FUNtastic Fridays at Anniversary Park

Come out and watch the Karate Princesses perform on Friday, June 4, 2010 at FUNtastic Fridays at Anniversary Park in Downtown Hollywood.

Located at 20th Ave. & Hollywood Blvd. The Karate Princesses will be on stage at 6:00 pm to show off their incredible Princy Power!  This is a free event with tons of entertainment, bounce house, face painting, clowns, balloon twisters, arts and crafts, movies, magic and so much family fun!

The event takes place from 5:00-9:00 pm!  Bring your camera!

Cat Zohar presenting at the First Girls Club Summer Camp

The First Girls Club Summer Camp is Celebrating their 10 Year Anniversary

I’m very pleased to make the announcement that I will be appearing at the First Girls Club Summer Camp this summer during each of their three camp sessions as a special guest speaker!

The First Girls Club is “A summer camp where girls can be girls”.  This year marks their 10 year anniversary, so I’m very excited to be apart of the celebration and festivities!

All of the activities at FGC Summer Camp take place on the beautiful grounds of University of Miami. Each day at FGC consists of meaningful hands-on structured activities that will further instill discipline along with a passion for the arts. Each girl participates in different activities daily within their age group.  FGC brings together girls ages 4-11 to participate in dance, arts and crafts, musical theatre, cooking, swimming, outdoor activities–and now these young ladies will be exposed to the martial arts–thanks to The Karate Princesses Program girls can now feel special saying “Girls do Karate, Too!”

My presentation will consist of teaching these little ladies that their voices are powerful, their self-image matters most, and it’s never okay for someone to make them feel anything less than a Princess! Too often girls fall into the trap of being mistreated just because of their kind-hearted, generous dispositions.  I want every Princess living in Miami to know how to protect themselves, not just with the physical safety-know-how, but also with the mental-toughness of making positive choices that improve their confidence and self-esteem so they make better decisions throughout their lives.  I want them to know that they are capable of pursuing anything they want to do, even if someone tells them they can’t, just by having the courage to try.

Through interactive and engaging exercises the girls follow along and participate in a fast-paced 45-minute lesson.  By the end of the session they will be inspired to conquer the world…or just theirs!

If you have a group of girls you would like to share this presentation with, please call me at 440-292-5456 and we can discuss available dates and applicable fees.

A Princess Playhouse that serves food too…

A Playpen within the Cafe

So I’m sitting here in North Miami Beach, enjoying a mocha at Cafe Bambini.  The atmosphere is toddler-preschooler friendly, with a fancy mesh playpen wall separating the toys from the tables.  (No worries about a lost kiddie here.)

Kids are able to run about, make new friends, and meet up with their bestest buddies while mom can work on her laptop and enjoy free wifi, sit and chat with her girls, or enjoy a snack on the run that’s also healthy and nourishing–mostly everything is organic, making eating right an easy tasty, task.

Co-owner, Jennifer Rojkes, warmly greeted me, even with a full house of moms, dads and toddlers on the loose, and made up one outstanding white chocolate mocha in a jiffy… I’m sipping it now, while enjoying the music of a great soundtrack intermixed with live performance tracks of some of my favorite 90’s Groups…  (I’ve never heard a live version of the Goo Goo Doll’s Iris before… nice mix!)  The atmosphere is nothing short of jovial, as the kids freely bang on the piano, draw on the blackboard, and  try on fancy dress-up clothes…  It’s comfortable and relaxed, the kind of place where you just kick off your shoes and enjoy the moment–a perfect Princess hotspot!  I will certainly be back, and most importantly I’ll be letting the Princesses know of such a cheerful place to hangout and catch up over an organic pb&j…

FasTracKids in Sunny Isles Beach: A+

A couple months ago when I first moved to Miami, I attended the ASIB CC (Aventura Sunny Isles Beach Chamber of Commerce) Young Executives Luncheon.  There I was pleased to meet Roman Frenkel, owner of FasTracKids in Sunny Isles Beach.  Roman and I kept in touch, and over the months I’ve learned a lot about his business and what he’s been contributing to the community of Aventura/Sunny Isles and surrounding area.  Roman & his wife opened their location in last August, and if you haven’t seen it yet, you need to stop by and check it out…

Today I was privileged that Roman was able to take sometime out of his busy schedule to visit with me for a little bit and show me around his learning center.  When I arrived, he was setting up for a Piano lesson that was about to take place.  He had a bunch of eager kids ready to learn their lessons… Economics was the topic for today.

Economics, I asked?  Aren’t they like 3, 4, 5 years old?  He’s like, Yes!  And then he explained to me that they will be learning about supply and demand.  The analogy he gave me was with a baby doll, so relative to the little girls that were waiting for their class to begin, it made the subject sound so incredibly simple, that I was flabbergasted little kids were already learning these types of “real world” concepts.

I’ll share this with all of my readers… When I was taking classes at Temple University in Philadelphia, I had an 80+ year old professor teaching economics, Dr. Rafaelson.  Now I liked Dr. Rafaelson, however he confused me more about the subject in two semesters of Macro & Micro than I care to admit publicly.  And I stopped for a moment and thought… if I could have understood this at 3 & 4 years old, imagine how things would have been different?  I can say with certainty, Dr. Raphaelson’s classes wouldn’t have been such a struggle for me since I would have been familiar with this from such an early age…

Then I thought… just imagine what these kids are going to be able to achieve one day, by being exposed to so many concepts before the age of, oh… SIX!  I’m a huge fan of what Roman’s educating our future with… He tells me later this summer, his students will be dissecting and learning Biology!

Young Doctors, Lawyers and Rocket Scientists are in the making over at FasTracKids.  Kudos Roman for providing such an outstanding service to the youth of our community!

I was so impressed with FasTracKids, I’ve decided Roman’s Learning Center compliments what I’m looking to accomplish with my Karate Princesses program; Preparing our youth today with advanced knowledge and skills that they will most certainly need in their future.  I look forward to instructing a Karate Princesses Program in Sunny Isles Beach this summer at Roman’s facility.

Smart Leap Toys: Genius!

In my adventures, I was able to meet up with Veronica over at Smart Leap Toys in North Miami Beach.  Veronica is the store manager and introduced me to the fun things going on in the store.  The idea behind the products are fun while educational and of course safe yet entertaining.  I was so intrigued by the concept, and the toys available, that I know I’ll be using some of them in our Karate Princesses classes!  The idea behind the toys sold at Smart Leap Toys are designed to stimulate your child’s intellectual, emotional, and social skill sets–Kind of like all the things the Karate Princesses Program stands for!  (So you see why I’m such a fan!!!)

I was given some passes to save 10% off at their new North Miami Beach Location.  (My Princesses will be shopping with them soon!)  Veronica tells me they opened in December of 2009, and I know they are going to become a pillar for educational development in the community of North Miami Beach.  Every kid needs to have toys, needs to have fun, and needs to be able to just be a kid… but if they can experience all of those things, and at the same time learn something–Wow, it puts a special twist on education and fun!

I like what Smart Leap Toys has to offer since it’s so complimentary to the things I believe in sharing with my students, too.  I am excited to have met Veronica, and I know her and I will be putting our ‘thinking tiaras’ on in the upcoming weeks as we decide to incorporate some of the toys available into my Karate Princesses Curriculum!

To visit Smart Leap Toys on the web:

http://www.Smartleaptoys.com

You can also use coupon code:  Leap to save 10% online!

Or stop by there store and let Veronica know Cat sent you…

3095 NE 163rd Street

North Miami Beach, FL 33160

(305) 940-5057

Bubbles ’N Ice is really Niiiicccceeee!!!!

My new favorite water ice! BETTER THAN RITAS!!!

So while I was out and about today, I met the owner of Bubbles ’N Ice… They recently opened up three weeks ago in North Miami Beach–just minutes away from where my Karate Princesses’ Class will be held–and I was blown away by how warmly I was greeted!  It’s not too often that I walk into a business looking to leave some passes behind–let’s face it, that’s why I walked in–that I’m asked to sample their product and stay awhile…

So as I’m about to taste the healthy, fat free, cholesterol free Black Cherry water ice, I’m thinking to myself… “There’s no way it can be as good as Rita’s…”  (For all of you Miamians who don’t know about Rita’s Water Ice, they were the hot spot in Philly for a refreshing treat…)  Although after my first nibble I was hooked!  And quite pleased that it was better than what I was expecting–smooth, completely flavored with no annoying cubed-ice crunches!

And one of the things I like best, it’s a refreshing treat that won’t pack on the pounds and satisfies the taste buds for something cool and sweet.  As it reached 92* here today, I was refreshed by my new found guilty pleasure!  In fact… I know I’m going to be a regular over at Bubbles ’N Ice, and I’m sure that my Karate Princesses will be getting a surprise from there too, from time-to-time!  I think there needs to be a Karate Princesses flavor… I’ll bring it up next time I’m in… 😉  Which will most likely be sooner than later.  And I even received free scoop passes for my Karate Princesses to visit for themselves!

If you’re looking for the best Italian Ice in North Miami Beach–Bubbles ’N Ice will quickly become your favorite “HOT SPOT” too…  Oh, and they also offer free Wi-Fi, I may just camp out for awhile!!

http://www.Bubblesnice.com

3061 NE 163rd Street

North Miami Beach, FL 33160

(Between Hiro & Outback)

If you stop in, let them know Cat sent you…

Sherry North, Children’s Author

To see four brave dads singing and dancing while wearing their babies, watch this video!  You can also find it by typing “Dancing Dads and Babies” into YouTube or Google Video Search. The video celebrates the launch of Ft. Lauderdale author, Sherry North’s new children’s book, Because I Am Your Daddy, which makes a great gift for Father’s Day or for new dads all year round. Find it on Amazon or at your local bookseller. If the video makes you smile, please pass it on!

Thanks Sherry!