Bouncing into the New Year

The Weird Science team was ready to kick off the New Year by making bouncy balls. The kids loved the bright colors and of course, they added lots of glitter to finish them off.

Once finished with this project, they moved on to the Circuitry Board project, which Omar had fun building and making a disc go flying into the air. A fun way bounce into a New Year.

Submitted by Helena Russo

New Years Eve Celebration

The Tuesday Night Volunteer Team celebrated New Year’s Eve with the Families. The Volunteers transformed the dining room with New Years décor; gold table clothes, balloons, noisemakers, 2020 glasses and hats. They had Chinese food for dinner with lots of deserts.

To ring in the New Year, they invited DJ Chris to entertain. The families danced and played musical chairs, the limbo and freeze dance which was a big hit with both the kids and our volunteers. The photo booth was busy with photos of families with and without the 2020 New Year’s props.

A fabulous evening highlighted with a Sparkling Cider New Year’s Count Down and Toast at 7 PM; Wishing a happy and healthy 2020 to all!

Submitted by Helena Russo

The Voice

The competition was fierce on Thursday night as the biggest names in the music industry went head-to-head to try to discover the next big star. It was time for: The Voice: RMH-NY Edition!

The families gathered in the living room to watch the kids show off their vocal ability with performances of their favorite tunes. Dressing up as Blake Shelton, Adam Levine, Pharrell, and Christina Aguillera, members of the Thursday Night team fought it out for new talent to add to their roster.

With the help of DJ Biggs and a karaoke track, the kids belted out their songs, impressing everyone in the room. The judges swiveled around in their chairs to see who they were listening to and their biggest fans (their families!) cheered them on from the audience. For the grand finale, all the contestants joined the judges on stage to perform everyone’s favorite song: Baby Shark!

Submitted by Leslie Fradkin

Happy Faces Throughout the House

What an exciting afternoon when David Lipson and the Happy Faces Foundation visited the House! The afternoon was filled with a fabulous lunch, DJ, face painters, dancing, photos with Iron Man, Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, and Winnie the Pooh all before the arrival of Santa.

The families enjoyed a special visit and photos with Santa, who had presents for all, and left happy faces thought out the House.

Submitted by Helena Russo

Happy Hanukkah!

Monday evening marked the third night of Hanukkah! To celebrate, we threw a party complete with dreidel spinning and candle making!

Though everyone was dressed to impress, we couldn’t get over Kira’s head to Hanukkah inspired outfit!

Submitted by Liz Lighthall

Merry Grinchmas

No one throws a party quite like Friday night volunteer, Shirley Jacobs. She turned the house upside with her whimsical festivities as the house got ready to celebrate Grinchmas.

The playroom was full of kids all dressed in their custom Grinchmas shirts that Shirley had made for them. The Friday night team made sure everyone had a blast. Like every good party, there was a photo booth with holiday themed props and costumes. There kids were all smiles as they dressed up and snapped shots with their families and friends. The kids (and some adults!) also got to enjoy a face painting station. And of course, as with any party thrown by Shirley, there was lots and lots of cake to be eaten.

This was a great way to kick off the holiday season and such a fun evening.

Submitted by Leslie Fradkin

Namaste Thursday

Thursday night was peaceful but also magical at the house! The night started with dinner cooked and served by the Yonkers Fire Department. Everyone loves when the Yonkers fire department comes to the house! They served a bunch of different dishes there was truly something for everyone.

After dinner, the house was treated to a yoga class taught by Sara. Sara was so enthusiastic with the kids and taught them so many fun poses. Everyone had a blast moving their bodies and learning about what they are capable of. Serenity and Sam were a power partnership when it came to the see-saw pose.

Overall, everyone had a great night learning to relax right in time for the holidays!

Submitted by: Kelly Quane

Googly Eyed NYE Masks!

A compilation of various House volunteers served dinner on the Monday before New Year’s Eve. The group gathered in the Playroom, rounding up feathers, glitter glue, beads and googly eyes to create a DIY New Year’s Eve mask activity.

The children joined at the craft table, using their creativity and imagination to make masks of their own for the following evenings NYE party.

One House guest, Omar even applied 15-20 googly eyes to his mask, creating a spooky version.

Submitted by Alyssa Ahern

Gingerbread Puppet Show

What better way to wind down then having a Puppet show in the living room after all the holiday celebrations. Lead by Clem Neyland the Thursday night team invited well known Puppeteer Anna Sobel to bring her show to the House; her Gingerbread Puppet show was entertaining.

Starting out with an interactive version of Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer, the families got into the program which lead to the show. The Gingerbread man puppet gets into trouble after he runs away he meets up with a chicken; Henny Penny, a Cool Cat; Catty Splatty and a mean wolf.

As you can imagine with our Volunteers and Kids shouting Run Run Fast as you can, the Gingerbread Man had a happy ending running from the wolf. After the show the Thursday night team handed out amazing Gingerbread cookies, the cookies were so delicious they did not get away, they were pleasantly digested by all!

Submitted by Helena Russo