Weekly Happenings To Keep in Mind!

A parent of a toddler that is a very busy bee my husband and I always have a Plan A, B and C to make our day go smooth. These are our plan C's ( our steady rock solid standbys). When all else fails and we cannot think of anything else to do these are our fallbacks that we know are always going on. We are huge library goers, our daughter struggles with the sitting for story time frequently, we are always reintroducing the library to her ( she finally sat during a story time for three minutes outside of the song and rhyme time last month!). As a pre-school teacher and observing friends children ( as well as my own) all children's interests are different and I suggest following their passions. Also, take into consideration the child when choosing events ( temperament, energy level and daily schedule). There are many events my husband and I pass up because we think it may be setting our daughter up for failure. A prime example was there were free goat snuggle sessions in Westbrook coming up -- something our daughter would love. When I showed interest a friend said she waited in line for up to an hour to get a 2 minute session with a baby goat on top of the two hour drive down and back at some point that day. That would be setting my two year old up for failure and disappointment. In theory that sounded perfect, in reality we would struggle in line for an hour or two for two minutes of bliss to have that ripped from her later resulting in a meltdown in our car until she eventually fell asleep on our two hour car ride home. There are many times my husband has opted out of story times knowing my daughter needed to get out and run. This is okay too. On the other spectrum I have had friends tell me their kids gross motor skills were their for the bounce house or they didn't enjoy them. As far as schedules are concerned I have friends whose kids are down at 6:30 for the night and others at 8:30 depending on the naps and needs for the child and parents. Nap times are things to take into consideration when choosing destinations.These are the places my husband and I frequent with our daughter. You may have some you want to add in comments that you frequent/ know good friends host or have heard good things about!

Bangor:


Bangor Public Library

• Mother Goose Story Time: Wednesday @ 10:15 ( newborn to 24 months)
• Tiny Tots Storty Time: Wednesday @11:00 ( 2 to 4 years old)

Briar Patch Story Time: Tuesday@ 10:30

Maine Discovery Museum 

• Messy Art: Wednesday @10:30 ( schedules change in July & August for camps)
• Clay Play: Friday @ 11:00 ( schedules change in July & August for camps)

Playgrounds and Parks: Chapin, Fairmount, Little City, Downeast, Broadway, Hayford, Vine St., Howard St. and Second Street.Plus, all elementary school locations. Sunrise to Sunset.

Walking trails: Bangor City Forrest, Prentiss Woods, Essex Woods, Kenduskeag Stream Park, Brown Woods, Walden Parke and Northeast Penjajawoc. Sunrise to Sunset.

Family Fun Bowling Lanes -15 Hildreth St. ( Bumpers for little ones and affordable)

Mcdonalds Playplace: Broadway ( for those rainy days or freezing winters)Tip: best to go when older kids are in school and we get fruit for our daughter to snack on there as a healthy alternative.

Brewer:


  Brewer Public Library Pre-schooler Story Time: Tuesday and Wednesday @10:30 Sept. - May

Playland Adventure Toddler Time: 10:00 a.m. daily $5 for children 2 & under plus adults play for free. $9 for 3 to 9 year olds with adults playing for free. We call this toddler time since only parents of toddler go during the school year ( Sept. - May) during the day. Summers get crazy when school is out so we avoid it to dodge the school age kids ( they aren't so good about following the toddler inflatable rules so much).

Playgrounds and Parks: Brewer Riverwalk , Fisherman's Park , Sunset park, Fling Street Park, Indian Trail

Brewer Children's Garden

Hampden:

Eydthe L. Dyer Community Library

• Play and Learn ( ages 3 months to 6 years) Mondays @ 9:30
• Pre-school Story Time ( ages 3 years to 5 years) Tuesdays @10:30
• Toddler Time ( age 2) Thursdays and Fridays @ 9:30
• Story Time in Japanese Wednesday @10:00

Lura E. Hoit Memorial Pool:

• Monday- Friday Open Swim @ 12:30 to 1:00
• Monday- Friday Family Swim @ 2:30 to 4:00
• Wednesday and Friday Family Swim @5:30 to 6:30
• Saturday Family Swim @ 3:30 to 5:00

Parks and Playgrounds:

• Dorthea Dix Park

Old Town:

Old Town Public Library:

• Toddler time - Monday & Thursday Mornings @10:30 to 10:55 
• Brown Lunch Program  ( summers only for 4 &5 year olds) 

Old Town YMCA Costs:

Gymnastics: Family $15/ Members $20/ Non-members $25

• Mommy + Me Gymnastics ( ages 2-4 years) Mondays @ 2:00, Tuesday & Thursday@ 9:45, Saturday@ 10:00
• Pre-school Open Play ( 8 months to 4 years) Tuesday & Thursday@ 9:00 
• Pre-school Movement ( ages 3-5 years)

Swim Lessons: Members $25/ Non-Members $40

• Parent/child ( ages 6 months to 3) Tuesdays@ 3:30 and Saturdays @ 10:10
• Pike with Parents ( ages 2 to 5) Thursdays @ 3:30 and Saturday @ 10:10

J. Franklin Witter Teaching & Research Center ( farm) - Weekdays 10a.m. to 4:00 pm

• Sheep
• Cows
• Horses

University Bike Trail- University to Witter Farm to Perkin's Avenue

University Forrest- Outer College avenue to Sewall rd.

Parks and playgrounds: Perkin's Avenue and Main st. ( both have free water parks, playgrounds and fields to play in)

Old Town Bowling Center

Landtrust: Bennoch Rd.

Mcdonalds Playplace: Stillwater ( for those rainy days or freezing winters) Tip: best to go when older kids are in school and we get fruit for our daughter to snack on there as a healthy alternative.

  

Orono:

Orono Public Library

• Infant and Toddler Story Time- Thursdays @10:15 
• Toddler and Pre-schooler Story Time- Thursdays @ 11:00
• Pajama Story Story Time ( one Thurday evening a month Sept.-May)

Parks and Playgrounds: Webster Park, Goodridge Dr. and Browns Beach

Land Trusts: Bennoch rd., Water St. Lupine Path and Orchard Trails

University Resources:

• Roger Clapp Garden
• Littlefield Greenhouse
• New Banlance Rec Center ( $5 a child and $8 an adult)
• Planetarium ( suggesting ages 4+)
• Merril Hall Infant/Toddler Program ( Starts in Sept. contact Margo Brown for information)
• Mainebound Adventure  Thursdays- $2 night 3 to 10 pm and Family Night Saturdays @3 to 5
• Free Skate At the Alfond - $5 an adult and kids under 5 skate for free!
• Class of 1944 Hall- music lessons at times. 
• The Mall in front of the library 

This is all I am posting for now within my comfort level as our Plan C's. If you live outside of these areas in Penobscot County let me know and I can try and find something closer to you. But, I find many of these places are central to most surrounding towns.