Your guide to activities and fun things to do with your preschoolers, toddlers and kids in Philadelphia, PA

I've got a few years left before I have to get all of these done, and this entry is actually going to be a list in process and I'm hoping you will add your suggestions as well!

My daughter (who is, and shall stay, an only child) will be three in June. This summer I plan to really enjoy my time with her and her increased mobility and agility (and attention span!). We're going to explore the woods and look at buds and bugs, hit the Zoo early enough in the day that no one else is there, and maybe sign up for soccer (she's really, really, really into kicking balls).

She's growing up, though, and I'm reminded that there will come a time quite soon where I am NOT her preferred person to hang out with. So before she grows up like that, I am going to do the following with her while I still can.

1. Take her hiking, and teach her what I know about wild plants. I know, this might seem like a strange one, but identifying wild plants is my hobby. Right now she's going to think this is incredibly cool. When she's 12, it will be incredibly embarrassing. Luckily, Philadelphia is surrounded by amazing parks and wild areas for me to hike with her.

2. Read her one of my favorite books. I love so many books, but I think the one I want to read to her before she gets too old is the very first Winnie the Pooh book by A.A. Milne. The copy I own was my uncles' and mother's, and has scribbles drawn in it by me.

3. Take her sledding. I grew up in Albuquerque, and we never got enough snow in the valley to sled when I was a kid. And now, in Philly, we rarely get that much snow but still--I want to take her sledding. And sled myself--for the first time!

4. Take her to see the Nutcracker. I was supposed to see Barishnakov dance the Nutcracker when I was a kid but I got very, very sick and didn't get to go. Luckily, Philadelphia has one of the best productions in the world of this classic ballet and I want to attend with my daughter.

5. Show her one of my favorite movies. Okay, I confess, I've already done this; I sat with my daughter and watched Singin' In The Rain on television with her. She enjoyed it immensely. But I'd really like to take her to a retrospective screening of this movie, as my mother did with me when I was four or five. That would be too cool. Our little town has a small "mini" theater opening soon and that might be the perfect spot.

6. Teach her to ride a bike. My husband didn't learn to ride a bike until he was seven or eight. I knew by age four. I want my daughter to be able to confidently bike before she is in kindergarten. Maybe that's unrealistic, but with the amount of amazing bike trails in the Philadelphia area (you can bike from center city to Valley Forge Park now on bike trails!), it would be a great family activity.

7. Teach her manners. This is so important to me! I want her to know how to share, to not interrupt, to say "please" and "thank you" consistently. I do not want to send a rude child off to school (if we decide on traditional school).

8. Encourage her love of singing. She is just now starting to really like singing, doing regular renditions of the ABCs and Twinkle, Twinkle and now also singing with me when I sing her lullabies at night. She goes with me to choir rehearshal at church pretty regularly, so I fully expect her to be singing with us (we have a teeny choir at my church!) soon.

9. Get her started playing the piano. We are lucky enough to have a piano, and my daughter loves to play it. I really want her to learn "proper" form and structure without making playing the piano a chore for her. I would also very, very much like to learn to play with her. That would be really fun.