Gish Picks: Week of June 3, 2009


Welcome to this week's "Gish Picks", where I highlight family-oriented cultural events, products or services. Please note that I "highlight" these events, but I don't know if they are appropriate for your particular children, so choose wisely based on age, maturity and interests. I know many of you go to events based on GISH PICKS recommendations; PLEASE remember to tell the organization that you are there because of us. Word-of-mouth like yours helps our business to grow. In the same spirit, please also feel free to share GISH PICKS with friends and families. Do you have something you would like to promote on Gish Picks? Advertisers can promote family-friendly events, products or services to Houstonians all over the city and the surrounding area who are active parents, involved citizens and great shoppers. We love doing this community service and want to keep it free for our readers but in order to justify the hours spent researching, writing and designing this newsletter, we need advertising support. If you'd like to learn more, please click below. Now, GO FIND FUN!

MOVIES FOR ALL.

There are kids’ films everywhere this summer and here are some festivals that I found for you; most of them are screening G or PG films.

The Studio Movie Grill/Copperfield is offering films Monday through Thursday at 11am through August 20. They also offer private screenings for families with special needs children.

Rave Motion Pictures’ Yorktown 15 Theater is offering free movies on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 10am through July 29.

The Regal Marq*E Stadium 23 on the Katy Freeway is offering free films on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at 10am through July 29.

The Museum of Fine Arts is offering their free "Family Flicks" on the first Sunday of each month. “Singin’ in the Rain” will be screened Sunday, June 7 at 2pm.

Pearland Parks and Recreation is offering their free "Friday Night Flic" series for families on Fridays at 8:30pm throughout July. Movies will be shown on a drive-in size screen in Independence Park at 3919 Liberty Drive. In addition, Pearland Town Center will be showing free movies on Saturday evenings throughout July at their location at the corner of Highway 288 and FM 518.

And for some old-fashioned fun, visit The Showboat Drive In in Hockley or the Santikos Silverado Houston, a “western themed entertainment complex” in Tomball.

The Aurora Picture Show has an especially fun film night planned for families: “Family Fun Films with POP STARS: Dads Who Rock” on Saturday, June 20 at 8:30pm (getting there earlier assures good seating).

And if you’re in Galveston for the weekend, be sure to catch their “Movie Night on the Strand” on the first Saturday of every month at Saengerfest Park, 23rd and Strand; June 6 features “Raiders of the Lost Ark” at 8:30pm.

And don’t forget IMAX® at the Houston Museum of Natural Science; they’ve got “Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian”, the first action-adventure film ever shot at the nation’s premiere museum complex.

What better way to feel good about being a “couch potato” than seeing lots of films?!

KIDS CAN HAVE BOATLOADS OF FUN AT THE BAYOU.

This Saturday, June 6 from 10am-2pm, join Buffalo Bayou Partnership and KBR for a day filled with FREE family fun, hands-on educational activities, music, food, park performers, and boat rides on the bayou!

Activity stations will include a showcase of bayou animals and insects, wildflower seed ball making, sunprints, crab marsh, numerous hands-on activities from over 20 Houston non-profit organizations partners. The event’s highlight will be two bird shows (eagles, hawks, falcons) by the Last Chance Forever Raptor Rescue organization; they’ll also have wetland hikes, a bayou scavenger hunt, and kayaking demos with REI.

Hikes and pontoon boat tours will focus on the Sabine Street outfall where participants will learn about how trash arrives in the bayou through the city’s storm sewers and how we capture it with our containment booms.

The event takes place at downtown’s Sabine Promenade between Allen Parkway and Memorial Drive and parking is available at City Lot H (next to Fonde Recreation Center at Sabine Street and Memorial Drive) and Lot C (Memorial Drive and Houston Avenue).

SANDCASTLES LIKE YOU'VE NEVER SEEN BEFORE.

For over two decades in the first part of June (this year it's Saturday, June 6), Houston area architects, designers, engineers and contractors have taken their tools to East Beach in Galveston for what is considered one of the world’s largest sandcastle competitions. The Houston Chapter of the American Institute of Architects/AIA sponsors the AIA Sandcastle Competition 2009, the annual contest where some 80 teams have their eyes (and shovels) set on winning the prestigious "Golden Bucket" award.

Firms begin months in advance generating ideas, developing designs, and assigning duties. At 10am on the day of the event, the teams stretch along the beach meticulously sculpting their sand piles and working non-stop for five hours. It's best to arrive in the afternoon, as the judging of the sandcastles begins at 3pm.

THERE'S MORE TO THE ORANGE SHOW THAN ART CARS.

I just love the Orange Show Center for Visionary Art! This local landmark and world-renowned folk art environment is a monumental work of handmade architecture in Houston's east end at 2401 Munger Street. It was built single-handedly by the late Jefferson Davis McKissack, a Houston postal worker. The outdoor 3,000 square foot monument includes an oasis, a wishing well, a pond, a stage, a museum, a gift shop, and several upper decks. It is constructed of concrete, brick, steel and found objects including gears, tiles, wagon wheels, mannequins, tractor seats and statuettes. Jeff McKissack's creation extols the virtues of his favorite fruit and encourages visitors of all ages to follow his theories relating health and longevity to good nutrition, hard work and eating oranges. The Orange Show is one of the most important folk art environments in the United States.

The monument has longer hours for the summer (except August, when they'll be closed for repairs) -- their regular weekend hours of 12-5pm Saturdays and Sundays as well as Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 9am–1pm. As a special additional treat, visit their off-site Museum, the Beer Can House at 222 Malone Street, open 12-5pm Saturdays and Sundays; admission is $1 for the Orange Show and free for the Beer Can House.

ENJOY COOL ROBOTICS CAMPS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON.

The UH College of Technology is offering 3 "Discovery Camps 2009" focusing on robotics fun for kids. Classes fill quickly so register early! The deadline to register is June 15.

NXT Robotics
Cost: $250
Grades: 4th-8th
Help scientists ready the surface of Mars for colonization! Using LEGO NXT© robotics kits, design, build and program your own robot to help terraform the surface of Mars. What does it mean to terraform? Join and find out! Campers will work in teams. This camp is for youth entering 4th through 8th grades.

Stop-Motion Animation
Cost: $250
Grades: 4th-8th
Do you want to make your own movie? This is your opportunity to write and direct your very own movie. Using LEGO© miniature figures as your actors, build your own sets and shoot your own movie one frame at a time. It takes 24 frames to make 1 second of a movie – how long will yours be? This camp is for youth entering 4th through 8th grades.

Automata Mechanical Sculpture
Cost: $250
Grades: 4th-8th
You have to see it to believe it! When you join this camp you will use everything from craft foam and sticks to pickles and bananas to explore basic engineering concepts. Build and take home Automata, simple mechanical sculptures composed of cams, levers, cranks, and pulleys. And that’s not all – when you are finished you will have a moving work of art! This camp is for youth entering 4th through 8th grades.

Camps will meet Monday through Friday of each camp week from 9am-4pm. There is early drop-off at 8:30am and late pick up by 4:30pm and an easy pick-up station for your convenience.

PARLEZ FRANÇAIS AT THE ALLIANCE.

The French Alliance has two three-week series of French classes for children: June 8-30 and July 13-30. Their children’s program immerses children ages 4-15 in the French language, allowing them to learn in a natural way, through visual, kinetic and auditive experiences. Classes meet in three-week sessions Monday-Thursday mornings from 9:30am until noon.

Tuition is $350 for the 3-week sessions. Registration must be in advance or a $25 late fee will be assessed and there is a one-time registration fee of $15 for new students. You may register by phone anytime using a credit card.

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My goal is to serve as an information resource for Houston parents through my various endeavors, including:

GISH PICKS, which is online (www.thesummerbook.com/gishpicks_archive.html) and in the Houston Community Newspaper group (www.hcnonline.com);

THE SUMMER BOOK®: A GUIDE TO HOUSTON DAY CAMPS AND CLASSES FOR KIDS AND TEENS (www.thesummerbook.com) which comes out annually on March 1 and is sold at bookstores all over Houston, including Barnes and Noble and Borders; and

SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS, INTERACTIVE WORKSHOPS, PRIVATE CONSULTATIONS, and ART PROGRAMS that cover topics such as summertime fun, passion-finding (for adults, children and parents and children together), marketing, historic preservation, art classes, and activism. All of these services can be tailored for any audience and budget.

The purpose of GISH PICKS is to help parents become aware of all the fun things they can do with their children in Houston and the surrounding area, so HAPPY TRAVELS! Please do give me feedback and ideas, as you are out there in the trenches also looking for interesting things for your family and I want to hear what you find. If you are having trouble getting to a website listed here, try hitting the “Ctrl” button and left-clicking on the web address, which should make it “live”.


Sarah Gish Gish Creative 1940-A Fountainview, PMB 116 Houston, Texas 77057 phone/fax: 713.532.1173 email: sarah@gishcreative.com web: www.gishcreative.com and: www.thesummerbook.com and: www.saveourlandmarks.org © 2009 Sarah Gish Designed by West of the World