He's having a ball

Well, what do you know? I was all set to write "Whoever came up with this awesome invention is a genius!" And then a comment below the video I'm sharing here led me to the website that gives the lowdown on how the ingenious ball launcher came to be. It's called the iFetch and, like many other tools and gadgets we easily take for granted nowadays, it was invented out of pure necessity -- in this case, a schoolboy needed a solution to his dog's incessant barking which was keeping him from getting his homework done. With the help of his grandfather he came up with one! You can read the rest of the story plus other details on the iFetch website.

And here is the cute little dog having some serious fun with the automatic ball launcher:

'The imagination is the limit'

Nowadays, a lot of toys beep, light up, whir and make all sorts of sounds. Sometimes I can't help but think, while observing some kids with their playthings, "Is the child supposed to simply watch the toy do all the 'playing'?" Developing the imagination can be compromised if the child gets very little stimulation to be creative apart from such a toy. 

Now here's the story of Lego! It's certainly the kind of "documentary" I like --

The green way

It's not easy being green... I'm taking Kermit the Frog's word for it. If you're going to get a kick out of watching the muppet sing that song familiar to anyone who grew up watching Sesame Street, here it is:





Well, "green" as I'm blogging about it doesn't really refer to the color but that which characterizes lifestyles (or facets of these). "Earth-friendly" is how some call it. I simply see it as a way to prolong the "life" of what otherwise would have been thrown straight in the trash. "Reuse, reduce, recycle" is also something I hear a lot of these days; even kids are being ingrained with this habit to maximize stuff like paper and plastic containers. And now, you have really nice products made of such materials -- and the ones I'd like to tell you about are far from the ones with sky-high prices that you've probably seen in hotel souvenir shops or at shopping malls. My friend Petrufied has access to "green" bags that not only look great -- you end up helping women from poor communities when you make a purchase! Here's a sample -- the X-pattern banig weave bag with bronze trimmings:




You can see some more at Petrufied's blog.

Paper view

This "log cabin" is a classic. I merely handed over boxes of various sizes to Petrufied and she transformed them -- with the help of transparent tape, glue, scissors and rolled up pages of an old phone book -- into this fascinating plaything. Some kiddies had some fun with it, too.

I tried my hand at crafting simple playthings out of what normally would be considered "junk," like old magazines. There are stacks of glossies at home which, though, still leafed through occasionally, would probably be better off discarded.

But it can be difficult to part with old magazines, even if many of them were acquired at huge discounts (think Booksale and Filbars). So, I got some of them and worked the scissors!

You can do the same with your kids for a few hours of creative fun. Sure, they may have their coloring books, drawing paper and jigsaw puzzles. Toys that whir, light up, beep and make all sorts of fascinating sounds may be part of the lot, too. But it's good to give them opportunities to develop their imagination by helping them see that almost anything can be transformed into play -- and playthings.

Magazines are there to be read and to learn from, but viewed a different way, they can be the stuff of paper hats, boats and even jewelry!

Fashioning some paper necklaces and bracelets for your little girls can also be turned into a teachable moment when it comes to discussing femininity, doing things at the proper time and related issues. How? Let's say a child wants to put on makeup or wear high heels just like mom and other adult women she sees. If you don't really care about the child, you'll let her do anything she wants. She may put shadow on her eyelids, demand a pair of heeled mules or don blinding bling when you go out, and you give in to her and hardly bat an eyelash. But if you genuinely care that she grow up into a fine young woman with a solid character and sound values, you'll take time to explain to her things she needs to understand -- like how certain things are done at the proper time.





While cutting up these magazine pages and linking them into a chain for a pretty necklace, you can tell her that while you have your pearls and other precious stones in your jewelry box, little girls like her can wear children's jewelry, which you're making right now. There are, after all, things to look forward to, like wearing makeup and jewelry, going out on dates, holding down a job, paying bills, getting married, raising children... (though I wouldn't call paying bills something to look forward to, but you get the picture) while for the present, being a child is what is for her to do! When the right time comes, those other things -- grown-up things -- will be part of her life as well.

So, for the moment, it's paper necklaces and bracelets she'll enjoy making and wearing, and she can even choose what part of the comics page she'll make for her jewelry!

Some tips: do assist the child if she's still too young to handle a pair of scissors properly. We don't want any cuts as a result of this crafting session! And, since little hands are still mastering those fine motor skills, some paper strips may end up being uneven and being linked together in crooked ways. That's alright! Though anything worth doing is worth doing well, I think the more important aim in this case is having fun with your little one while imparting invaluable lessons during the fun. Also, even if the jewelry pieces are far from perfect, your child won't mind if you won't. But if you praise her for her efforts and a job well done, she's sure to remember it.

Get your broomsticks ready!

It looks like experiencing Ollivander's and Hogsmeade -- and snapping up one's own Gryffindor scarf -- is going to be a thrill for travelers to a certain mini-park :-)

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter officially opens on June 18.

Visit the website

A slideshow of released images of the new theme park here


Photo (and more information) from Hollywood Dame

Think out-of-the-box

Check it out -- a cabin for the Lilliputians!

Who ever thought that pages from the phone book and a box of tetrapack juice could be fashioned into such an interesting-looking house? For this "log cabin," my multi-talented co-worker Nicole used about 25 or so pages from the Yellow Pages telephone directory, an empty box of Zesto juice drinks, an empty box of a bar of bath soap, an empty box of a toothpaste tube, some glue, clear adhesive tape and scissors/cutter.

Brilliant huh? She did all the work; when she brought the little cabin over, it was all done. Here it is, with Snoopy as the welcoming committee for his humble abode, standing by the half-open door.

"I wonder what toy we can make out of boxes..." I thought aloud one day as we thought about one of the upcoming materials in our lineup for an upcoming issue. Then I brought a bunch of boxes of different sizes for her to transform into playthings -- the juice box, milk cartons, a couple of buco pie boxes, an empty box of pressed powder, soap boxes etc.

"I can make a log cabin out of this Zesto box and the yellow pages," she remarked, "and use a small toothpaste box for a chimney."

When she showed me the finished product, was I blown away! I knew it was going to be creative, but I had no idea it was going to be so fascinatingly cute!




Obviously, I wasn't the only one who was so taken by the little cabin; 3-year old Marco liked it a lot and played with the door, fiddled with the paper "logs" and tried putting his matchbox cars inside the cabin. Who said kids need expensive toys that beep, light up, talk and make all sorts of sounds to be entertained?



How's this for a "cabin in the woods"?

Back to the kids and their playthings. Shown below are some kids having a grand time (it doesn't look like they're having a grand time, but take my word for it: they weren't anything near being bored) with old boxes and coloring materials. They decorated the box with their own kind of artwork using oil pastel...




... then this rambunctious toddler choo-chooed his way around the lawn. I'm not sure if this was before or after we punched the bottom side of the box so he could make like a train and carry the box off the ground as he choo-chooed.




But he sure had fun -- and he didn't need Thomas to do the choo-chooing for him. That he did all by himself. And with cheap, easy-to-find things around the home!

When colors can kill

Roaming the aisles of a toy store can be multi-sensory overload, but it can be eye candy at the same time. All those bright shades of red and yellow and the yummy pinks and lilacs draw the eyes, and one shouldn't be surprised that kiddies find them just as attractive.

But then, when we featured toy recall updates last year, with some information on the lead paint issue, that's when I realized that the shinier and more colorful surfaces usually end up containing the highest amount of lead.

Now here's a news report stating that the toy recalls in 2008 so far are record-breaking in terms of numbers -- and we're not even halfway through the year yet! Parents, do take notice. And do consider the possibility of getting your kids simple, wooden and unvarnished playthings. Just because something sparkles, rings, beeps and lights up, that doesn't necessarily mean it's good for your kid.

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Record number of toys being recalled in '08

By Jennifer Toomer-Cook
Deseret News

Published: Saturday, May 24, 2008 12:36 a.m. MDT

Nearly 10 million toys and other products have been recalled by the Consumer Product Safety Commission between January and April — a rate that, by year's end, could exceed 2007's record number of recalls by 70 percent.

That's according to an analysis issued this month by Consumers Union, the nonprofit publisher of Consumer Reports.

The group is calling on Congress to modernize the Consumer Product Safety Commission "to help protect our children from hazardous products," policy counsel Ami Gadhia said. Bill provisions they want adopted include improved safety standards for children's products and an accessible incidents database to keep families informed.

Moms, including one whose baby died in an unsafe crib, accompanied consumer advocates in Washington last week to drive home the point.

"Consumers' illusion that our product safety system is working has been shattered by the many recalls of children's toys," Rachel Wintraub, director of product safety and senior counsel for Consumer Federation of America, said in a prepared statement.

The commission has initiated 121 product recalls through April, for a total of nearly 10 million products, Consumers Union reports. Almost 6 million were for children's products, including toys, clothes, bikes, games, pacifiers, rattles and cribs.

Read the whole thing at Deseret News