Winter Break 2021: Staycation Style

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Parent Category: Newsflashes

Category: Newsflash

DOE mid-winter break is the 15th - 19th. With many camps on reduced capacity, we've put together some short trips for your family. Get your tickets to these places now!

Take a walk in Prospect Park off the beaten path (like the peninsula and Lullwater)

Visit a Museum:Brooklyn Children's Museum,Brooklyn Art Museum (there's a new kid-friendly art exhibit), orthe Met all have appointments available.

Explore art outside. Check out theBrooklyn Botanic Garden,Green-wood Cemetery,NY Botanic Garden,Queens; Socrates Sculpture Park,Storm King Art Center,The Cloisters. The winter is a great time to get out!

Ice Skate! There are rinks in Industry City, Prospect Park, Central Park, Brookfield Place and more.

Hike! Harriman State Park, Bear Mountain, Pelham Bay Park, ore even a walk at Jacob Riis Park.

Take a walk around the lake at Prospect Park, build a fort, or give back and pick up trash!.

Drive the family to the (old) Fairway parking lot in Red Hook and watch the sun go down on Lady Liberty.

Sign up to help at a food pantry or mutual aid group. Camp Friendship needs helpers and drivers. If you have a P-EBT card you can still buy good and donate it.

Listen to an album or playlist that takes you back to a fun time.  High School Party mix, college spring break mix, or playlist of songs about becoming a parent. PSP has Spotify playlist of bearable kids’ music here. 

Pick back up on a hobby you used to have or start a new one with your kids.  Dust off your guitar, re-learn how to knit, or do puzzles.

Get out of the house once a day, even if it’s for a deep breath on your doorstep.

Sprout seeds or start a potato.  Get yourself an egg carton and start some seeds. Or put a sweet potato, carrot, celery in water.

Write an old fashion letter or card.  Water color some pretty paper as a card and write a note to someone you love reminding them of how they are special.

 Take a walk in Green-wood Cemetery

Sleep more (and snuggle while you do).  Take naps with your kids, snuggle while reading or watching movies.

Take one of the Park Slope Parents virtual community exercise classes

Have show and tell with photos they’ve taken over the past week or photos from when they were little kids. 

Check in on friends.  Push your kids to make a real connection (facetime counts, but more than texting or a group chat) to a friend every other day.

Play online games with Jackinthebox is a way to play games with other folks. 

Listen to audiobooks or podcasts while you deep clean your closet.

Purge things you don’t love or use and donate it here. 

Cook.  Go through your favorite family recipes and facetime/zoom with other family members while you cook. Take videos while you cook so you have a record for posterity.

Be creative. Shop at Artisans and Craftsman on 2nd between 4th and 5th  and make some fun crafts.  South Slope’s Amazing Variety (5th Ave between 14th and 15th) also has a good selection of crafts. 

Meditate when you wake up and again at night.  Work on energizing the breath, especially on those days when you wake up not feeling rested. At night, let all the stress go. 

Try birding.  The Brooklyn Bird Club meets up in Prospect Park (one coming up Sunday, February 14th). 

If you were hoping to go somewhere and you’re no longer going, consider watching tour videos of the places you wanted to visit.  There are even places that will give virtual synchronous tours. Here’s a tour of Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires that rivals our local Green-Wood Cemetery. 

Treat yourself to a home-made spa treatment. Buy fun bath and beauty products, foot soaks,  and take 15 minute breaks  during the day to break up the monotony. 

Dance more!

Create a scavenger hunt with your kids. Take post it notes, start at the end (where you plant the “yay you found it” item, and then go backwards planting clues. You can do this at a museum as well. Or consider geocaching

Winter in the City: Top Tips for Weathering the Storm

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Parent Category: Newsflashes

Category: Newsflash

NYC.Gov’s Snow Response Page (you can track the snow plows!)

Ready.Gov’s Winter Weather Resources

Your Family:

• Shop early and shop smart. Definitely pick up hot chocolate with mini-marshmallows, but also make sure you have easy-to-eat foods on hand in case the power goes out.

• Buy some “hot hands” or other hand and feet warmers.

• Keep your cell phones and other devices charged in case of a power outage. 

• Check in on family members outside your home to make sure they are okay. 

• Have extra water on hand just in case. (Filling up a bathtub or some big pots works.)

• Get blankets, fuzzy socks and fun layers ready in case the heat goes out. Mittens are warmer than gloves. Wear a hat to keep your whole body warmer. A warm neck helps too, so remember to wrap up in a scarf!

• Co-sleep if the power goes out!  

• Have flashlights, candles, and books on hand to read if the power goes out.

• Heat up a blanket or towel in the dryer and snuggle up if you have power. Watch the flakes fall and talk about fun times in the snow. 

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Birth and Beyond Stories: January 2021

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Category: Pregnancy and Childbirth

Park Slope Parents held a meet-up headlined by a few awesome members who volunteered to share their experiences birthing in NYC during the last few months. Find the key takeaways for expectant parents below!

Also check out the PSP Birthing and Beyond Toolkit, featuring more than 50 pages of information, from full lists of things to bring to the hospital to questions to ask before you go!

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