It’s that time of year when thoughts naturally turn to helping others. Sometimes, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by requests for donations. I think that teaching our kids the importance of giving back to the community and helping those who are less fortunate should be an ongoing process–not just reserved for November and December. I’m reminded of a small piece of paper taped to my refrigerator; and it says this: “Service is the rent we pay for being. It is the very purpose of life, and not something you do in your spare time.”

That being said, we thought we’d offer some suggestions for kid-friendly volunteering opportunities. Remember–it doesn’t have to be about money–it’s giving your TIME and ENERGY that matters! These are life lessons that your children will never forget, and volunteering can become something the whole family looks forward to doing together–all through the year!

• The Salvation Army Bell-Ringing is underway! The best part about this is that the money collected in the kettles stays right HERE in the KC metro. My 6-year-old son and I have manned the kettle for several 2-hour shifts at our neighborhood Hy-Vee for the past 3 years–and kids have a way of turning EVERY passer-by into a donor! Bundle up the kiddos and enjoy a great time together.

• Check out the Youth Volunteer Corps of Greater KC. YVC organizes youth and family helpers at Harvesters, the city’s largest food bank. Your help is needed sorting and boxing donated food! It’s no news that food banks are running dangerously low now…some are even forced to close their doors. You might consider a small neighborhood or classroom food drive…and then deliver the food to Harvesters on the day you choose to volunteer. Location: 3801 Topping Ave., KCMO 816.929.3000

• Adopt a family through Don Bosco Centers’ Holiday Friends! This is such a great project for a family or neighborhood to take on. Holiday Friends is a fundraising program which benefits the clients of the Don Bosco Centers. You might be familiar with local radio station Star-102’s annual marathon event (December 5 this year) which places hundreds of clients with “adoptive families.” You can get specific names, ages and sizes for a family in need and can even personally deliver your gifts. This really shows us the true meaning of the holiday season! Your kids will never forget it. For more information, call the Holiday Friends Hotline at 816-691-2906 or visit www.donbosco.org.

• Check out www.VolunteerMatch.org. The site features loads of volunteer opportunities, and you can organize your results by Distance, Event Date and even Date Posted. While not all are kid-specific opportunities, you might find something suitable for the whole family or just for you!

• Operation Breakthrough. Operation Breakthrough- St. Vincent’s Family Service Center is located at 30th and Troost in KCMO. According to their website, volunteers range from ages 8-80 and do everything from “rocking babies to tutoring parents for the GED exam.” They have an adopt-a-family Christmas program, similar to Don Bosco Center’s. The children who receive Christmas aid all come from low-income families. Some are homeless, many reside in foster care and most attend Operation Breakthrough’s day care program or are alumni. Please help!

• Brighten someone’s day with a little artistic cheer… you can do something as simple as having your child(ren) draw some holiday-themed pictures; use the glue, markers, construction paper, glitter, etc. Take your creations to a nearby nursing home or to Children’s Mercy Hospital near Crown Center. You’ll be glad you did!

• City Union Mission– You can go in with family, friends or coworkers to adopt a family for the holidays through City Union Mission, too. Please remember that families need our help year-round…not just at the holidays. Click here for a list of inexpensive, everyday items which you could collect and deliver to the Mission any day of the year.

Please feel free to submit any additional kid and family-friendly volunteer opportunities. We would be happy to post them!

Oh, the weather outside is frightful. So, let’s go swimming! Right?

Right! Why not mix it up a little this fall and winter around the Kansas City metro? There are a lot of great indoor pools and community centers with public swimming hours. You’ll want to double check their websites for up-to-date hours and fees - but what a great change of pace for you and for the kids as the days get shorter and much, much COLDER! (Our list is just pools open to the public - many communities, schools and fitness centers also have indoor pools but no open swim availability. If we’ve missed a local indoor pool that is open to the public for recreational swimming, let us know!)

Kansas City, MO

Gregg/Klice Community Center (Kansas City, MO)

The New Southeast Community Center (Kansas City, MO) - opening December 2008

Tony Aguirre Community Center (Kansas City, MO)

Northland

Liberty Community Center (Liberty, MO)

Gladstone Community Center (Gladstone, MO)

North Kansas City Community Center (North Kansas City, MO) - closed until first part of December for repairs

Park Hill Aquatic Center (Kansas City north, MO)

Platte County Community Center North (Platte City, MO)

Platte County Community Center South (Parkville, MO)

Eastern Jackson County, MO

Legacy Park Community Center (Lee’s Summit, MO)

Centennial Pool Plex (Blue Springs, MO)

CoCoKey Resort (eastern Jackson County, MO–KCMO) - day passes are available to the public

Henley Aquatic Center (Independence, MO)

Johnson County, KS

Matt Ross Community Center (Overland Park, KS)

Roeland Park Aquatic Center (Roeland Park, KS)

Sylvester Powell Jr. Community Center (Mission, KS)

Blue Valley Recreation Aquatic Center (south Overland Park, KS)

Cass County, MO

Belton Community Center (Belton, MO) - new indoor pool opening soon!

Harrisonville Community Center (Harrisonville, MO)

Halloween is over. The pumpkin patches are closed. What now? What to do in Kansas City? Well, just in time, outdoor ice skating is back!

Everyone’s traditional favorite - the Crown Center Ice Terrace - opens on Friday, November 7, 2008. It will be open Sunday thru Thursday, 10am to 9pm and Friday and Saturday, 10am to 11pm - for the months of November, December and January. Hours for February and March are 10am to 9pm. Admission is $6 (free for those under five or over 60). Skate rental is $3. Tuesday nights are two-for-one admission after 5pm.

I am really excited for the November 7th opening of The Ice at Park Place in Leawood. This new mixed-use development just north of Town Center Plaza on Nall will host Johnson County’s only outdoor ice skating rink. Thru January 4, the hours are: Monday thru Thursday, 11am to 10pm; Friday and Saturday, 11am to 11pm; Sunday, 12pm to 8pm. Admission is $6 (kids under five are free Monday thru Thursday 11am to 3pm). Skate rental is $3. (There is a sneak preview event on Thursday, November 6th from 4pm to 9pm - a percentage of the proceeds from the ice rink, Ingredient, California Pizza Kitchen and The Learning Tree will benefit the Blue Valley Education Foundation.)

And if it’s just too cold for you to skate outside, you can always find a fun public skate at one of the Kansas City metro’s indoor ice rinks. Pepsi Ice Midwest at 135th and Quivira in Overland Park has public skates most Friday and Saturday nights as well as Sunday afternoons. Admission is $7.50 (7 and under admitted for $5.50). Skate rental is $3.50. If you have an Entertainment coupon book, check for special coupons!

Ice Sports on Johnson Drive in Shawnee offers public skating Monday thru Saturday from 12pm to 2pm and on Sunday from 4pm to 6pm. Admission is $6 and skate rental is $2.

Line Creek Ice Arena in Kansas City north has Friday evening public skating from 8pm to 10pm and Saturday afternoon public skating from 2pm to 4pm. There are also public skate times on every other day (except Sunday) at various times of day. Check the website for details. Admission is $5 and skate rental is $2.

Congratulations to Julie B. and her family of Leawood! They are the winners of the Tour of Gymnastics Superstars ticket giveaway!

Other than Michael Phelps, the biggest drama and excitement out of the Beijing Olympics back in August was gymnastics. If you and your family were anything like ours, we were glued to the TV on nights when gymnastics was featured. The 2008 Olympics made superstars of young American gymnasts Nastia Lukin and Shawn Johnson.

Lukin, Johnson and a whole crew of other fantastic American gymnasts will be at Sprint Center in Kansas City on November 16th with the 2008 Tour of Gymnastics Superstars. Several members of the men’s Olympic gymnastics team will perform as well as former Olympians Shannon Miller, Paul Hamm and Morgan Hamm.

The show starts at 6:00pm on Sunday, November 16th. Tickets are still available - check out Sprint Center’s website for details. (more…)

Hey Moms! (Oh, Dads and grandparents - we know you’re here too! Hi!) Looking for something fun to do with the girlfriends this weekend? We’ve got two ideas and one of them is a GREAT DEAL!

Janet Jackson and LL Cool J will be heating up the Sprint Center on Friday night (October 24). If you want 2-for-1 lower level tickets, just click over to our SPECIAL OFFERS page for the promo code and directions. Two Seats for $77 - but act fast because the promo code is only good until Wednesday, October 22nd at 10pm. UPDATE: The concert is over…and the special offer, therefore, is closed!

Friday night is also the Holiday Mart Ladies’ Night Out! Food, friends, cocktails and SHOPPING! Sponsored by the Junior League of Kansas City, Missouri, the Holiday Mart features over 200 unique vendors and runs from Thursday, October 23 thru Sunday, October 26 at the Overland Park Convention Center.

Start planning your night out now, girls!

Hey KC Kids Fun readers! Just wanted to let you all know that we’ve put together a super list of drop-in open gyms around the Kansas City metro - there are offerings for toddlers, preschoolers and older kids! We’ve organized our list by days of the week so that you can find one of these great energy-burners at any time (even at the last minute…). The list will now be a permanent fixture in our Links Directory along the right side of the page (listed under Indoor Activities).

So, take a peek at our OPEN GYMS list - and pass it along to your friends who might need a sanity break once a week (or even twice)!

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And I also just wanted to tell you guys about this darling new Halloween book that I found this weekend - Vunce Upon a Time. It’s by J.otto Seibold, the illustrator of the contemporary Christmas favorite Olive, the Other Reindeer (Olive). We LOVE the Olive book at our house so I was immediately drawn to Vunce Upon a Time. Dagmar the Vampire is shy vegetarian who is afraid of humans. And he loves candy. He braves the human world only when he hears about Halloween! This book just came out in September and there’s still time to get it before October 31st!

The Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, Greater Kansas City Chapter will be holding its annual fundraiser tomorrow evening!  Friday night’s event, A Night In Monte Carlo, is a casino night and directly benefits AAFA, which is one of KC Kids Fun’s community partners.  The festivities, which are open to the public, will be held at the beautiful Sheraton Overland Park from 6:30 until 11:00pm.  For information and ticket prices, please call the AAFA office at 816.333.6608.

AAFA raises money to help with its many programs and services which are offered to Kansas City area children, adults and families. These include Family Asthma and Allergy Education Day, Adult Discussion Groups and Medical Equipment Assistance.

In addition, AAFA’s Casino Night helps raise funds to ensure Kansas City’s kids with asthma and allergies are able to attend Superkids Asthma Day Camp each year.  We profiled Asthma Camp as part of our Summer Camp Series–one of our most popular features to date!

Hats off to AAFA and our best wishes for a wildly successful fundraising event!

On Friday night, Kate and I had the opportunity to join more than 12,000 other basketball fans as the Sprint Center hosted the Atlanta Hawks and the Portland Trail Blazers in an NBA exhibition game. Between the two of us, we took 2 husbands and 4 children…and everyone had a great time. As you might expect from 5, 6 and 7-year-olds, the real thrill came not from the game itself, but from the unicycle-riding, porcelain-bowl-balancing beauty who entertained us at halftime! The courtside musical chairs game and the Crimson Girls from KU were hits, as well.

It was fitting that we were able to take our families to an event which marked Sprint Center’s one-year anniversary in Kansas City. Even though an anchor tenant has yet to be signed, I think the arena has been a huge success and has brought some fantastic family-friendly programming and events to our city. There’s lots yet to come…including two huge December events: The Cheetah Girls, and the world famous Radio City Rockettes performing their Christmas Spectacular! You’ll want to take advantage of the special discounts given to our readers by utilizing our GROUP RATE CODE when purchasing your tickets to the Rockettes’ Show!

And coming November 16, fresh from their stunning performances at the Beijing Summer Olympics, are Nastia Liukin, Shawn Johnson and company, as part of The 2008 Tour of Gymnastics Superstars. Billed as an extraordinary sports and music extravaganza, this is sure to be a fun-filled, unique night for the entire family! The “music” part comes courtesy of live performances by teen sensations Jordan Pruitt and KSM. Also featured will be songs from Walt Disney Records’ Disney Girlz Rock 2 CD.

It’s not too early to start thinking about how you are going to spend those cold late fall and early winter nights…why not load the family up in the car and head down to the Sprint Center for a fun night?!? There’s lots of fun to be had, and KC Kids Fun will make sure you don’t miss a beat!

*********THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. WINNERS WILL BE CHOSEN AT RANDOM AND NOTIFIED VIA EMAIL THIS WEEKEND. TICKET DISCOUNTS ARE STILL AVAILABLE THRU OCTOBER 3 BY CLICKING HERE AND ENTERING “kckids” WHEN PROMPTED FOR A SPECIAL CODE.***********

The NBA makes its Sprint Center debut on Friday night, October 10th. The Portland Trailblazers will take on the Atlanta Hawks. It’s a Friday night, folks! Not a school night! And it’s pro basketball in Kansas City!

And did I mention we’ve got tickets to give away?

KC Kids Fun has three (3) family four-packs of tickets that we would LOVE to give to you guys!

Enter today thru Friday night! TELL YOUR FRIENDS! You could win FOUR FREE TICKETS to the Hawks-Trailblazers game - a value of $120!

So, here’s what you need to do to enter the random drawing - (1) submit a comment by clicking the Comments link at the end of this article; (2) the form will require a valid email address which will NOT be made public with your comment; (3) just tell us your favorite fall activity in the Kansas City metro and you’re entered!

**Or if you’d just like ticket discounts - Click on this link to discounted NBA tickets at Sprint Center and enter “kckids” when prompted for a Special Offer code. This discount offer is good through October 3rd at 7:00 pm or until supplies last.

RULES: Comments/entries must be submitted before 11:59pm CDT on Friday, September 26, 2008. Three winning entries will be drawn at random and the winners will be notified by KC Kids Fun via email.

Must be 21 years of age to enter and win. Only one entry per household will be considered. No substitutions or transfers. Giveaway prize is not redeemable for cash. By entering, winner consents to allow the use of his/her name for promotional purposes without further compensation. Winner releases all sponsors of liability regarding use and enjoyment of the prize. No purchase necessary to enter or win.

WE HAVE THREE WINNERS!

Congratulations to:

• Steve H. of Tonganoxie

• Marnie E. of Lee’s Summit

• Angie C. of Overland Park

They each won a family pack of four tickets to see the St. Louis Blues take on the Los Angeles Kings in Sprint Center’s first NHL hockey game on Monday, September 22nd!

Tickets are still available via the Sprint Center and Ticketmaster. Check out Sprint Center’s website for details!

Thanks to everyone who entered our drawing for the hockey tickets. We have a lot of fun with our giveaways and can’t wait for the next one. (It just might possibly be for tickets to the NBA game at Sprint Center on Friday, October 10th - wouldn’t that be a blast to take the kids to?! Take a look at the special discount we’re offering if you just can’t wait for the giveaway!!)