Shark Tank on ABC

Megan & Sarah in their green room

We can hardly wait for April 15th this year! At 8 CST Sarah and I, the creators of Tippi Toes, will be featured on Shark Tank and it will air on ABC! We have watch parties planned all over the country which we are incredibly grateful to our friends and family for supporting us in this way!!
Just as a warning to those of you who love and value Tippi Toes - the Shark Tank is an intense place where the main focus is money. The Sharks were hard-hitting, aggressive and even having 3 adorable little children there with us in the Tank for a few minutes didn't soften their approach!!
Although we know the outcome we are anxious to see how it all comes together on a TV show and will be watching for the first time along with everyone else!! Before you watch our episode you should check out some clips from last season on Shark Tank! The Sharks we pitched to included Daymond John (created FUBU), Barbara Corcoran (real estate mogul), Kevin O'Leary (software mogul), Robert Herjavec (technology mogul) and celebrity guest Shark, Mark Cuban (owner of the Dallas Mavericks and business mogul).During the week leading up to the episode we will be posting some more details about the experience which led us to LA for a week and what our time in LA was like!  

Outside of the Shark Tank stage

The Best Job!

One of the most rewarding days of my job was when a mom stopped me after class and with tears in her eyes said, "I have never seen my daughter act the way she does in Tippi Toes. When she is in class she has confidence, she isn't shy and she seems carefree. As her mom I can see what Tippi Toes has done for her!"
This was after a few weeks of class and it blew my mind! So many times when we are used to our job whether it is teaching dance class or any other job in the world we don't think about the impact we have on others. For us at Tippi Toes we become accustom to going to class, doing our thing and we don't think about it again. Then moms like this share such a meaningful experience and it makes me feel so blessed to be able to elicit this type of response from kids just by giving kids a place to be silly, have fun, learn and express themselves.

Some inspiration from Sesame Street Live!

I had the great experience of taking my 2 daughters to see Sesame Street Live this week! I loved so much seeing their faces light up when they saw the characters & heard the music. I have to admit my face was all smiles too. Every time I go to these live kids shows it gets me so excited about the future for Tippi Toes. As we continue to work towards our goal of a children's television show I can't help but get excited when I see a show in action. I know that with a children's television show often there also comes LIVE shows across the country. Sharing our love of dance, laughter and smiles with children all over the world, nothing could be better. The show was called Elmo's Healthy Hero's. As many of you know the root of Tippi Toes is teaching children about healthy living, so when I saw the dancing fruit and veggies come onto the stage I had to snap pictures! Before you know it Tippi Toes will be doing the same thing!

PINK

Anytime you see a post title that is PINK you can count on the post being about ways parents can help their family become more healthy. PINK is a term created by Tippi Toes and stands for Parent's Introducing Nutrition to Kids! All PINK posts will be written by me, Megan Reilly; I am registered dietitian with my Masters in Nutrition. My master's degree was focused on the Nutrition and children.

Quick Tips for adding steps in your day!

1) Take a walk around the block with your child when you go to pick up your mail.
2) Make as many trips as possible up and down the stairs as you and your family do household chores
3) Make up a dance with your child instead of watching TV together. Include bunny hops, turns and marching.
4) Take the stairs as often as possible throughout the day!

How to increase Veggie Intake for your Kiddos

In the warm winter months a veggie soup can be the perfect meal to prepare especially for your family!
As the chef try to please the picky ones in the house by creating a soup with all your their favorite vegetables.
Even if you start with only carrots and some chicken you can work your way to adding different veggies in once it has been accepted.
Fresh or frozen veggies will do the trick!
Want to add some meat? Try: Ground Turkey (no one will know), chicken or lean ground beef. Cook meat and throw in the stock pot with the veggies.

If this sounds like it will still be denied by your little one then don't offer it has the main meal, but maybe just as a little side cup of soup. Offer the soup in a coffee cup or a small bowl to intrigue your kids. Little tricks like this might be what you have to do to spark their interest and it is worth if they end up coming around and increase the veggie intake!

What is Tippi Toes?

So maybe you have heard of Tippi Toes from Facebook or a friend, but aren't really sure what we do. Well, here you go...
Tippi Toes is a children's dance company that started in 1999. Tippi Toes travels to various locations and offers dance classes to children 18 months and older.
We travel to locations like preschools, daycares, elementary schools, community centers and fitness centers which is an added convenience for parents because they have one less stop to make for their family's activities!
We offer Mommy & Me classes for the youngest kiddos, we offer ballet, tap and jazz combo classes for kids 2 and older and then we offer hip hop classes to kiddos 5 and older!
Our main focus in any Tippi Toes class is to be positive, encouraging, loving while helping the children learn and love how to dance! We encourage the kids to be active and be healthy and our goal is for Tippi Toes to be one of the brightest parts of your child's life!
Tippi Toes started franchising in 2009 and now there are multiple franchises around the country! We are continuing to grow every day and have dreams of becoming a house hold name!
Tippi Toes also creates children's CDs which are used in class and are so fun to jam out to in the car! Tippi Toes Dance Company has created their own characters which we sing and tell stories about in our music and classes! There is Tippi the Turtle, Buzz the Bee, Bopa the Butterfly and Freddy the Frog - they are all young friends and go on types of crazy adventures together!

We hope this blog will entertain, humor and inform you about Tippi Toes! Thank you so much for taking the time to check in on us! We love to hear from you so feel free to comment on the blog or contact us anytime!