During Art Walk Edmonds this week, one of the stops I made was at the Edmonds Bookshop. The window display was full of moon-themed books, including some great options for the space-loving little ones in your life and the shop was set up for a conversation between authors. When in the bookshop, I typically end…
Playtime
Playtime: MLK Jr. Day tribute, Lunar New Year and Parents Night Out
The 5th Annual Tribute to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. will be at the Edmonds Waterfront Center Monday, Jan. 16. There will be two different events starting with the FREE families and children event in the morning from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. and the ticketed program in the evening. The morning program will include…
Playtime: 365 days of art, starlight beach walk, lacrosse clinic
On the last Saturday of holiday festivities in Edmonds, we decided to fully partake, if you will. Leaving the kids at home, we went to the Holiday Market, where we bought ornaments from Mountlake Terrace Technology Student Association and photos of street art from Oaxaca from ArturoTorrresPhotography.com. We took advantage of a special at Fire…
Playtime: Where to see holiday lights, find last-minute gifts
Now that school is out for the holiday break and the alarms are off at the house for a bit, we have time to do some of the fun holiday events I’ve been seeing on social media and our yearly traditions. So sure, we now have some time, but will a couple of post 7am…
Playtime: Kids Art Club, virtual library classes, winter recreation sign-ups
While the Playtime column is mainly about kids activities, options, and resources, I think it is safe to say the lens I see most of these things through now is for the adults. I can’t say if that has always been the case because I can’t remember the same amount these days and I have…
Playtime: Events for building holiday memories, benefiting good causes
The weekend after Thanksgiving, three quarters of my family packed up and headed to Winthrop, Washington for an outdoor hockey tournament. Winthrop is roughly 250 miles northeast of Edmonds in the Methow Valley. Before I go on to explain the Christmas movie magic that was our surroundings, I feel that it is important to add…
Playtime: Holiday activities for families, plus junior hockey and Move 60! options
Lately, I’ve had a pretty exaggerated sense of nostalgia. It could be kids barreling towards young adulthood, trying to manage the incredibly early pitch black or the news or social media or the news about social media, but either way, I have a real hankering for what feels cozy. Whether it be familiarity or simplicity,…
Playtime: Edmonds School District Preschool, teen activities and Girls on Run
Last weekend, while trying to stay the course during a power outage, the kids and I packed up our book report, history notes and rechargeable batteries to the Lynnwood Library to use their lights, Wi-Fi, outlets and heater. We had friends charging up at their hockey practices and others just resorting to candles for the…
Playtime: Halloween events, hockey for free and high school information nights
Getting the most bang for my buck on a kid’s Halloween costume was a big priority when they were younger. Now that they’re older there are fewer pre-func opportunities and in our case, waning interest as well. On top of the return of Halloween Trick-or-Treat Night in downtown Edmonds after a COVID hiatus, I found…
Playtime: Storybook Theater comes to Edmonds, plus Dia de los Muertos drawing class
After being thrilled it finally rained, moving the smoke out of our area, it didn’t take long to remember what it’s like to navigate daily activities when it’s wet out. School pick-up took longer than it did before, and the school dance I just did the drop-off carpool for required jackets and even an umbrella….
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Playtime: Library evening storytimes and stories by phone — plus Celebrate Schools 5K
We talk about social media algorithms a lot these days, mainly because my youngest asks to watch Instagram reels with my husband some nights in hopes to delay bedtime. Some nights they just have a bad algorithm and don’t get any good videos and some nights their video sesh is oohs and aahs, oh nos,…
Playtime: Fashion Plate fun, a Kraken corn maze plus nights out for parents and kids
Last weekend, thanks to a generous gift from a neighbor, the adults in our house put the calendars aside and did an Edmonds Kind of Saturday (late afternoon/early evening before hockey practice). After visiting Puget Sound Bird Fest and seeing a great talk about the Union Bay Natural Area, also known as the Montlake Fill,…
Playtime: End-of-summer and fall activities, plus that back-to-school vibe
As it turns out, my house has entered the Bob Ross “No mistakes. Only Happy Accidents” poster phase in our end-of-summer mood management program. It is a program that also includes random yet audible realizations that summer is almost over, continued wrangling over when summer school assignments will be finished, and a million lists and…
Playtime: Engage your kids with these online art and science videos
In the mid 2000s, I joined a message board for an online pregnancy magazine as recommended by my high school best friend who was a few months ahead of me, gestationally speaking. This was a chance to see what others were experiencing and to relate to those who also shared a need for stretchy pants…
Playtime: Help for families counting the days to kindergarten
On the way out of the Lynnwood Library, after picking up another round of holds, there was an adorable flier with a cartoon space shuttle and brightly-colored planets flying out of a wide open book that read “Countdown to Kindergarten: 100 Essential Picture Books.” Now the time leading up to kindergarten looks a bit different…
Playtime: Ideas for entertaining visitors, plus classes, workshops and other summer fun
We have family in town next weekend and I find myself asking a question I see on local parent corners of social media, ‘what can we do around here to entertain the kids in our group?’ This time, the age range will spread from a newly minted teen to a newly minted high school graduate…
Playtime: Family-friendly Lake Ballinger, summer reading, Yost Pool open swims
A pit stop at the new Lake Ballinger fishing pier in Mountlake Terrace was the perfect way to decompress after one of the last days of school this week – it was also a decent antidote to the seasonal section at Target replacing beachy outdoor items with school supplies — yes, already. I had only…
Playtime: Free summer meals, outdoor movies and activities for families
While I started today’s column excited to share summer options for school meal sites, play options, and outdoor movies, I saw a headline a few days old with some good news for students in our state. Students absent from school due to their mental health will now be able to have those absences excused in…
Playtime: Summertime fun — science and basketball camps, music school and swim league
On the precipice of having both of my kids officially be teenagers, my attempts at ignoring it were repeatedly interrupted by of all things, emails. I got an email from Google telling me that my almost 13-year-old would have more access to the gmail account we signed him up for — well, the one where…
Playtime: Activities for now and later, from basketball camp to wilderness school
We just counted the number of school days left, as one with a teenager does, to inform phrases like “c’mon… there are less than 20 school days left” or “I know… but there are only 20 school days left.” It is a true sign that the end of the school year is near, kind of…
Playtime: Mental health events and resources, plus free summer activities
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. As I looked around for some stats to lead into some local free resources, it is clear that the need is widespread and that the pandemic “exacerbated existing disparities in mental health services.” Many of us can see the negative effects, though some found a better fit in remote…
Playtime: Library options, Health & Fitness Expo and other summer events
I just finished listening to a library book, Dealing with Dragons, by Patricia Wrede. The book was recommended to me by Annie Carl, owner of The Neverending Bookshop in Perrinville, as I was shopping for a Christmas present for a tween. Sure, it’s a fantasy book whose age range is 10 to 12 year olds…
Playtime: Ticket alert for Day Out with Thomas, plus kid-friendly plant sale and watershed fun fair
Sometime in the last few weeks, amid an iOS update or a well-intentioned yet ill-advised choice, the notifications for my reminders on my phone were turned off. The length to which I depend on this function answers the question, Would I remember as much without my phone? The answer is a resounding “no” over the…
Playtime: Summer Music School is back, plus Edmonds College youth technology camps
After checking on the Summer Music School page of the Edmonds School District website for good news (for what seems like the entire last two years,) it finally reads “Summer Music is Baaaaaack!” in bright red type. While slightly amended, Summer Music School in the Edmonds School District is happening this summer — the main…
Playtime: Spring break options for gamers, plus summer camps coming up
Spring break in the Edmonds School District is April 4-8. My kids are at an age where they definitely require less spring break maintenance but it seemed to sneak up on us this year. Maybe it is because I feel like it is going by faster now that one is in high school or maybe…