BayDad

If you’ve just had breakfast at the wonderful Original Pancake House, and your toddler is itching for some outside time, then I’d strongly recommend going across Foothill Expressway to Shoup Park in Los Altos.  It’s a wonderful small park nestled in the redwood trees near a small creek, near downtown Los Altos.  There are 2 main play areas, one for the < 3 years group, and another for the > 3 years group, so you won’t have to worry too much about the “big kids” pushing and shoving like they sometimes do.

Oh, and while you’re in the area, why not stop by the Linden Tree and pick up some books?  It’s by far the best children’s only bookstore I’ve ever been to.  Fantastic place, great fun for everyone.

Shoup Park, Los Altos

Mr. Busy (in his ultimate busyness) is frequently asking to draw, and I’m always looking for ways to make things fun for me, so I found some old Pastello chalks and colored construction paper.

The amazing thing is how great of a toddler drawing set this makes.  For some reason, he has much more control when using the chalks than any other media.  I think its because of the pressure needed — crayons take too much pressure, so he loses control, and markers take too little, so he just scribbles back and forth.  With the chalks, he likes to sort of wander around the page making interesting shapes and colors.  The colored paper means that he can draw “white” and it actually becomes meaningful.

Oh, and the nice box that the chalks come in means that he can (almost) take them out and put them back my himself without making a total mess.  (Crayons and markers on the other hand are troublesome — marker lids are too hard to replace, and crayons are too difficult to get in the box)

Another great benefit is that the chalk won’t mark up our tabletop (which is quartz) like markers and crayon do, so it’s easy cleanup.  Similarly for his hands — the chalk is an easy wipe when compared to markers.  Oh, and you don’t have to worry about staining clothes as well, since the chalk will wash right out.  I’m just amazed that I haven’t seen a kids-branded version of art chalk as nice as the ones made for adults.

Anyway, if you’ve got a toddler around the house, I’d strongly recommend going to a local art supply store and picking up some of this chalk.  It’s awesome.  Oh, and while you’re there, get some “art tape” and you can tape the paper right to the table so it doesn’t move around, for drawing par excellance.

Prang Pastellos

By the way, make sure not to get “oil chalks”.  They’ll make a huge mess.  Oh, and the nice case isn’t shown in that picture above.

I just keep thinking about great things about this chalk — they’re great for learning colors, since they’re so bright and pure, easy to hold and use (no paper labels to get in the way), they only need a very light touch to draw, they’re non-toxic, they wash easily.  Wow, even I impress myself with how much I love these.   Go get some now!  They’re great for all ages!

Here’s a link to Prang’s page about the Pastello chalks — and has a better picture of the nice box that they come in.

Here’s a great summary list of kid-friendly train rides in the Bay Area and beyond:

Roaring Camp (In Felton): http://www.roaringcamp.com/
Tilden Park (Berkeley) http://www.ebparks.org/parks/tilden/
San Mateo Central Park: http://www.cityofsanmateo.org/index.asp?NID=718
Billy Jones RR in Los Gatos: http://www.bjwrr.org/
Niles Canyon Railway in Fremont: http://www.ncry.org/
Little Puffer in SF Zoo: http://www.sfzoo.org/openrosters/ViewOrgPageLink.asp?LinkKey=14106&orgkey=1900#littlepuffer
Train Town in Sonoma http://www.traintown.com/
Sacramento Rail Museum: http://www.csrmf.org/default.asp
Gilroy Gardens: http://gilroygardens.com

And of course, CalTrain, BART, and the VTA Light Rail.