FAMILY

Play ball!

Time to dig out your trusty catcher’s mitt. This year's baseball season starts earlier

than ever, with the majority of teams throwing out their first pitches

On

March 31 or

April 1 (a Thursday and Friday, respectively, instead of the usual Monday). To make

the take-me-out-to-the-ballgame experience extra fun for kids, check out specials

offered by your hometown major and minor league teams. For example, the Atlanta

Braves allow kids 14 and under to run the Turner Field bases like the pros after every

Sunday home game. There's also Ultimate Kids Days (May 29 and July 31) with $5 upper

box tickets and pregame parades.

Tricks of the trade

Make sure the April Fools’ joke isn’t on you this year—

get

inspiration to play your own prank by combing the

archives of the Museum of Hoaxes

(museuMofhoaxes.com),

one of the top online sources for all things practical joke-related.

Whether you plan to prank anyone (Dad, perhaps?)

or not, sort

through the well-edited list of what “hoaxpert” Alex Boese has

dubbed his top April

Fools’ Day hoaxes. According to Boese,

practical jokes are a long-standing tradition— No. 26 on his list,

a death hoax involving a famous astrologer, dates back to 1708.

Home tweet home

Songbirds are back, so give them a place to call home. This colorful snap-together abode

might cause feathers to fly over which birdie gets to live in it. Tweet Tweet Home’s vivid

designs— all made of weather-safe recyclable plastic— are a snazzy, seamless update

to classic wooden models (no nails, tape, or glue required!). Make building one a

fam ily activity: They're so easy to assemble that even young kids can help

snap the pieces together. Classic Tweet Home, $io;

tweettweethOme.com.

An inside job

April 28 marks the tlth annual

Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work

day.

If your business participates, take advantage-— exposing children to the

workforce is an im portant investment in their future, if not, or if you

can’t tour your son or daughter through your entire 9A0-5, try an alternative.

Schedule a “business lunch” with your child, complete with a short office

visit, or assign her to help you with a task on your to-do list, like simple online

research. Try to connect with your child about what you do, says Carolyn

McKecuen, president of the Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Foundation.

“Last year, we even heard from one out-of-work dad who took his laptop and

daughter to a coffeehouse and showed her how he was looking for jobs,” she says.

For more information, visit

daughtersandsonsdowork.org,

■

212

B E T T E

R

HOMES AKD {.AUDENS 1

APRIL 2011 |

BHO.COM

PHOTOS: (BIRDHOUSE) KATHRYN GAMBLE. (BASEBALL) iSTOCK