Coast 2 Coast Mom

Disney.com Create Adds Artistic Collaborative Features & Fun

Last week Disney.com added more features to its popular Create site, which offers kids, tweens and teens an online canvas to create and share their own imaginative Disney character artwork.

Now, a new "Group Wall" adds interactivity and collaboration to the site by allowing you to submit your own original Disney artwork in the form of an evolving online mosaic, in addition to its searchable online galleries of original art where people can search by artist, character and make comments. 

We played around with it yesterday, and Li'l Boo liked watching the Group Wall transform as more artwork was added each minute, hour and day, and of course, finding his OWN artwork in the mosaic. You can "fan" a favorite artist, or "favorite" a piece of artwork, which is a fun feature for older kids and teens.

Since launching in August 2009, nearly 1.5 million original pieces of content have been created on Disney.com Create, and you can count one of them as ours. The launch of the new Group Wall features a cute new portrat of Mickey Mouse, although future Group Walls will feature other Disney characters and stars. (I'm sure LI'l Boo is hoping for a Buzz Lightyear and Woody picture, or maybe a Camp Rock 2 portrait as we know the movie's coming out in September ;-) ). While I was playing around with the site with Li'l Boo, I should say that I thought it was really geared to older kids - I'd say perhaps 7+ whom are old enough to read and understand how to manipulate all of the artistic options.

My other favorite new features for creative Disney fans include:

• Comic Creator You can develop your own comic book using your favorite Disney characters -laying out your own page with graphics, text and images to create your own comic story.
• Music Slideshow Users can create your own music videos using photos of Disney stars and songs from Disney artists.
• Scrapbook Fans can build their own online art portfolio to share with friends utilizing elements from all of the Create activities including comic books, digital paintings, slideshows and more.

GIVEAWAY: 4 Tickets to Walking with Dinosaurs at MSG

Oh! Oh!! As if US attending Walking with Dinosaurs - The Arena Spectacular at Madison Square Garden wasn't enough excitement for us this week, I'm hosting a one-day giveaway for one lucky family to attend too! A family four-pack of tickets is up for grabs today for the 3 p.m. matinee show on Wednesday, July 21, 2010.

That's right - your entire family can marvel at the heart-pounding roars, and life-like movements of the 17 life-size dinosaurs, based on the award-winning BBC television series. I know that Li'l Boo can't wait to see it himself.

Not that you'll need it, but just in case you're looking for a way to get the family excited about the show, try your hand at the dinosaur name generator, DINO-NAME-OSAURUS, to find out your own dinosaur name.

To ENTER: Just provide a comment below, and be sure to enter your email address into the required box so that I have a way to contact you if you win. The winner will be chosen randomly using Random.org. This contest will end at Midnight tonight, July 20, 2010 so that I have time to email the winner and they can make plans to get themselves to MSG to pick up their tickets at Will Call in time for the show. Winner must provide a valid photo ID to claim the tickets. Good luck!

Cooking and Baking with Stonyfield Yogurt

Last week I had the pleasure of attending a cooking demonstration at the De Gustibus Cooking School at Macy's Herald Square with green nutritionist Kate Geagan, MD. I learned some of the healthy benefits of substituting organic yogurt or Greek yogurt for other ingredients like sour cream, mayonnaise or oil in recipes. I got to watch Kate cook up some delicious Tangerine-Maple Yogurt glazed chicken and tasted her roasted red pepper cold soup, salmon spread, blueberry muffin, and my favorite, pot de creme - all "healthified." with Stonyfield yogurt. Check out part of her cooking demonstration in the video below and definitely try the Pot de Crème recipe found on the Stonyfield site.
 

Lastly, I appreciated learning more about Stonyfield Organics, as my other interaction with the brand has been with Yo Baby Yogurt and the movie Food Inc. One of the most fascinating things that I took away from the event was less so about the yogurt and more about their organic farming practices and the creation of The Greener Cow Project. By simply changing the diet of the cows, which includes alfalfa, flax and grasses, they've been able to increase the milk's omega-3 content and decrease saturated fats organically. This diet has a side benefit as well, reducing cows' burbs, which as hilarious as that may seem, the burbs contain methane, and in great enough quantities are harmful to the Earth's atmosphere as the emissions are a contributor to greenhouse gases. You'll have to read it to believe it...

Math, Gilbert Gottfried, Big Apple Circus, Little Boy Voices and Me

Add to that mix: Britney Spears, Cyberchase and 45 weeks and you'll get a taste of the panel I was exposed to last weekend at Cyberchase Saturday. It was a quintessential New York experience, all thanks to PBS THIRTEEN WNET, Tribeca Cinemas and math. Yes, you read that right: MATH.

Saturday I had the pleasure of moderating a celebrity talkback panel with the cast of PBS's Cyberchase at the famous Tribeca Cinemas, as part of Tribeca Cinemas' Kids Club program. Cyberchase is one of the only children's programs where the heroes use "brain power" and math in everyday situations to save the day. It was a fantastic opportunity for fans of the series to see a sneak peek at episodes from the new season, meet some of their favorite stars and learn some behind-the-scenes secrets of the show. So much goes into the production of such a high quality show like this one, and as a PBS Kids Club 13 Ambassador, I was delighted to be asked to participate in the event, which featured:

Hands-on Gaming Fun with Kinect for Xbox 360

Last week while we were in L.A. for the launch of Kinect for Xbox 360, we had time to play with some of the games that are in development to launch this fall. We tried our hands at all of the games available to us, and we enjoyed playing ALL of them! You can't help but smile and giggle watching others control the games with their bodies, and then doing it yourself. We had a blast.

I'd have to say our favorite games were Dance Central, Kinectimals, Your Shape, Kinect Adventures and Kinect Sports. These are some of our personal experiences with the games, so if you're looking for a more authoritative and technical look at the technology, check out my piece for Techlicious.

One of the overall crowd favorites was Dance Central, and while a great addition to any party, I can totally see tweens, dance teams and cheer teams and sorrorities having slumber parties playing this game all night long. (Or maybe, that's what I would have done. ;-)) Developed by Harmonix, the same company behind Rock Band, and you can see the similarities when you play it. I can see my sisters and me holding a dance-off next holiday season between us and the kiddos. It was fun watching others get their swag on, and I laughed watching Li'l Boo and c2cDad get funky.

Secrets, Sneak Peeks & Behind the Scenes Family Fun in Tribeca This Saturday

Secrets. Sneak peeks. Exclusive previews. They're the social equivalent of riches. They provide fodder at your next social event, and when you learn new bits of information it many times cements a long-lasting loyal relationship with whomever spilled the beans to you.

Well, get ready to become my new BFF. This Saturday I'll be moderating the talkback portion of the Tribeca Cinema Kids Club Cyberchase Saturday with series stars Gilbert Gottfried ("Digit"), Matt Wilson ("Harry"), Annick Obonsawin ("Inez") and Ellen Doherty (senior series producer). Cyberchase was developed for children 8-12 years old and airs on PBS. It's the only children's program in the U.S. to feature "brain power" and math as the solution to everyday life situations. 

The evil villian ("Hacker") is voiced by Christopher Lloyd - no relation to Christopher Lloyd the creator of ABC's Modern Family. (Just a little something I learned behind the scenes at PBS myself. ;-) )

I can promise giggles, guffaws and gossip (of the Cyberchase kind). Come join me . . . you know you want to.

Back from the World Premiere of Project Natal As Imagined By Cirque Du Soleil

We just returned from the best time in Los Angeles! I got in some blogging and writing time, c2cDad even ran into some business contacts during the launch weekend, we visited with family out there, took Li'l Boo to see some sites for the first time, and oh yeah . . . attended the world premire of "Project Natal" as imagined by Cirque Du Soleil, and the launch of Kinect for Xbox 360!!

I had read in the LA Times piece that they were attempting to plan a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I think they succeeded. Microsoft invited some lucky people to participate in a pre-show drum beat ceremony, counting down the time to the launch, and Li'l Boo represented c2cfamily well in a collaborative drumbeat with four other bloggers and celebs including NYC's own @mominthecity and @MakeupbyMel, as well as gold medal Olympian Steven Holcomb. (That's him hoisting Li'l Boo up to bang the drum. . . the drum platform could only fit four people up at a time and there were about dozen of us in our group. Yes, it takes a gold-medal Olympian to hoist Li'l Boo.)

Meeting Dr. Scott and Learning Dinosaur Train Secrets

On Sunday we drove into NYC to visit the World Science Festival Street Fair for a screening of the PBS children's series The Dinosaur Train, as well as a booksigning and discussion with Dr. Scott Sampson (aka Dr. Scott to many 2-6 year old kids!). L'il Boo was so excited! On our drive in, he was all "I'm going to meet my first paleontologist!" Which made me giggle hearing that in his little four-year old voice.

Most of the audience was families with kids around Li'l Boo's age, and Dr. Scott was clearly impressed, but not surprised, to be talking with kids using such big words. I think about every preschooler or early elementary kid in the audience could name Triassic, Jurassic and Cretacious when asked, and knew the difference between herbavores, carnivores and omnivores. Li'l Boo answered a warm-up question saying his favorite dinosaur was the Velociraptor. I was shocked that he didn't say the T-Rex. Perhaps he's maturing beyond the T-Rex? I mean, he has a book listing over 100 dinosaurs . . .about time he became interested in one of the others ;-)

Keep Cool at AMNH's Race To The End of the Earth

One way to beat the heat in the NYC area this summer - or at least think "cool" - would be to head to the American Museum of Natural History to check out the new exhibit, Race to the End of the Earth, which opened this weekend. It chronicles two teams, both led by Norwegian Roald Amundsen and Britain’s Royal Navy Captain Robert Falcon Scott in their historic race to reach the South Pole and back during 1911 and 1912. I'll be taking Li'l Boo along with me next week once the preschool year ends so I can check it out for myself, and he can get another look at the Lizards and Snakes exhibit. ;-)

Race to the End of the Earth details the logistics required to undertake the 1,800 mile feat which took place almost one hundred years ago. Photographs, paintings and rare historical articfacts from both camps help bring to life the trek, tools and turmoil over decisions that each team made to reach their goal.  Interactive feautres, hand-on activities, and an impressive life-sized recreation of a portion of each of the competitor's base camps bring you closer to the action, making you feel as if you were there. When you visit you're given a card featuring one of the members from either the British or Norwegian team to get an up close and personal experience of how they lived during the expedition.

The exhibit runs this weekend through January 2, 2011. Tickets are available at the American Museum of National History or online through their website.

Thrilled to Be a PBS THIRTEEN Kids Club Ambassador

As the conductor calls out "Next and final stop: Penn Station," L'il Boo jumps up and grabs my hand to make our way off the train. "Watch the gap, mom," he says beaming as we make our way amidst the crowd toward the stairs. He's done this so many times that he knows exactly where to go and what to do. Moments later he leads me up the steps and outdoors to the taxi line awaiting our next adventure around NYC. . .already an old pro at manuevering around the city at a mere four years old.

I certainly never saw myself as a bridge and tunnel person, or raising a city boy from the suburbs, but then again, I never thought we'd live in NYC! We're here though, and I want to make sure that we savor as much of the experience that living so close to The Big Apple can offer. I don't want to regret living so close to the abundance of  world-class museums, shows and sports teams and not visit and learn as much as we can from them. The alternative would mean that our lives in North Jersey wouldn't be that much different than living in any other suburb around the United States. . . So we explore the American Museum of Natural History, The Bronx Zoo, Central Park, the Rubin Museum of Art, and the New Victory Theater among other amazing places to take a kid in NYC.

If encouraging kids and families to explore our world is a primary goal of PBS THIRTEEN in NYC, then they have surely succeeded in encouraging discovery in our house. Li'l Boo has imaginatively traveled the world watching along with Franny's Feet. I credit World World and SUPER WHY with him hearing me ask c2cDad if he "wanted to do a m-o-v-i-e that afternoon," and Li'l Boo perking up with "Yes! Let's go to a movie!" when he was only three years old. And don't get me started with The Dinosaur Train. In our Tivo'd television viewing, The Dinosaur Train was the first show Li'l Boo realized airs at a specific time each day - and he made sure we were home in time every day last fall when the show premiered!

What I love most is that PBS offers background information on each kids program online so that parents, teachers or childcare providers can choose which programs or episodes are most appropriate for their kids. By doing so, PBS has helped us to extend the learning and entertainment experience in each episode with hands-on activities such as the printable coloring pages and online educational games for Franny's Feet.

Now with the Kids Club membership and discounts, parents like us can take the learning into the real world - further supporting the learning opportunities with first-hand real-world experience for kids, while making memories for families too. Most of the Kids Club exclusive NYC-area events, character meet-and-greets and attractions are places that we were already naturally planning to visit, or are well on our way of becoming experts on visiting.

So this is why I'm thrilled to have been asked to be a PBS THIRTEEN Kids Club family ambassador. I can continue enjoying the things that we're already doing, and we get the opportunity to share it with other families. I'm honored to be associated with such a respectable organization as THIRTEEN WNET/New York and excited to be a part of such a fun group of parent ambassadors.