Neighborhood-Kids All Local. All for Kids. All the Time.

Local Highlights

•   Student Art at “Explore the Gallery”
  

  Student art from Bellingham Public Schools, Columbia and Sunnyland Elementary Schools, inspired by the classical suite "Pictures at an Exhibition," will be displayed during upcoming Whatcom Symphony Orchestra concerts at the Western Washington University Performing Arts Center. Whatcom painters Donna Washington and Ben Mann used the music to inspire first through fourth grade students during art lessons.

•   4th Annual Eat Local Week in Bellingham
  

  If you’re anything like me, it doesn’t take much to come up with a good “excuse” for eating out. But this week you have the perfect reason for visiting some of your favorite local restaurants—perhaps even more than once!—as it’s Sustainable Connections’ 4th Annual Eat Local Week, a celebration of the various local products available from Whatcom County farms and food processers during the harvest season.

•   Kids are Walking to School Around the World
  

  School is just getting started this fall and Whatcom County kids are invited to start the year off right by participating in International Walk to School Day, on October 8, 2008. Organizers are hoping to include participants from 5,000 schools across all 50 states this year, as well as walkers in 40 countries around the globe. EverybodyBIKE organizers hope the event will inspire to walk to school all year long.

•   3 Days of Labor-Free Fun in Whatcom County
  

  The kids might not be looking forward to starting school next week, but at least it’s a three-day weekend so your family can enjoy some extra time together. If you need to keep the kids entertained for just a few more days, here are some fun (and FREE) events taking place across Whatcom County during this holiday weekend. Whether they love music and dance or car racing, there's definitely something going on to get the kids' attention.

•   Some Friendly Competition Keeps Kids Active
  

  Bellingham Parks and Recreation affords ample opportunities for kids and adults to get plugged in to recreational classes and activities throughout the year. During the month of August, this great city department heads up several chances to get active, and to get out a little aggression with some friendly competition. Kids can still sign-up for these athletic activities coming up over the next few weeks.

•   Bellingham Families Have A Blast at Kids' Fest
  

  Hundreds of kids and parents turned out at Bloedel Donovan Park on Saturday August 2 for the 19th Annual Kids’ Festival, sponsored by Bellingham Parks and Recreation. Clouds hovered over the shores of Lake Whatcom, but the skies stayed dry and eventually turned sunny as families enjoyed food, games, and live performances at this free community event with plenty of activities to keep kids of all age entertained.

•   Bellingham Kids Get Crafty at the Library
  

  On a quintessential Bellingham summer day—sunny skies with a comfortable breeze—160 local kids manned booths at the 40th Annual Children’s Craft Fair on the Bellingham Central Library lawn. This year’s fair on Friday, July 25 featured 56 different booths offering wares like pottery, reusable shopping bags made out of t-shirts and duct tape, and tooth fairy pillows, along with tasty refreshments, like Italian Sodas and baked goods.

•   Dance It Up at Bellingham’s Outdoor Concerts
  

  It feels like summer just started, but stores are already advertising Back to School sales and stringing up autumnal decorations in window displays. Don’t give in to fall just yet; we still have a few weeks of summer fun left in Bellingham! So get outside and enjoy one of the many Outdoor Concerts taking place at local parks and other venues in August. All these concerts are family-friendly and free!

•   Ski to Sea: A Bellingham Tradition
  

  The three-day Memorial Day weekend often signals the start of summer. But in Bellingham, the long weekend also marks one of our city’s biggest community events, the Ski to Sea Race across Whatcom County. But just whose idea was it to run, ski, and paddle to the top of Mount Baker and back again? Let’s find out by learning a little more about this epic relay race and its coinciding festival of parades, carnivals, and other community fun.

•   2008 Ski to Sea Junior Parade and Race
  

  Running, skiing, and canoeing all around Mt. Baker and Bellingham might be a little intense for the elementary-age bunch. Luckily, kids can join in the Ski to Sea fun with a Junior Parade and Junior Race, both of which took place this past weekend in Bellingham. You couldn’t have asked for better weather, with plenty of sunshine making it a great day to be outside as with family and friends in Bellingham.

•   AAEP Children's Gallery Walk
  

  Whether your child is a painter, an actor, a dancer, or musician, there’s plenty going on in Bellingham that guarantees to inspire and entertain art-lovers of all ages during the first weekend in May. The festivities kick-off on Friday, May 2, with the 8th Annual Children’s Gallery Walk. Throughout the downtown area, venues will display art by students from the Bellingham, Lynden, and Mount Baker School Districts; certain locations will feature live performances as well.

•   Amateur Filmmakers, Get Ready for Ski to Sea!
  

  If you plan on attending Bellingham's annual Ski to Sea Race on May 25th, you might notice a lot of people with video cameras documenting the event. That’s because the race has a new feature this year: the Ski to Sea Amateur Video Contest on YouTube. Wanna-be filmmakers of all ages are invited to submit their videos for judging and you can enter as many videos as you can make. Creativity and family-friendly humor are encouraged.

•   Downloadable Audiobooks Arrive at Whatcom Libraries
  

  Listen up Bellingham and Whatcom County residents! Beginning April 1, library patrons will have anytime, anywhere access to a dynamic collection of digital audiobooks through Northwest Washington Anytime Library. With a valid library card, library patrons can use the Northwest Washington Anytime Library link on Whatcom County Library System or Bellingham Public Library to install free software, check out and download audiobooks to their PC, and then transfer titles to a supported MP3 player or burn titles to CD.

•   First Annual Festival of Schools
  

  On Sunday, March 30, 2008, a variety of local organizations, including Neighborhood-Kids.com, turned out at the Depot Market to take part in the first ever Festival of Schools. The event was organized by the heads of the Fairhaven Girls’ School as a time to gather private schools, preschools, camps and other resources for parents in one place. Participants also enjoyed refreshments and won door prizes donated by local businesses at the event.

•   An Alternative Birthday Party with NSEA
  

  Planning the details of your child's birthday party can be daunting. Pressure builds as you mull over guest lists, themes, activities and food. But for parents who wish to commemorate each child's birthday with ease and intention, there is a solution: collaborate with a local non-profit organization in service of our Bellingham community to honor your child's birthday. As I discovered recently, it's a simple and fulfilling way to bring joy to any birthday celebration.

•   Kids' Dog Show in Bellingham
  

  The Westminster Kennel Club has nothing on the spirited kids and their canine friends that came out for the Bellingham Parks and Recreation Department’s Annual Kids' Dog Show. On Saturday, March 8th, local kids in grades Kindergarten through 5th were invited to bring the family dog to the Bloedel Donovan Multipurpose Room, where they could strut their stuff and compete in a variety of events, from Best Costume to Longest Ears to Happiest Face.

•   The YMCA's Strong Kids Campaign
  

  Every March, the Whatcom Family YMCA organizes the Strong Kids Campaign. It’s a fundraiser to collect donations for their scholarship program, which provides assistance to adults and children who otherwise would not be able to participate in YMCA programs. Find out a little bit more about the international and local history of this organization, and consider helping as a volunteer or a donor.

•   Community Night Brings Families Together
  

  Local organizations rallied to bring a family-friendly community fun night to the residents in the Birchwood neighborhood at Shuksan Middle School. The evening included dinner, games and a time to learn about opportunities for families in this neighborhood. The event was hosted in part by the Whatcom Family & Community Network, which works to strengthen family relationships, and create a healthy community for kids.

•   How to Get Your Bike on the Bus
  

  A great way to get some exercise and reduce traffic on our roadways is to ride your bike to school or work. But if the ride is just a little too long, consider making a “combo” ride: halfway by bike and halfway by bus, courtesy of the Whatcom Transit Authority. EverybodyBIKE’s Jennifer Karchmer gives easy-to-follow instructions for loading bikes on the bus so your family can enjoy a safe and stress-free commute.

•   Valentine's Day Parties in Our Community
  

  Cupid has been busy shooting arrows of love around Bellingham. This messenger of love had lots of help from local community groups who organized craft parties and other family-friendly celebrations in the days leading up to Valentine's Day. From making valentines at the library to an authentic 1950s Sock Hop, kids and parents had plenty of opportunities to spend time together and celebrate on the most romantic day of the year.

•   International Celebrations at the WCM
  

  Remember when you were a kid and you started to understand that there was a big world outside your neighborhood, your school, your town? That there were kids who lived millions of miles away, and when you had to go to bed at night, they were waking up for the start of a new day? The Whatcom Children’s Museum helps bring such global awareness to kids and their parents in a series called “International Celebrations.”

•   The Magic of Hogwarts Comes to Bellingham
  

  When J.K. Rowling began writing about Harry Potter, a young boy who finds himself enrolled in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, no one could have guessed that she had started a book series that would become a worldwide phenomenon. Not only did Harry Potter get millions of kids excited about reading, but Jennie Goforth, Curriculum Coordinator for Skagit Valley Children’s Museum, saw that Harry Potter could get kids interested in other areas of learning too.

•   Chess Season in the Northwest
  

  You might not be aware of this, but we are in the middle of chess tournament season. Yep, chess has a season, too. From November to April, you can find a number of tournaments in our area that will culminate with the state tournament, to be held this year in Redmond on April 26, 2008. My eight-year-old son, Ty, plays chess and has become something of a regular at local tournaments. His first tourney was last year’s Lynden tournament, held at the Northwest Washington Fairgrounds in January.

•   A Read-In for Kids to Celebrate Diversity
  

  For the fourth year, Western’s New Student Services/Family Outreach co-sponsored a Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Read-In at Village Books. College students embraced the holiday as “a day on” to help spread the message of Dr. King to children. Kids ages 3 to 8 gathered in the Readings Gallery to hear stories about diversity and tolerance and participate in coloring activities.

•   Mom, Dad, Kids...EverybodyBIKE!
  

  Learning how to ride a bike is a time-honored tradition of childhood. Remember the first time you strapped on a helmet and hopped on the saddle? Remember when you got those training wheels off, when Dad let go of the back of your seat and you were finally on your own as you ventured down the sidewalk, away from home? It tasted like freedom. Or it tasted like the neighbor’s lawn, depending on how far you made it before your first wipeout.

•   Kids Night Out
  

  On a recent Saturday night, I made plans to see my friends Avery and Ben. Well, technically I made the plans with Kelly, their mother. Did I not mention that Avery and Ben are four and two, respectively?

•   Won-Ldy Paye Shares His Story in Bellingham
  

  Bellingham welcomes international children's author and storyteller in celebration of "We Share A Story."