SouthernMamas.com has now added local Halloween happenings to our Corn Mazes/Pumpkin Patches/Fall Festivals 2011 page. Click here.

Highlights include the ever-popular Halloween Hike at Oatland Is. Wildlife Center; Wag-O-Ween trick or treat with your dog in downtown Savannah; Tricks, Treats & Trains at Georgia State Railroad Museum (Roundhouse Railroad Museum); The Haunted Forest at the Savannah Moose Lodge; several Trunk R’ Treats; and much more.

You can access this list by clicking on this link. Or by clicking on Corn Mazes/Pumpkin Patches at the top of our home page and going to Savannah Halloween Events in the drop-down menu.

A big thank you to SouthernMamas.com reader Lynn Adams for helping compiling this list.

November 6
Open House for Prospective Families
12:30 – 2:30 p.m.
Presentation for all ages at 1 p.m.
WWW.SAINTSCHOOL.COM

October 22
7 – 10 p.m.
Live from St. Andrew’s, It’s Saturday Night
Silent Auction on campus
$30 per person includes dinner
Reservations at www.saintschool.com/auction

Registration for November children’s Starfish swim classes at Chatham Aquatic Center started Oct. 1 2011. Deadline to register is Oct. 31. Register here.

Starfish Swim Lessons in Savannah
Chatham Aquatic Center, Savannah
7240 Sallie Mood Drive
Savannah, 31406-3991
(912) 652-6793
Each session consists of 8 lessons.
Click here for the November 2011 schedule.
Session Fees
Non-Member:$ 50 Member: $38
Non-Member Consecutive Session: $45 Member Consecutive Session: $33
Second Child:$45 Second Child: $33
Star Babies: $25 Out of county fee: $60

StarBabies (Ages 6 months – 36 months)
The purpose of this course is to build off of the skills and love of the water learned in StarBabies. The course does not teach children to be accomplished swimmers; it does prepare young children for the SeaSprites level of the Starfish Swim School. One parent or trusted caregiver must be in the water with each child. Swim diapers are required.

SeaSprites (Ages 3-5)
Designed to meet the needs of pre-schoolers, this class will develop a high comfort in the water, a readiness to swim, and for those children who are developmentally ready, teach beginning swim skills. Students work toward development of the five core swimming competencies and receive color level patches for each achievement. Approaches teaching skills through creative, fun activities.

SeaStars (Ages 6-8)
Students work toward development of the five core swimming competencies and receive color level patches for each achievement. The color levels are used to divide students into broad ability groups. Children progress at individual rates with the opportunity to learn the core swimming skills and progress to advanced strokes. Learning is self-paced but challenging.

SwimStars (Ages 9 & Older)
Students are divided by age group (Ages 9 – 14, Adults) Classes are taught along the same philosophy as SeaStars.

StrokeStars (Any age that meets skill prerequisite)
Swimmers refine freestyle and learn stroke technique for backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly and more!

AngelFish
The AngelFish program is designed to meet the needs of your special needs child. These classes are taught along the same philosophy as the Starfish Swim School. The classes will provide necessary teaching adaptations and or adaptive equipment that may be required to make your child as independent and successful in the water as possible. Private lessons are available for children and adults of all ages.

Join Shana Cawley Photography for Fall Mini sessions at Sara Jane Children’s Boutique on Sat. October 22 2011. Shana Cawley Photography will be at the Savannah boutique from 10 AM to 4:30 PM.

15 minute session, 2 4×6 prints of your choice, 15% of other prints (8×10 or larger).
Cost: $68 ($5 for each additional child up to 3 kids)

Email: sarajanekids@comcast.net  or call 912-234-5266 to make your appointment

Shana Cawley Photography provides portrait and wedding photography. Maternity, newborns, child, teen, family,and wedding photography. Covering Southeast and Central Georgia, now based in Richmond Hill/Savannah GA

Sara Jane Children’s Boutique, 202 East 37th St., Savannah, Georgia 31401 912-234-5266, email  sarajanekids@comcast.net, http://sarajane.myshopify.com/ Sara Jane Children’s Boutique is a SouthernMamas.com advertiser.

Cannon Firings every weekend in October at Old Fort Jackson & Fort Pulaski. Details here.

UPDATE: Winner is Julie Scott!! This week win four tickets to TERRANCE SIMIEN & THE ZYDECO EXPERIENCE family Zydeco concert at 3 PM
Saturday, October 22 at American Legion Post 135 in Savannah! Watch a snippet of a family zydeco concert here. The foot-stomping zydeco band will have families dancing and will teach children more about the Creole music of southwest Louisiana and the Texas gulf coast.

This kid-friendly afternoon dance & concert is part of the SAVANNAH MUSIC FESTIVAL (SMF) new programming that includes a year-round concert series – SMF LIVE – featuring some of the music world’s most acclaimed performers, increased distribution of its concert recordings to public and satellite radio, and music education programs that span the entire year. The complete program for the 2012 Savannah Music Festival, which takes place March 22 through April 7, will be announced in early November.

To win tickets, visit the Savannah Music Festival’s new Facebook page here; “like” the page; then answer this question on their Facebook wall: “What is your child’s favorite instrument?” Or, for those kiddies too young to have one, “What instrument do you want your child to play when they’re old enough?” Pls say SouthernMamas.com sent you! Deadline to enter to win is noon Sun. Oct. 9. We’ll announce the winner here and on SouthernMamas.com Facebook!

Not into Facebook? Enter to win by answering the question by commenting below this post. Click on comments.

Learn more about this upcoming family zydeco arts-in-education ‘informance’ (informational performance) here.

Can’t wait for the giveaway? Order tickets here. Kids’ tickets for the show have to be purchased over the phone 912.525.5050 and picked up at will call OR in person at the box office (216 East Broughton St).

Guided Birding Walk and Talk – Wormsloe
Oct 9 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM
Author Joe LaFleur will provide a free audiovisual program and a guided bird walk. The introductory program will help you identify birds by sight and sound and will also review preferred habitats where each species is likely to be encountered. The walk features hands-on identification of migrant and breeding birds in a variety of habitats. Beginners are welcome. Meet at the visitor center theater. $3.50-$6.00 912-353-3023.

Sunday, October 9, 2011 7:00am

At the Battlefield Memorial Park. Free and open to the
public!! Walk in the footsteps of Patriots during the annual memorial service
commemorating the soldiers who fell in the Siege of Savannah, one of the
bloodiest battles of the American Revolution fought on October 9, 1779.
Attendees gather in the Savannah History Museum parking lot. 912.651.0911 x307
West Harris Street Savannah, Georgia 31401

Make It and Take It
This craft program features a seasonal or holiday themed art activity.
Celebrate Halloween with a pumpkin design!
Ages 4 and up.
Bull Street Library, Tuesday, Oct 25, 4:30 p.m.
Islands Library, Thursday, Oct. 27, 4 p.m.
Oglethorpe Mall, Saturday, Oct. 29, 3 p.m.
Port City Library, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 4:30 p.m.
Southwest Chatham Library, Thursday, Oct. 27, 4:30 p.m.
Tybee Library, Friday, Oct. 28, 4 p.m.
West Broad Library, Thursday, Oct 27, 4 p.m.
W. W. Law, Wednesday, Oct 26, 3 p.m.
More info here

Savannah Storyteller Lillian Grant-Baptiste presents storytimes featuring author Virginia Hamilton’s “The People Could Fly,” a moving collection of folktales and stories about slavery and freedom.
Islands Library: Tues., Oct. 4, 4 p.m.
Hinesville Library: Wed., Oct. 5, 4 p.m.
Southwest Chatham Library: Thurs., Oct. 6, 4:30 p.m.
Carnegie Library, Sat., Oct. 8, 4 p.m. (all ages)
Bull Street Library, Tues., Oct. 11, 11 a.m.
Rincon Library, Wed., Oct. 12, 4:30 p.m.
Pooler Library, Thurs., Oct. 13, 4 p.m.
West Broad Library, Fri., Oct. 14, 4 p.m.
Oglethorpe Mall Library, Sat., Oct. 15, 4 p.m.

It’s October. Does your pre-K or kindergartener know all his or her sight words yet?

Kidding. Sort of. Thanks to a local pre-k teacher for telling us about www.education.com which offers free printable worksheets & activities for children.

You can print out a Sight Words Bingo game, which is a big more fun than flashcards.  Click here to go directly to the Sight Words Bingo game.

More free sight words worksheets & printables here. 

We’d love to hear about your favorite online resources to help children begin to read. Email anne@southernmamas.com or comment below.

About 5 percent to 20 percent of people in the U.S. will get the flu this year according to the CDC. The flu is a respiratory illness caused by a virus. It can cause mild to severe illness—and can even lead to death.

Join Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Fri. Oct. 7 from 12-1 p.m. for a live chat on Twitter. Children’s Healthcare will answer your questions on ways to protect yourself and your family. Ask questions via the Children’s Twitter account, @ChildrensATL, and follow the conversation using the hashtag, #CHOAchat. For more information, visit www.choa.org/flu .