Gish Picks: Week of June 25, 2008


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!

THE COMPANY ONSTAGE IS BRINGING "SNOOPY!!!" AND "SLEEPING BEAUTY" THROUGH AUGUST 2.

These are two great children's shows for the summer that you won't want to miss! In "Snoopy!!!", the beloved “Peanuts” characters are delightfully brought to the stage in this collection of effervescent vignettes, songs and dances. Celebrating 25 years since it first opened, this musical captures the charming spirit of Charles Schultz’s unique humor and positive outlook. All ages will enjoy Snoopy, Charlie Brown and the gang as they sing and dance their way through the ups and downs of life and provide a terrific evening of fun! "Snoopy!!!" will be presented Friday and Saturday evenings at 8pm from June 27-August 2. Tickets for this show will be $14/adults; $12/seniors; $10/students.

"Sleeping Beauty" is opening this Saturday, June 28 and also running through August 2. In this adaptation of the endearing fairy tale, kids will travel to a land of enchantment with a king, queen, good and bad fairies, brave and cowardly princes and the lovely Sleeping Beauty. There will be performances every Saturday at 11am and 1:30pm. Tickets are $7/adults and children. Group rates are available for both shows and reservations are strongly recommended.

For reservations and information, please call 713.726.1219 or log onto www.companyonstage.org.

JOIN THE MFAH FOR INTERACTIVE CHILDREN'S TOURS EACH SATURDAY.

The MFAH's new summer program of interactive Family Tours for parents and children age 5 and older continues every Saturday at 11am throughout the summer. This month's tours focus on art works that include animals. Through activities such as drawing, word games, riddles, movement exercises, and charades, safari goers hone their observation skills and explore how artists represent animals and their traits in art. The "Art Safari" varies each week and all tours meet in the lobby of the Law Building. The tours are $7.

For more information, call 713.639.7365 or log onto www.mfah.org.

THE CHILDREN'S MUSEUM OF HOUSTON HOSTS THE EXHIBITION "MY HOME, PLANET EARTH" THIS SUMMER.

There are a series of difficult challenges that affect us all and one of them is the environment. What can we do to keep earth a healthy place to live? The Children's Museum has some answers in "My Home, Planet Earth", which will be on view through September 20. This bilingual, hands-on exhibit is designed to help children understand how the choices they make now regarding food, water and air, impact their health and environment in the future.

The Museum has free family nights on Thursdays from 5-8pm; regular hours have been extended for the summer and are Mondays through Saturdays from 10am-6pm and Sundays from noon-6pm. Admission is $5/person (children under two and museum members are free) and $4/seniors.

For more information, call 713.522.1138 or log onto www.cmhouston.org.

ENCOURAGE KIDS TO RECYCLE WITH THE HELP OF KEEP HOUSTON BEAUTIFUL.

Keep Houston Beautiful is the city's leading organization in beautification, litter reduction and recycling education. For 28 years, Keep Houston Beautiful has been reaching out to all segments of our community to educate and empower individuals to take greater responsibility for beautifying and enhancing Houston's environment. Each year's successes have created a cleaner and healthier city for all Houstonians.

A great summer idea is to get together a group of kids to clean up a park. With my kids, we have a contest to see who can pick up the most trash (make sure you set a size standard!) and the winner gets a prize or cash. You'll be amazed at how motivated the kids are and you'll also be sneaking in good habits.

For more information and for ideas on recycling, call 713.839.8855 or log onto www.houstonbeautiful.org.

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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 print through 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 helping their children), 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 © 2008 Sarah Gish Designed by West of the World