The Princess Diaries + High Tea and Etiquette Training = Kids Off The Couch

A return to school means a return to polite society -- which has us worried because we are pretty sure our kids left their manners at the beach! Kids who watch Princess Diaries will delight in the funny misadventures of Mia Thermopolis (Anne Hathaway) as she is transformed from a gawky teenager -- "I can't be a princess! I'm still waiting for the normal body parts to arrive!" -- into the poised and self-possessed princess of Genovia. Parents will want to pluck the Queen (played by Julie Andrews) from the film to infuse a little royal etiquette in their own children; that's because this G-rated comedy reminds us all that good things happen when people's manners improve. We were pleased to discover that our local Etiquette School offers a well-rounded range of instruction - from proper grooming and posture to polite telephone etiquette and the art of introduction - and concludes with a five-course dining tutorial that will prepare any child for attendance at a royal state dinner. We experienced a few comedic fits and starts as a group of 6 to 12 year-olds struggled to get the hang of being graceful and refined, but our 9 year-old now even folds her dirty napkin over her chair whenever she temporarily excuses herself from the dinner table. As the Queen exclaims to her assistant once Mia masters her lessons, "Aah, Charlotte, I think it's time for tea."

Click through to City Savvy for the best spots to take your girls for High Tea in your city

Boredom Busters + The Last Lazy Days of Summer = Kids Off The Couch

In the spirit of seizing the lazy days that remain, our family compiled a collaborative wish list and hit the town for a whirlwind bender of indoor ice-skating (one of the more labor intensive activities) and spicy Indian dining (obviously, as per mom's request), for an unforgettable breakup with summer. Here are a few tips requiring a little less parental sacrifice for your Labor Day weekend.

1. When Life Gives You Lemons: The Lemonade War, a book by Jacqueline Davies, is a tale of the sugary competition between two siblings over who sells the most lemonade; it mixes a romping story with basic business concepts and inspired our kids to unfreeze some lemonade mix and set up camp by the curb! In the book, Jessie and Evan duke it out for top dog, and in real life, our kids who are no strangers to sibling rivalry, went toe to toe for who could raise more money for a back-to-school splurge.

2. Twinkle, Twinkle "I Can See a Star!" This week, the moon will be growing (in astrology-speak the moon is in its waxing gibbous phase) and Jupiter will be the second brightest object in the sky. Check in to see what your local observatory has planned, or spend a night on your back gazing up at the stars and tracing the glow of the big dipper. Or click here for a weekly star report.

3. Game On: Hearts, gin rummy, poker, spoons and the latest craze, golf, are games that our card sharks master in large or small groups of friends. Send your dealers to Card Games, a website full of instructions that will keep them from squabbling over the rules. We shook up new interest in old board games by creating a challenge course, setting up games in rooms throughout the house, mapped the order to play them, and then started the clock. The kids played checkers for 15 minutes, Yahtzee for longer, and a revved up Monopoly for 30 minutes.

4. Get Caught Reading: Are your kids out of shape for their upcoming English classes? To spur them back to the page, try plot-driven books -- mysteries have worked best for us this summer. Our girls like their stories in a pop froth--they adore anything by Meg Cabot and went crazy for Avalon High. Click here for a list of mysteries that were particularly intriguing for our boys, who hadn't done any reading for pleasure since Harry Potter's last tale hit the shelves.

5. Outdoor Movie Night Everyone's celebrating the long warm nights -- google your city plus outdoor cinema to see what film's your local outdoor venue is screening in the waning days of summer.

6. Just Park It: Taking a page from The Double Daring Books for Girls, our kids set up a water balloon relay race. The goal? Which team can pop the most balloons with their butts the fastest! This next tip is one we bet you've never tried before--it's called ice blocking! Pack a blanket, pick up some uncut blocks of ice at the wholesale ice store, and zoom down the park slopes using your blanket wrapped ice slab as warm-weather sled -- ice on the grass, blanket to protect your bodies! What could be cooler? We plop down a picnic lunch (mix it up with hummus, veggies, and grape leaves) after a few hours of running a muck, then end our day with an All-American treat from the ice cream truck.

See you after Labor Day!

The Devil Wears Prada + Vintage Shopping = Kids Off The Couch

The Devil Wears Prada provides a behind-the-scenes peek into the ruthless world of high fashion, chronicling the tale of a young woman who unexpectedly lands a job as an assistant to feared Runway Magazine editor Miranda Priestly, played with wicked wit by Meryl Streep. In between snarky banter and catty carb-deprived models, the film showcases an enviable wardrobe as it weaves a delicious but cautionary tale about a girl who nearly loses her soul in the dame-eat-dame world of careerist New York. Inspired by the geek to chic transformation of the heroine, played by Anne Hathaway, we took a different approach to this year's back-to-school shopping excursion. Exploring vintage shops and local thrift stores is an ideal alternative to expensive department stores and upscale boutiques, not to mention a perfect way to discover one-of-a-kind treasures. We headed out for a Sunday of shopping, starting downtown at the weekly Flea market, and working our way down the resale shops in the hip neighborhood. One of our favorite parts of the whole experience was watching our girls strut, pose, and model their discoveries. At the end of the day, swapping out Hermes silk for the oh-so-in funky floral print and snagging sets of chunky bangles for just a few bucks made both our wallets and our daughters very happy, and gave new meaning to the phrase, "Oldies but Goodies!"

Click here for our favorite shops, some insider tips on what to look for when you're rummaging, and for more about why we love this film.

Madeline + French Art and Culture = Kids Off The Couch

In August, the French famously take a month for vacation and this week's Popcorn Adventure reminds us to do as the French do -- relax and enjoy life! Starting with a screening of Madeline, a delightful adaptation of Ludwig Bemelmans' classic books that was shot in Paris, and continuing with a dose of culture delivered by spectacular French artworks, we urge you to celebrate the simple pleasures as summer draws to a close. Any child familiar with the comforting rhymes and gorgeous illustrations of the Madeline stories will take delight in this 1998 adaptation replete with Madeline on a moped zipping around Paris, mixing it up with Miss Clavel and Pepito. We spent a day at our local museum looking at Impressionist paintings and found ourselves talking with the kids about how French culture has influenced the American ideal of beauty. Last stop of our petit staycation was a quick visit to our favorite cheese shop where the cheese monger offered the children a few tastes of France. Thankfully, we'll always have Paris!

Click here for an in-depth look at other French films and books for children, and tips for conducting a cheese tasting with your family.

Julie and Julia + Taking A Food Tour of your Town = Kids Off The Couch

Julie & Julia hits the big screen this weekend and watching Meryl Streep and Amy Adams fall in love with cooking reminds us how lucky we are to live in a food-obsessed culture. We grew up eating frozen peas and limas from the Jolly Green Giant, so Julia Child's exuberance about fresh ingredients found at Parisian markets and formal French cooking techniques learned at Le Cordon Bleu has helped us explain to our kids why we get so excited visiting a Farmers' Market or finding artisinal cheese at our local market. It was Julia's quirky genius that brought a love of fine food to every kitchen in America and this engaging film celebrates Julia Child as well as her affect on a "regular" person like Julie Powell. Stuck in a dead-end job, Powell cooked her way through every recipe in Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking in a year, transforming her life as a cubicle-bound lifer to popular author. We expanded our palate during an organized tour through our city's original Farmers' Market to celebrate National Farmers' Market Week, sampling food from around the world and listening to tantalizing food anecdotes from our passionate guide. Our kids managed to try flavors from nearly every continent -- we think both Julie and Julia would be proud!

Click here to learn more about the film, about National Farmers' Market Week and how to find a food tour in your town

Princess Mononoke + A Full Moon Hike = Kids Off the Couch

The moon was full last night, glowing boldly and beckoning us to come out and play. Our favorite thing to do when this mood strikes is to go on a Full Moon Hike. Tromping along, with pathways and clearings lit from above, our imaginations run wild and soon we are gripping each others' hands in fear and excitement. The forest is truly otherworldly in the soft night air. If forests are enchanted, then every tree has a bit of magic. In Princess Mononoke, a film by Japanese animé master Hayao Miyazaki, a prince and princess fight alongside animals to save the forest from human encroachment. The spirit world mingles with ours, animals and humans are allied and good conquers evil. The film's strong environmental message and stunning visuals kept our tweens and teens on the edge of their seats, and they loved that the story unfolded unpredictably. (The film imparts a cosmic justice that may be intense for younger viewers). Our kids were truly enchanted by Miyazaki, and have an animé film festival planned for our family vacation. Click here to learn more about two other films which are good for Younger Viewers: Miyazaki's latest film, Ponyo, that will be released in August, and Ferngully: The Last Rainforest. We'll also help you find out when the moon will next be full.

National Velvet + Polo Match = Kids Off The Couch

National Velvet wears a triple crown in our book - it stars a stunning young Elizabeth Taylor as a 12 year-old who wins England's Grand National Steeplechase, tells the stirring story of how she discovers and trains an "unbreakable horse" and races it disguised as a male jockey, and finally, contains one of the most exciting race sequences ever filmed. Velvet's mother encourages her daughter's dream because as a young woman she won a prize for swimming the English Channel. Although our kids resisted watching a film from 1944, they were moved by the deeply etched relationships between mother and child, Velvet and her trainer Mi (played by Mickey Rooney) and were especially enamored of the scenes between Velvet and "The Pie". Hooves are thundering around polo fields this summer, so we spent a Sunday afternoon watching this arcane sport, in awe of how the players swing their mallets at golf-ball sized balls while galloping across lush green fields. Don't think polo is just a love-poem to a day gone by - it's populated with as many female jockeys as male. Perhaps the girls riding polo ponies today watched Velvet's thrilling ride when they were young. Perhaps the young boys did as well, and the thundering hooves are a paean to this classic and beloved story.

Click here for more to find a polo match near you.