Philadelphia Mommy Blogger Helps Parents Connect With Family-Friendly Fun In The Area

By Chelsea Karnash

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Being a new parent can be daunting and even a bit isolating if you don't know where to look for fun events to do with your family.

That's the reason one Philly mom started her blog.

"I had quit my full-time job in academia to be home with my daughter, but you know, you gotta get out of the house sometimes," says Jennifer Oxenford.

Oxenford started the popular "mommy blog" phillyfun4kids back in 2010, when she was a young mother to a two-year-old daughter.

"I knew there was much to do out there but didn't know of any sites, at the time, that provided information about where families could find fun," Oxenford recalls. "So phillyfun4kids really began out of my own desire for find and list these amazing resources for my own family."

In the four years since, Jennifer's blog has grown exponentially — phillyfun4kids has nearly 3,000 "likes" on Facebook and more than 3,000 followers on Twitter — and has even spawned an app developed by her husband. The app has more than 1,000 subscribers and is unique because users can search by keyword (like "zoo" or "museum") within the Fun Finder feature, which Oxenford's husband describes as a "directory" of family-friendly Philly attractions.

And on Oxenford's blog, parents and caregivers can find everything from giveaways to a calendar that's chock-full of events. There's also advice on traveling with children, and full break-down of the Philadelphia region's weekend events, which Jennifer also contributes weekly to CBSPhilly as "Weekend PhillyFun Picks for Kids."

"Philadelphia is such a wonderful town for families with so many attractions and cultural activities – not to mention all the great library story times and fantastic local children's stores with family friendly events," Oxenford says. "I hope that by sharing events and things to do via phillfun4kids that I could help out some other Philly area parents, too!"

For more information, visit: www.phillyfun4kids.com

You may also be interested in these stories: