Another Reason For Tweens To Ride Bikes

Friday, May 18th, is the annual Bike to Work Day in Washington (cities around the country have held Bike to Work Days throughout this week) - it should just as easily be called Bike Everywhere Day to include kids. We stumbled upon a recent study that found that kids who are driven everywhere grow up alienated from their environments, whereas kids who grow up walking and biking in their neighborhoods feel safer and have better senses of both direction and belonging.
We want our tween daughters to be able to navigate a city, use public transportation with confidence, and learn how to be safe in a multitude of environments - and a big part of all of those goals is helping them to form a good sense of direction and be map-literate. We found the study to be very interesting and promptly went out and purchased bus passes for the girls. We'll all be biking tomorrow and have spent this month getting used to taking the bus home from school. Does your family use public transportation or bikes to get around? What tips can you share about teaching tweens to be safely independent?

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It's Viktor Krum's Birthday!

It's Stanislav Ianevski's , the actor who play Viktor Krum in the 4th Harry Potter movie ( GoF ), birthday today! Celebrate by answering this Trivia Question: Who did Krum take to the Yule Ball? Answer in the next post!

Finally: Athletic Gear Designed JUST for Tween Girls

Loyal readers know that we're constantly monitoring the market for gear that's designed with tweens in mind, and many of you will remember that we noted the launch of a new line of athletic gear by Ivivva from the founders of Lululemon back in 2009. The line is finally available State-side, and we were thrilled to have our tweens review their latest collection. We have three serious tween athletes in our house: a ballet dancer, a fencer, and an ice skater. Each girl reviewed the line - the tween fencer's review of three pieces from the collection is the first in this series.


Indi's Review of Ivivva:

I fence three days a week and attend a ton of tournaments all over the country. The sport requires you to wear fencing whites, but you have to wear workout gear underneath. You sweat A LOT, and the under layer has to be light and enable you to really MOVE. I field-tested three items from the Ivivva Athletica line - here's what I thought:

The hoodie was super cool! I particularly loved the thumb-holes on the sleeves because it was interesting, and I like that style of “skater girl”. Also, I liked that it was reversible because then I could pull it off and on, and it wouldn’t matter which way it was facing (so I didn’t have to turn it right side out). I also liked the styles of the jacket because one was plain, and one was patterned - which is great because then it could go well with the outfit you choose. I found the pony-tail hole in the back of the hood funny, but kind of odd. I still enjoyed seeing my friends reactions when I turned away from them and they could see my hair coming out of my hood.

The pants proved to be a great staple to my closet. They were plain black with a blue stripe on the top, giving it some pattern. It went well with most things I wore and was great to when I needed a pair of bottoms to pair with my top, I also enjoyed that flexibility they allowed me, a great thing when I need them to work out in. Overall, I liked them!

I really loved this tank! It was fitted (a good thing when you need it to wear under a lot of protective gear) and made me look professional and put together when I went to fencing practice. I also liked the color because it was different shades of blue that had a subtle, though interesting pattern. I also appreciated how it seemed to help me not be drenched in sweat at the end of a practice, but relatively dry - it's well named as the "Keep Ur Cool Tank". I thought it was awesome!!!

Hoodie, $64, Pants, $56, Tank, $22 - all from Ivivva Athletica

Mom's note: As a parent, I'll note that Ivivva is worth the premium price. The items have held up very well in the wash (cool water, tumble dry), the material really "breathes", and the fit flatters our tweens of all body types. We've bought budget athletic gear from Target as well as pricey items from Under Armour in the past, but this is the first line that's really worked for our girls - probably because it was designed with tween girls in mind from the get-go.

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Tweens at the USA Science and Engineering Festival

 
This weekend was the second annual USA Science and Engineering Festival. Last year's event was on the National Mall, and this year's festival graduated to the Washington Convention Center. The Expo was packed with vendors ranging from NASA to NOAA to Girl Scouts to the University of Maryland and more. Families with kids of all ages made their way to the Festival throughout the weekend and were treated to workshops from Bill Nye the Science Guy, Potato Chip Science, and Dr. Molecule.

For a tween girl interested in science, #SciFest was the place to be. There were giant DNA models, a chance to chat with astronauts, goop to muck through, giant bubble hula hoops, and instant snow demonstrations. Demonstration winners earned free t-shirts, NASAtote bags, and other science swag. STEM educators and organizations were well represented across every age group.

The Festival is funded primarily by enterpreneur Larry Bock and enjoys support from a Congressional Host Committee.

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Worth Every Second of her Seven Minutes: Tavi Gevinson at TedxTeen

A must-see video for every tween girl and her parents by former tween (now teen) fashion blogger, Tavi Gevinson (a.k.a. The Girl Who Always Gets It) at TedxTeen.  Brava, and long live Stevie Nicks!



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Latest Tween Video Obsession: Glee's Darren Criss and Scott Bomer Perform Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know"

Our tweens can't stop watching this (and neither can their mum):



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An Easter Egg Hunt Designed For Tweens

We're constantly looking for new ways to update holiday traditions with our tweens, and this Easter we're trying a new twist on the traditional egg hunt: a flashlight egg hunt. We're planning ours for the Friday night before Easter (so as not to conflict with the Passover Seder) and ending with a screening at home of the big Easter movie from last year, Hop (the DVD went on sale March 23.)


How does one do a flashlight egg hunt? With a bit of planning. Here's ours:
 
We round up all the flashlights in the house: one for each tween (if your neighborhood or church group were super organized, it looks like you can also get these personalized).

Then the Easter Bunny hides the eggs (during daylight). He choses glittered eggs that are easier to spot when a light shines on them and stuffs others with a glow-in-the-dark bracelet so that they glow. (These you'll have to hide strategically to make them harder a spot.)

Since the hunts on Sunday mornings are primarily for the younger set (and in our family, the tweens must help the littles, not hunt themselves), we're having fun stuffing these eggs especially for tweens with LipSmackers, sticker sheets, hair ties, Cadbury eggs, and Peeps. We're even making a few braces-themed eggs that contain cherry flavored braces wax, those mini Wisp toothbrushes, and mini M-and-;Ms (which melts and doesn't stick so is safe for those sporting orthodontia).

We will end the festivities with the Hop movie screening and serve (what else?) Peeps fondue. After the sugar rush, the girls will have fun giving each other colorful Easter egg manicures - perfect for sporting with her dress on Sunday.

Hoppy Easter!


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Infographic on Girl Scout Cookies

We came across this fantastic infographic on Girl Scout Cookies and just had to share:

From: Top-Business-Degrees.net

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Hunger Games Bling For Tweens

"The Hunger Games" movie coming out today isn't for every tween. (The rule in our house is that we have to read the book before seeing the movie. In this instance, our eldest tweens have read "The Hunger Games" trilogy, so they are being allowed to see the movie so long as they're accompanied by an adult. The youngest tween will need to wait a few more years before she can see the movie.)


That said, we are HUGE fans of Katniss Everdeen as a positive, strong heroine for tween girls. And while we enjoyed reading the "Twilight" series, Bella Swan's self-pity and helplessness made mom flinch - a lot. In honor of Katniss, we stumbled upon these fun talismans of a bow and arrow on Etsy. They remind us of her strength and talent - two qualities that we're looking forward to seeing portrayed and celebrated by a girl on the big screen.

$6.50 on Pier7Craft's Etsy shop.

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St Patrick's Day Activities for Tweens: An End of the Rainbow Party

We were thrilled when our friends at Club Chica Circle asked us to write a guest post for them on ways to celebrate St. Patrick's Day with tweens. We had a ball creating an End of the Rainbow party in honor of the day - check out our post for ideas and how-to's here.

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