Coast 2 Coast Mom

Notes from The Sandbox Summit: For Today's Kids, the Medium Is As Important as the Message

Last Monday afternoon I hopped on the Acela and headed up to Boston (Cambridge) to attend The Sandbox Summit, iPlay, YouPlay, WiiPlay, a conference focused on "how play is changing media and media is changing play." It was one of the best conferences I've attended in that it lined up fascinating speakers, offered hands-on workshops, and was intimate in that it was a smaller summit and provided plenty of time for follow-up discussions and networking amongst academics, toy developers, researchers, publishers, marketers and media. It was a summit to share research, discussion, ideas and predictions.

I'll touch upon some of my favorite aspects of the summit that I was fortunate enough to attend (thanks to the team at 360 Public Relations) in various posts over the next few weeks. Though for now, I wanted to share some of what I learned at an interactive workshop led by Stacey Matthias, child development expert and founder and Co-CEO of Insight Kids and Insight Research Group, as an example of what the summit offered. Stacey's hands-on workshop explored the physical, cognitive and emotional development of kids at ages 4, 7 and 11 and which media has the most impact at which ages. Here's what I learned:

Moreso than any other generation, today's kids are living in a world driven by media and technology and this impacts how they communicate, think and play.  Stacey explained that there's no curriculum for integrating technology into young childrens' lives, so today's kids are vastly teaching themselves how to use the new technology, and in many cases teaching their teachers and parents how to use it. There's no 3rd grade curriculum for researching online virtual worlds and video games, or an 8th grade class about social media for kids like there's English and math curriculum, so kids are exploring the online virtual worlds and social media themselves - in a vacuum.

When Mom's Away, Spooky Tigers Come Out To Play

So . . .yeah. This is what happens when daddy watches the kid while Mom's away. Yesterday was a busy day in the city starting off with the annual AIDS Walk New York with around 45,000 in Central Park, followed by a BMS afterparty at the Central Park Zoo. Li'l Boo wanted to actually see all of the animals first - not as interested in the food or activities, but then upon return to the party tent, he himself requested a "spooky" face.

Now let me stop you right there becaue if I'd have been with Li'l Boo we would have skipped over the face painting station. I'm generally not a big fan of the activity. It doesn't seem to last very long, and tends to wind up getting wiped off or smeared onto hands, arms and clothes. However, when c2cDad emailed me a pic of this scary tiger while I was at the SV Moms party on Sunday, I laughed out loud. It looked fantastic, and lasted until they met up with me two hours later, and better still, lasted well enough for us to Skype with both sets of grandparents to surprise them with his colorful face at the end of the day.

Come to find out my Li'l Boo and c2cDad actually walked down 5th Ave to FAO Schwarz after the zoo to pass the last hour while they waited for me to head home to Jersey. They were getting looks and getting stopped along the way by passerbys asking where his face was painted. So Li'l Boo was actually prowling NYC like this on Sunday afternoon. Lol! He just loved it. I have to admit that I loved it too. I also loved that it came off easily with water in the bath.

The name of the company that did this to Li'l Boo is Agostino Arts where they specialize in "transformation facepainting." We thought it's pretty cool. Oh, and they do parties and events . . .seriously, check out some other faces on their site. It's CRAZY!

We Figured Out How To Make Dinosaur Cupcakes

We did it! After days of searching for online patterns or samples, or locating a nearby bakery to make them, we came up with our own 3D dinosaur cupcakes for Li'l Boo to take into school to celebrate his summer birthday earlier this week. I kept asking him, are you sure they have to be dinosaur cupcakes? How about dogs or baseball cupcakes? Oh no, they have to be dinosaurs mom. I want dinosaur cupcakes. Gah! (I did find that YouCake has a dinosaur design, but alas they're made in Brooklyn and I didn't have a way to get them over the weekend before Monday.)

So I shared our cupcake decorating books, Hello Cupcake! and What's New Cupcake? with c2cDad asked if he thought we could adapt any of the designs to be dinosaurs. He was up for the challenge. So . . . off we went to A&P and spent way too much time in the cookie, cracker and candy aisles loading up on items that we thought we may be able to use in the dinosaur creations. (In hindsight we bought way too much and have a snack and treat pile to last us a month.)

Kids Home With The Snow? Try An Idea From The Winter Activity Guide

With the additional foot or so of snow falling throughout the Midwest and East Coast today, thought I'd share a winter activity guide I recently received - just in time for winter break, or in this case, snow days! With spring another five weeks away according to Punxsatawney Phil, it would be near torture to spend those weeks stuck indoors. If you can't beat the snow, I guess ya have to embrace it.

Unleash the kids' energy and focus their attention on the world around them with winter activity ideas like taking some old stuffed animals or trucks/cars outside to hide around the driveway/patio or yard. Send the kids out on a winter safari or to play tow truck driver in the actual snow. Make some quick homemade bird feeders, or try one of the other dozens of ideas in the Winter Activity Guide by Nature Rocks, a partnership of REI, The Nature Conservancy, The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, American Heart Association, American Camp Association, Children & Nature Network and ecoAmerica.

Besides, what tuckers kiddos out more than getting outside to rock nature? Returning inside with cold red cheeks and runny noses, nothing sounds better to me than some hot chocolate and snuggling under the blankets with some great books or a movie - and maybe  (dare I say it?) a NAP!

First Ever North Jersey Fiber Arts Festival

I was purchasing some yarn at Close Knit Yarns in Wyckoff last week and picked up a flyer for the first ever North Jersey Fiber Arts Festival. I've been hearing a lot about the "fiber arts" lately - a term which encompasses all of the knitting, sewing, crocheting, quilting, lace-making, embroidering, needlepointing, spinning, felting, dyeing and other fiber and textile artisans. Maybe it's a sign of the times that the fiber arts are seeing a surge in popularity amidst this recession? Or maybe it's a result of the eco-friendly era we're living in this decade? I personally started knitting to give my hands something to do so I don't eat while I watch television, and to help me connect with producing something tangible. Doing public relations for technology companies required me to spend my days reading online, writing online, texting, chatting on IM and Twitter and talking via phone (repeat cycle) and I longed to see the physical results from my 60+ hour a week career. A lover of sweets, baking became my go-to stress reliever and at the expense of my figure, I began looking for another outlet. Oh, I still bake several times a week, but I enjoy reveling in my latest finished project and the excitement of giving it to whomever I've knit it for. A self-taught knitter (thanks to Susan B. Anderson's Itty Bitty Hats), I'm at often amazed at the creativity and resourcefulness that crafters employ not only in their work, but in their daily lives as well. (Why can't I think of these things?!)

Anyway, since I've recently connected online with other fiber artists (ooh - that sounds funny referring to myself as one!), I thought I'd share the details of the upcoming North Jersey Fiber Arts Festival: Finding Our Common Thread. Let me know if you're planning to attend and I'll arrange to say hello when I drop in myself!

When: Friday Oct 2nd 7:00 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. and Saturday Oct 3rd 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Where: The Unitarian Society of Ridgewood, 113 Cottage Place Ridgewood, NJ 07450

Admission: $8 (seniors $7) and includes a festival tote bag and free gift while supplies last

What: Workshops, demonstrations, lectures, food and shopping

Why: To interact with other fiber arts lovers, get ideas for new projects, learn about new crafts and just for the fun of it!

Plus: Children's activities, raffles, yoga for knitters, create a project to give comfort to those in need