archive for April 2007

What Makes a Great Playspace?

I’ve recently been having a dialog with the national non-profit KaBOOM! about how Parentography can work with them to help spread the word about the good work they do around the country helping communities build and refurbish playspaces.  One of the questions they asked in one of our email exchanges was “What makes a great playspace?”.  I’m not an expert, but I’ve given it some thought as a parent and as someone who regularly seeks out parks and playgrounds to write about on Parentography and here are my answers (feel free to leave a comment with your own ideas or thoughts about my list):

Infants/Babies:

• Ample and free parking 
• Shade
• A Place to sit down
• Restrooms (with changing stations)
• Infanct swings (the kind that look like a bucket with holes cut out where the legs go)
• Sand and grass play areas
• Vending machines with water, healthy snacks
• Other friendly parents

Toddlers:

• Same as above, but also:
• play structures that include a slide
• Seasonal water elements (fountains, etc.)
• Soft surfaces (mulch, rubberized mats or surfacing) underneath play equipment
• Some low elements — like plastic and metal animals to climb on, tables, etc.
• Bright colors wherever possible

Elementary Age:

• Same as above, but also:
• Climbing structures, ladder elements, firefighter-style poles, all separated from the younger children’s play areas
• Sport courts (basketball, tetherball, four square boxes, tennis, etc.)

Parentography Now Covers Canada

It is a little-known fact, but I was actually born in Nova Scotia (although I’m a US citizen), so I’ve always felt a certain fondness for our neighbors to the north.  When we launched Parentography, we’d hoped to be a global resource from the very first day…that didn’t happen, but the goal has remained.  Today marks our first steps in that direction with Canada becoming the first country outside of the U.S. to be covered by Parentography.

If you live in Canada or travel there, you can now share your opinions and experiences with other Parentographers!  Try searching for restaurants in Toronto, ON or museums in Vancouver, BC (we haven’t changed the design on the search boxes yet to include provinces, so just use the province name or abbreviation where you’d put in a state for a U.S. location)…and start reviewing! 

Primer of Family 2.0 Sites

There is an ever-growing list of online communities devoted to helping parents get the advice they seek.  Below is a primer to help anyone who’s looking get a better idea of the range of sites that are out there (not including the thousands of personal blogs written by moms and dads):

Social Networking Sites (like MySpace, but for parents):

• Minti —  Australian site; maybe the first social network to focus on parents; large international audience.
• MothersClick — Facilitates interactions among offline parent groups with online tools; handy Q&A area.
• Mayasmom — Pioneer of bringing “Kidisms” (funny things kids say)to the masses.  Also allows parents to post their own journal entries.
• CafeMom — Started by the owners of ClubMom (including Meredith Vieira of the Today Show).  Launched in late 2006, this site has already attracted a sizeable following.
• ParentsConnect — Nickelodeon’s take on the MySpace for moms theme.  Allows video uploads and has event calendars for major U.S. Cities.
• Family.com — Disney’s recently re-launched portal for everything “parent”.  They have a Top 1000 list of the best parenting sites submitted by their members.

 Other Top Advice Sites:

• Babycenter — Along with iVillage, their message boards cover more than any other site and they are well-used.
• iVillage — NBC recently purchased this site, so it will be interesting to see what changes they make.  For now, still one of the top discussion board sites out there.
• Berkeley Parents Network — A site for parents living near Berkeley, CA, but has lots of advice from members that would apply to parents anywhere. 
• ParentHacks — Practical parenting wisdom from other parents in the form of a communal blog.

 If I missed a great one, please tell me by posting a comment!

Any good headphones for toddlers?

We’ve just returned from a trip to San Francisco to visit my sister and her family.  Like we do for all of our outings, we brought along our portable DVD player.  When we use it in our car, we just keep the volume on low, but when we go out to restaurants or fly on a plane, we’d really like to use headphones, but haven’t found any that fit our two-year-old’s head and ears very well.

Does anyone know of a good pair of earphones for little ones that are comfortable and safe?

Digg for Parents

First, Csara over at babytalkers (a useful blog and discussion forum for parents) listed our site as one of her 15 favorite “Mommy Blogs”.  We’re in good company on her list and are very proud to be included…in fact, I think this is the first time that we’ve ever best listed as someone’s favorite anything!

I’ve also been enjoying a technology news-round-up service from the venture firm Y Combinator that delivers (via RSS) very focused articles of interest to Internet entrepreneurs.  It has become the news I check most often and I’ve been wanting something similar for parents since there is just so much good content being written and shared every day.  Now, Csara and company have come up with what may be the solution: www.thebabybug.com.  If you’ve used Digg, the format and approach will be familiar.  You submit articles and the community votes on them.  The ones with the highest number of votes reach the front page.  I encourage you to check it out and, if you’re a blogger yourself, tell your readers and submit your stories!