Meaningful Media for Father’s Day: My Daddy Taught Me To…

June 13, 2010 One week from Father’s Day and media is awash with ubiquitous tie and techie ads for Father’s Day finds. Meh. Better ideas? Experiential fun for memories in the making... How would … [Read more...]

Green Toys and Fun Finds With Big Kid Appeal: Ten Under $10 Pt. 2

Dec. 23, 2009 Shhhhhh...I'm snagging one of the new "Smencils" that just arrived today 'cause I figure 'less is more' and 'variety is the spice' when it comes to stocking stuffers...She doesn't need a … [Read more...]

Free Media Finds That Are Priceless Year-Round

Dec. 16, 2009 Got gifts? Not sure when we jumped from “Black Friday/Cyber Monday” to bold-type headlines of “last minute gifts!”---but I’m still holding my own on the ‘haven’t stepped in a mall’ … [Read more...]

Meaningful Manga: Graphic Novels and Growth

Update: May 21, 2014 Our friends at Reach and Teach have added another clever manga style illustrated book called "A is for Action" which merits an update! I love the seeding of social change in a fun … [Read more...]

Blog Action Day: Inspiring Kids As Stewards of the Planet

Oct. 15, 2009 Today is 'Blog Action Day' powered by Change.org, when over 12,000+ global writers turn their sites on one topic to reach millions of eyeballs one day to appeal to their own … [Read more...]

Mindless Eating Goes Mobile: HealthGamers Unite!

Feb. 18, 2015 Interesting pairing of mindful eating with the ongoing distracted driving problems which I've written about often regarding what works to drive behavior change...in this MD's new … [Read more...]

Storybird Kids Online Book Community Hatches Creative Fledglings

 Update 11-19-2014: Storybird Studio (Q&A here) launches for educators today, as a "suite of easy-to-use creative, administrative, and social tools for writing, reading, and storytelling" … [Read more...]

One Teen’s View on Going Green: Use Eco as an Equalizer

August 27, 2009 One of my Title I school students said, "We recycle in my house...it's called hand-me-downs." Hmn. Since then, I've been attuned to the "green is for those who HAVE green" … [Read more...]

Keeping Kids Safe From Predators (er, Marketers) Part One

July 13, 2009 Since researcher Sara M. Grimes opened up the conversation on data mining and privacy practices for us, I’d like to keep the focus on this important topic for a sec, because I DO believe … [Read more...]

Hey Kids: Is There A Market for Healthy Games?

June 28, 2009 There's no question healthGAMERS are exploring the opportunities of using a "perceived problem as a solution" in the gaming world. Humana is now offering $5000 to create a healthy … [Read more...]

healthGAMERS: Newly Launched Hub For Serious Gaming

June 26, 2009 Just as some kids can sniff out an ‘educational’ experience and shut the learning light switch off (or dim it at best) others do the same with the phrase "Serious Games." Though it's … [Read more...]

Nature Rocks: Reconnecting Families With Nature

June 5, 2009 It's World Environment Day...where you can Twitter for Trees, and 'green your routine' and engage in all kinds of green media pursuits and still miss the meaning of getting kids … [Read more...]

HopeLab Launches “Sticky Notes” Blog To Make Their Thinking Visible

May 31, 2009 I know our friends at HopeLab have been active on Twitter and their own Facebook group and use SlideShare and all that, but as I’ve said many a time, microblogging and 140 character sound … [Read more...]

SmartyCard’s Summer Challenge With Scholastic: Heads Up for Fall!

May 28, 2009 I was just about to post an in-depth review and analysis of the merits and watch-worthy aspects of the new SmartyCard.com "learn and earn" kids' program for 3rd-6th graders,  when I … [Read more...]

Consider This: Virtual Worlds In Institutional Settings

May 7, 2009 See this smiling face? Meet my goddaughter, Lara, who recently turned 12. We gifted her an Elf Island 'virtual world' membership for 'premium content' as part of her B-Day celebration. … [Read more...]

In Bed With Branding: Virtual Worlds Pair With Children’s Hospitals

May 3, 2009 What's with all the children's hospitals partnering and news-making so much as of late? This spring, “Operation Teen Book Drop” gave bed bound kids across the country over 8000 titles … [Read more...]

Shaping Youth At Ypulse 2009: Send In Your Priorities

May 1, 2009 Much like the scene in the new Disneynature Earth documentary where the lions and the elephants are drinking from the same watering hole, Shaping Youth has been invited to share space … [Read more...]

“Consuming Kids” Is Now Available For YOU To Host A Screening!

April 24, 2009 Back to our green media focus in a minute, since we're all trying to figure out whether somethin' can be done about all this consumption? But first, here's some fabulous news for change … [Read more...]

When Art Meets Earth: Wyland’s Ocean Murals Inspire Kids to Care

April 23, 2009 Wyland unveiled his latest original art at the world premiere of Disneynature's Earth where it will remain on display through May at the historic El Capitan Theater in … [Read more...]

Caring With Heart Earth Day, Everyday

April 20, 2009 As we enter into Earth Day (week? month? year?) we can either cynically report on the bandwagon marketing of the green scene with freebies, Earth Day cards (Gathering Home has a nice … [Read more...]