Something Worth Watching

You won’t often see on DVD
on my shopping blog. Actually, you will hardly ever see a DVD on my blog…until
today. —

I prefer wooden toys to plastic, and outdoor play instead of
time in front of the screen, but this is one multimedia bit that I just have to
share with the wider world out there. (You there? Good.)

Presented by HBO and the Poetry Foundation, A
Child’s Garden of Poetry is a gentle yet inspiring introduction to the
world of poems for young children. Parents, trust me. This is something worth
watching. The half-hour DVD consists of work
from great writers like Robert Frost, e. e. cummings, Emily Dickinson, Langston
Hughes, Robert Louis Stevenson, Wordsworth and Shakespeare (to name a few). And not
only will you and your children hear timeless poems narrated by award-winning
performers such as Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ziggy Marley and Dave Matthews, but
you will also get to see some bright young things offer their perspective on
the written word. One of my favorites is an interview with a little girl who breathlessly
describes poetry as something that “zaps into your brain and into your
imagination and that’s all you can think about after that.” I couldn’t agree more.

Accompanied by colorful illustrations and animation that
will enchant young minds, this DVD captures some
of the written word’s most classic and heartfelt pieces—poems to be treasured
long after childhood.

$9.97, for children ages 3 and up, hbo.com

New York Society of Play Summer Camp and Classes

Summer Game Camp There are many who do not feel safe sending their children back out into the world with summer camp, this year. To serve those parents and keep the children connected and stimulated during this challenging time, we are offering NYSP Digital Summer Camp. The name of the game with NYSP Summer Camp is community. We have made a large effort to make our camp feel like a living space, with features including &ndash; - Role-Playing games familiar and new, led by our master storytellers! - Enriching electives such as Chess, World Building, Character Acting, Crafts, Drawing, and more! - Discussion and media screening rooms during lunch! - A digital campus! - Moderated chat hours! &nbsp; Join us for a summer of games, friends, and more! Mon - Fri 10am - 2:30pm &nbsp; Roleplay Expeditions: Dungeons &amp; Dragons No experience is required to join one of our Dungeons &amp; Dragons games. Our game masters have pre-made character sheets, so you'll be able to start playing the game right away! We adapt the rules of traditional Dungeons &amp; Dragons to make them more approachable to children of various ages. Battle in dungeons, search for relics, and make new friends in our one-of-a-kind Dungeons &amp; Dragons workshop!&nbsp; &nbsp; Public games meet once per week, with different groups every time. Private games meet 1 to 2 times per week with the same group of kids. Since the players and the storyteller in the group are consistent, this enables us to tell epic tales of adventure together! &nbsp; Dungeons &amp; Dragons Junior No experience is required to join one of our drop-in Dungeons &amp; Dragons games. Our Dungeons &amp; Dragons Jr. game provides a D&amp;D storytelling experience without character sheets. Battle in dungeons, search for relics, and make new friends in our one-of-a-kind Dungeons &amp; Dragons workshop! A great way to introduce young children to D&amp;D so they can eventually move onto the main game.

The School at the Mark Morris Dance Center

The School at the Mark Morris Dance Center offers year-round, community-based dance and music programming in a fully inclusive and nurturing environment, located in the heart of the Brooklyn Cultural District. The School&rsquo;s diverse and professional faculty provides progressive and non-competitive instruction with all of our classes accompanied by live music. Though we are a non-recital school, there are opportunities for students to perform and for parents to see their dancers in action.

HudsonWay Immersion School

A pioneer in language immersion since 2005. After school language classes provide a fun and effective way for preschool and elementary children to learn Mandarin or Spanish language skills through project based learning and fun, engaging themes.