How do kids have fun in Brasil?

Start February with New Petz!

Are your kids looking for new playmates for their Jumpeez? Tell them to check out the Petz Shop, where fun new friends are waiting for Jumpee buddies! Tell your kids to use their JumpStart coins to buy cool new pets like Oliver the Icy Owl. These pets are waiting for your children in the Petz Store now!

Strawberry, the huggable teddy

Arrival date: 2 February 2011
Price: 80 JS coins
Favorite JumpStart area: Hugging, cuddling and making new friends in StoryLand

If your child’s Jumpee needs a cuddly new friend, Strawberry will be there! Strawberry loves everything pink, and her favorite activity is watching movies in StoryLand! Strawberry is the friendliest pet on the market. She loves meeting new Jumpeez and, most of all, giving hugs!

Oliver, the icy owl

Arrival date: 2 February 2011
Price: 80 JS coins
Favorite JumpStart area: Hooting and hanging with the snowman in the Boardwalk

Whooo… whooo…Who! Who? It’s Oliver, the icy owl! This wise old fellow may seem to have an icy personality, but once he’s your child’s pet, he’s sure to warm up! Tell your children to come meet him in the Petz store soon. Playing with Oliver is a real hoot!

Medulla, the cerebrity brain

Arrival date: 2 February 2011
Price: 80 JS coins
Favorite JumpStart area: Working out in the Brain Training Arcade

Hello there! Tell your kids to come buy Medulla and he’ll be the smartest pet they’ve ever met. He may look small, but the more he learns, the stronger he gets! Medulla loves to follow Jumpeez around while they play games all over JumpStart. Tell your kids to play with Medulla, because brains love to be tickled!

Spot, the dotted turtle

Arrival date: 2 February 2011
Price: 90 JS coins
Favorite JumpStart area: Swimming around in Poseidon’s Hangout

Spot may have a hard shell, but that doesn’t mean he’s hard to like! Spot is always happy, and he makes new friends even better than he swims! Tell your kids to come meet Spot at the Petz Store. He’s waiting for your child’s Jumpee to come play!

Come see these new pets and more at the Petz Store! Which pet is your child’s favorite?

Filed under: Just for Fun!

Cupid’s Special Delivery: Chocolate Maze

As Valentine’s Day rapidly approaches, Cupid continues to spread hearts, love, and chocolate all around JumpStart. His latest gift: the Chocolate Maze in the MainStreet FunZone!

Check out the Chocolate Maze in MainStreet!

Help your children follow the J and S chocolate path and they will discover the chocolate center with floating hearts full of Cupid’s love and cheer!

Do your kids like chocolate? Encourage them to visit the Chocolate Maze to fill their tummies and hearts with love!

Filed under: Just for Fun!

Kids Off The Couch Ticket Giveaway – LA Phil Presents Toyota Symphonies for Youth: Jazz and the Orchestra

February 19 & 26 at 11:00am at Walt Disney Concert Hall

Family Four Pack Ticket Giveaway

Getting kids to love music is as easy as switching on your iPod and sharing your favorite play list. Teaching them how music is created could take a lifetime, so get started with an excellent series of concerts, LA Phil Presents Toyota Symphonies for Youth. These popular shows always sell out early, because they provide a clever and entertaining deconstruction of how music is made by an orchestra. Kids are invited into Walt Disney Hall to hear short musical selections, and learn the basics of how a symphony produces its melodious harmonies — how wind instruments differ from their brass and string counterparts, how styles of music vary, and how the conductor brings everything together. Adults will come away having learned something as well!Where and When: Tickets are still available for February’s shows LA Phil Presents Toyota Symphonies for Youth: Jazz and the Orchestra (2/19 and 2/26). Join the Los Angeles Philharmonic, conductor Joshua Weilerstein, and legendary jazz artist John Beasley in a musical celebration of the exuberance of jazz music. Book now for seats in April’s series, LA Phil Presents Toyota Symphonies for Youth: The Hero Composer(4/23 and 430). Explore how the composer can be a hero in our lives.Enter to Win: Kids Off the Couch subscribers are eligible to win a Family Four Pack for the February 26 concert. Please send us a note if you’re able to attend the 11:00 AM show. Winners will be chosen by Tuesday, February 15. Don’t forget to include your phone number so we can reach you if you are chosen!Touring Walt Disney Hall: The Toyota Symphonies for Youth take place in the Walt Disney Concert Hall, giving families the chance to explore Frank Geary’s beautiful and unusual building. Click here for a schedule of the official hour-long tours of the building, but we think most kids are best off just walking up to the rooftop garden, and then following the staircase that leads up and around the metallic wings of the building.

Other Treats: Our kids loved The Philharmonic Gets Dressed, a picture book about the members of an orchestra getting ready in their separate apartments before coming together at Carnegie Hall to make music. Click here for other books that will help you get ready for a trip to Disney Hall.

info@kidsoffthecouch.com

Valentine’s Day Ridez

New rides are here for Valentine’s Day! There are lots of lovely heart-themed rides, so while your children are anticipating all the sweet cards and candy they will be receiving, tell them to head down to the Ridez shop to pick out a new ride!

Hearts Skateboard

Jumpeez will love this heart skateboard!

Heads will turn and hearts will roll with this new pink hearts skateboard! For 100 JumpStart coins, your child’s Jumpee will be able to cruise around JumpStart looking cute and cool while wearing their hearts on their board!

Hippity Hop Heart Ball

Watch your child's Jumpee bounce around MainStreet with this fun hippity hop heart ball!

Hippity hippity hop! For only 75 JumpStart coins, this Hippity Hop Heart Ball ride will make your child’s heart jump with excitement as Jumpeez bounce all around JumpStart! This heart ball will be a blast, so tell your children to have their Jumpee get the ball rolling and bouncing with this new ride!

Magic Carpet Heart Ride

Gliding through JumpStart is love-ly with this magic carpet heart ride!

Every Jumpee’z heart will be swept from under their feet with this love-ly Magic Carpet Heart ride! For 125 coins, Jumpeez will be able to swoop and swoon all over town to meet and mingle with other Jumpeez!

Filed under: Just for Fun!

The Year of the Rabbit: Ideas for Celebrating Chinese New Year Around LA

Celebrate China

With the White House putting on a full-blown State Dinner for the Chinese president a few weeks back, it’s an exciting time to celebrate all things Chinese – something that is particularly easy to do in Southern California. The main attraction of the weekend is the Golden Dragon parade in Chinatown, part of a two-day festival that we attended a few years ago (see below for details). The Huntington’s Flowering Fragrance Garden is worth a trip to Pasadena, and we know little kids will adore the extensive activities put on at the Huntington this weekend. Finally, we’ve always loved throwing our own version of the holiday by decorating with Chinese lanterns, serving some great Chinese food and learning about another culture’s tradition.

Chinese New Year in Chinatown: The celebrations began Wednesday night at Chuan Thien Hau (Cam Au) Temple, as the Chinese community welcomed the Year of the Rabbit. The 12th Annual Golden Dragon Parade takes place this Saturday (2/5 at 1:00 PM) with floats and marching bands, thousands of spectators and a street festival ongoing throughout the weekend. Click here for our Popcorn Adventure about the event, which we paired with a wonderful movie about a boy learning to play the violin called Together. Click here for event details from the Chinatown website.Chinese New Year at the Huntington: Celebrate with lion dancers, musical and art demonstrations and a scavenger hunt for kids at a two day celebration of the Year of the Rabbit this Saturday and Sunday (2/5-2/6) at the Huntington Gardens. Click here for details. And, here is our Popcorn Adventure about the wonderful Flowering Fragrance Garden, a Chinese garden which opened three years ago at the Huntington. We paired it with Kung Fu Panda, a beautiful animated film that explores Chinese culture in the course of an exciting action story.Photography from China: Currently on view at the Getty is an interesting exhibit of contemporary photography from artists working in China. Photography from the New China contains some images that may be inappropriate for small children (including some nudity) but the exhibit offers a rare glimpse into what the cultural elite are producing in China. For a more traditional view, check out an exhibit that explores the origins of photography in China, Brush and Shutter: Early Photography in China. This show opens at the Getty on February 8.

Throw a Chinese New Year’s Party: Invite a group of kids over and serve Chinese food. It’s interesting for kids to learn how another culture celebrates a new year, and most party stores will help you set the mood with red lanterns and coin envelopes. For a meal, the ambitious foodies can attempt a complex recipe while others might prefer to bring in some yummy take-out. Click here to learn a bit more about the traditions of this holiday. For food ideas, click over to Cookstr, where you’ll find 10 Recipes for the Chinese New Year.

info@kidsoffthecouch.com

Kids Corner Brasil

Start February with New Petz!

Cupid’s Special Delivery: Chocolate Maze

Kids Off The Couch Ticket Giveaway – LA Phil Presents Toyota Symphonies for Youth: Jazz and the Orchestra

Valentine’s Day Ridez

The Year of the Rabbit: Ideas for Celebrating Chinese New Year Around LA

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