kid perspective

This is what I love best about hanging out with kids...adults see a bike rack, kids see an obstacle course!

the more the merrier

Check out this Abrakadoodle artist cutie who got busy wth our little purses after class last week...and as anyone knows, if one purse is good, four is even better!

action paint at Stone Arch with kiddywampus this weekend!

We're thrilled to be back at Stone Arch Festival of the Arts again this year -- and are hoping for good weather! Stop by to say hi and try your hand at some outdoor action painting that would make Jackson Pollock proud.

We'll be located in the Youth Arts Quarter in Father Hennepin Park at the foot of the Stone Arch Bridge.

For more info about Stone Arch Festival, check out: http://stonearchfestival.com/

a snack fit for a fairy (or picky eater!)

We at kiddywampus love to use our right brains (where the imagination+risk taking happens)–even when it comes to feeding the little ones. What would fairies eat at a tea party? Why, pearls of course! Mozzarella pearls in a shot glass make for an inventive snack, and a healthy one at that!

the Cookie that got away

One of my very favorite US parenting magazines is Cookie. I love the pictures, the originality and perspective of the articles and the travel section is unbelievable.

So imagine how thrilled we were when last fall Cookie came to town to take pics for an upcoming article on the Twin Cities as a family destination (I thought their first call to us was a prank until the photographer emailed me with a Cookie address). In December we were asked to ship a box full of our products for pictures to accompany the store pics. We learned at end February that the issue on the Twin Cities would be in the April issue. And when the second fact-checker called to confirm our address and some of our products, our move date was only two weeks away so I felt I had to speak up about our pending move. I pleaded that we were only moving a couple of miles, etc., but in the end our new location no longer fit the article.

So here we are, Cookieless. The article is a good one, though, and lists lots of great places to visit with your kids, so check it out at http://www.cookiemag.com/travel/cityguide/2008/03/minneapolis.

We Want Our kiddywampus Back. Right Now!

Right now it’s moving time at kiddywampus, which means a huge sale (ends this Saturday, March 8th!) with products we aren’t taking with us, some we are taking but we have lots of, and the assorted odd treasure we’ve unearthed in the backroom. The store now has stacks and tables of toys reduced for clearance—while our activity stations and toys out for play are either packed up or sold. And our kid customers aren’t having it.

Earlier this week I spent 20 minutes with a 3 year old in our kiddyplay space, looking at the empty shelves where toys once sat. She kept saying “no toys” in an accusatory voice and looking at me. I told her we were moving to a bright happy new store, with more and new toys. I showed her the boxes we’d packed and how the toys fit in them and how great it was going to be and she just looked at me and kept repeating “no toys.”

I feel lucky that some of our regular customers know us well enough to where this change bothers them. I love that they wander around the shelves stacked with toys and then ask me “where are the toys?” I love how they come here with the expectation that they can wander around freely and play with everything, even if that’s not true for us for this one sale week.

So, to our littler customers: we hear you, and rest assured, your kiddywampus will be back soon…I can’t take this kind of pressure!