Web Round Up

Best Of The Web: Gift Guide

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Perfect list of gifts for this christmas. Dancers will love these options in Cedar Rapids IA

 

 

 

 

Ready or not, the holidays are quickly approaching! Our families here at Prestige are busy shopping, attending special performances, baking cookies, and doing all the other great activities this time of year brings. Have you completed your holiday shopping yet? Do you have anyone on your list that you are completely clueless as to what to get them?? You can take a good sigh of relief because we have put together our best of the web: gift guide edition! We are sure that you will get re-inspired and find some great ideas, no matter who you are shopping for!

For The Dancer:

Last year, we put together the ULTIMATE gift guide for dancers. There are some amazing ideas that your dancer is SURE to love! We also found another great list from Dance Advantage. We would LOVE to get our hands on the Ballerina Cookbook listed in their post! Also, don’t forget that you don’t have to go very far for your dancer. We have so many great stocking stuffer and dancewear options right here at Prestige!

For The Creative:

If your loved one likes to explore art, DIY projects, and crafts, they will love anything from One Handcrafted Life’s creative gift list. For younger crafters, Martha Stewart has some GREAT ideas! Just reading these makes us want to start a new project!

For The Athlete Or Sports Fanatic:

Staying active is a very popular goal for the upcoming New Years Eve. Give your loved one a leg up by giving them something on this list from Very Well. They have some great message and stretching gifts that your dancer might enjoy as well! If sports are more their thing, try checking out this list from CNN. We mean, who wouldn’t want an NFL ugly sweater? hehe!

For The Professional:

If your gift recipient is hoping to push themselves and grow in their professional life this year, choose any of the books listed here on Inc! We are feeling inspired already, have you read any on their list??

For The Stressed

We mean stressed in the BEST way possible of course! For anyone who needs a little rest, relaxation, and calmness, there is nothing better than using a gift to help bring them there! This list from Out Of Stress made us feel more relaxed by just READING it hehe!

Has inspiration struck yet?? We hope so! What gift are you the MOST excited to give this year?? Tell us below, we would love to include it in our web round-up next year! At Prestige, we hope you enjoy this holiday season to the fullest and savor every moment of picking out the PERFECT gifts for your loved ones.

 

 

Fall Fun In Cedar Rapids!

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Great ideas for fall fun for families in the Cedar Rapids area!

Fall is the perfect time to fit some family fun into your busy schedule! Not only is the landscape breathtaking but there are TONS of fun things to do for all ages. At Prestige we love hearing about all the fun family adventures our students go on during the fall. This year we have gathered a few great resources for you to pick and choose what sort of activities suit your family best. Whether it is a trip to the farm to pick pumpkins, getting in a few thrills with a haunted house, or just spending some time in the kitchen, we have you covered! So pick one or two fun activities or tackle them all, just get out and spend some quality time with your family this season.

Apple and Pumpkin Picking– This site has put together a great list of orchards and farms. Whether you are looking for rides and petting zoos or your more traditional farm, you will find it here!

Festivals– Festivals are a great place to explore a new area, try a new food, or see some amazing talent! This list contains festivals from all over Iowa so you can make a fun weekend out of it if you like.

Haunted Houses – This list may not be for everyone but we know that there are people out there that go CRAZY for a good scare. If you dare to try one, let us know the thrill factor so we can steer clear hehe!

Halloween Crafts– With Halloween quickly approaching, you will start needing to prepare costumes and decorations. Why not have the kids help out? Check here for some great inspiration and how-to.

Apple Recipes and Pumpkin Recipes – The smell of ANYTHING baking in the oven is often irresistible. Add some pumpkin or apple and we can’t resist. Here are some delicious ideas so you can use up all those apples and pie pumpkins in your pantry. If you have any left over, we know some hungry dancers that would gladly take care of them hehe!

What do you have planned this fall? Anything going on around Cedar Rapids that we missed? We hope you are able to take a little time enjoying this amazing season. We would love for you to tell us all about your fun fall adventures!

 

Back to School with Prestige Dance Studio

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back to school with prestige dance studio

Who is excited to head back to school this fall?? We are sad to see summer end of course, but there is a certain amount of buzz at the start of the new school year that is SO invigorating! Fresh school supplies, new backpacks, and first day of school pictures… what’s not to love?

We understand that our families at Prestige Dance Studio are balancing dance class schedules, work schedules, school responsibilities, and all the needs of their family members. We want to help our studio families start off on the right foot! We have already covered how to prepare for your child’s first dance class. Today we want to talk about preparing for the start of the school year!

We have put together a round up of helpful articles to help you get organized, inspired, and most importantly, excited for the start of another school year. Have any tips to add? Let us know in the comments.

We are thrilled to head into another GREAT year at Prestige Dance Studio! We can’t wait to see our dancers back in the studio and hear ALL about their first few days back at school!

  1. Back to basics. We love this helpful article from PBS. Great reminders of some simple things your family can do to make the transition into the school year a little easier!
  2. Get a plan in place for dealing with the paperwork! Be proactive about dealing with all the notes, reports, pictures, and memos that come home from school and dance. Love this method! All you need is a Tupperware and you are on your way.
  3. Are you ready to take your lunches to the next level? Bento boxes take lunch beyond ham and cheese. This gallery of lunch options is inspiring!
  4. Prep ahead! This article gives some great advice for ways to streamline your lunch making process. Doing a little prep work may make it easier for your kids to take a more active role in the lunch packing.
  5. Make sure to leave room for fun! This round-up of school supplies is SO fun! We have our eyes on the nail polish highlighter:)

Best Of The Web PERFORMANCE HACKS

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Best of the web performance

As some of our dancers are busy attending competitions and community performances, others are gearing up for recital. Where ever your dancer is in their performance season, it is never too early to start planning for a smooth, stress-free event. From quick changes to event safety, we have collected the best dance performance hacks from the web so you can breathe easy. At Prestige, our best advice is to plan ahead and go through the big day with your dancer so they know what to expect and you are both on the same page. Who is helping them change? When and where can they eat? When can they relax for a bit? Dancers generally will feel more prepared and less frazzled when there is a plan in place and as a dance parent, you will feel better too!

  • Labeling Garment Bags For Dance Competitions and Recitals – This article tells you exactly how to label and organize your costumes. Quick changes will be a breeze and lost costumes will be a thing of the past if you follow this method.

  • Dance Bag Organization – We think using a reusable wine/beverage bag from a grocery store does an AMAZING job at creating little compartments within your dance bag. The dancer in the article uses the bag alone but it would fit inside of your normal bag too. You could even use more than one! It would make finding shoes and accessories SO much easier!

  • How to Clean Practically Anything Dance Related – Dirty shoes, dancewear, or costumes, this article has got you covered!

  • A Snack Plan– This is an easy idea to keep all your dancer’s snacks organized. We all know it takes a lot of fuel perform at your best so make sure your dancer is well stocked with healthy options!

  • Event Safety – We love this article and video on how to keep your dancers safe during performances. Although we do our best to make sure every event runs as smoothly and safely as possible, sometimes things happen. Having a first aid kit on hand as a simple way to ease your mind during a very busy day.

We love seeing our Prestige dancers perform on stage! With these simple hacks, you will be able to relax and enjoy the show!

Best of the Web HOLIDAY EDITION!!

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holiday guide prestige dance studio

We LOVE to celebrate family at Prestige Dance Studio. We strive every day to create an environment that helps our students to feel supported and celebrated. We consider our students, families, teachers, and staff all important members of the Prestige family! For many of our students, the studio is their second home.

We will, OF COURSE, miss seeing our students over the holiday break- but we know how important it is to spend quality time with the people you love. Just like we nurture our relationships inside the studio, we want our students to understand the importance of nurturing their relationships outside of the studio. We rounded up some links today to get those wheels turning if you are looking for fun ideas and activities to do with your family in the coming weeks. We’ve got events, crafts, activities, recipes, and MORE!

Just as a reminder, the studio will be closed for holiday break December 23-January 1. We look forward to hearing about your family adventures when students return to class!

Check out all the local events happening in Cedar Rapids! Lots of fun stuff happening this weekend. I have my eye on the Winter Solstice Party:) PS. Here is another list on the Cedar Rapids Mom Blog of all the places to see Santa if you need to check that off your list!

If you are in the mood for a road trip, consider heading to Chicago to check out the Joffrey Ballet’s brand new Nutcracker! They are mixing things up with brand new choreography, a new take on the classic story based on the Chicago World Fair, and new costumes and sets. There are still tickets left for many of the performances. If you do attend, please let us know on Facebook what you think of the new production! I am excited to hear the reviews.

I really like this next idea… and may have to start this tradition with my own family. This blogger spends one night each holiday season driving around and looking at Christmas lights like many families do. Her version has a few special rules. Everyone has to wear their “jammies”, you have to get hot cocoa (and wear your jammies while you go inside to get it), and you have to listen to Christmas music while you drive around. Can’t you imagine your kids LOVING this???

I know you took care of your dancers after reading through our gift guide (hehe) but do you still need to come up with gifts for teachers, babysitters, or grandparents? Work with your kids to make something! Fun for you, fun for your kiddos, and super fun for the recipient to open. Here is another link with great ideas if you have younger children. Homemade gifts are the best:)

My favorite part of the holidays may be the cookies. I love making them, and I love eating them. Have your kids help you pick out a recipe and make something delicious together. I love these adorable Santa strawberries. A super simple way to make a (kinda) healthy snack memorable hehe.

Get your whole family involved in giving back to the community. Have you heard of Volunteer Match? You can plug in your city and what type of volunteer opportunity you are looking for and it comes up with all sorts of options. It is super handy to have all the contact information right there. It is a very cool site. I also love that it includes volunteer work that can be done virtually. Create memories while you give back to the community (you know that we are HUGE fans of giving back at Prestige Dance Studio!).. win, win!

Finally, if your child is REALLY missing their dance classes, join in on the fun. Let them teach YOU something. Check out this dad. He wanted to find a way to bond with his daughter, so he took up gymnastics and let her teach him what she was working on. It’s pretty impressive!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMCMyX1nTWw