The 2009 Sesame Street Live tour features four different shows—we went to “Elmo Makes Music” at Boston University’s Agganis Arena and had a great time singing and dancing along to the music. For all those that have had enough of Elmo (we don’t blame you), this show features all of your favorite Sesame Street friends, so do not despair.
This was our first Sesame Street Live show, so we were not sure what to expect, but will keep an eye out for the next time it rolls through town. Tickets ranged from $15 to $37 and with a half-arena setup, there were really no bad seats in the house.
“Elmo Makes Music” starts off when Jenny, a music teacher, moves to Sesame Street and finds out that her truck full of instruments is missing. Elmo, Big Bird, Cookie Monster, the Count, Zoe, and all of the other Sesame Street friends spend the rest of the show secretly scheming to surprise Jenny by gathering their own very interesting instruments.
Jenny sets the theme of the show at the beginning with the song “What Makes Music,” where we learn that almost anything can make music, including our feet, hands, and voice. Standard Sesame Street themes run throughout the show including the letter and number of the day, “The Alphabet Song,” and even a live version of Elmo’s World with Dorothy and Mr. Noodle’s cousin.
All of the kids are encouraged to use their own voice, hands and feet to make music throughout the show. Highlights for us included Cookie Monster’s “Crumba-Rumba,” Bert dancing to disco music in a white suit, and Big Bird and Baby Bear’s rendition of “Rockin’ Robin.”
Like any live show, there are plenty of souvenirs to entice the little ones. We estimate that every tenth kid had an Elmo spinning light and when the large Elmo balloons came out at intermission the lines formed immediately. These had to go under your seat for the second half, which required some teamwork to distract our son long enough to sequester the balloon.
Other Sesame Street Live shows that are performing across the country include “Elmo’s Green Thumb,” “When Elmo Grows Up,” and “Elmo! Ready for Action.” Performing live since 1980, Sesame Street Live is a great bet for keeping the kids and parents entertained.
Dad Says: The neon-high-top-feet-stomping-dance with black lights was fantastic and I found myself singing along quite often to songs that I knew. With any show like this, you are always worried about attention span, but this one seemed to keep everyone entertained and, at 90 minutes, it was a good length.
Mom Says: Some of the characters come down from the stage, which is great for the fans in the first few rows on the floor. The Agganis Arena was a great venue – very beautiful and very clean. Friday morning was the perfect time to catch the show as it wasn’t overcrowded… though somehow there was always a line at the women’s bathroom!
Web Site: http://www.sesamestreetlive.com/
The Butterfly Place is an indoor living environment designed specifically for butterflies and was a fun place to spend an hour of our weekend. If your kids enjoy butterflies or nature in general, this is a must-see. Make sure you plan your clothing accordingly as the atrium is 80 degrees and humid, the ideal environment for butterflies.
The Butterfly Place is open from Valentine’s Day (February 14th) through Halloween (October 31st) from 10:00 AM until 4:00 PM (5:00 in the summer), and costs $10 for adults, $8 for seniors, and $7 for kids 3 to 12 years old. For $1 you can purchase a double-sided color butterfly identification chart to help name each type of butterfly you see. Some kids had a butterfly scavenger hunt worksheet, which we assumed was part of a birthday party happening in the large tent in the rear of the facility. This seemed to keep the kids quite busy and interested in the different species of butterflies. One item on the list was to find an animal resting, which sparked a great conversation between a child and parent on the hunt.
There were three main parts to The Butterfly Place: the gift shop, the observation area, and the butterfly atrium. The gift shop is the entrance and exit, as well as where you purchase tickets. It sells butterfly books, feeders, ornaments, jewelry, and some small toys. The featured item was the Butterfly Hatching Kit, which includes two caterpillars and the food to hatch your own butterflies. Any kid that is really into butterflies would appreciate being able to witness the life cycle of the butterfly first-hand.
You enter the observation area directly from the gift shop and are presented with three main areas to explore: display cases, a video presentation, and the atrium viewing area. The display cases offer close-up views of various stages of a butterfly’s life, from caterpillar to flying butterfly. Each case is well labeled with descriptive signs. In the corner is a room with a 15-minute video presentation detailing the life cycle of butterflies. The last part of the observation area is a large window looking into the atrium where you can get a glimpse of the butterflies flying around. This would be a good place to get out of the 80 degree heat and still keep an eye on the kids (unless they go off the path and into the trees, but that is against the rules).
The atrium is a semi-circle shape with large ceilings and a multitude of dirt and pebble paths weaving throughout. The space is smaller than we expected, but does provide an intimate viewing of many butterflies in their natural habitat. Signs clearly warn visitors that attempting to capture butterflies or lure them into your hand is prohibited and could result in your removal from the facility. It is impossible to miss the butterflies as they whiz by your head or maybe land on your shoulder. One landed on our son and he didn’t even know until we told him. There are several benches along the path to take a break and view the butterflies from a different angle. A koi pond filled with large orange and white fish is stashed near the exit of the atrium area, and there were several finches flying around.
Dad Says: I’m always up for some nature education, and the Butterfly Place didn’t disappoint. I thought $10 was a bit pricey given the size and amount of time you could spend here, but it was some good learning for us and the little one. The huge Atlas Moth was something to be seen!
Mom Says: Between the warmth, flowers, and butterflies, there was no way I wouldn’t like this place. Don’t forget your camera, and stay close to each other – you never know when you can get a shot of a butterfly catching a ride on one of you!
Check out a slideshow of the rest of our pictures from this trip or view them on Flickr
We were on the South Shore this weekend and stopped by Scalliwags in Pembroke, an indoor play place. It boasts a large, soft play structure, an inflatable bouncer, an arcade, and a toddler room for littler ones. Scalliwags looked great on paper, but after visiting we’d think again before going back.
The entry fee for kids 2 and over, which includes $3 in tokens, is $7.95 Monday through Thursday and $9.95 Friday through Sunday and on school vacations. For kids under 2, the cost is $3 less and does not include any tokens, which makes sense since the arcade is mainly for that 2+ age range.
The primary focus of Scalliwags is the soft play structure, which has three levels of chutes, slides, tubes, rope ladders, fun pits, and soft tumble trampolines. This structure is impressive and would keep kids busy for a good amount of time. Next to this structure is a large bouncy with a big soft slide attached. The main seating area for eating is in the middle of these two, which gives parents a perfect view of the kids. The play structure provides for pretty good viewing of the entire area, so it’s not difficult to track your kids and unlikely you would need to crawl into the tubes to see what is going on.
The arcade has more than 20 games to play, which is a bit small compared to some others we have been to, but none of the kids playing seemed to care. We got there early on a Saturday when it was not very busy, but might worry about overcrowding in the arcade on a busy day. All games take tokens, which are 25 cents apiece, and reward you with tickets. Half of the games were the type where you physically move something to win the tickets, such as our favorite, the popcorn catcher, where ping-pong balls pop up and you have to catch them by moving the arm of a popcorn bag. Skee-ball and basketball are available for the sports fans out there. Tickets can be redeemed for prizes, both small and large.
The toddler room, for ages 3 and under, is in the far end of the building. Since our kid is in this range, we spent the first 30 minutes in this room. There are a few different large, soft blocks, as well as different types of riding toys, both of the pedal variety and ‘Flintstone-style’ move-with-your-feet type. We had a great time zooming around the room with our kid in a cop car and started an impromptu parade with the other vehicles. Regardless of the fun, we had quite a few complaints about this room. It was freezing the entire time we were there. We inquired about this and were told the heat was on, but didn’t notice a change – hopefully this isn’t the norm. We also thought the floor in the toddler room could have been a bit softer given the room’s purpose. It was carpeted, but was pretty hard. Between the hard floor and the cold, we were worried about our child running around in socks. The toys were very worn and the play kitchen sink was dirty, which is bothersome since toddlers stick everything in their mouths! The lack of variety was also disappointing.
Food is available, although we were a bit early for lunch, so didn’t partake. The menu looked decent though, with standard kid fare.
Dad Says: I wasn’t too impressed with this one, but if we were local, it would be a good place to bring 3+ year old kids to burn off some energy in the play area and arcade.
Mom Says: Next time I’ll be sure to pack a winter coat or blanket. (Snuggie, perhaps?) If you are interested, don’t check out their website. I don’t know how old those pictures are, but it gives a false impression of the facility.
The Capron Park Zoo in Attleboro is one of the smaller zoos we have been to, but it packs quite a punch for its size with a variety of animals and exhibits. The 8 acre property has a few indoor exhibits as well as the outdoor ones.
Situated adjacent to the large Capron Park and playground, the zoo is open year round and costs $5.50 for adults and $3.75 for children (kids under 2 get in for free). Attleboro residents and seniors get a discount. Entry and exit to the zoo is through the gift shop, so there are two opportunities to entice the kids for toys and animal gear. Maps are located throughout the zoo for easy reference to the 18 exhibits. We asked for a map to take with us, but the zoo keeper told us that they stopped making them because too many people were leaving them throughout the park, which made sense, but it would have been nice to have with us.
Kangaroos and Emus were the first animals you see when you enter the park. We were a little disappointed that the Kangaroos were not hopping around, but did get to see some hopping action on the way out. A splash park is under construction and set to open in June and will surely be a hit for kids on hot summer days.
The next major exhibit we spent time at was the White Lion cage where Ramses, the male lion, and Kayla and Nyala, two 4-year-old lionesses, spend their time. A zoo employee came along and tossed what looked like chicken legs into the large cage; we saw the lions eating away at these, which made it a bit more interesting.
Other highlights for us were the River Otters, who deftly swim about their tank doing back flips when they hit the wall, much like an Olympic swimmer. The glass viewing area is at one end of their pond and gets you really close to the action, so our kid really enjoyed watching them swim around. He also enjoyed the Llamas and goats, which were fenced in and ready to eat. We purchased some food for 25 cents and were able to distract them with it so our son could pet them. Don’t worry about germs – the zoo has sanitizer right there for everyone.
There are several indoor exhibits. In the Nocturnal building, day and night have been reversed, allowing you to view the night creatures in their natural habitat. The indoor rainforest exhibit was one of our favorites; we spent 20 minutes in that building and could have stayed longer! It provides an open view to an artificial rainforest, so we were able to get close to many different animals, including a Porcupine, Fruit Bats, 3 toed Sloth, and various birds; there were too many animals to name. It was a bit chilly outside so the warm, tropical rainforest was a welcome change for us and our kid.
Capron offers several interesting programs:
Zoo Snooze Programs – for almost any size group the zoo will let you stay overnight to see what happens at the zoo in the dark. There are indoor and outdoor (tent) options for sleeping with pricing starting at $250 for groups of 12 people.
Zoo Party Program – Offering 3 different programs (Snow Leopard, Sloth Bear, and Kangaroo) this is a cool option for a birthday party. Each program provides for admission of 25 people to the zoo and the program as well as use of the party room, a kids meal, cake, ice cream, and a goody bag. With prices ranging from $225 to $325 depending on the animal theme, this seems like a pretty good deal.
Mom Says: If we lived closer we would be members in a heartbeat. Like the three bears, the size wasn’t too big or too small, it was just right. I wasn’t worried about losing our little one or letting him run around. I’m not sure if they run things differently in the summer, but we were able to bring snacks in our bag.
Dad Says: I love zoos so was excited to visit one I had not been to, especially to see the White Lion. I was kind of bummed that Lemur Island is not open yet, but that will be a reason to visit Capron again. The snack bar was not open, but we did notice there was plenty of outdoor seating and a play area for the kids. We’d also build in some time to play or picnic in Capron Park and hit up the fantastic playground right next to the zoo entrance.
Check out a slideshow of the rest of our pictures from this trip or view them on Flickr
If you missed Disney on Ice in Boston you have two more weekends to check it out with performances April 2-5 at the DCU Center in Worcester, and April 8-12 in Springfield at the MassMutual Center. Having been to last year’s Disney on Ice, we were pretty excited to attend the opening night in Worcester.
Spoiler alert: if you don’t want to know what happens in the show, stop reading now!
The show is emceed by Mickey and Minnie with Goofy, Donald and the Chipmunks helping throughout. You are taken on a whirlwind tour of the Disney library in this hour and 45 minute show.
The first half of the show included Aladdin, Nemo, Beauty and the Beast, the Princess dance, Toy Story, and a trip to It’s a Small World. These 45 minutes were packed with well choreographed numbers representing the main parts of each story. We were especially impressed with the huge shark chasing Nemo, which required two skaters working in perfect harmony. Beauty and the Beast performed a short version of their story, followed by a dance with the Princesses and their respective Prince; featured were Cinderella, Ariel, Jasmine, Pocahontas and Snow White. The children in the audience screamed with delight when each one skated through smoke into the rink. The biggest surprise of the night was a trip to Disney’s “It’s a Small World,” ending with a classic rendition of the Electric Light Parade, including fireworks. Whether you are an old or new Disney fan, this was a spectacular sequence.
The second half of the show had fewer characters, but each sequence was longer than the first half of the show. It started with the fairy from Pinocchio being lowered from the ceiling to the ice, where she made Pinocchio come alive. We watched his growing nose as well as an enormous Monstro (sea creature) which swallowed Geppetto and Pinocchio in the middle of the rink. Don’t worry – they find a way to get out! The story of Mulan was presented next and included some great fight scenes and real-looking snow. Afterwards, Edna Mode, the costume maker for The Incredibles, hosts a fashion show featuring the entire Incredibles family followed by characters from Lion King. ‘Can You Feel the Love Tonight’ and ‘Hakuna Matata’ were highlighted during their performance.
The show ended with most of the key characters filling the ice and singing ‘Circle of Life.’ They spent time at the end shaking hands and waving to all the kids in the lower section. If your kids are huge Disney fans and you can afford the more expensive seats, you may want to think about sitting close up so they can see their favorites close up at the end of the show.
With any large arena show, plan ahead for snacks, bathroom breaks and other entertainment for any little ones. At our intermission the women’s bathroom lines were so long the women were sneaking their daughters into the men’s room. Our show started at 7:05 and each half was about 45 minutes long.
Dad Says: Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah! This show was pretty much non-stop action. I didn’t see too many kids bored with this one. There are plenty of extras your kids might want such as keepsake slushy cups, pictures with Disney backgrounds, plastic knives and swords and many other Disney toys. It took a long time to leave the parking garage; my advice is to pack pajamas for the kids to change quickly in the car, making bedtime at home a lot easier.
Mom Says: I’m a HUGE Disney fan, so you aren’t going to get a bad word out of me. I went to the Princess show last year and as much as I love those ladies, this show was much better. The Small World/Light Parade sequence brings back a lot of childhood memories of Disney World, and I was overjoyed for my son to see that for the first time. He is on the younger side and I was worried that he wouldn’t last the entire time, but he takes after me and also appears to be a big Disney fan – he didn’t start to wipe out until the last couple of minutes.
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"What will I do with my Kids today?" is on the lips of every parent, every day. Once you get past breakfast, the grueling decisions start. You have done the same things a million times. Crazy Kids is the cure. We’ll provide reviews on everything Kids do and let you and other parents comment on them.
The Crazy Kids Blog will highlight a specific activity each week to give you a more in-depth look at one specific idea. We are all in this together and Parents must join in the fight against boredom and repetition. Good luck, have fun and let us know what you think.
Dad Says: The neon-high-top-feet-stomping-dance with black lights was fantastic and I found myself singing along quite often to songs that I knew. With any show like this, you are always worried about attention span, but this one seemed to keep everyone entertained and, at 90 minutes, it was a good length.
Mom Says: Some of the characters come down from the stage, which is great for the fans in the first few rows on the floor. The Agganis Arena was a great venue – very beautiful and very clean. Friday morning was the perfect time to catch the show as it wasn’t overcrowded… though somehow there was always a line at the women’s bathroom!
Some kids had a butterfly scavenger hunt worksheet, which we assumed was part of a birthday party happening in the large tent in the rear of the facility. This seemed to keep the kids quite busy and interested in the different species of butterflies. One item on the list was to find an animal resting, which sparked a great conversation between a child and parent on the hunt.
In the corner is a room with a 15-minute video presentation detailing the life cycle of butterflies. The last part of the observation area is a large window looking into the atrium where you can get a glimpse of the butterflies flying around. This would be a good place to get out of the 80 degree heat and still keep an eye on the kids (unless they go off the path and into the trees, but that is against the rules).
The primary focus of Scalliwags is the soft play structure, which has three levels of chutes, slides, tubes, rope ladders, fun pits, and soft tumble trampolines. This structure is impressive and would keep kids busy for a good amount of time. Next to this structure is a large bouncy with a big soft slide attached. The main seating area for eating is in the middle of these two, which gives parents a perfect view of the kids. The play structure provides for pretty good viewing of the entire area, so it’s not difficult to track your kids and unlikely you would need to crawl into the tubes to see what is going on.
The arcade has more than 20 games to play, which is a bit small compared to some others we have been to, but none of the kids playing seemed to care. We got there early on a Saturday when it was not very busy, but might worry about overcrowding in the arcade on a busy day. All games take tokens, which are 25 cents apiece, and reward you with tickets. Half of the games were the type where you physically move something to win the tickets, such as our favorite, the popcorn catcher, where ping-pong balls pop up and you have to catch them by moving the arm of a popcorn bag. Skee-ball and basketball are available for the sports fans out there. Tickets can be redeemed for prizes, both small and large.
and $3.75 for children (kids under 2 get in for free). Attleboro residents and seniors get a discount. Entry and exit to the zoo is through the gift shop, so there are two opportunities to entice the kids for toys and animal gear. Maps are located throughout the zoo for easy reference to the 18 exhibits. We asked for a map to take with us, but the zoo keeper told us that they stopped making them because too many people were leaving them throughout the park, which made sense, but it would have been nice to have with us.
and tossed what looked like chicken legs into the large cage; we saw the lions eating away at these, which made it a bit more interesting.
The show is emceed by Mickey and Minnie with Goofy, Donald and the Chipmunks helping throughout. You are taken on a whirlwind tour of the Disney library in this hour and 45 minute show.
The second half of the show had fewer characters, but each sequence was longer than the first half of the show. It started with the fairy from Pinocchio being lowered from the ceiling to the ice, where she made Pinocchio come alive. We watched his growing nose as well as an enormous Monstro (sea creature) which swallowed Geppetto and Pinocchio in the middle of the rink. Don’t worry – they find a way to get out! The story of Mulan was presented next and included some great fight scenes and real-looking snow. Afterwards, Edna Mode, the costume maker for The Incredibles, hosts a fashion show featuring the entire Incredibles family followed by characters from Lion King. ‘Can You Feel the Love Tonight’ and ‘Hakuna Matata’ were highlighted during their performance.
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