By Hillary Chura

There is only so much choice my mommy brain can handle—especially when it comes to shopping—which is why I’d always avoided Century 21, that mecca of merchandise mess.

It’s partly because we don’t live near the department store, but also because my first exposure was during the torture that is Christmas shopping. Whatever the reason, I was never ever ever going back. Hearing friends’ tales of smashing deals at Century 21 did not sway my conviction. Nor did seeing shoppers trying to wedge their bulging Century 21 bags onto crowded subway cars (another kind of hell altogether—for everyone involved).

Visit newyorkfamily.com to read the full article.

Enlist your kids to recreate a takeout favorite right at home for a cozy afternoon of messy fun.

By Christine Wei

When I was growing up in Taiwan, dumplings were the epitome of family bonding in the kitchen. Every time the Lunar New Year rolled around, I’d gather in the kitchen with my mom and grandmother, mixing filling and wrapping little nuggets around the dining table. (Dumplings are an auspicious food at the annual New Year’s feasts.)

But dumplings also make delicious and nutritious snacks any time of the year. Wontons, the thin-skinned and triangular-shaped variety, are simple enough for even the littlest of fingers to wrap. As we enter the winter season, this hands on recipe is perfect for an indoor afternoon of messy family fun–the best kind of all.

For the complete recipe, please visit newyorkfamily.com.

By Angela Johnson

Photo by Karen Haberberg

When California native Latham Thomas first arrived in New York, she couldn’t help but feel that the city could use a little of the warmth she was used to back home.

“There were no trees and people were so much less open. I was like, ‘Oh, I’m needed here!’” Latham recalls. “So I decided to stay.”

After graduating from Columbia University and the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, Latham thought she’d be using her skills in a laboratory. Instead, this vibrant Manhattan mom is coaching women through one of the most important times in their lives: pregnancy.

To read the full article, please visit newyorkfamily.com.

For Curious Adventurers

Skip the museum and creep up your day at The Evolution Store, where those with a taste for adventure can get a glimpse of prehistoric specimens and exotic insects. Channel the likes of Indiana Jones and Allan Quatermain as you trek through this enthralling treasure trove of obscurities; no need for spelunking when you can head straight for their wide array of minerals—crystal, agate, and more. Take home a mammoth hair sample or a scorpion lollipop—or fall in love with a taxidermied friend. Surely not for the faint of heart, this shop is full of curiosities that will incite “oohs” and “aahs” galore, and may introduce you to creatures and artifacts you never knew existed. Adventure awaits at this truly astonishing SoHo store.
120 Spring Street, theevolutionstore.com

To read the full list, please visit newyorkfamily.com.

Now through January 13 
STUFF LEGENDS ARE MADE OF
[ALL AGES]
The Big Apple Circus is back and better than ever with a new Legendarium show at Lincoln Center! Inside the Big Top circus tent, which holds more than 1,700 people, circus artists will perform feats of daring from aerial stunts to contortionism to juggling. Fans of this iconic not-for-profit troupe know that no matter where you sit, you’ll be no more than 50 feet away from all of the action.
From $25; times vary. 63rd Street and Amsterdam Avenue, 800-922-3772, bigapplecircus.org

To read the full article, please visit newyorkfamily.com.

To read the full article, please visit www.newyorkfamily.com.

OCTOBER 6-28
(Weekends Only) Boo at the Zoo returns to the Bronx Zoo with everything little hearts could ask for this Halloween. On top of annual favorites like the Haunted Habitat Mansion of ghosts and extinct animals and a hayride through the animated Creepy Hollows town, magic shows, an extinction graveyard, intricate pumpkin carvings and costume parades will amp up the eerie fun. bronxzoo.com

OCTOBER 6–31
(Tuesdays-Fridays) The giant sculptures at the New York Botanical Haunted Pumpkin Garden will send delicious chills down little spines. Get more thrills from a spooky parade, a scary puppet show and lessons on creatures of the night. If you visit on the third weekend of the month, you’ll also see master pumpkin carver Ray Villafane at work. nybg.org

OCTOBER 27
Join the New York City Police Museum for a ghoulish good time at its annual Halloween party. Kids can immerse themselves in making slime, decorating trick-or-treat bags and winning giveaways while their parents brush up on trick-or-treating safety skills. Children should come in their best creepy costumes! 11 a.m.- 2 p.m., nycpolicemuseum.org

OCTOBER 27
Get ready for a fun-packed night of ghostly games at Ripley’s Boo-lieve It or Not! Slumber Fest. This eerie overnight experience includes adventures like Ripley’s signature laser beam race and costume contests, as well as snacks, pizza and breakfast. Come prepared with courage and spooky sleepover necessities.
ripleysnewyork.com

OCTOBER 28
It’s time for Central Park’s Halloween Parade and Pumpkin Sail! Don your scariest disguise and strut your stuff, then bring your best carved pumpkin to the city’s largest flotilla. As the day of Halloween fanfare fades into twilight, the sight of glowing, grinning pumpkins bobbing down the lake will raise some goose bumps. centralparknyc.org

OCTOBER 28
Bring the kids costumed up for The Queens County Farm Museum’s Fall Festival, where the family can enjoy sack races, hunt for trinkets in the haystack, dance to country music and fill up with goodies from crafts and food vendors. Tip: Stick around after the fall fest for the kids’ Haunted House that has just the right amount of scare. queensfarm.org

OCTOBER 31
The American Museum of Natural History is dedicating a whopping 30 halls to trick-or-treating, crafts and more at its annual Halloween Sleepover. Costumed kiddies can dance to performances from hit stars and possibly even get the chance to hang with big-screen cartoon characters. (Registration required.) amnh.org

OCTOBER 31
Just because it’s your baby’s first Halloween doesn’t mean he or she can’t partake in spooky fun. For babies 0-12 months and their parents, Mommybites’ Baby’s First Halloween Party presents a Little Maestros performance, light snacks and bonding time with other new moms and dads. Make sure you dress to impress for chance to win costume contest prizes! mommybites.com

ONGOING
Hit up Times Scare’s Dr. Blood Show anytime this month (or this year) for kid-friendly blood, guts and gore as the expert magician cuts off his limbs and saws audience members in half. For tweens and young adults, The Haunt, the city’s only year-round interactive haunted house, is the perfect place to enjoy some hi-tech spooks.
timesscarenyc.com

TLB Music teaches little ones much more than just singing along

By Sarah Albert of New York Family

When Katia Asthalter and Carina Zimmerman became good friends and housemates at Wheaton College in Massachusetts, they had one big thing in common: music. Both young women grew up with musical influences all around them; Asthalter took private voice lessons, was a choir performer, and studied opera; Zimmerman took private piano and violin lessons and played in orchestras, quartets and music competitions. Buoyed by their shared love of music and close friendship, the two knew that they would one day build something bigger than the sum of their parts. And so begins the story of TLB Music.

Asthalter and Zimmerman liked the idea of combining their passions for early music education, so after moving to the city, they began hosting music classes at birthday parties, carrying their instruments and gear all over the city, and calling themselves Three Little Birds Music. Without a home base, the two were determined to bring their own brand of musical enjoyment and learning wherever it was needed.

“It was exhausting, fun and solidified that it was what we wanted to do,” Zimmerman remembers.

Then they took the big leap, and in May 2009 opened TLB Music at their current home on East 78th Street. It has since become one of the most popular kiddie music havens on the Upper East Side (and beyond) for little ones 4 months to 6 years old.

Once Asthalter and Zimmerman settled into their permanent space, they were able to fine-tune their unique partnership. At the helm of the front desk, Asthalter keeps the business running, chatting with parents on a regular basis, getting to know all of the TLB families, and making everyone feel welcome.

“It’s important for me that every mom who walks in here feels like she’s the most important person who has walked through that door, because she is. She’s here with her family to have an experience with us, and I want it to be the best and most fun she can possibly have,” explains Asthalter.

Inside the classroom, where children can often be found happily playing along to their favorite Robert Schumann piece, Zimmerman is busy as the creative force. She drafts each session’s curriculum, writes lullaby verses and trains new teachers on the 20 instruments used in class—including violin, cello, electric guitar, banjo, clarinet, saxophone and piano. It’s a collaboration that works so flawlessly and productively that TLB works a new overriding theme into every single class each semester. Past semesters have featured themes such as “Colors with Cosmo” (an exploration of new colors through famous paintings and music) and “Lost in the Library with Lola” (a literary journey in the classroom that introduced great children’s books, including The Wizard of Oz, through music). This fall, the theme is “Noisy New York.”

“During the session, we’ll be ‘traveling’ to a different location in NYC each week to meet a new genre of music, ” Zimmerman says.

So what’s it like for a family to step inside TLB Music? After depositing their strollers in the indoor stroller parking lot, tots and caregivers can join a group in one of two classrooms. Most kids here know the drill. “Bye-bye shoes!” one child exclaims as he tosses his sneakers off and runs into the classroom ready with a smile. Amid mellow yellow walls, colorful baskets and instruments that line the room, colored circle mats are just waiting for people to take a seat. In front of the mats, rows of animal puppets are perfectly placed, waiting for little hands to bring them to life.

The lively atmosphere serves to carry out a serious educational purpose: “The overarching mission is to provide a place for kids to learn about music and other things through creative play,” Zimmerman says. “It’s an environment where it feels like they’re coming in to just have fun, dance, listen to music and engage in the music. And then when they leave, they’ve covered things like identifying colors, letters, different instruments and composers.”

Chances are, the children will also be leaving with something greater: “The goal for every child who joins our music program is to enhance his or her early development through musical play. Our music classes encourage motor, language, social and cognitive skills—all while the kids are having fun dancing, singing and playing instruments along to live music,” Zimmerman elaborates. Infants gain increased gross motor skills and hand-eye coordination, and older kids learn how to identify instruments in an orchestra, as well as produce music in a variety of ways.

Beyond the music classrooms, one special part of TLB is the Playroom downstairs. “It’s something so basic but … there were only a couple of [play] places on the Upper East Side, and for a lot of them you had to be a member,” Zimmerman says.

Fashioned in accordance with the rest of the TLB space—with sensitivity to those on the autism spectrum or with general sensory issues—the Playroom is thoughtfully designed in every way, from the textured walls that are pleasant to the touch to the non-fluorescent lights that are gentle on the eyes. There’s a play kitchen, market area, train table, soft blocks, slides, mini cars, a dress-up station and more. But perhaps best of all, the space itself won’t overwhelm your little one; the Playroom will only allow up to 15 kids at once.
Back up in the TLB classrooms, kids, teachers, and, yes, parents too, are immersed in the music. In fact, parents are set to gain a great deal from class as well. Zimmerman explains that caregivers are vital to the classroom dynamic and the learning that continues at home. “What we work on is developing that relationship where the parent is actively helping; I always hope that they’ll dust off the Beatles stuff after they’ve heard it in class. That’s why I put songs in the curriculum that I hope will pick up the ear of the adults, so it’s not just Old MacDonald.”

Class time ends with some bubble-popping fun, a stamp of the child’s choosing and a sweet treat—but sweetest of all is the love for music that TLB Music seems so good at fostering in its students. In fact, by the time children of 5 or 6 have enjoyed all those TLB instruments and all that TLB music fun, they usually have a good hunch about which musical instruments they’d like to pursue in more depth with a tutor or at music school—a much better outcome than when parents simply impose their own favorite instruments on their kids.

And it’s this cultivation of knowledge and self-confidence that is the real music to so many parents’ ears.

For more information, visit tlbmusic.com

To read the full interview at New York Family Magazine click here.

Photo credit: jwlphotography

This Halloween, we invite parents to snap a pic of their child all dressed up and share it with New York Family. The winner will receive a pack of four SuperSaver tickets to the American Museum of Natural History and a copy of the museum’s recently published Kid’s Guide to The Museum (a $140 value). Plus, the cute pic will be featured in an upcoming issue of the magazine.

To learn how to submit your family’s photo visit New York Family magazine by clicking here.