Coast 2 Coast Mom

Family Fun Experiments on The TODAY Show

Last week the Kiddo was invited to a special segment taping of the fourth hour of The TODAY Show with Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb about clever science experiments for kids, as featured in Disney's Family Fun Magazine. It's airing today between the :20 minute and :40 minute mark of the hour when the show airs by you (here, it's from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m.). We totally enjoyed the excitement of waiting in the green room. The Kiddo joined Jen from The Next Kid Thing's son, and together they passed the time away watching Rio on her iPad,... Read more →

Summer Fun with Martha Speaks on PBS

Last week I attended a behind-the-scenes PBS KIDS webinar with Martha Speaks childrens book series author Susan Meddaugh, and Carol Greenwald, the senior executive producer for the show. The pair were passionate and delightful as they spilled some secrets of the series, objectives for the show, and gave a sneak peek at two new Martha Speaks episodes this week. Martha Speaks Objectives: In case you're not familiar with the book series and program, Martha Speaks is an animated show starring a family's talking dog, named Martha. The objective for the show is to expand children's vocabulary and help kids understand... Read more →

Capturing T-Ball Highlights with Windows Live Movie Maker

Father's Day brought a close to the Kiddo's first season of little league tee ball and as eager first time parents, we of course took lots of photos and video. We wanted to capture all of the memories from opening day to the final high five and all of those game playing firsts in between . We turned to Windows Live Movie Maker to create a highlight reel from this first season of t-ball in three minutes or less (we came in at 2:20). This is how we preserved the Kiddo's t-ball memories in a montage using Windows Live Movie... Read more →

LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean Queen Anne's Revenge Photos

We substituted family game night these past few weeks to work on putting together the LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean On Stranger Tides Queen Anne's Revenge pirate ship. Although it was created for 9-16 year olds, we put it together as a family with the Kiddo: me sorting out the pieces needed for the next step, the Kiddo putting it together looking back and forth from the instruction manual, and c2cDad guiding and double-checking the Kiddo along the way. Read more →

Dora and Diego's 4-D Adventure at the Central Park Zoo

We visited Central Park last weekend to check out the premiere of Dora & Diego's 4-D Adventure at the Wildlife Conservation Society's Central Park Zoo, and loved the 15-minute family-friendly movie. The short film features something for all of your senses: cool water mistings, simulated winds, vibrating seats, the scent of bananas, and 3D images that had the kids reaching out to try to touch the seemingly multidimensional images on screen. Nickelodeon's lovable Dora and Diego were a delight rescuing rainforest animals in 4D. The Dora and Diego characters were at the zoo for the premiere of the 4D movie... Read more →

50% off Headchefs Cooking Tools for Kids Deal on Gaggle of Chicks

Today's Gaggle of Chicks deal for 50% off Headchefs cooking tools for kids is a great opportunity to pick up a birthday gift for a child or tween (or even me!). Headchefs kitchen utensils are made of silicone, dishwasher safe, and just too cute to pass up. For $15 on Gaggle of Chicks, you can get $30 worth of the kid-friendly cooking supplies to make cooking and baking together fun. You can even purchase more than one deal to use toward one of the higher-priced sets. I'm privy to the child's bowl with suction feet, and like most of their... Read more →

Sweet Tweet Lunchbox Treats at Taste Buds in NYC

We recently attended a fun family cooking class at Taste Buds in NYC, featuring Sweet Tweets note cards with candy, thanks to Bazooka Candy Brands. We had a great time chatting with some other NYC area bloggers as the kids followed the cooking instructors in creating a healthy and fun lunch, showcasing the Sweet Tweet notes. Of course, the Kiddo needed no invitation to try out the little love notes, as he had written and drawn a dozen notes for himself and us before the class even began! The concept of the Sweet Tweets notes is simple: just like many... Read more →

An Easter Gift For the Whole Family: Win an Xbox 360 with Kinect and Kinectimals

Easter season, Passover celebrations and spring bring to mind the sound of birds chirping and evoke images of flowers, green grass and adorable baby animals ... like the delightful Kinectimals baby animals! The Kinectimals video game for the Xbox 360 with Kinect, allows your whole family - even preschoolers - to play and interact with over 20 virtual baby wild animals like the white tigers, African lions, Iberian lynx and the Kiddo's fave, the Bornean clouded leopard. Here's five of my favorite things about Kinectimals for Xbox 360 with Kinect: It's a video game that requires physical activity. The game... Read more →

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss! The Cat In The Hat Knows A Lot About That!

On March 2nd, be sure to take a moment to silently wish Happy Birthday to Theodor Seuss Geisel, otherwise known as "Dr. Seuss." In honor of his birthday and all of his efforts to encourage and promote literacy, PBS is holding a two hour marathon event of The Cat in the Hat Knows A Lot About That!, including two brand new episodes: "Incredible Journey/Bamboozled," and "Teeny Weeny Adventure/I See Seeds." The anniversary of Dr. Seuss's birth has become nearly synonymous with celebrating the love of reading, and PBS sent us a Dr. Seuss birthday kit with Dr. Seuss party hats,... Read more →

GIVEAWAY: Thomas & Friends Live! On Stage Prize Pack

There's something about trains that many boys just instictively gravitate toward. Even during my son's most recent play date last week, the kids found the Thomas the Tank Engine set that goes around the Christmas Tree packed up in the basement and proceeded to bring it upstairs and spend the majority of the playdate playing with it. The kiddo's excitement around Thomas the Train is well timed, as Thomas and Friends Live! On Stage will be steaming into town at The Theater at Madison Square Garden this weekend, on March 5th & 6th. The whole gang - Thomas, Percy, Diesel... Read more →