Los Angeles Parenting July Radar Screen

Dinosaurs, The Space Shuttle and Carmageddon

Ticket Giveaway for The Bright Stream

For the first time in 823 years, July has 5 Fridays, 5 Saturdays and 5 Sundays. That's not exactly an excuse for the Radar Screen arriving later than usual (it's because we were on vacation, actually). But, be assured that there are still four fabulous July weekends to enjoy. Even if next weekend is the much anticipated Carmageddon!

Ticket Giveaway: American Ballet Theatre visits the Music Center's Dorothy Chandler Pavilion for The Bright Stream from July 14 -17.The Bright Stream, a delightful ballet set to a witty score by Dmitri Shostakovich, is full of fun, misplaced flirtations and a slew of disguises. Angelina Ballerina will be making a special guest appearance following the matinee this Saturday, so bring your cameras! Kids Off the Couch subscribers are eligible to win a Family Four-Pack to this Saturday's matinee performance (2:00 PM, July 16). Click here if you'd like to be entered to win. Tickets will be chosen by Wednesday night (7/13).

Dino Hall Opens: The BIGGEST news this month is that the Dinosaur Hall at the Natural History Museum is finally opening this Friday (7/16). Go online and reserve your timed entry tickets and then rent Land Before Time or Jurassic Park to bone up on the difference between an Allosaurus and a Velociraptor.

Elementary: Summer is a perfect time to visit the Descanso Gardens, especially onFamily Tuesdays when the gardens stay open at night for music programs. You can brush up on your Dickens at the Pasadena Playhouse's TWIST: An American Musical, which is based on Oliver Twist and directed by Debbie Allen. Shrek the Musical will be at the Pantages for two weeks, starting July 13. Summer Reading Tips: We love the two new books about Jane Goodall's life and work (for the very young) and even though school is out, your 2nd and 3rd graders can lose themselves in Dan Gutman'sMy Weirder School series.

Middle School: Even if you're not traveling to Europe this summer, put Paris on your itinerary by touring Paris: Life and Luxury at the Getty, which is open only until the first week of August; be sure to pick up the Family Programming flyer. Check out the free concerts at the Santa Monica Pier, running all summer and featuring the Bangles this weekend. If local art is your thing, take a tour of Watts Towers, which LACMA is helping to preserve (their tours are sold out, but you can do it on your own easily). Get your tickets for the latest Cirque du Soleil production, IRIS, billed as "a journey through the world of cinema," opening July 21 at The Kodak Theater. Summer Reading Tip: Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games series will take over your kids' brains, much as Harry Potter once did.

Teens: A perfect art and movie pairing, recommended by several subscribers, is to watch Bansky's Exit Through the Gift Shop and head down to Art in the Streets (the graffiti show) at MOCA. Slightly more highbrow would be the pairing of Ed Ruscha: On the Road, an exhibit at The Hammer through October, and picking up Jack Keroac's classic novel, of the same name. And you've gotta introduce your kids to Cameron MacIntosh's blockbuster musical, Les Miserables, at the Ahmanson through the end of this month, which has been re-staged for a new US tour. Summer Reading Tip: We just blew through this truth-is-stranger-than-fiction tale by Rebecca Skloot, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.

Adults: Vermeer's "Woman with a Lute" is spending the summer at The Norton Simon, making her the only Vermeer on the west coast. Be sure not to miss Christian Maclay'sThe Clock, which won the Gold Lion at the Venice Bienalle, and is playing at LACMA through the month. Click here for Kenneth Turan's rave review. Summer Reading Tip:Pick up local author Lisa See's Snow Flower and the Secret Fan -- the film version will be in theaters Friday.

If You Watch One Movie Together as a Family This Month: With Monday's successful launch of the last space shuttle, it's a great time to revisit Apollo 13, one of our favorite family movies. With spectacular direction from Ron Howard, memorable performances by Tom Hanks, Ed Harris and Joan Allen, you can celebrate the red, white and blue of it all, all month long. Click here for our Popcorn Adventure.

Women's World Cup: Click here for ABC's interview with Hope Solo and Abby Wambach, the stars of the American team's thrilling victory over Brazil last weekend. The semi-final game will be broadcast Wednesday, July 13 on CBS.

Kids Off The Couch

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Spring Break + Keep Staycationers Busy = Kids Off The Couch

...And Movie Ticket Offer from Family Finds!

For those of us who haven't jetted away to a beachy climate, making vacation days feel different from a regular school day takes some extreme parenting acumen. Have no fear! There's plenty to do that will make your time off feel like a break in the routine.

Family Finds: We're friends with the folks at a new LA-based website for families, Family Finds, and they've alerted us to a great offer for movie-loving families. If you click here, you can participate in a special offer from Fandango that is good until next Thursday (3/31). For $9, you receive two tickets to one of three family-friendly films that are in theaters now, or opening in the next few weeks: "Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules," "Rio," and "Hop." You will need to sign up for future emails, but the site is geared to bring you deals on family products and services that you will find useful.

Do Something for Japan: It's been barely two weeks since the massive earthquake and tsunami hit Japan, and many parents are facing real challenges when trying to explain to their children what has happened. We think it's key for children to feel that they are reaching out and helping others in their time of need, whether by sending notes or money. Josh Duhamel's has mobilized another fundraising effort, Youth Run for Japan, modeled after his successful Run for Haiti last year. Join Josh on Sunday, March 27, 2011 for a 2-mile run on the beach in Santa Monica to raise funds for the American Red Cross's Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami fund. If you can't run, you can still click through and contribute to this worthy effort. We are also fans of theKamibashi string doll company, which has made a special doll to support relief efforts.

The Last Movie Star: Fans mourn the passing of Elizabeth Taylor this past week. The newspapers are full of lovely tributes to a career that spanned decades, and it's noteworthy that she is remembered as much for her AIDS work as for her spectacular acting career. (And those diamonds!) At KOTC, we have a special place in our hearts for her because of the movie National Velvet. Click here for our Popcorn Adventure about the film that established her as a star. We paired the movie with a visit to the polo fields at Will Rogers State Park. The practice matchesbegin on April 16, and take place on Sunday mornings; they're free, and open to the public (though, you will need to pay to park at Will Rogers). Other notable Taylor films include A Place in the Sun, Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolff and, of course, Cleopatra. For a more realistic telling of that tale, read Stacy Shiff's excellent (and recent) biography, Cleopatra: A Life.

Explore Downtown: We've always supported the REDCAT International Children's Film Festival which kicks off this weekend downstairs at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. Check out this year's schedule, pick a day to stop by (this Sunday is Nick Family Fun Day), and then peel off to explore some of downtown's unique tastes - Wurstkuchefor excellent sausage and Bottega Louie for remarkable desserts.

ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: The movie we've been waiting for since the start of the year finally arrives in IMAX theaters on April 8. Born To Be Wild 3D tells the story of orphaned orangutans and elephants and people who rescue them. The Boxtales Theater Company returns to The Geffen Playhouse on April 9 with Prince Rama and the Monkey King, part of its Saturday Scene programming. There will be a DinoFair at The Growing Place in Santa Monica on April 9th. We love visiting the Natural History Museum's Pavilion of Wings, which opens this year on April 11th.

MIDDLE SCHOOL: March Madness continues and if you can't get enough of the action, check out Last Shot: A Final Four Mystery by sports reporter John Feinstein, about two intrepid teen reporters who solve a mystery at the Final Four basketball tournament. Or, if extreme sports are more your kids' style, get to The Annenberg Space for Photography to catch Extreme Exposure before it closes on April 17th. And don't forget that Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater is in town for ten performances between April 8th and 17th.

PARENTS: Set your Tivo to record HBO's new miniseries, Mildred Pierce, starring Kate Winslet, which premieres on Sunday (3/27) and is set right here in Glendale. The reviews have been tremendous; we went to school with the indie director Todd Haynes (Far From Heaven) who helmed this masterpiece. Extra credit if you also read James Cain's novel on which the film was based.

Archived Adventures: It's always nice to play tourist in your own city - take the tram to the Getty and let the kids wander the gardens, or get yourself out to Pasadena and explore The Huntington or the Descanso before having lunch on Colorado, or hike around Griffith Park and check out the Observatory. For local coastal action, head to Malibu for a hike and then drop in for lunch at the new Lumber Yard shopping center. If you're searching for great things to do this month, don't forget to page through the KOTC Archives.

Food Finds: We love Sweet Butter, a new cafe on Ventura Boulevard in Studio City. And, if you're in Pasadena, check out Beyond the Olive, where you and the kids can conduct taste tests of various olive oils and vinegars. Excellent for a mail order gift!

We'll be back in two weeks for a complete listing of April picks, including Houdini: Art and Magic opening at the Skirball Center at the end of the month. Now, go get some sand between your toes!

Kids Off The Couch

If you like what we do, please tell a friend to sign up! info@kidsoffthecouch.com

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Dinosaurs Before Dark + Natural Museum of History = Kids Off The Couch

Spinning through the air in a tree house, soaring on the back of a fuzzy Pteranodon, running from a trumpeting T-Rex, what better way to entice first time readers? Reading is an adventure for both boys and girls when Mary Pope Osborne takes children on a journey through time and space in the Magic Tree House series. Our kids loved Jack and Annie, two curious kids who discover a tree house that whirls them on one historical escapade after another. We celebrated our kids' new ability to read chapter books by planning an excursion that matched the theme of the book.

In the first book, Dinosaurs Before Dark, Jack and Annie swirl to the Cretaceous period and encounter four types of dinosaurs. We took a more earthly mode of transportation to our local Natural History Museum for our own hands-on dinosaur experience with fossilized eggs, bones and giggle-inducing poop. We were lucky enough to watch as paleontologists cleaned and assembled Thomas the T-Rex, a 14 year old dinosaur that glitters!

Click here to learn how you can roam with the dinosaurs in your city and how to use this series of books to launch other adventures