cutting down fewer trees and, we don?t know about you, but we?ve gotten real used to breathing oxygen.

The good part about us going smaller, physically, is that we haven?t sacrificed a bit of all the great information and suggestions you?ve come to expect in each edition of Kidsguide. Even with a smaller magazine in width, you?ll still find plenty of places to go, things to do and animals to ride.

With that in mind, why don?t we get started right away with some big ideas about some small things: fun things, helpful things, important things, conversational things, pretend things and tetanus shots. All that and Rhode Island.

SMALL TOWN

When Pam Shambra was helping to put together Pretend City, an amazing and innovative kids museum in Irvine, she and her staff visited more than 60 children?s museums across America. While they got lots of great ideas, they came away with one thing that doesn?t work: ?Anything behind glass,? Shambra said.

And so Pretend City, which opened in August, is a completely interactive museum where kids can play and touch and learn in 15 different exhibits that include a grocery store, farm, doctor?s office, art studio, amphitheater, restaurant, marina, construction site and many others. Kids learn through role-playing based on real-world experiences as they dress up as a grocery store stocker, police officer, deliver the mail, create real art or put out a fire (not real). Shambra said that one of the things Pretend City hopes to teach kids is how interconnected all aspects of a city are. For example, a kid works on a farm and sees that the food goes from there to the grocery store where it is sold to the restaurant which cooks the food and serves it to their guests. Just as important, though, is that Pretend City shows parents how their kids learn: through repeatedly trying, or mastering, activities.

?Kids will do something over and over again because they are learning to master it,? Shambra said. ?We had a boy who for the whole two hours he was here, dressed up as a police officer and went back and forth between the caf? and grocery store asking if things were OK. This is how kids learn.

?We have early childhood educators at each exhibit who help parents understand that their child is mastering something. This is so important because, in the end, parents are their child?s best teacher.?
29 Hubble, Irvine, (949) 428-3900. www.pretendcity.org

SMALL TIME

According to quantum theory, the smallest amount of time is Planck time which is the time required for light to travel, in a vacuum, a distance of one Planck length.

That?s all very well and good but, with all apologies to German physicist Max Planck for whom Planck time is named, every parent knows the smallest amount of time is the span between the beginning of vacation and the moment your child announces, ?I?m bored!?

SMALL CHANGE

I think we?d all agree that the world is a lot like our relatives: fundamentally decent, but could do with a good cleaning and a bit of improving. And, as we all know, any real change in the world starts small and starts at home. There are a lot of things we can do around the house to teach our kids how to live better and make the world better at the same time. Now relax, Bono, we?re not talking about big, save-the-rain-forest type stuff. We?re talking small changes, the kind of changes that not only make the world a better place, but can save you some money. Here are three simple, and small, things you can start doing today.

Unplug: It?s one thing to tell the kids to turn the lights off when they leave a room (why is it the only time they actually do this is when they?re leaving the bathroom and you?re in the shower?); go a step further and have them unplug appliances not currently in use. That would include the cell phone charger, the flat iron, the TV, all of which continue to eat energy even if they are turned off.

Cook: You can save so much money, be so much healthier and enjoy so much more time together with your kids if you just cook at home. Great activity for sparking conversation, great way to learn about family history. Cooking is an invaluable skill and so much fun. They?ll thank you when they get older and, when they?re hungry instead of reaching for their keys to get some fast food, they?ll reach for a whisk. Healthy, frugal, fun, what?s not to like? Plus, check out Kidsguide?s ?Cooking? section. It features businesses that specialize in teaching kids how to cook.

Bike: Like food, we tend to be on autopilot when it comes from getting from one place to another. According to Transportation Quarterly, only about one percent?ONE!?of trips in the United States are taken by bike while more than 80 percent are done by car. Granted, some trips require a car, but 80 percent? This business of jumping in the Saturn to go to the store just a few blocks away is a learned behavior. We can just as easily teach our kids to get on their bikes to make a lot of those trips. It?s all made easier if you keep your bikes in good running order and somewhere they can be accessed easily.

SMALL FAVORS

There are few things, nothing actually, that is as fulfilling and fun as volunteering to help others. It?s sometimes funny to listen to parents complain about the younger generation being selfish and self-centered when, much of the time, they haven?t thought to introduce their kids to volunteering. Anyone who has done volunteer work with their kids knows how quickly and enthusiastically they take to it. If you?re looking for something to get involved in, the ?Calendar? and ?Volunteering? sections of Kidsguide have numerous opportunities. Remember, these don?t have to be big things?any real change comes in small doses. Remind them, and yourself, of what Thoreau said: ?One is not born into the world to do everything but to do something.?

SMALL WORLD

The world can seem like a pretty big place when you?re always looking up. Cut the world down to size with some things that have the word in their title: here?s a hint, try things with the word miniature. Like ?

Miniature Golf in the Dark ? Putting Edge Fun Center: Play 18 holes of glow-in-the-dark miniature golf and find that you putt about as well as you do when you can actually see. Fun, and there?s an arcade. Dibs on the air hockey table! All this and a glow bracelet is included in admission. 6081 Center Drive, Los Angeles. (310) 348-9770. www.puttingedge.com

Miniature Railroad, Travel Town Museum, Griffith Park: This offers daily miniature train rides, weather permitting; special events are held regularly. Admission is free, though there is a suggested donation. Rides are $2.50; kids 18 months and under are free. 5200 Zoo Drive, Los Angeles. (323) 662-5874. www.traveltown.org

Orange County Great Park Balloon: OK, it?s not a miniature balloon. That might be dangerous. Actually, the balloon is quite huge, 118-foot-high, helium-filled and tethered so that passengers soar between 250-400 feet for a bird’s eye view of Orange County Great Park in Irvine and the surrounding area. Suddenly the world might seem a lot smaller. The other thing that?s small? The price. It?s free. (866) 829-3829. www.greatparkballoon.org

SMALL WORLD (It?s a)

According to the Web site Hidden Mickeys, the water coursing through Disneyland?s popular ?It?s a Small World? attraction is not emergency potable water and, therefore, anyone who falls into it is required to get a tetanus shot.

SMALL TALK

It may seem unfathomable to you parents of five year olds who want to tell you everything that passes by the car window??Yes, yes, honey. Another dog??but there may come a time when your child will be less than forthcoming, verbally. This is known as middle school and high school years, and is distinguished by long periods of silence passing between the two of you intermittently broken up by you asking them a question and them answering either ?Fine? or ?I said fine.? While a good deal of this is normal growing pains, you don?t have to accept that you?re not going to talk to your child again until they go to college and are old enough to say ?Can you send more money??

Psychiatrist Dr. Debra Hill says that you start building toward that when your child is talking to you, there are no special tricks, conversation comes from trust.

?If you?re asking me is it important to have conversations with your kids, I?ll say the most important thing is having a relationship with your child. That grows out of conversation. Both of those grow out of trust.?

As Dr. Hill explains, harried parents sometimes are too quick to dismiss their children?s opinions or feelings as childish or silly.

?It?s important to acknowledge how your child feels,? she said. ?That doesn?t mean you have to agree with them, you just have to acknowledge, you just have to say ?Mmmmm? or ?Oooooh? to let them know you are listening to them.

?One thing I hear a lot from kids is that they feel they are criticized all the time. They begin to think ?Why am I talking? Why should I bother? All I get is criticized.?? So be respectful, no one wants to be shot down that way.?

SMALL POND (BIG FISH IN)

Has anything truer been said than ?The worst day fishing is better than the best day at work.? Well, maybe it was ?Guests, like fish, begin to smell after three days? but, c?mon, that?s kind of a downer?hey, Ben Franklin, turn thine frown upside down! Anyway, fishing is a great way to actually hang out with someone on the flimsiest of excuses of catching fish and taking time to actually just be and perhaps talk or perhaps not. Little moments like that are hard to come by, what with cellphones and, well, cellphones. But there are two such places in Orange County:

Irvine Lake (Santiago Reservoir): This stocked lake has a designated fishing lagoon just for kids. 4621 Santiago Canyon Road, Silverado. (714) 649-9111. www.irvinelake.net
Santa Ana River Lakes: This features the kid-centric Huckleberry Fish Pond where staff members will assist kids in catching and cleaning fish. 4060 E. La Palma Ave., Anaheim. (714) 632-7830. www.fishinglakes.com

SMALL FORTUNE

Two things are true: kids love money and kids really love your money. What if you could introduce them to the world of making money easily? What if you could do the same for me and, while you’re at it, tell the fine folks at Mastercard to ease up. Anyway, yeah, kids and money. Type ?kids make money? in an engine search and you?ll find multiple ideas that range from mowing lawns to tutoring. One of the neatest Web sites for this subject comes to us from the people at Sunkist who show kids step-by-step how to set up a lemonade stand. They offer valuable information like about a dozen delicious drink recipes?Strawberry Lemongrass Citrus Fizz anyone? It also offers such safety tips as washing your hands before handling food and never approaching a car to make a sale. And if your child is so inclined, there are suggestions and instructions on how to earn money for charities and even a list of worthy organizations to choose from. It?s really quite cool. Go to www.sunkist.com/takeastand to get started.

SMALL POTATOES

There was a time when Southern California was dotted with farms, big and small. That?s what the history books say anyway. And you can see for yourself by taking your family out to enjoy Tanaka Farms, a real working farm in the heart of Orange County. Visitors can taste test different fruits and vegetables while seeing how they grow, plus Tanaka Farms offers fantastic seasonal tours, year-round. And they offer a U-Pick Pumpkin Patch in October; Christmas trees in December. Please call to make reservations. $13 per person; ages 2 and under free. Group rates are available. The produce stand is open year-round and is filled with home-grown produce.

5380-3/4 University Drive, Irvine. (949) 653-2100. www.TanakaFarms.com

SMALL PRINT

As the Harry Potter phenomenon proves, one of the great pleasures of reading is sharing the experience with others. One of the best ways is to have your kids join a book club or start one themselves. If you want to join, have your child check in with your local library. If they?d rather start their own, the following Web sites offer information about not only starting one, but offer reading suggestions as well:
www.book-clubs-resource.com; www.kidsreads.com;
www.teenreads.com; www.preciousprettypowerful.com;
and www.bookclub4boysinfo.blogspot.com

SMALL PACKAGES (GOOD THINGS COME IN)

Uh, did we mention Kidsguide?