Apr
19
2008
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Kellogg’s and Animal Planet have paired up to bring you Wild Animal Crunch, a whole grain, vanilla and chocolate flavored cereal. Wild Animal Crunch is one of Kellogg’s first cereals to meet the their new Global Nutrient Criteria. It has 14 grams of whole grains, 3 grams of fiber, 100 calories, 1 gram of fat and 8 grams of sugar per serving.
The folks at Kellogg’s sent us a box to try. As a mom, I’m not thrilled with the amount of sugar, though it’s better than most. I thought the cereal was o.k., but the kids found it delicious. Nathan and Lucie had bowls and bowls of it during every breakfast and snack until it was gone - about three days. I’m surprised it took them that long.
Besides the tie in with Animal Planet, eating Wild Animal Crunch is fun because it comes in animal shapes. This would be a great cereal to snack on while watching Animal Planet’s Meerkat Manor. It would also make a very portable snack to take to the zoo, camping, or hiking to go see animals out in the wild.
Take a Wild Animal Journey with Books
You don’t need to leave the house to go on safari. You can read Meet the Meerkat
by Darrin Lunde from Charlesbridge Publishing (read my review here.) Sylvan Dell Publishing also has some terrific animal books:
Whether eating Wild Animal Crunch, reading books about animals, or watching Animal Planet, these are all fun ways to get your child interested in nature and the world around them. Get wild!
Apr
10
2008
I’m attending a special mommy blogger event next week in Southern California put on by the kind folks at Sony. We’ll be trying out Sony Digital imaging products and services including trying out the Sony Cybershot DSCW170
, Sony Alpha DSLRA350 Digital SLR Camera
, and the Sony HDR-SR11 10MP 60GB High Definition Hard Drive Handycam Camcorder with 12x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom
. Fancy! We’ll also be meeting with photography expert Me Ra Koh, and from shooting pictures on the beaches of La Jolla.
I’m excited but nervous. It’s been years since I took a photography course. Let’s just say it was before digital cameras were invented and I spent more time in the darkroom printing pictures than I did taking them. My experience with digital cameras is limited. Like most folks, I just point, shoot, download, crop and post/email. So I’m glad that I have a copy of Photographing Your Family: And All the Kids and Friends and Animals Who Wander Through Too
to read on the plane thanks to the folks at National Geographic.
What I liked about Photographing Your Family is that Joel Sartore, a National Geographic magazine photographer and father of three, reviews the basics like composition, key elements and light. Then he shares his secrets for photographing your family by going through his own family albums and explaining what he did to get the shot. You will also learn the best ways to print, display, and store your work, and tips on choosing equipment. I was especially interested in the chapter on the digital darkroom where he explains how to use software programs like Adobe Photoshop Elements 6
to alter and improve your photographs.
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Mar
23
2008
As my kids get older, it seems like it’s harder to find the time to read to them. By the time dinner dishes are put away, and backpacks are packed for the next day, it’s pass everyone’s bedtime and there is no time to read. While there is no substitute for a parent and child getting together to read, there are sources out there to help fill in the cracks.
The Smart Television Alliance
The Smart Television Alliance a great online source for parents and caregivers to easily find television programming that is educational and entertaining for kids, on the parents’ schedules. They’re also a committed supporter of the NEA’s annual Read Across America project. They even had some of our kids’ favorite TV characters give them reading suggestions.
The Smart Television Alliance has partnered with the Disney Channel to produce a Public Service Announcement to help impart the importance of reading to children everywhere. The Disney Channel asked Super Bunny, star of the new Playhouse Disney series “Bunnytown,” to read his favorite bedtime story to a friend - A Boy and His Bunny. You can see the video below.
kidthing™
kidthing released an animated digital version of Horton Hears A Who! by Dr. Seuss for Read Across America Day. It’s available for free exclusively on for download on kidthing. The pages come to life on your computer screen with animation, narration and sound effects. Parents also have the option to turn the sound off and read the book aloud. It’s very slick but as a parent you are totally in control to what books you’re downloading.
kidthing is a secure internet-based global learning platform for children, parents, teachers, family and friends that delivers the next generation Internet-based learning environment through its proprietary distribution, publishing and social networking platform. Parents and teachers can purchase, customize and personalize content for kids and can share this in private sharing groups. Publishers and content creators around the world can make their works available in the kidthing store in an enhanced electronic format. It’s sort of an online version of Kindle for children’s books with social networking features.
YouTube
There are many videos of books from Rosemary Wells to Curious George available on YouTube (probably bootleg versions, I’m guessing. I’ve created a playlist on YouTube of some kid friendly titles for my kids to watch. (I’d love to post a video here, but it keeps goofing up my blog.)
Mar
21
2008
The DVD of Enchanted 
was released this week. And thanks to the folks at Click Communications, I have a preview copy that I hope we can watch this weekend, since we were too busy last week.
You see, it was my daughter Lucie’s fifth birthday, which included a fancy Disney princess party. Unfortunately, her little majesty decided it was her party and she could cry if she wanted to. Yes, she spent most of the time pouting or up in her room crying and screaming. Luckily, the other kids had a good time and everyone enjoyed a gorgeous and delicious Disney princess birthday cake made by Cutting Edge Cake Design.
The Queen Mother (that’s me) wasn’t happy with the bratty princess who was FINE once she started opening presents. So after I cleaned up, I went to my royal chambers for several hours to work on my plans to have this blog “prettied up” by Girly Blog Designz. (I’m so excited! More details coming soon.) The Queen was still peeved at the princess the next day, but finally issued a royal pardon.
Since Lucie is too adorable to be mad at for very long, like most fairly tales this tale of the pouty princess had a happily-ever-after ending. And so does Enchanted, a romantic spoof of Disney fairy tale films.
Enchanted features an animated heroine (Amy Adams as Giselle) from a kingdom far, far away who finds herself transformed into a real live woman in bustling New York City. Susan Sarandon plays the evil sorceress Narissa (who may just outdo another Disney baddie, Glenn Close as Cruella De Vil). Narissa exiles Giselle from her fairytale kingdom and James Marsden is the handsome prince who travels to the Big Apple to rescue her. Of course, all the moms will swoon over Patrick Dempsey (from “Grey’s Anatomy”) as a contemporary knight in shining armor. Idina Menzel plays his girlfriend Nancy who suspects Giselle might just be a little too good to be true.
The film is rated PG and Amazon.com reviewer, Tami Horiuchi, recommends it for ages 6 and older with parental guidance due to some scary images and mild innuendo. Besides watching a fun movie with my family, I’m looking forward to spotting the 13 scenes in Enchanted that reference Classic Disney movie scenes.
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Mar
18
2008
Did you know that March is Brain and Brain Injury Awareness month? Brain Awareness Week, organized by the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives, was last week but events are going on worldwide all month to advance public awareness about the progress and benefits of brain research.
Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives is part of The Dana Foundation, a great resource for parents and teaches on brain science. It features Brainy Kids Online, a website for children, teens, parents and teachers with links to games, labs, education resources, and lesson plans.
As part of Brain Awareness Week, the Dana Foundation website also has links to puzzles and educational resources. One of the documents I found extremely helpful was Brain Books for Budding Scientists—and All Children with its list of brain books
As author Carolyn Phelan writes:
Any library can supply you with children’s books about the brain, but a dull, inaccurate, or outdated book can be worse than none at all. A well-written and illustrated children’s book, though, can help spark the imagination of the next generation of scientists, doctors, and citizens. Children’s books can help both to take the mystery out of science and to instill curiosity about the natural world. They can also remind adults how to simplify and explain complicated subjects for young, inquisitive minds.
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- a tale of a giraffe who’s scared of heights and two of his animal friends who have their own fears to overcome (read my review)
- the story of a painted turtle who adopts other animals behaviors (read my review)
by Catherine Ipcizade and illustrated by Ben Hodson. This book is an adaptation of ’Twas the Night Before Christmas and shares zoo keeper and animal preparations for the upcoming “Zoo Day.” Like all Sylvan Dell books, their website features a PDF of the For Creative Minds (PDF) book section, along with Teaching Activities, Learning Links and more.
kidthing
