Your guide to activities and fun things to do with your preschoolers, toddlers and kids in new orleans, LA

Take Five: Making the Most of Summer

by Kelly Leahy

May 05, 2009

Now that school is finishing up, you might be viewing summer with a tinge of anxiety (or is it just me?). Though I am all for enjoying the long, lazy days of summer, it wouldn't hurt to stay engaged with the community a little to prevent myself from becoming a total hermit. One way to do this AND involve the kids is to volunteer. Goodness knows there are plenty of opportunities for that around town. Here are a few:

1. Grow something. Get dirty with the Latino Farmers Cooperative. Gardening help is needed in order to meet the needs and goals of this new organization. Providing fresh produce and health information to New Orleans' Spanish speaking population is no small task and all hands are welcome.
2. Recycle. Visit the Green Project and ask them to put you to work. Sorting recyclables, fabrics and building materials might be right up your preschoolers alley. 
3. Though children must be at least 12 years old to care for animals at the LA/SPCA, there are still ways to help out with your preschooler in tow. Pull together a shopping list from the website then head on over to your nearest mega-mart. Preschoolers will enjoy picking out toys for animals and bringing them to the shelter and the animals will be happy to see some smiling faces.
4. Clean up. Get involved with Save Our Cemeteries and join the crews that keep our history from getting eaten up by weeds and beer bottles. Focusing on what's in the graves might be a little macabre for your preschooler but they will enjoy looking at the statues and even doing some gravestone rubbings while beautifying the neighborhood.
5. Feed someone. The Second Harvest Food Bank claims to have enough work for anyone and everyone looking to volunteer. Put your little worker to work sorting cans or packing boxes. Another option would be to go shopping for some non-perishables and deliver them to the food bank as a donation.

Farewell 2008 -- 10 best posts of the year

by Kelly Leahy

December 30, 2008

Boy, what a year it's been. With my second child born towards the end of 2007, 2008 was about keeping my sanity, surviving the preschool application process for my eldest and treasuring every moment (even the mind numbing tantrums). The year culminated in a live television interview yesterday on ABC's Good Morning New Orleans . Since this year has been all about keeping my head above water, I  Read more...

This weekend's best bet: VOTE

by Kelly Leahy

October 03, 2008

Yesterday I wrote a brief bit on the importance of voting so I'm not going to keep harping on it. If you are unsure of your polling location, you can find it here . Vote early and vote often. Ok, once you have voted, you might be wondering just what you should do for the remainder of the weekend. Need I remind you that it's October? It's hard to NOT find something to do. Oktoberfest is still  Read more...

This weekend's best bet: Bugs and bats

by Kelly Leahy

September 12, 2008

This Saturday the Longue View House and Gardens is featuring "Wondrous Wing-ed Things." From 10:00 am until noon in the Discovery Garden, you and your preschooler can learn about the many benefits that winged creatures provide for a garden. There will be a special bat craft where you can make your own flying mammal. This will be followed by an activity where you can prowl the garden as a bug.  Read more...

Best places in New Orleans to get up close to the marine life

by Kelly Leahy

August 19, 2008

Our theme this month at Savvy Source is "Down by the Shore." It might as well be amended to what's in the water as well (besides your swim-happy preschooler). Today's list (Tuesday = listday) includes some of the best places for you and your preschooler to view fish and other marine life. Since we are a food city and I can't hardly write about "sea life" without mentioning "seafood," I'll also  Read more...

Do you know what lives in Lake Pontchartrain?

by Kelly Leahy

August 18, 2008

Do you know what's lurking in the shallow depths of our local lake? Sure, you may see pelicans and seagulls flying over the waters but what's swimming below? The answers might surprise you. Lake Pontchartrain is the second largest salt water lake in the country, second only to Utah's (technically, it's not really a lake, but an estuary). The brackish water and access to the Gulf of Mexico  Read more...

Things that go ribbit, chirp, peep and bark

by Kelly Leahy

August 14, 2008

After an exhaustive day of trying to figure out just which smoke detector was on the fritz, I came to the realization that it was not an electrical malfunction at all but rather a frog that has been keeping this household awake night after night. It appears that we have a tree frog in our midst that emits a high pitched chirp not unlike a smoke detector in need of fresh batteries. After playing  Read more...

Bugs, dolphins and monsters swarm the IMAX

by Kelly Leahy

June 06, 2008

My husband and I just had a brief discussion the other day as to whether our two year old (she'll be three in August) would be ready for the IMAX. I said that she could probably handle it but we might want to wait. Well, that was before I saw that Bugs! , Dolphins and Wales , and Sea Monsters were on the marquee (not all on one screen at the same time -- that would be a little much). The  Read more...

How to be a prince(ss) for a day

by Kelly Leahy

May 23, 2008

Whether it's a birthday, a giant pick-me-up or some other special day, it just feels good to occasionally spoil your kid rotten. In doing so, you also get to spoil yourself by indulging in the same sugary treats and perhaps getting dolled up too. In addition to the spoil factor, pretending to be royalty for a day is great for the imagination. It's truly incredible to hear what preschoolers come  Read more...

Lions, tigers and bears, oh my! Discovering the wilderness of the urban jungle

by Kelly Leahy

May 16, 2008

Our city is ripe with wildlife. We have packs of stray dogs, feral cats and gators - oh boy do we have gators. A lot of these creatures you wouldn't want to seek out with a preschooler in tow but there are still plenty of ways to appreciate many of the species that live here without risking life and limb. Quaker Parrots - If you live in close vicinity to Uptown and Carrollton, or at the very  Read more...

99 Things to do With Your Preschooler Before Kindergarten

by Kelly Leahy

January 27, 2008

For today we at Savvy Source are listing 99 things to do with your preschooler before the big K. I can't even wrap my head around kindergarten right now but it's fast approaching. Rather than come up with 99 things, I'm going to start off the list with nine. Please add more in the comments! Take a ride on the Algiers Ferry. I keep saying that I'm going to do this but I haven't yet. Know the  Read more...