Studio3Music Blog

Posts Tagged ‘Things to do’

Apr
4

The Tree Sweaters of Anderson Park

Posted in Bits and Pieces, Family, Things to do, Things We Love

If you take classes at the historical Fullard House in Anderson Park, these images are familiar to you. If not, you should take a picnic – the park has great play structures, and tons of grass. (Note for August – lots of shade and cool green grass to run around in.)

For 10 hours a day, Suzanne Tidwell of Sammamish knits. Sweater for trees. It’s otherwise known a “Guerilla Crochet”. Whatever you call it, the yarn stripes add much-welcomed color to our Pacific Northwest grey spring days.

Here’s the story that Evening Magazine did about Ms. Tidwell, her knitting machine, and penchant for this beautiful art form. And thanks to Werona A., Studio3 mommy, for sending us the pictures!

Tags: art, fun, Things to do

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Mar
27

Episode 2: “Revenge of the Geeks”

Posted in Family, Product reviews, Things to do, Things We Love

In a neighborhood far far away, on the planet Google Earth, lived a family of Geeks (see Episode 1) belonging to the Nerd Class (we’ll get to that in a minute). It was a time of rebellion where the Geeks waged war on all that the Nerds had presented as entertainment declaring an upgrade of family values. Their anti-app battle cries filled Google Sky, catching the attention of the Toy and Game industry. Plastic toys with batteries were soon replaced by wooden toys that required imagination and fine/gross motor manipulation. An appreciation for the arts emerged inspiring a bard rising from the days of old, creating true artists, musicians, and writers.

Clusters of Geeks began meeting in homes to celebrate an age-old practice that humans for thousands of years have enjoyed – games. The type any techie neophyte or old school Nerd would applaud.

If you feel your inner-Geek resonating with the power of the not-so-dark side, here are a few recommendations from the Austrian game industry, a must for any who pride themselves in Geekdom. To be acknowledged by any in the Gamer Brotherhood (where you get a +5 speech craft for bragging rights), your game closet should include a game with an Austrian Game of the Year Award noted from the official Wiener Spiele Akademie (Austrian Game Academy), which is similar to our Academy Awards (no joke).

Here are a few academy winners from Wiener Spiele Akademie (you might be surprised by a few that are familiar):

Spiele des Jahres (“Game of the Year”)

1995 – Settlers of Catan

2001 – Carcassonne

2004 – Ticket to Ride

2009 – Dominion

The Academy also has winners for family games, children’s games, multi-player games, two-player games…games for wizards, games for elves, games for space cowboys, games for those who like to wear capes simply because capes are cool (hey, don’t knock LARPers, where would Renaissance Fairs and Highland Games be without them!…Nerds, you’ll have to use your apps to find out what a LARPer is, teehee!). There are also games awarded by the Golden Geek Award and other various academy spin-offs which you can search and review at Board Game Geeks.

Most “Game of the Year” award winners are great for elementary age children as well. The family of Geeks who live in a neighborhood far far away, have 7 and 9 year old boys who are Padawan gamers one day hoping to belong to the Jedi Knights of the Gamer Brotherhood, like their mommy and daddy. Their favorite right now is Carcassonne followed closely by Dominion.

Other note worthy games celebrated in the Gamer Brotherhood include:

“Munchkin”, a fabulous game poking fun at Dungeon and Dragon based RPG’s (and the only way you’ll get to wear Boots of Kick-Ass and get away with it); “Forbidden Island”, where players work together to retrieve artifacts before an island sinks into the abyss (go Indiana Jones style Team Spirit!); “Citidels” a layered game where each round players are secretively a thief, assassin, the king, architect and other characters all using their skills to build the biggest city (get the expansion and play the king and your friends will have to say “Your Excellency” when addressing you or forfeit their turn); and “Pandemic”, another cooperative style game where players try to eradicate disease from claiming all of mankind (hmmm….was this inspired by Stephen King’s “The Stand”?).

-posted by Miss Jesikah, who would like to thank The Academy for bringing the Glory Days of Geek Gaming back to her home. Do you have Spiele des Jahres games in your closet?

Tags: Miss Jesikah, Things to do

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Mar
6

The Magic of the Theater

Posted in Bits and Pieces, Symphony Concerts, Things to do

There’s just something about it. The anticipation of seeing magic happen on the stage. The whole evening, from the time you start getting dressed for the show to the car ride home, is just the best thing to go through. But to top it off is seeing a production through a child’s’ eye.

This last week, my husband and I went to the musical Beauty and the Beast. WOW! What a production. I have seen this show once before when it came through town about 12 years ago or so. I had one memorable scene that has stuck with me through out the years and has made me want to see this musical again. I was SO excited when the Paramount Theater announced its line up for the 2011/2012 season and Beauty and the Beast was on it! I went so far as to mark it on my calendar, each month, reminding me when tickets went on sale and to save money to be able to afford them.

When the day finally arrived, I was over the moon happy. Now, a couple things came into play that could’ve dampened my mood but I was not going to let that happen! The biggest thing that I was worried about was my son. He is 6 months old and we had yet to leave him in the evening to be babysat. I have NO problem leaving him with Nana or trusted friends but this was the first time that we would be breaking up his evening routine. Thankfully, he had taken a bottle from my husband that day so I was hopeful that he would do that at night as well.

After giving all the instructions to my mom, who was watching him, off we were to the Paramount Theater. We went with a couple of friends and on the way down we were talking about our favorite parts of the movie. Singing the songs, recapping the story and talking about the anticipation of the costumes were all in our conversation. As soon as we parked the car, I saw it. There it was – a sea of gold amongst the theater goers.

Now, I have to say, we were lucky in that the night before was technically opening night. However, the trucks couldn’t make it over the pass and so the people who had opening night tickets had to be rescheduled for closing night. That meant that we had opening night tickets! This element just added an extra excitement in the air.

About the sea of gold. As you know, Belles’ dress when she dances with the Beast is gold and very elegant. There were so many little girls dressed in gold dresses holding roses. You could just see and hear them, non-stop talking to their parents about how excited they were to see the show. The sparkle in their eye was so bright you could see it from across the room.

Once we were seated, you could hear the buzz in the audience when the lights went down and the music started. It really was electric. Every one, adults and children alike, were sitting on the edge of their seats soaking up every note played, word spoken and song sung. Through out the musical you could hear children laughing and little comments like ‘oooo, look at the Beast!’, ‘Belle is so pretty’ and ‘I just love this song’.

At one point in the show, I took a moment to look at my friends on my left and then my husband on my right, and all of them had smiles on their faces and an intent happiness in their eye. How can one musical, one show, one experience evoke so much emotion and reach an audience of young and old? It’s the magic of the theater!

Once the show was over it was a popcorn conversation between us about our favorite scene, song, dance and just about everything. As I was soaking everything in, an overwhelming feeling came over me. I can now share this love with my son! Obviously, I’m not going to take him to the paramount theater at 6 months old, but I can take him to Benaroya Hall for the symphony concert that Studio3 puts on. I can play music around the house and as he gets older introduce him to musicals, plays and art. And, when he does come of age, I WILL be taking him to see a musical in the theater so that he can experience how a musical comes alive on the stage and not just the TV screen. : )

When we finally got home we learned that Miles had not taken his bottle and it had been a rough night for him. But, he didn’t starve, and my mom had a wonderful time with him. Even though things hadn’t gone ideally at home, the night couldn’t have gone any better. The memory of it all will stick with me for some time and I look forward to my next time at the theater. But, even more than seeing a musical myself, I cannot wait to introduce Miles to the art of the theater!

-posted by Miss Anna, who will jump at every chance she can get to attend a show!

Tags: Miss Anna, music, Things to do

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Mar
3

The Lone Ranger and Capering Cupids

Posted in Bits and Pieces, Education, Symphony Concerts

I have a go to list for music when I’m feeling less than myself. I mentioned in my last post that I enjoy the less than meaningful music of the 80’s for rote work around the house, and that I find certain music to be irritating and other music to be sad. If you’ve been to the symphony for one of our concerts recently you’ve heard some of my favorite classical music.

At our Christmas concert in December we sang the “Hallelujah Chorus”. I’ve always loved the Hallelujah Chorus. The best part of my Birthday this year was getting up at 5:30 am to make it to Choir rehearsal with the high-school students who joined us at the concert. I sang the “Hallelujah Chorus” three times before 7:30 am… oh, bliss….

And in January we focused a whole show on Mozart. There are scads of Mozart pieces on my Happy List. I love Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, I love the Piano Sonata in C Major, I love the Haffner Symphony and the Piano Concerto No. 22, and there are so many things on my LOVE IT Mozart list that I can’t even remember the names of some of them.

On March 17th, at our Symphony Serenade concert, we will be putting the spotlight on another one of my favorite pieces of music (and one that is definitely on my Happy List), Beethoven’s Sixth Symphony.

I love the playful nature of this piece, and I can’t ever quite get the vision of Fantasia’s capering cupids, centaurs and Pegasus out of my mind when I hear it. I did manage to quash them down low enough to write a story without any fantastical mythical creatures. However, it does have animals, and they do talk, so perhaps I haven’t escaped the fantastical after all.

You’ll also be hearing part of the Overture for William Tell (yes, the famous part), the theme from the Lone Ranger. There is nothing quite like hearing that brass fanfare and watching the faces of the children light up as they realize something wonderful is coming. That fanfare creates a sense of excitement; it stirs something deep within us. It literally screams, “Heroic deeds are heading your way!”

Introducing classical music to your child is fun, and not as hard we seem to think…. It can be daunting to search for a piece of music: the names are odd, technical descriptions that read like food labels for items produced entirely from polysyllabic ingredients that never existed in nature, and most of the composers have names that are hard to spell, too.

But coming to a Symphony Serenade concert is a way to find music that your child can connect with, and sing along with. And if you’d like to know the name of a piece of music we’ve focused on or the name of the composer you can always send us an email, we’d love to pass that information on to you (it’s not like we announce them during the show). And we’d love to give you few pointers for looking farther afield in the classical world, too. If you like X you just might like Y.

And yes, my kids did listen to classical music when they were little. And they liked it. They were moved to play a game of monster search through and behind the furniture in my family room when the radio station we listened to in Denver played the Sinfonia Antartica, and everyday at noon all the kids came running from where ever they were in the house to hear Mozart’s Impresario ring in Mid Day Mozart on that same radio station.

I think it’s what has saved Nathaniel from the horrors of the really depressing music his peers listen to, because I know I gave him a musical heritage that is deep and wide, long and curvy with twists and turns and pockets of a little bit of everything. (Except smooth jazz. I have saved him from that. And jazz fusion, too!)

So come see us on March 17^th. They’ve just released few tickets for the 9:30 show. The 10:30 is sold out on the website, but you can call the box office at 206.215.4747 and plead. And when you come, you’ll find out what you might miss if you sleep too late when the Rooster loses his ear shattering COCK-A-DOODLE DOO!

-posted by Miss Allison, who stayed up late last night with the prop making crew sewing costumes for sheep, cows, horses, ducks and a rooster, and creating a giant tree!

Tags: listening, Miss Allison, music, Things to do

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Feb
19

Giddy up horsey… go, go, STOP!

Posted in Child Development, Music and the brain, Our Time, Things to do

We’ve been working on self-control in our Our Time classes. Can you do that with 2 year olds? Actually, yes! You can teach self-control, even to toddlers. Of course, the concept takes a while to master (I’ll be the first to admit I have limited self-control around Godiva sea salt dark chocolate, but I’m working on that.)

There are two parts to self-control. The first is inhibitory control, which is the ability to stop what you are doing and wait. (The other part is impulse control, which is the ability to stop an idea or thought from becoming an action.) But as inhibitory control develops first, we’ll begin there.

In class, we’ve been playing with a chant called Giddy Up Horsey. You can do this at home, too. Put your child on your lap on the floor, and say this chant and as you bounce:

Giddy up horsey, giddy up horsey, giddy up horsey, go, go, go! Bounce your child up and down.

Giddy, up horsey, giddy up horsey, giddy up horsey WHOA!! When you get to the whoa, stop bouncing, and lean back with your child and stop. Wait quietly for a moment. Keep repeating the whole thing until the giggles subside.

Then in class, we’ve been getting up and riding stick horses around to the same chant, stopping our ponies and waiting to be told to “go” again, (the inhibitory control part) after the whoa.

Miss Allison had an interesting observation this week. She said that because the grownups were in charge of the child’s body during the bounce, they were showing the children how to control their bodies (how to stop at the appropriate time). The grownups were teaching the children the pattern and the how of the going, stopping, and waiting.

When the children got up on the stick horses, they were more ready and able to control their own bodies. They were familiar with the pattern, and could anticipate the whoa. Miss Allison said that in classes that did the bounce first, before the pony riding, the children had a much higher success rate of demonstrating inhibitory control when in charge of their bodies during the pony ride, than the ones who just did the ride.

That fits with what we always say – You are your child’s first and best teacher.

So, do a little bouncing this week. And keep your eye on the blog. I’ve got an idea about how to make a really adorable stick pony to practice the riding and stopping and waiting (cleverly disguised inhibitory control practice). I just need to get the idea out of my head and take some pictures of the process. I promise – under $5 and NO sewing!

Oh, I almost forgot. For a fun stop and go game at home or in the car, check out this cute idea.

-posted by Miss Analiisa, who will practice some pony riding every time she’s having difficulty practicing either inhibitory or impulse control around that Godiva sea salt dark chocolate.