Silly Bus BlogWe try to provide helpful updates about our music and video, what we are up to and cool things we find to do with kids music, activities for kids & families, and every day stuff! Stay Silly, Silly Bus

Silly Bus Holiday Extravaganza is December 7th at the Gottswald Playhouse at 7pm

Silly Bus is excited to announce the following winner for 2 tickets to the Silly Bus Holiday Extravaganza!!! The show will be at CenterStage at the Gottswald Playhouse on December 7th at 7pm.

Silly Bus Facebook Ticket Giveaway

Congratulations to Paige Tucker for winning 2 tickets to the show!

Congratulations to Tamara Hunt for winning tickets through our Fan email!

We will get you tour tickets shortly, thanks again!

Stay tuned for more news!!!

Silly Bus

Exciting news this week:

The Autism Grant Awards Scholarship to Richmond Boy

Silly Bus is excited to announce that The Autism Grant has awarded a two year old boy an scholarship award to attend the Dominion School for Autism. This is such great news, read more here.

The Autism Grant has been a great partner to work with and support, we thank them, their supporters and the Dominion School for Autism for all that they do.

Chick-fil-A NOVA Fire & Rescue Fest

Chick-fil-A NOVA Fire & Rescue Fest is tentatively rescheduled for April 21st, this is great news! Stay tuned for more details on the event this coming spring. It is important that we celebrate and show our appreciation for our local fire & rescue personnel and their families.

Celebrate the Holidays!

As we get closer to the holiday season, fun memories come to mind like building a snowman, or jumping in great big piles of leaves. Check out some of our fun videos with your kids to help re-live those moments or get inspired to go outside and have some fun!

Click on the image of the Silly Snowman to watch the video – he is Silly!

Also, if you are starting to look for stocking stuffers, check out our new album, it will help families re-live the classic children’s songs like Itsy Bitsy in a whole new way.

You can check out the new album here on iTunes or on our site!

We hope you are having an awesome time getting ready for Thanksgiving. In case you missed it before – here are the lyrics to the best thanksgiving song ever Turkey Time! Available in iTunes too!

It’s turkey time
It’s turkey time

It’s the time of year
My family is all here
It’s turkey time

Time to give thanks
And to feast on food and drink
It’s turkey time

This day is called Thanksgiving
Let’s say thanks for all that we were given
Let’s join together holding hands
And show our love for our family and friends

In Plymouth colony
There were hungry mouths to feed
It’s turkey time

The natives brought some meat
And they grew some crops to eat
It’s turkey time

It came about this way
That they made a holiday
It’s turkey time

This day is called Thanksgiving
Let’s say thanks for all that we were given
Let’s join together holding hands
And show our love for our family and friends

This day is called Thanksgiving
Let’s say thanks for all that we were given
Let’s join together holding hands
And show our love for our family and friends

It’s turkey time
It’s turkey time..

 © 2007 Silly Bus

Stay Silly!

Silly Bus

Hi everyone,

We are so excited for this weekend, fingers crossed the weather is good. Also, Halloween is coming up, here are some safety tips for your kids: http://www.halloween-safety.com/halloween_safety_kids.html.

The event this weekend should be awesome – it is free, families and all welcome for live music, moon bounces, silent auctions and more. The very exciting part will be the cow drop too, where the plush Mini-moo closest to the target will win something!

Come on out and join us for the event. Stay tuned for more news from the event and how much was raised. Thanks to Chick-fil-A for hosting such a great event for all of our local heroes. Proceeds from the event go to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.

The event is at the Bull Run Special Events Center from 11am-3pm. Entry is free, if you make a donation you get entered to win prizes that are up to $5,000 in value.

Visit the website for more details, http://www.sillybus.net/firerescuefest.

Best,
Silly Bus

Silly Bus is very excited about our upcoming Chick-fil-A event on 10/11/11 at Chick-fil-A in Reston. Mr. Rob will play and sing along with the firefighters and more!

Just a reminder, come on out to the Chick-fil-A NOVA Fire & Rescue Family Event from 11am-3pm. Silly Bus plays at 11:15am to get everything going! Visit the event site below, enter the code “rescue” and get 3 free songs from Silly Bus! Don’t forget to the Like the event on Facebook.

Bull Run Regional Park Special Events Center

7700 Bull Run Drive
Centreville, VA 20121

www.sillybus.net/firerescuefest

This week is also Fire Prevention & Safety week – below are some tips to keep in mind.

Fire Safety Checklist: http://dc.about.com/od/publicsafety/a/FirePrevention.htm

• Install and maintain a working smoke alarm outside of every sleep area and remember to change the battery at least once a year.
• Designate two escape routes from each bedroom and practice them regularly.
• Teach everyone the “Stop, Drop, and Roll” technique in case clothing catches on fire.
• Avoid storing old mattresses in the home or garage.
• Teach kids that matches, lighters and candles are tools, not toys. If you suspect that a child is playing with fire, check under beds and in closets for telltale signs like burned matches. Matches and lighters should be stored in a secure drawer or cabinet.

Take care,

Silly Bus

Visit Silly Bus for more details on shows too! www.sillybus.net

Silly Bus is excited to participate in the First Annual Chick-fil-A NOVA Fire & Rescue Family Fest on October 29th at the Bull Run Special Events Center in Centreville, VA from 11am-3pm. All proceeds from the event will go to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation.

Come out and show your appreciation at the Fire & Rescue Family Fest. The event is free and open to the public. If you are interested in making a $10 donation, you will get a Mini-Moo and also a raffle ticket for the Cow Drop, where you could win prizes valued up to $5000!

October 29th, 2011 from 11am-3pm

Bull Run Regional Park
Special Events Center
7700 Bull Run Drive
Centreville, VA 20121

Activities for kids and adults, food vendors, including Chick-fil-A sandwiches for sale. There will be live music by Silly Bus too! Scan the code below for more details.

You can also visit the event on Facebook and Like the event and page! You can also listen to our latest video, the ABC song from our new album.

The ABC Song on YouTube

Scan this to get free music!!!

To celebrate International Blog Day – Silly Bus is excited to support the Autism Grant and Dominion School raise funds for children with autism in need of scholarships for education. Currently Whole Foods is doing a fundraiser on September 14th where 5% of sales go to the Dominion School, a recipient and partner of the Autism Grant. Here are the specifics about the event:

• Shop 5% Day at Whole Foods on Wednesday 9/14 10am-6pm.
• 5% of sales to Dominion School for Autism.
  

Whole Foods Market at 11173 West Broad Street in Glen Allen will donate 5% of its proceeds to DSFA! Throughout the day, some of our students and staff will be taking trips to Whole Foods to help with efforts to educate shoppers about the school, as well as assisting with bagging groceries and other tasks as needed. If you have time to give, please call Cathy Hicks at 355-1011 so she can add you to the schedule.

We hope you are able to turn out and support these organizations as they work to support our community. Learn more below and help give back by doing what you were going to anyways – buy food!

The Mission of the Dominion School for Autism: The mission and educational philosophy of The Dominion School is to provide children with autism an individualized, ABA-based educational program in a loving and supportive atmosphere.

The Mission of the Autism Grant: The Autism Grant is a tuition scholarship for financially disadvantaged children with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder.  Early diagnosis and treatment, between the ages of 2 to 5, is crucial to making a long-term impact on a child’s ability to achieve his or her full potential.

Silly Bus is sad that we are wrapping up summer, but it was an awesome summer! We had great fans at all our shows, lots of fun and hope you enjoyed it too.

Preparing and getting through a Hurricane

Unfortunately, we do have a Hurricane underway, so we are keeping our fingers crossed that everyone is/will be okay through the weekend and week. Here is a great link to a Hurricane Supply Kit checklist. Also, in case you want to know what to do before, during, and after storms like this, here is a link to the Red Cross checklist which was very helpful.

We also released our latest album, Classic Children’s Songs. With new arrangements of our old favorites, we are very proud of the new album and excited to share it with you at last.

Songs include:

1. Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star
2. Five Little Ducks
3. Itsy Bitsy Spider
4. Old MacDonald
5. Hokey Pokey
6. Five Little Monkeys
7. Baa Baa Black Sheep
8. Humpty Dumpty
9. Wheels on the Bus
10. ABC song (See ABC Song video too!)
11. If You’re Happy and You Know It
12. BINGO

Enjoy the video and new takes on our favorites growing up. These songs are a great way to connect with your kids at home, out and about, anywhere really.

You can get our latest album on Facebook or through our site.

Our upcoming shows are exciting – come out with the family – take a break from these storms and earthquakes!

8/30 – Mr. Rob at Chick-fil-A @ Short Pump Crossing from 5-7pm

9/18 – Silly Bus at the DiggityFEST @12:30pm, the event is from 12-5pm at Westchester Commons.

9/24 – Silly Bus at the 6th Annual GOGreen Virginia Garden Festival at the Science Museum from 10:30am-12pm

Be safe,

Silly Bus

Happy 4th of July Fans – Visit the Silly Bus site for details on our new album coming out August 1st and our new video coming out next week!

Silly Bus had a great time kicking off the summer with Chick-fil-A at their Parham Rd. location on June 7th in Richmond, VA. The turn out was fantastic and we loved seeing our fans, singing music and dancing! There are some really cool events at Chick-fil-A like the Antique Car Cruise at the VA Center Marketplace location on July 8th and also on August 19th. See below for all of our summer shows – including playing at The Diamond in support of The Autism Grant!

July 5th – Mr. John and Mr. Justin @ Chick-fil-A Summer Children’s Concert Series

5-7 p.m. Chick-fil-A @ Parham Road
1529 N. Parham Rd. Richmond, VA 23229

July 8th – Mr. Rob @ Chick-fil-A Summer Children’s Concert Series

6-8 p.m. Chick-fil-A @ Virginia Center Marketplace
10176 Brook Rd. Glen Allen, VA 23059
Along with the Antique Car Cruise In!

July 11th – Silly Bus performs and throws out the first pitch with the Richmond Flying Squirrels

Silly Bus plays The Diamond for the 10am-12pm game with the Richmond Flying Squirrels!

July 22nd – Coach Billy from Silly Bus performs during the 7th Inning Stretch at Richmond Flying Squirrels game

5:30pm – 8:30 pm
Silly Bus plays The Diamond with the Richmond Flying Squirrels!
Come out and support The Autism Grant along with Silly Bus and enjoy the game!

August 2nd – Mr. Rob @ Chick-fil-A Summer Children’s Concert Series

5-7 p.m. Chick-fil-A @ Parham Road
1529 N. Parham Rd. Richmond, VA 23229

August 19th – Mr. Rob @ Chick-fil-A Summer Children’s Concert Series

6-8 p.m. Chick-fil-A @ VA Center Marketplace
10176 Brook Rd. Glen Allen, VA 23059
Along with the Antique Car Cruise In!

August 23rd – Silly Bus at Rockville Town Square Kids Night

on Tuesday, August 23rd, we play at 6:30pm and 7:30 pm
Rockville Town Square Plaza, 100 Gibbs St, Rockville, MD 20850

August 30 – Mr. Rob @ Chick-fil-A Summer Children’s Concert Series

5-7 p.m. @ Chick-fil-A at Short Pump Crossing 3380 Pump Rd Richmond, VA 23233

September 18th – Silly Bus @ The First Annual DiggityFEST at Maymont Park

Silly Bus will play alongside Dan Zanes, The Diggity Dudes & Hope Harris

DiggityFEST is at Westchester-Commons from Noon-5pm
Silly Bus plays at 12:30-1:05pm – see you there!

October 29th – Silly Bus to play at Bull Run Park in Northern VA

Details to come soon!!!

We are also very excited to launch our new video this month and our new album on August 1st!!!

Take care and stay silly!

Silly Bus

These days, moms are busier than ever balancing family responsibilities and in some cases working from home, or in the office. Finding time to have fun with the kids is tough given the weekly schedule of work, children’s activities, and errands. Additionally, the demands and expectations on children require more and more advanced learning earlier in life, further exacerbating the time crunch that we all feel.  In this environment, finding fun and educational ways to engage and connect with your child is so important, but moms can’t do it alone, we need help!

We all know that we need to spend more time with our kids in fun educational ways to help ensure that the foundations are in place at an early age. These foundations give our kids the head start they need to be successful and feel confident.  And let’s face it we cherish these learning moments too!

Over the past few years moms across the country have started to discover that using educational music and videos can be a big help in solving for the “time crunch challenge”.  These tools are perfect for use during small windows of downtime like traveling to the store afterschool or waiting for the next soccer game to start.  These small windows of opportunity present the perfect time to enjoy a song, sing together or simply entertain a restless child.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when looking for music for our kids:

-       Use music that focuses on story telling and phonetics to help children learn basic concepts and sounds;

-       Find images that help children correlate concepts that they hear with pictures, allowing children to learn from both audiation and visualization;

-       Search for music that has repetitive themes, since these will help children remember content and concepts; and

-       Look for songs that are upbeat to maintain the positive mood and feeling of achievement as you work and play together

These types of key components can be very powerful for children and let’s mom turn play time into class time and class time into play time.  By taking a few simple steps now, moms can help give their children a real leg up as they begin their educational adventure.

Check out the article here on Happy Baby and get in on the giveaway!

Have a great week and we hope you liked the article,

Silly Bus

Silly Bus is thrilled to share our new song and video, My Mommy, with Happy Family. Together we are celebrating moms everywhere! Writing this song meant a lot to our team, it was very personal and we are proud of how everything came together.

Sign up for the Happy Family Newsletter to see the video and song when they send it out. You can also Like them on Facebook here.

Here is our “My Mommy” video on our You Tube site. Celebrate your mom this Mother’s Day! Send along this video to remind her of how awesome she is and how much you love her. This is a great gift, it costs nothing, just send her the link to the video.

Enjoy Mother’s Day – thanks to moms everywhere!

Silly Bus