated and live action films exploring traditions of the African Diaspora. Films include The Magic Lion, The Cora Player, and The Red Glasses. Buy tickets. 

FREE KidsDay Celebration on Thursday, June 5th in the Heights

KidsDay
Thursday, June 5, 2008 11am to 3pm (Note: SCHOOL HOLIDAY!)
FREE!

Don’t miss KidsDay, a day-long celebration for artists of all ages. Held on the Brooklyn-Queens Day school holiday, KidsDay features FREE events throughout Brooklyn Heights, presented by BRIC Rotunda Gallery, the Brooklyn Historical Society, the Brooklyn Heights Branch of the Brooklyn Pubic Library, and the New York Transit Museum.

SAVE THE DATES! Carroll Park Concert Series Returns With AudraRox on June 21st!

SAVE THE DATE! Back for summer 2008, the free CARROLL PARK CONCERT SERIES, featuring bands suitable for the whole family, will kick off its season and celebrate the end of the school year with a very special performance by PS 29 parent AudraRox on Saturday, June 21st at 4pm in Carroll Park! (Suggested donation: $5 per family goes along way towards supporting this great neighborhood series.)

Other concert dates are Wednesdays @ 4PM: July 9, July 23, August 6, August 20th.
Check HERE for more information or to make an online donation to help support the series.

Concert volunteers are still needed to see the concert series to completion, including:

• To staff the donations table;
• To take photos of the concerts;
• To solicit food donations from local merchants to give away on concert days; any contacts will be well appreciated;
• Also very much needed are local printers who can help produce flyers and other promo materials.

For additional information, please contact PS 29 parent Simmi Degnemark. Enjoy the shows!

PS Architecture: Photo Competition for Kids, K-12th Grades

PS Architecture: Through the Lens of a Student Photographer
A Call for Student Photography

WHO: All current New York City public school students (grades Pre-K – 12) are
eligible to participate.

WHAT: A citywide architectural photography competition. Students are invited to
submit architectural photographs of their schools for a citywide competition and
exhibit. There will be 18 winners. In each borough, three students (one in
elementary school, one in middle, and one in high school) will win. There will
also be one citywide grand prize winner from each grade level.
The winning photographs will be featured in an exhibition at the Center for
Architecture and in a slide show on the Department of Education Web site.
For some examples of architectural photography, please visit the Open House
New York Web site at www.ohny.org/programs/focus.cfm.

WHEN: All submissions are due by Friday, June 13, 2008. The exhibition is scheduled
to open this fall at the Center for Architecture.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Submission Guidelines.

Questions,  contact Jane Pook at (212) 374-0338.

Author Richard Lewis Visits PS 29's First Grade!

The first grade, in conjunction with their April poetry unit, had a very special workshop today with Richard Lewis, a teacher, author, and founding director of The Touchstone Center for Children.

In addition to his teaching, Richard Lewis has edited and written many books about the poetic and imaginative life of childhood, including Miracles: Poems by Children of the English–speaking World; There Are Two Lives: Poems by Children from Japan; and, most recently, When Thought is Young: Reflections on Teaching and The Poetry of the Child and Living By Wonder: The Imaginative Life of Childhood. 

Mr. Lewis has collaborated with many well-known illustrators, including Ezra Jack Keats (In A Spring Garden), Ashley Bryan (Moon, For What Do You Wait?), Ed Young (All of You Was Singing and In The Night Still Dark) and Debra Frasier (In the Space of the Sky, which he read with the children today, and pages from which are included above).

Touchstone Center Publications recently published a number of original poems that Mr. Lewis created for his work with children, including Each Sky Has Its Words (illustrated by Gigi Alvare); The Bird of Imagining (illustrated by children from New York public schools); Cave: An Evocation of the Beginnings of Art (illustrated by Elizabeth Crawford), and A Tree Lives (illustrated by Noah Baen).  

Parents, if your child came home today with a tiny envelope full of light and air and a head brimming with playful thoughts, Mr. Lewis and the Touchstone Theatre Ensemble will present Wondrous Light, Wondrous Air, a poetry and art-making workshop, on Saturday, May 10th at 2:00 PM at Poets House @ the Mulberry Street Branch of the New York Public Library, 10 Jersey Street (between Lafayette Ave. and Mulberry St.). Free Admission. For information: 212-431-7920, Ext.2219.

In-Between: A Screening & Talk-Back With Filmmaker Deborah Twiss

Thursday, April 17, 2008
7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
PS 29 Auditorium
Film is for adults only; Childcare provided!

The PTA is pleased to present In-Between, a benefit film screening and talk-back with filmmaker Deborah Twiss. Tickets are $10 and available HERE.

Synopsis: Sometimes when a tragic event occurs, it takes time to come to terms with the magnitude of what has happened. Diane and Tommy are a Wall Street couple planning their wedding. Allison and Peter, a married couple starting a family, struggle with the decisions facing most career-driven people. Kima longs to be a well-known writer. Their mundane lives take a radical shift when a catastrophic event leads them down a new and strange path intertwining their destinies. Deborah is the co-writer/producer/star of riot grrrrl revenge film A Gun for Jennifer (1997), and producer/actress of Molotov Samba (2005).Check out the trailer!

Ticketing Now Available Online for Super Science Saturday!

Don't miss Super Science Saturday on April 12th, 12 noon-4:00 PM! Recommended donation per family is $7, which you can make right now to avoid lines and help the PTA plan in advance. Many helping hands are needed to make this event happen. If you can volunteer, please contact Elizabeth Kiem. 

Activities will include:

• The American Museum of Natural History's Moveable Museum,
  Dinosaurs: Ancient Fossils, New Discoveries. In the newest Moveable Museum, families will explore an array of interactives to understand dinosaur evolution and the possible causes of the mass extinction 65 million years ago. They will examine dinosaur nests and trackways to interpret social behavior and investigate the latest feathered dinosaur fossils from Liaoning, China, which reveal the connection between dinosaurs and modern birds. This walk-in, hands-on exhibition will be parked out on Kane Street from 1:00-3:00 PM.
  
• The Prospect Park Audubon Center's Birds of Prey.
• Mad Science's spectacular "Fire and Ice" extravaganza: Discover the cool chemistry in the states of matter and learn the basics of air pressure. Scissors will unexpectedly sizzle and carbon dioxide bubbles will pop as the chilling properties of dry ice are revealed. Be amazed when a ball is suspended over the audience and marvel at the strength of your own lungs with these radical air-pressure experiments. One show only, from 2:00-3:00 PM in the auditorium.
• A Greenmarket to help inaugurate the new PS 29 Children's Garden (an official GreenThumb site);
• Plenty of hands-on experimentation with hot-air balloons, periscopes, oobleck, volcanoes, rain sticks, obstacle courses, skyscrapers, and marble runs;
• A collective recyclable sculpture!
  

Please click the ticket button to make your family donation today, so we can get an advance headcount! (Please note that if you are unable to attend, you can still support the event by making a tax-deductible contribution through the ticket link to help the PTA defray our costs.)

Please Purchase Tickets for Vital Theatre's The Bully! The Show Is This Friday!

Please purchase your tickets today for Vital Theatre's 'The Bully," this Friday, March 28th at 6:30 PM in the school auditorium. This 60-minute show is one night only, not to mention half the ordinary ticket cost of a Vital Theatre production! Click the flyer for more info!! We've all had kids on one end or the other of this issue; this is a great play for all! If you can volunteer to help at the event, or bake for it, please get in touch with Nina Jalowayski.

Summer Filmmakers - FREE 826NYC Workshop!

Summer Filmmakers
Tuesdays and Thursdays: July 8, 10, 15, 17, 22, 24, 29, 31 (2008)
1-4pm
Taught by 826NYC
For ages 10-14

Forget Hollywood. The summer of 2008 belongs to Brooklyn. Four weeks is all it takes to write, shoot, and edit an original film. Fun? Oh yeah. Cost? FREE. Catch? None. This summer, bring cinema to 826NYC. Students are expected to attend all 8 sessions of this workshop. Filming may take place on additional dates and/or in separate locations. Due to high demand, enrollment will be determined by a lottery to be conducted on May 1st, and parents will be notified by email on May 2nd; sign up for the lottery by April 30th.

1City Youth Project

The 1City Youth Project, located under the auspices of Family Dynamics Beacon at Middle School 35, 272 MacDonough St. is holding registration for its FREE youth programs, for 4th-12th graders, on Saturday, February 16 and Saturday, February 23 from 12pm to 4pm in Room 216. Request an application by email, register in person, or call 888-541-CITY. Programs include basketball, dance, step, and drama.

Polar Weekend at AMNH

Some 50 scientists, artists, and educators gather at the American Museum of Natural History this weekend to acquaint the public with the International Polar Year 2007–2008, an international collaboration of thousands of scientists studying polar environments and the dramatic changes confronting them. The program includes events and activities for all ages including performances, short lectures, film clips with commentary, and an interactive Polar Fair, with scientists, explorers, artists, and performers from Norway and Canada, as well as the United States. All programs are FREE with museum admission. See the full schedule. More IPY info.

See World's Best Kids' Flicks at NYICFF 2008 and Support PS 29!

PS 29 has partnered with the 2008 New York International Children’s Film Festival for a fantastic fundraiser! PS 29 will earn $3-$5 per festival film ticket during the February 29-March 16 run in multiple NYC theaters. The lineup is one of the biggest yet, with something for every age group. Click above or here to order tickets online,or call TicketWeb, (866) 468-7619; use access code: FND1006 for both. NYICFF representatives will be selling tickets in the main lobby at drop off on Wednesday, February 6th. Please bring cash or check. Kids also will enjoy watching these.

NYICFF is built on the premise that children possess an emotional, intellectual, and creative acuity rarely reflected in mainstream children's media. The festival seeks to help redefine and elevate what is meant by "film for kids."

Lunar New Year Celebration & Flower Market This Sunday at Brooklyn Botanic Garden

The Brooklyn Botanic Garden will hold its annual Lunar New Year Celebration and Flower Market this Sunday from 10:00-4:00 PM. If it's cold, don't worry: this is an indoor event! Family Discovery Workshops will include "Fun with Paper Flowers," "Lucky Citrus" and "Pot Up a Lucky Bamboo." There's also a full lineup of colorful performances by the Red Silk Dancers; Korean Traditional Dance and Music Institute of New York; and Qi Shu Fang Peking Opera.

For those bummed to be waitlisted for Mr. Choey's PS 29 PAAP workshop, Mr. Choey, a BBG faculty member, will lead two workshops for adults, "The Art of Chinese Brush Painting." See the full schedule! Events are FREE with garden admission (adults $8; children under 12, FREE).

Pinkalicious Packs the House!

Last Friday evening's performance of Vital Theatre's Pinkalicious the Musical was a resounding success, with 400 tickets sold, $400 worth of cupcakes and beverages consumed, and a net gain for the school of $2,875!!! The kids, who packed the auditorium in a sea of pink, eagerly participated in the post-show Q&A with the cast and, of course, the Cupcake Social, where tables brimmed with pink and green treats.

Many volunteers stepped up to make the evening a huge hit, from ticket and cupcake sellers to bakers, program folders, and lots of others. The PTA sends a special, enormous thank-you to event organizer Nina Chan Jalowayski, who made the evening possible!

Don't Be a Scrooge — Celebrate the Holidays at the Morgan!

Join The Morgan Library & Museum for its annual family celebration today, Sunday, December 9th from 2 to 5 p.m., celebrating the exhibitions Charles Dickens's Christmas Carol and Painted with Words: Vincent van Gogh's Letters to Émile Bernard.

Activities include a paper doll art workshop of Victorian fashions, cotillion dancing with live music, and a marionette show of Winter Fairy Tales by the Czechoslovak American Marionette Theatre. Meet costumed characters Vincent van Gogh, Ebenezer Scrooge, Bob Cratchit, and the Ghosts of Christmas Past and Present too!

All events are included with admission to the museum ($12 adults, kids under 12 free). The museum is located at Madison Avenue and E. 36th Street. Pictured: John Leech, Third Visitor or the Ghost of Christmas Present, original watercolor illustration for Charles Dickens's, Christmas Carol (detail), first edition, 1843, The Pierpont Morgan Library, purchased by Pierpont Morgan; MA 97.

Pinkalicious Is Tomorrow!!!

Vital Theatre will perform Pinkalicious the Musical Friday, December 7th at 6:30 PM in the auditorium! The cast will meet, greet and sign autographs after the show. Leave room for cupcakes!