Spring Break Camp!!!!

Spring is here, I guess it's time to get ready for spring break!!!

Since we follow Issaquah School District schedules, Spring Break Camps at AK will start the week AFTER our Spring Festival (April 9-13).

The movies have inspired our theme for the week! We'll be enjoying daily themes such as Alice in Wonderland, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Chronicles of Narnia, and Pirates of the Caribbean!

This week is going to be a blast!!!

$25 / Session
$45 for all day (includes hot lunch)
Siblings receive 20% discount
Make your reservations today!

SUMMER CAMP SCHEDULE

Our artwork is nearly complete, but we wanted to give everybody a preview of our Summer Camp Schedule!

Adventure Kids Playcare is offering twelve weeks of summer camps with convenient morning (9-12) and afternoon (1-4PM) sessions or you can stay all day as each session changes! A different theme each week featuring pop culture themes that are sure to entertain! Half day session costs $25 / day, full day is $45 / day and includes lunch. Additional siblings receive 20% off. Before and after care available at regular, low rates for registered families!

Week One: Tropical Paradise June 11 - June 15
Aloha! Join us for a week of tropical fun in the sun. You won’t want to miss doing the limbo, hula hoop contests and island inspired crafts.

Week Two: The Apprentice June 18 - June 22
Dreaming of being a doctor, fire fighter or exploring outer space? This week you will be the apprentice and explore future possibilities without having to hear the dreaded words…”You’re fired!”

Week Three: Chef’s Academy: International Week June 25 - June 29
Your budding chef will explore the flavors around the world and learn how to create their own tasty international treats.

Week Four: Home of the Brave July 2 - July 6
You are invited to a celebration of our country, its birthday and heritage. Be patriotic and wear your red, white, and blue!

Week Five: Survivor Campout July 9 - July 13
Come “survive” with us on a summer camp out this week as we celebrate all things cool about camping, nature and the great outdoors.

Week Six: Movie Magic July 16 - July 20
Let us roll out the red carpet for you for a glitzy and glamorous week of movie magic.

Week Seven: Fear Factor July 23 - July 27
Join us for a thrilling week of Fear Factor challenges and games! Kids will love to participate in our SAFE and non-threatening “fearful” challenges and make crazy crafts.

Week Eight: Cartoon Mania July 30 - August 3
Who doesn’t love cartoons? Each day will be themes around your favorite cartoon characters like Pokémon and Scooby-Doo!

Week Nine: Chef’s Academy: Food Network Star August 6 - August 10
Let’s make our own culinary creations just like your favorite chefs on TV with a week focusing on a variety of foods, flavors and treats!

Week Ten: Medieval Times August 13 - August 17
Step back into time and be a brave knight or royal princess. You can even hope to learn a little of Merlin’s magic!

Week Eleven: Blast From the Past August 20 - August 24
Be a time traveler this week as we have fun through the past decades. Each day will bring something new!

Week Twelve: Circus Carnival August 27 - September 1
Come one, come all! Step right up and get ready for a week under the big top with tons of carnival games and silly craft surprises.

Spring Festival 2012!!!

April 7, 2012 is the date for the 3rd Annual Adventure Kids Playcare Spring Festival! The festival will start at 10 am and go till 4 pm! Adventure Kids Playcare couldn't be happier to produce this event for all of our families and the community!

Some things will be very similar to last year... There will be inflatable bounce houses, slides & obstacle courses, an Easter Egg Hunt inside of AKP, the Games 2 U video game trailer, and a number of local businesses onsite as our sponsors, making the entire event FREE to the public! Check out the picture from last year.

Some things will be slightly different.

We've extended the time an extra 2 hours!
We've recruited some volunteers! (Of course there is room for more...)
Many of our sponsors are local business owners and AKP customers!
Games 2 U is bringing a brand new zip-line for everybody to experience!


Sponsorship:
If you have a local business and would like to spend the day with us as a sponsor, please contact Ed Mecum (ed.mecum@adventurekidsplaycare.com) for the details.

Have plans to get fit in January Issaquah?

Adventure Kids Playcare is here to help with your childcare needs! If you are a member of Adventure Kids Playcare, we have several partnerships around town with fitness centers that range from hot yoga to crossfit and whole health planning. If you're looking for a nutrition program designed to jump start your fitness and body composition changes, we really like the Advocare line of supplements and meal plans. Nicole can get you everything you need for the 24 day challenge.

Here are our partners and the discounts on childcare available with each. To be fair, they are in alphabetical order.

Fitness Together offers individual fitness and nutrition training and education. Childcare at AK is free during your training sessions.

Gravity Janes takes Crossfit to another level and focuses on the fit-ness of your exercise and diet routine with a variety of group trainings, private trainings and nutritional seminars. Childcare at AK is half price during training sessions.

Hot Yoga Experience features far-infrared saunas, hatha and power classes and cater to beginners and long time practicioners alike. Childcare at AK is free during classes.

Sound Body Fitness & Nutrition offers a variety of exercise classes and nutrition training. This month, they are offering a free week of classes with free childcare at AK.

Stroller Strides is holding classes at Swedish Hospital with us & we're offering their members 30% off childcare during their workouts and the hour after.

Terra Yoga offers Hot Hatha Yoga, Power Vinyasa, and Anahata Vinyasa as well as Prenatal Yoga, private sessions, workshops and Pranassage®, a combination of yoga and bodywork that produces deep relaxation in the receiver. Childcare at AK is half price during classes.

We hope this information is helpful in your pursuit of health in 2012! Links to each of these partners are provided to the left.

What is a Drop-in Childcare Center???

A lot of people come to us at Adventure Kids Playcare and really aren't sure what it is we do. Usually, their friends have told them that they have to come check us out, but they don't really understand why. Everybody knows how a daycare operates (boring!). Everybody knows how Chuck E. Cheese operates (crazy!). But if you've never had a drop in center, chances are you just don't understand how it can change the way you live your life. There are times I feel like I'm trying to explain to a desert nomad how cool and refreshing a summer time swim can be and they look at me like I'm crazy for wasting the water!

Known as AK if you are texting, Adventure Kids Playcare is a child entertainment center that is also licensed as a childcare care center. This means that parents can leave their children with a care provider whose main goal is to make sure the children have a GREAT time while having all of their basic needs met as well. We provide meals and snacks, take care of hygiene, lead arts & craft projects, lead games, read stories & provide an opportunity for kids to meet new friends nearly every day. We provide bus transportation before and after school to several Issaquah schools and make sure the kids are getting their home work done. We hold camps all the weeks that school is out and are always open if it snows.

I think our only limitations are a defined capacity, children who are obviously ill, have a condition that requires one on one attention or threatens other children, and putting the kids to bed for you (although we do try to get the to sleep later in the evening.) The owners are there most of the time & really do listen to parents if there is a concern and try to find a good solution.

The advertising conundrum

What child friendly sites do most parents trust for valuable information? I know of several as they have all contacted me for advertising 'opportunities' on their sites. Most of the now large advertising companies are mostly run by professionals who may or may not have kids of their own. The thing I can't wrap my head around is that for all of their 'authoritative knowledge' of all things kid related, their e-mails and websites are simply paid advertising. The thing is parents don't actually know that because they haven't been contacted to advertise with them and had their events & venues ignored as a result of NOT advertising. There is actually NO information on most of these sites that isn't a result of a paid transaction.

So who is a parent to really trust???

As far as I can tell, by looking at the Facebook posts from some of these sites, there is little content that isn't paid for. I can say that Adventure Kids Playcare of Issaquah has been the recipient of several unpaid posts from Macaroni Kid and Rely Local, which does make me trust their information as more authentic. Parent Map, Red Tricycle and others have yet to do anything that wasn't every expensive for us to place, so we don't do much with them. We tried to place in Red Tricycle's best of contest, but placed behind other companies we know to advertise with them even though we believe we provide a better service based on the comments of our customers.

Adventure Kids Playcare sends out an e-mail every month or so and we try to highlight some parent oriented activities. It's crossed my mind to start charging businesses for this advertising, but I decided that I really don't want to. I want to keep our newsletter as an honest review of what's going on in our area. Of course that only gets read by our existing customers, so attracting new customers this way is a very slow process, which leads us back to advertising. What else is a small business to do? Please see our ads on Macaroni Kid.

Dangerous times!

I'm constantly reminded of the hazards present in my children's lives. No, I'm not obsessing over stalkers or 'bad guys'. I'm thinking of things like the ever present hazard of being last & instantly becoming the dreaded 'rotten egg.' Or the extreme danger one poses to their mother when walking near cracks!

This weekend at Adventure Kids, children were subjected to the dangers of the age of dinosaurs! Luckily, none were injured in any of the activities! The all seemed very happy when they left! I can only assume they were so happy because they had survived the experience.

Coming up this weekend is an Issaquah AKP original theme of Pokemon Party! Kids will begin their training as a Pokemon Master by developing the tools and skills required to weather the hazards of Pokemon battles! How many Pokemon can you name? Make your reservations at www.adventurekidsplaycare.com/issaquah/reservations.html

THEN, in case nobody has noticed, there are more and more spider webs growing in our center and I've seen some VERY large spiders lurking in the office and entry! I'm sure they will start migrating south after our Haunted Adventure on Sunday, Oct 30, but until then, please be very careful when visiting Adventure Kids.