It’s hard to believe that the beloved go-to agency for vacation nannies, babysitters & live-in nanny services -  Hilton Head Nannies - could get any better.  After all, they’re already the leading nanny placement agency specializing in the recruitment and placement of highly-qualified nannies.

But Hilton Head Nannies just became even more essential.

While celebrating their 5th year in business birthday,  Hilton Head Nannies has expanded into companion work (Hilton Head Companions) and Pet Nanny Work!

Hilton Head Companions is a compassionate senior care service that assists seniors in staying in their homes longer. Hilton Head Companions provides families with non-medical, private-duty senior-care, elder-care, respite care, personal care, companionship, and home care with the goal of helping seniors stay in their own homes. To see the various senior services provided, click here. Call today for a complimentary in-home consultation: (843)342-5673

Hilton Head Nannies serves Hilton Head Island, Bluffton, Okatie, Beaufort, Palmetto Bluff, Fripp Island, Charleston, Myrtle Beach, Tybee Island, and Wilmington Island areas of South Carolina and Georgia.

Hilton Head Nannies, “The More We Care, The More Beautiful Life Becomes” www.HiltonHeadNannies.com , 843.815.1313 Appointments may be made 24 hrs, 7 days per week on the Hilton Head Nannies website. Follow Hilton Head Nannies on Facebook here for updated information, coupons &  special promotions! Hilton Head Nannies is a SouthernMamas.com advertiser.

A new indoor play spot on Hilton Head Is. that encourages students to build unique creations, play games, and have loads of fun using LEGO® bricks

Bricks 4 Kidz offers programs and activities that let children play and socialize while learning fundamentals of science, technology and engineering in a noncompetitive setting.

Current Programs include: (please check website for details – www.Bricks4Kidz.com )
AFTERSCHOOL PROGRAMS (In the Bricks4Kidz Creativity Center and at elementary schools)
We offer afterschool enrichments classes for grades K-5 in our Creativity Center every Monday from 4:00 – 5:00 pm, as well as at schools across the county (please check actual schedules and price on our website).

PROGRAMS FOR HOMESCHOOLERS (In Bricks4Kidz Creativity Center)
Students will love learning science and technology in a lab-type setting using LEGO® Technic bricks and an integrated science curriculum. Designed for students grades 3-5, our homeschooling curriculum ensures that the fun gets back into learning science and technology. Please sign-up online.

BIRTHDAY PARTIES (In the Creativity Center or at a place of your choice)
Let Bricks4Kidz organize your next birthday party and experience how much fun it will be for your child and guests and how easy for you!
The base party package is available for $190 and includes 90 min of LEGO® fun and activities (2 hrs total) for 10 children ($5.00 each additional child), with party host, invitations and thank-you cards, lots of games and challenges, model building, free-play time. Bricks 4 Kidz® – T-shirt for the birthday child (signed by all kids), Duplo® for smaller children. Please check the website for more details.

KIDS NIGHT OUT (KNO) (In the Creativity Center)
Enjoy yourself for a couple of hours while Bricks4Kidz takes care of your child in a safe place, being entertained in a playful and enriching setting by our trained and screened teachers. Kids will spend their time building proprietary LEGO® models; participate in creative playing and games, or simply enjoy LEGO® free play. Kids will have so much fun, they’ll beg to come back every week! Admission is $25 per child ($5 sibling discount). Ages: 4 – 12

MOMMY/DADDY & ME (In the Creativity Center)
Mommy and Me classes (for ages 1-4) are available on Tuesdays from 10:00 to 11:00 am and can be booked in units of 4 weeks for $35. The classes are designed to create a time of fun, learning and bonding between children and mothers or other caregivers. It is also an avenue for mother and child to socialize with other mothers and children in an educational yet relaxed environment. Our trained teacher offers educational play with LEGO® Duplo and other materials. Wireless internet access and coffee available.

WALK-IN AND PLAY (In the Creativity Center)
Children ages 5 to 12 walk in and play at our Creativity Center with tons of LEGO® bricks. They can build cars and race them on our racing ramp, or just let their imagination go wild with building and playing. Parents can leave their children with us if they want to, or stay and play with them. Admission is $10 per child.

Bricks 4 Kidz, 42 New Orleans Road, Hilton Head, 29928, tel: 843-686-2829, www.bricks4kidz.com

Here’s a fun family bike ride suggestion: the I-Spy-a-Critter Bike Ride on Hilton Head Is.

This creature feature ride is a 10-mile route perfect for kids because it’s a treasure hunt for the island’s collection of permanent “creatures” – an alligator statue, a peacock stained glass window, a giant pelican, dolphin door, heron and horse statue as well as a few live critters – a trio of macaws, a Clydesdale, ponies, goats and a deer.

To make the bike safari adventure semi-educational, have your little ones complete the nature rhymes we paired with “animal” sightings. Check out the ride here:

Hilton Head Island gets a bad rap for being pricey. But there are free ways to entertain the kids on this overwhelmingly family-friendly island.

We’re not going to include the beach in our top 7 Free Summer Things to Do with Kids, as that is entirely too obvious. But, yes, Hilton Head Island’s beaches are the No. 1 way to entertain kids. You can bike on this beach. You can play in the tidal pools at low-tide. Swim. Sand castles. Ride the waves.

Here are our top picks for other free ways to entertain the kids on this island:

FOR MORE KID-FRIENDLY LOCAL ACTIVITIES, VISIT THE SOUTHERNMAMAS.COM EVENT CALENDAR HERE.

1. Bicycling on Hilton Head Island

Hilton Head Island offers over 50 scenic miles of public bicycle pathways and nature trails. The hard-packed beaches are also popular for bicycling at low tide.

2. Free family-friendly outdoor Gregg Russell concerts at Harbour Town, Sea Pines

8-9:30 PM June 1-Aug. 26 2011 Sunday – Friday. Under Harbour Town’s Liberty Oak. Family-oriented singer/storyteller performs sing-a-longs, ballads and silly songs with audience participation. Kids in the audience try to get Gregg to pick them to sing a song to the crowd, often using creative pick-me posters etc.

3. Free fun, energetic Maggie and Jackson Kid’s Music Show, South Beach Marina, Sea Pines.

Their two nightly shows Monday-Thursday, 7 & 8 pm, are the perfect way to end your summer daytrip to Hilton Head. The live music show is paired with daily face painting that starts at 6:30 pm. This kid-friendly duo perform through Sept. 5 2011.

4. Free HarbourFest at Shelter Cove Harbour

Through Sept. 5 2011
HarbourFest offers entertainment seven nights a week; including music, face painting, bouncy houses, balloon animals, sand art, and many more kid-friendly activities. Enjoy hand-made original arts and crafts from local vendors who specialize in jewelry, accessories, pet items, outdoor decorations and much more.
Long-time HarbourFest entertainer and family favorite, Shannon Tanner, will perform two shows at 6:30 and 8 p.m. Monday through Labor Day, Sept 5. Arts and crafts booths, vendors and children’s activities will be available each night as well. This year, Cappy the Clown joins the show bringing her brand of clown entertainment and magic that is sure to delight all ages. Cappy will be at Shelter Cove 6-9:30 p.m. Sunday through Friday. Tuesday night fireworks will light up the sky over the harbour at dusk on July 19 and 26; Aug. 2 and 9.

5. Free petting farm at Lawton Stables in Sea Pines

190 Greenwood Drive
Hilton Head Island, 29928
The free animal farm includes a deer named Callie, goats, sheep, chickens, rabbits, llamas, turtles and rabbits.  Kids can also pet a friendly retired Clydesdale, Harley, at the stables. Pony rides and horseback riding available for a fee.
More info here.

6. Hike trails in the free Sea Pines Forest Preserve

The 605-acre preserve includes easy trails to various points of interest including the 4,000-year-old Indian Shell Ring, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The walks range from 25 minutes to one hour. Bicycles are not permitted on the nature trails, so please park your bicycles at the locations provided. Open from sunrise to sunset. More info here.

7. Ride the free Sea Pines Trolley

Take the free Sea Pines Trolley to all your favorite Sea Pines locations. This is a great way to entertain kids who are still thrilled by “bus rides etc”. The trolley offers an easy way to get around Sea Pines while giving you a scenic tour of a favorite family vacation resort. Schedule info here.

FOR MORE KID-FRIENDLY LOCAL ACTIVITIES, VISIT THE SOUTHERNMAMAS.COM EVENT CALENDAR HERE.

Crabbing with kids to catch Carolina Blue Crabs can be comical and tends to require less skill than fishing.

What you need:

a bucket, a crab net (available at any hardware store or bait shop), 10- to 12-feet of sturdy string with a chicken neck attached above a two-ounce sinker.

What to do:

Cut the line about ten to twelve feet, add a sinker, then a chicken neck for bait. Leave the end with the chicken in the water, and patiently wait. You’ll see the crab nibbling on your line. Once the crab grabs, pull the line in with the crab on it and scoop it into the bucket

Where to crab

A pier, sea wall, sea shore, or dock. Crabs will be closer to shore in murky water and a bit farther out in clear water. You can crab from shore if there is no wave action.  Our suggestions include:

Harris Neck National Wildlife Refuge
Harris Neck Road (Highway 131)
Off U.S. Highway 17 between Eulonia and Darien in McIntosh County, GA (From I-95, take Exit 67)
www.fws.gov/harrisneck/

South Beach, Hilton Head Is.
Located at the “toe” of the island near the South Beach marina, is the Calibogue beach. There is no public parking, so it’s best to walk or bike from South Beach Marina parking lot.

Rules

There is a minimum size for “keepers”: five inches wide point to point to keep.  You may not keep a female carrying eggs (an orange spongy mass on their underside).

Only a few more chances remain for your child to get upclose and personal with an alligator, learn their habits and have pictures taken with a mouth-taped-tightly-shut gator.

We recently enjoyed the “Get to Know a Gator” program at the Coastal Discovery Museum at Honey Horn Plantation on Hilton Head. The program from Gatorland features a live alligator and busts several myths about gators, including the legend about running zig-zag if a gator ever chases you. Apparently, you should just run. And never feed alligators.

The program is held several times every Thursday through Aug. 13: 9:30 AM, 11:30 AM and 2 PM. For cost info, click here.
For reservations, call 843.689.6767 ext 223.

My son is still talking about the pony ride he took on “Cookie” last week at Lawton Stables on Hilton Head Island. And the goats he feed; as well as the llama, bunnies, sheep, chickens, turtles, roosters, donkeys, miniature ponies and trail horses he visited at Lawton’s FREE animal petting farm.

Pony rides for children ages 7 and younger are $10.

Kids can also pet and feed a friendly retired Clydesdale, Harley, at the stables, located inside Sea Pines Resort. Don’t let the gates at the Sea Pines entrance keep you from visiting. You don’t have to be staying at Sea Pines to visit Lawton Stables. It’s open to the public. Entrance to Sea Pines is $5 per car.

Lawton Stables also has a gift shop with horse-related items and a coin-operated horse for kids too young for the pony experience. Lawton also hosts kids’ horse-themed birthday parties and offers horse trail rides and carriage rides.

Click here for more info.

Butterfly kisses were my 2-year-old son’s main objective during a recent visit to the Karen Wertheimer
Butterfly Enclosure on Hilton Head Island. He was all about trying to touch a swallowtail to find out if they really felt like eyelashes fluttering on his cheek. Fortunately for the butterflies, he wasn’t quick enough.

The butterfly habitat is a treat for kids. The small screened enclosure includes a variety of butterflies as well as nectar plants to feed the butterflies and host plants to feed the butterfly larvae.

Kids can see a live caterpillar and see butterflies in all four stages of their metamorphosis up close.

The habitat is at the Coastal Discovery Museum in Honey Horn Plantation on Hilton Head Is, which also has other children’s activities. The butterfly habitat is open 9 AM to 4:30 PM and Sunday 11 AM-3 PM.

Visiting the habitat is FREE. $3 museum donations are suggested.

There’s also a weekly Butterfly Discovery Tour, a guided tour through the butterfly enclosure to get up close and personal with native butterflies. Kids learn about the different stages of a butterfly’s life cycle, see a living caterpillar and a chrysalis. Museum guides also share how to help butterflies survive and thrive and also explain their adaptations and characteristics. Cost. Adults $10, Children $5 (ages 4 to 12)
The tour is 10 AM Mondays and 3 PM Wednesdays June through September. Duration: 60 to 90 minutes. Reservations suggested. 843-689-6767 ext 223.

Click here for more info about Hilton Head Island’s butterfly habitat.

If you’re planning a day trip to Hilton Head Is. from the Savannah area, visiting the butterfly enclosure won’t take up too much time. It’s a good kids’ activity to pair with a visit to the Sandbox Interactive Children’s Museum or to the animal farm at Lawton Stables, which also has horseback riding, pony rides, birthday parties, trail rides and more. All of which make up a great outing for Savannah moms groups.