Think You’re a Star Wars Expert? Here are 19 Lesser Known Facts!
We’re a Star Wars family and love these kinds of little tidbits. The kids definitely know more than I do, so pulling these kinds of factoids out of my pocket makes me look like a Jedi rock star in their eyes.
[Source: Online PhD]
iPhone apps for kids
So there’s this great contest going on at Best Kids Apps, a blog about iPhone apps for kids. They’re giving away a free iPad! And yes, despite all the Steve Jobs and Apple jokes I’ve thrown down to my fan boy coworkers, deep down I secretly want an iPad realllly bad.
And, considering Best Kids Apps is a site after my own heart – I mean, I do have a two-iPhone and two-kid household – this seemed as good a chance as any for me to go after the iPad.
And while I’m here, and perhaps talking to others that hit the site for advice, I wanted to call out the apps we already have on our phones that get the most love from our 6 and 5 yo.
Educational
ABC Tracer Words: Alphabet flashcard tracing, phonics and drawing.
Kids Math (Lite): Grade school adding and subtracting games.
Word Magic: A fun app for preschoolers learning to spell words and sound out words.
The “Entertaining” Bucket
Fairies (Lite): A game where you take on the role of Tinkerbell and her fairy pals and fy with the fairies and discover a world of changing seasons in the heart of Never Land, in a place called Pixie Hollow.
Vans Sk8 Pool Service (Lite): The drained swimming pool turns into skateboarding fun in this game for any age.
Touch Ski 3D: Touch Ski 3D, presented by The Ski Channel, features a 3D environment for slalom, freestyle and racing.
Waterslide: A game that positions you (male or female) on a waterslide and the object of the game is to collect as many items as you can as you go down the waterslide. Steering is done by tilting the iPhone and there are also obstacles that slow you down. (description from Geek.com)
Lightsaber: Uhhh, duh. It’s a lightsaber app. My son loves that he can customize one of the jedis with his own picture and saber customization.
Batter Up (Lite): Hone your batting skills in a real-time rendered, retro-style ballpark.
Enjoy, and wish me luck!
For Mother’s Day: Ramona and Her Mother
Just in time for this year’s Mother’s Day my kids and I finished up Beverly Cleary’s Ramona and her Father and have started in on Ramona and Her Mother. We’ve only finished chapter one of Ramona and Her Mother but we can’t wait to hear all of Ramona’s newest escapades.
Our house loves the Ramona series and there are so many lessons for both by five year old and six year old to take away and apply to their own lives, even though the eight-book series was written over a 44 year period from 1955 to 1999. There are stories of first crushes, parents out of work, big and little sister rivalry and camaraderie, and insights into the nature of fragile, yet devoted, family dynamics. And, of course Cleary’s stories bring me straight back to being a kid myself as she presents the pure point of view of Ramona as she struggles to feel heard and wants to believe others deem what she has to say is important, no matter whether its Miss Binney her Kindergarten teacher taking her seriously in the classroom or with her dad as Ramona tries to convince him to quit smoking.
And really, what’s changed about kids wanting to feel heard and that their opinions and contributions matter?
Red Bull Recipe of the Week
This week’s featured Red Bull recipe is the “Excitabull“. Get it? Excita-BULL.
Okay, okay. Here’s how to make one:
1 oz vodka
1 oz peach schnapps
8 oz can Red Bull® energy drink
cranberry juice
Thanks, Drinks Mixer!
The real question: Will they work for my iPhone?
image courtesy of skiing magazine
This week Skiing Mag put out a list of gear to look out for in the 2010/2011 season. The list included the Arc’Teryx Alpha SV gloves. While not very “pretty” (in fact they’re downright unattractive to me) this is a case where function may win out over fashion.
According to the publication’s write up, “These high-tech Gore-Tex Pro Shell three-layers gloves are so dexterous, you can lift up a sewing needle with them. Not that you’ll ever need to do that while skiing, but still. The fingers are molded and articulated using a patented technology that feels almost skin-like.”
So, my question is — will I be able to keep my digits warm while using my iPhone next year?
Maybe a product review is in order for next year…stay tuned!