What is Your Least Favorite Thing About the Internet?
So, I asked last week for you to share your favorite thing about the Internet. I'm even more interested to know what your least favorite thing is. Once again, you can comment here or post your response in the forum. You'll have to pop over to the forum to find out my answer!
Family Friendly Computer Camp
If the long hours of summer vacation are looming ahead, turn to your family computer for help. No, I'm not suggesting that you stock up on video games and Webkinz codes. Use your family computer as a springboard for a variety of fun, educational, and even physically active family activities.
Try out some of these ideas:
- Make your own music video - record a music video using your video camera or webcam. Edit it using readily available free video editing software.
- Make an ABC Book or have a photo scavenger hunt - Grab the digital camera and set out on a hunt for photos of things beginning with a certain letter or items for a scavenger hunt.
- Take Mystery Pictures - Mystery Pictures are close-up shots of every day objects.
- Make a Stop Motion Animation Movie - Grab the action figures or stuffed animals and a digital camera to make your own movie.
- Make a Special Family Cookbook - Spend the summer testing out new recipes. Enter your favorites into your word processor with some photos from your experimenting. Print them out and give them away with some baked goods for the holidays.
Don't let computer time turn into solitary, inactive time. Be creative and your computer can enrich your summertime activities.
Do you have any ideas for fun whole-family projects involving your family computer? Please share! And don't forget to check back. This post is part of the All About Parenting Blog Carnival. Soon you'll have lots of ideas for your Do-It-Yourself Day Camp!
What's Your Favorite Thing About the Internet?
What's the thing that you think is just really amazing, fun or life changing? It can be anything (but please keep it family friendly!).
I mentioned my favorite thing in the forum. You can share yours in the comments here or visit the forum and tell me there.
Watch TV Online for Free
Perhaps the power went out. Or maybe your TiVo had a conflict. Either way, you've missed a key episode of Lost. If you don't watch it, you'll forever be confused! Have no fear, you can now watch just about any current TV shows online as well as many older programs. You'll need a high speed Internet connection and an up-to-date browser, but you no longer have to worry about getting home on time for your favorite shows.
Learn more from the list of Top 10 Free Websites to Watch TV Online.
Kids Speak Out Against Cyberbullying
Teen social networking site, myYearbook, has taken a stand against cyberbullying. In partnership with StopCyberbullying.org, myYearbook is encouraging teens to take the Megan Pledge. Named after Megan Meier, the thirteen year old who took her own life after being harrassed online, the pledge asks kids to think before hurting others online and to report cyberbullies.
myYearbook was founded in 2005 by two high school students, and has grown to more than 5 million members. There are more than 230,000 Megan pledges against cyberbullying so far. Encourage your teen to stop by and take the pledge.
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Last Minute Oh-So-Cool Father's Day Gifts
 Flip Mino in Black Photo Courtesy of Pure Digital |
 Star Wars mimobot Series 2 © 2008 mimoco, Inc. & TM. All rights reserved. |
Blog Carnival Road Trippin'
The latest installment of the All About Parenting Blog Carnival is live over at the About.com Baby Products site. There's something for everyone from humorous stories to games and activities to safety advice. You can even leave a comment with your own road trip tale.
Missed the last blog carnival and desperate to join the fun? The current carnival is underway at the Parenting Special Needs site. The topic is "Do-It-Yourself Day Camp. And, if you'd like to start planning ahead, we've got a list of upcoming topics and dates.
Computer Use and Free Play
I've seen a lot of talk lately about how computers take time away from "Free play." I simply don't agree. I think that computers can be just another type of free play. If you're playing with blocks, you're probably not kicking a ball around outside. If you're putting on a puppet show, you're probably not playing with finger paints. Free play to me suggests that you're engaging in an open-ended activity, where the journey as well as the final result is up to you (and possibly your playmates). Computers can do that as well.
Let's imagine a world without social networking sites, virtual worlds, pre-programmed video games and the like. What types of activities can kids engage in that replicate "real life" free play or that provide a different free play experience entirely? There is no "right" answer.
My first thought is to introduce MicroWorlds (relatively simple, graphic-based software that allows kids to program). Kids might create an animated story, their own video game, a reality TV show, artwork, an animated greeting card, or a variety of other cool things.
What do you think? Post your thoughts in the comments or over in the forum.
Club Penguin Adds Parental Controls
Kudos to Club Penguin for their newest upgrades to the popular virtual world! They have added parental controls which allow parents to:
- limit when and for how long their kids can use the site
- change the password
- switch between safe chat (limited phrases) and regular chat
- monitor activities, such as bans
The changes will make the site even more appealing to the parents of younger kids who have been concerned about some of the creative wordplay being used to bypass filters. It also makes Club Penguin a virtual world to grow with... safer for young kids, but with more freedom available to older kids and those who have earned the privilege.
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Do Virtual Worlds Promote Consumerism in Kids?
Most virtual worlds for kids today have an economic system where you can earn virtual points/coins/tokens and use them to purchase virtual items. Typically users have some sort of room or house that they can decorate as well. I was just reading a discussing at Virtual Worlds Connect about this and the the concern that it promotes consumer culture. It's not the first time I've heard this issue raised.
Based on my experiences with kids and this type of virtual environment, I think it's more about power than about shopping. It gives kids a greater sense of control over their world, especially for the tween demographic who are desperately trying to assert their independence. When properly done, it also encourages delayed gratification. If you want a more expensive or rare item, you have to work for it and save. Of course, in some worlds, it's easy to earn enough for even the most expensive items. Webkinz World, for example, requires minimal effort for kids who are basically comfortable with the games. Neopets, on the other hand, takes a lot more patience. If you're hoping to buy a rare item there, it can take you weeks or months to save up. I still haven't been able to purchase some of the things I'd like!
This leaves me to ask, What are kids learning from these sites, if anything at all? Are they learning to be heavy consumers? Are they learning to be responsible caregivers as they feed their virtual pets? Do they learn to save money or do they learn that playing games is how to make it in the world? Does the message change as you factor in real-world financial investments, such as membership fees, stuffed animals (ala Webkinz and TyBabies 2.0) and other related gear?
What do you think? Visit the forum and let us know.