Music Together of Marin's winter session starts on January 7 and runs through March 23. Music Together is an award-winning international music and movement enrichment program for children ages infant to 5 years. Classes meet once a week for 45 minutes of musical joy.

Music Together classes are based on the recognition that all children are musical. All children can learn to sing in tune, keep a beat and participate with confidence in the music of our culture. Central to the Music Together approach is that young children learn best from the role model of parents/caregivers who are actively making music. The program brings families together by providing a rich musical environment that can continue at home and throughout the context of daily life. Each session families receive  new materials, including a CD and book, to use at home. Come preview a free class and become part of a growing musical community.

It's often fun to incorporate some movement into reading time, and Doreen Cronin and Scott Menchin's Stretch(40 pages, Atheneum, 2009) makes it easy to do just that! Join the yoga-minded dog and his animal friends as they encourage little ones to not only stretch their bodies, but to explore the definition of the word "stretch" itself. Cronin's rhyming text is clever and fun, and Menchin's simple, appealing illustrations that make use of both drawing and photo-collage.

Stretch is great for beginning readers and even better as a read-aloud book. If you like it, check out its companion books featuring the same active dog: Wiggle and Bounce. Doreen Cronin is also the author of the hilarious series of picture books involving the mischievous Duck and other subversive farmyard denizens, including Giggle, Giggle, Quack; Duck for President; and Click, Clack, Moo: Cows that Type.

Free tickets have been taken.

Speak to Me, Marin's premiere series of intelligent, inspiring speaking events for women, presents "The Story of Stuff: Creating a Sustainable Future" with Annie Leonard, author and creator of the video The Story of Stuff on January 11, 2011, from 6:30–9:30 pm.

Annie Leonard has brilliantly combined analysis of the economy, culture, and the environment to transform the way we think about our lives and our relationship to the planet, while offering hope that change is within reach. In 2007 her remarkably simple, yet powerful and engaging 20-minute web video, The Story of Stuff, quickly went viral and became one of the most successful environmental-themed videos of all time, with over 20 million viewers in more than 200 countries. She has been named one of the “Five Most Important Environmental Movement Leaders” by the Washington Examiner, an “Environmental Hero” by TIME Magazine, and has appeared on The Colbert Report among other talk shows.

Pharmaca's Healthy Living Lecture Series in Novato presents the well-known pediatrician and author Dr. Bob Sears, MD, FAAP, on Tuesday, January 18 at 7 pm. The topic is: Immune and Sinus Health for Children and Adults.

You may be familiar with many of the books Dr. Sears has written or co-authored, including The Healthiest Kid in the Neighborhood, Father’s First Steps, The Baby Book, The Premature Baby Book and The Baby Sleep Book. Dr. Sears received his medical degree in 1995 from Georgetown University and completed his pediatric training at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles in 1998. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to meet “Dr. Bob,” as his little patients call him. This is a free event. Attendees will also receive a coupon for $10 off a $30 purchase the night of the event.

Seating is limited, so advance reservations are required by calling (415) 892-3700. Pharmaca-Novato is located at 7514 Redwood Blvd. in Novato (next to Trader Joes).

Here's another easy and kid-friendly recipe from Bay Area moms Simran and Stacie, who run the kids' food adventure blog A Little Yumminess. They cover easy recipes (often with an international twist), food-related adventures you can have with your children in the Bay Area, cooking with kids and basically how to have fun with food and your children (vs. think of it as a chore or a challenge).

Stuck at home on a rainy day with our play date canceled, we decided to occupy ourselves by making some dumplings (or little parcels of love as I like to call them). It seems like a daunting task to take on but these dumplings are low on ingredients, high on child involvement and disappear ridiculously fast. The sweet, salty dipping sauce is a perfect complement except my genius daughter decided to eat hers with ketchup. “Do you have to eat them with ketchup?” “Yes. It’s good for me.” Okay then. I tried half a dumpling with the daughter’s choice condiment and it wasn’t bad!! She may be on to something. As a child, I too was a ketchup fiend. So much so, I used to say that when I grow up, I would marry a guy who owned a ketchup factory. Sometimes the best laid plans go awry. I have graduated to sriracha—maybe one day Ria will too.

Now that most of the holiday madness is over with, take a break and go visit some really big trees at Marin's Roy's Redwoods Open Space Preserve. At approximately 300 acres, Roy's Redwoods is a small preserve run by the Marin County Parks and Open Space District featuring numerous hiking trails that's perfect for an outdoor adventure with children. Formerly part of the Roy brothers' ranch and a '60s hippie commune (where squatters lived inside some of the larger hollowed-out trees), Roy's Redwoods features some of Marin's tallest coast redwood (Sequioa sempervirens) trees. With scenery that can rival the more touristy Muir Woods, the preserve can be a little hard to find but well worth seeking out.

Christmastime is very busy for my family. Both my and my husband’s immediate family (including parents, siblings, aunts, uncles, cousins, and assorted nieces and nephews) live locally, so there are lots of parties and get-togethers during the season. After all of this holiday togetherness, I need to take a break and forget about Christmas and do something fun with friends.

One fun, active, and indoor family activity for Winter Break is bowling. I used to bowl at Nave Lanes in Ignacio when I was younger, but since it was torn down and replaced by a Safeway, we often head up to Southern Petaluma and go to AMF Boulevard Lanes, which is spacious and clean with a friendly staff. For the kids, they offer bumper bowling, which consist of metal barriers on either side of the lane so the ball can’t go in the gutter. We've even seen families use a special slide like ramp, so small children could roll their balls down the lane instead of facing the dreaded prospect of having their ball lose momentum and stop halfway to the pins.

Le Petit Jardin's French “total immersion” approach is an effective ten-week session for toddlers and children at the Golden Gate Tutoring Center in San Anselmo. The toddler Mommy & Me French Class is on Tuesday mornings from 10–10:50 am and runs from January 11 through March 15, 2011. These ten 50-minute sessions are designed to help you and your child explore the French language through singing, dancing, crafts, and storytime. The enrollment fee is $250 for this ten-week session. It also includes a book, CD, course materials, and a snack.

The French immerison for primary grades is an after school enrichment course on Wednesday afternoons from 3:30–5 pm starting on January 12. This enrichment class helps your child explore and absorb the French language and culture through fun themed-based lessons and hands-on activities all in French. The very small class sizes offers the benefit of a private tutor. The enrollment fee is $500 for this ten-week session. All course materials are included.

For more info, contact Amber at (415) 459-3978 or visit www.LPJkids.com.

Last week I hosted a holiday cookie party for my daughter's playgroup. I wanted to make my usual homemade gingerbread people, but ran out of time and ingredients while preparing for the party. By coincidence, I had a box of Trader Joe's Deep, Dark Gingerbread Cake and Baking Mix in the pantry. I took a look at the side panel and, lo and behold, found you could use it to make gingerbread cookies! I was saved!

I got out my trusty gingerbread person cookie cutter and prepared the cookies before the party so they'd be ready to decorate. You just add a stick of melted butter and a large egg to the baking mix, then form into a dough and chill. Then just roll and cut out as usual. I have to say, they made some of the best gingerbread cookies I've had in a while—moist and chewy with a pronounced spicy kick. They also had a hard to place richness about them, which I attribute to the inclusion of cocoa in the mix.