There’s definitely a whole lot of action when one group of babysitters hits your living room. Sitters Studio is a new company that lets your child take center stage, even upstaging trained Broadway actors.

“All of the sitters are artists of some kind, whether they’re actors, singers, dancers, photographers, musicians and they come to your house and engage your children in creative activities,” says Sitters Studio co-founder Eugenia Bacheleda.

It’s a unique babysitting service that allows New York City artists to take on a different kind of role. Whether they’re playing dress up, doing arts and crafts or twirling ribbons, these performers know how to captivate their audience.

“I think actors and kids are a lot alike in a lot of senses, because kids have such a great sense of imagination and you lose that when you get older, but actors don’t really loose that because no matter how old or how long you’ve been acting you’re going to do some stupid acting exercise where you have to be a monkey or an elephant or whatever and its exactly what kids do. I mean it’s exactly alike,” says actor/babysitter Christie Booker.

Bachaleda and co-founder Kristina Wilson came up with the idea because they too are actors with babysitting experience and found that rather than waiting tables or temping, this gives them a flexible schedule to go to meetings or auditions and it allows them to be with kids, which they love.

Aside from entertaining, some parents say they like that all the sitters have been pre-qualified with background checks and references, which helps put the spotlight back on the kids.

“We’ve had babysitters who’ve done drawing and paintings. We came in and there was artwork in his room. We’ve had baby sitters who’ve helped him build things, taught him how to juggle scarves,” says parent Michael Zorek. “Watching your 5-year-old trying to juggle scarves is pretty fun.”

Now aside from coming with a vivid imagination, each sitter is also armed with a tote of toys with all kinds of things to engage the kids.

“We’ve given the sitters something from every art medium,” says Wilson. “We give them something that’s from a visual art, a theatrical art, a dance discipline and also from the musical discipline and we really find that it’s a great starting off point for the kids to engage in play.”

Right now there are 70 sitters with the agency. The cost is $18 an hour with a four-hour minimum. For more information, go to www.sittersstudio.com.

Because only in New York could you turn babysitting into a whole new song and dance.

— Jill Scott

(visit http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/69198/sitters-in-the-city-raises-child-s-play-to-level-of-art to see the video of this TV article.)
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There’s definitely a whole lot of action when one group of babysitters hits your living room. Sitters Studio is a new company that lets your child take center stage, even upstaging trained Broadway actors.

“All of the sitters are artists of some kind, whether they’re actors, singers, dancers, photographers, musicians and they come to your house and engage your children in creative activities,” says Sitters Studio co-founder Eugenia Bacheleda.

It’s a unique babysitting service that allows New York City artists to take on a different kind of role. Whether they’re playing dress up, doing arts and crafts or twirling ribbons, these performers know how to captivate their audience.

“I think actors and kids are a lot alike in a lot of senses, because kids have such a great sense of imagination and you lose that when you get older, but actors don’t really loose that because no matter how old or how long you’ve been acting you’re going to do some stupid acting exercise where you have to be a monkey or an elephant or whatever and its exactly what kids do. I mean it’s exactly alike,” says actor/babysitter Christie Booker.

Bachaleda and co-founder Kristina Wilson came up with the idea because they too are actors with babysitting experience and found that rather than waiting tables or temping, this gives them a flexible schedule to go to meetings or auditions and it allows them to be with kids, which they love.

Aside from entertaining, some parents say they like that all the sitters have been pre-qualified with background checks and references, which helps put the spotlight back on the kids.

“We’ve had babysitters who’ve done drawing and paintings. We came in and there was artwork in his room. We’ve had baby sitters who’ve helped him build things, taught him how to juggle scarves,” says parent Michael Zorek. “Watching your 5-year-old trying to juggle scarves is pretty fun.”

Now aside from coming with a vivid imagination, each sitter is also armed with a tote of toys with all kinds of things to engage the kids.

“We’ve given the sitters something from every art medium,” says Wilson. “We give them something that’s from a visual art, a theatrical art, a dance discipline and also from the musical discipline and we really find that it’s a great starting off point for the kids to engage in play.”

Right now there are 70 sitters with the agency. The cost is $18 an hour with a four-hour minimum. For more information, go to www.sittersstudio.com.

Because only in New York could you turn babysitting into a whole new song and dance.

— Jill Scott

(visit http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/69198/sitters-in-the-city-raises-child-s-play-to-level-of-art to see the video of this TV article.)
READ THE ARTICLE

The fine art of child care.

By Melissa Walker

Apr 9, 2007

Christie Booker arrives at babysitting jobs with jugglers’ scarves, twirling ribbons, a director’s clapboard, and a puppet named George who speaks in a shrill, staccato voice. The 30-year-old Louisiana native is a classically trained actress who moved to the city in 2003, dreaming of a big break and Broadway lights. So how did she end up using her Shakespearean training to narrate bedtime stories to 2-year-olds on Friday nights? Booker works for Sitters Studio, a group of wannabe performers and artists who discovered that babysitting, with its flexible schedules and captive audience, is better than waiting tables. For the kids, the draw is getting Broadway or MoMA in their living rooms. “Having a real job while pursuing a career that requires auditions is tough,” says actor Kristina Wilson, co-founder of the company, which opened last year. “Artists are very self-motivated and energetic. Their whole job is to sell themselves, so they’re naturals with kids.” Actor-singer Erin Kruse, 24, calms her charges with lilting lullabies; Sarah Martin, 30, who has a visual-arts background, sets up crafts tables with construction paper, stickers, and glitter; and a photographer turned sitter brings her portfolio and pages through it with the little ones. The service costs $18 per hour with a four-hour minimum. “It’s a little more expensive than your average college-age sitter,” says Liz Canino, a Manhattan mom who uses Sitters Studio for her musically inclined 2-year-old daughter. “I just love that my daughter is experiencing great music—I don’t have a talented bone in my body.”

READ THE ARTICLE

The fine art of child care.

By Melissa Walker

Apr 9, 2007

Christie Booker arrives at babysitting jobs with jugglers’ scarves, twirling ribbons, a director’s clapboard, and a puppet named George who speaks in a shrill, staccato voice. The 30-year-old Louisiana native is a classically trained actress who moved to the city in 2003, dreaming of a big break and Broadway lights. So how did she end up using her Shakespearean training to narrate bedtime stories to 2-year-olds on Friday nights? Booker works for Sitters Studio, a group of wannabe performers and artists who discovered that babysitting, with its flexible schedules and captive audience, is better than waiting tables. For the kids, the draw is getting Broadway or MoMA in their living rooms. “Having a real job while pursuing a career that requires auditions is tough,” says actor Kristina Wilson, co-founder of the company, which opened last year. “Artists are very self-motivated and energetic. Their whole job is to sell themselves, so they’re naturals with kids.” Actor-singer Erin Kruse, 24, calms her charges with lilting lullabies; Sarah Martin, 30, who has a visual-arts background, sets up crafts tables with construction paper, stickers, and glitter; and a photographer turned sitter brings her portfolio and pages through it with the little ones. The service costs $18 per hour with a four-hour minimum. “It’s a little more expensive than your average college-age sitter,” says Liz Canino, a Manhattan mom who uses Sitters Studio for her musically inclined 2-year-old daughter. “I just love that my daughter is experiencing great music—I don’t have a talented bone in my body.”

READ THE ARTICLE