The CRAP your Kids do @ School

Some of the funny, unexpected things that can come out of a toddler's mouth can become some of the most memorable experiences of childhood for his or her parents.  Consider these teachable moments and enjoy them as lasting memory or future tale you can use to embarrass your child with  later in life.  The other night, my daughter looked at me and said "Daddy am I going to school tomorrow?"  I replied that she was (our twin 3 year olds go to preschool two days per week) upon which my daughter gleefully yelled out "Great, I really want to make some CRAP tomorrow!"

At first I was taken back thinking she was talking about our efforts at potty training and not relating to why she was excited to take a crap at school when she was giving us such a hard time using the potty at home.  Than the light bulb went off in my head ... CRAFTS!!!  Our children have an excellent preschool teacher who really inspires the class to do crafts while at school and that is  one of my daughter's favorite activities at school, along with dancing to songs by the Merry MusicMaker during circle time.  I asked her if she was excited to do "crafts" at school and my daughter smiled at me and giggled "Daddy that's what I just said."

Craft Timefor young kids is more than just a fun activity, or crap they do to keep them busy, spending quality time doing arts & crafts projects can also teach children important life skills.  Working on crafts can promote creativity and instill a sense of accomplishment with your toddler.  Additionally, devoting time to arts & crafts also presents opportunities to develop these other skills:

+ Fine Motor Skills:  coloring & pasting may seem simple, but you have to learn somewhere the proper way to hold and use things.  Hand eye coordination is important and can be worked on through crafts.  Working on crafts can also improve muscle development necessary for everything from eating with utensils, to writing, to playing sports.  While it may seem basic, working on crafts can have a subtle but important impact on developing some very necessary motor skills.

+ Self Expression:   crafts can helps children develop their imagination and learn to express themselves ; two very important traits for all future entrepreneurs to develop.  Creative thinking and being able to communicate are essential skills at any age and for any career.  You can never be too young to start fostering these abilities. 

+Confidence:  crafts demonstrate to a child that they can create something on their own and that mistakes aren't the end of the world, but rather a way to learn a lesson on doing something better the next time around.  Confidence is essential to being successful in life and spending time working on crafts is an excellent way to start cultivating this important trait.

For us parents that don't want to completely rely on teachers to inspire and work with our kids on crafts, Crayola has a nice website with craft ideas & templates (CLICK HERE).  Kaboose is another good site with craft suggestions for parents (CLICK HERE).  AllCrafts.net is another good site for useful craft related information for children (CLICK HERE).  My twins' new favorite show, MIKE THE KNIGHT, also has a neat craft page for the kids (CLICK HERE).  Doing arts & crafts with your kids can be a great family bonding activity at home and for us guys it's macho to help your kids learn and improve themselves to  be their very best so we shouldn't feel intimidated to get our hands dirty with the glue and markers helping out!

So the next day, I dropped my son and daughter off at preschool.  As we were walking to the classroom, my daughter became very vocal and excited yelling out "Daddy, we're going to make a lot of CRAP now...lots and lots of CRAP!!!" At first I became a little flustered.  What if the teacher heard her?  I didn't want the teacher's feelings hurt because she puts a lot of effort into these craft projects.  What if the other parents heard? I didn't want them to think my daughter was foul mouthed.  Finally, I laughed to myself. This was funny and it is important not to take life too seriously.  So I smiled, didn't make too big of a deal out of it, and reinforced with my daughter the right word too say.  "Wow that's great dear that you are so excited about doing crafts.  Crafts are really fun aren't they?" I said pronouncing the word properly.  "Sure, I love CRAFTS" she said back to me as we got to the door and gave me a hug goodbye.

When I got home from work that evening, my daughter was sitting at the kitchen table coloring some drawings.  She looked up at me with her big bright eyes and a huge smile holding up some crafts she had made for me at school that morning.  "Look Daddy at all the CRAP I made for you today at school!"she exclaimed.  OK, I still have some work to do!!!

Best Kids Clubs in Major League Baseball

Major League Baseball (MLB) spring training starts this week which is a welcome reminder that winter doldrums will soon be gone and the boys of summer will be hitting the ball diamonds.  Many of us enjoy sharing our passion for America's past time with our children by taking them to the ballpark or watching games on TV to cheer on our favorite baseball team.   Another fun way to catch a child's interest in becoming a fan of major league baseball is to enroll them in a team's "kids club."   Of the 31 MLB teams, 27 have kids programs to encourage children to become fans of the team and develop an interest in the sport of baseball.  All of the program vary in the price of membership and the publications, programs, events, and swag provided to participants who enroll in the team's kids club.  I've taken a look at each of the current kids club programs offered by MLB teams and have ranked my Top 5 below:

1)  Cincinnati Reds - For a $25 dollar membership the Reds have the best swag of any MLB club.  The team calls their children's program the RED HEADS and kids s receive  exclusive member logoed  ball cap,  jersey, baseball cap styled  backpack, dog tags, and sunglasses.  The Reds also host exclusive members-only experiences at Great American Ball Park such as player autograph sessions for the kids during the season.  Membership also entitles your child to receive 4 free ticket vouchers for select Reds home games.  Additional perks include free admission to the Reds Hall of Fame & Museum, one-day admission to the Cincinnati Zoo and a free meal at Bob Evans Restaurant.  Your child will also receive the RED HEADS official newsletter to keep them informed about the team throughout the year. CLICK HERE for more info about the RED HEADS.  Follow the Reds on twitter:  @Reds

2) Baltimore Orioles - host TEN special games during the season for their "Dugout Team" kids to attend which includes one free general admission ticket, along with exclusive activities and  giveaway items, for each of these games.  Parents can also get $6 upper deck tickets for any Dugout Team designated game. Membership swag includes a Dugout Clubhat, drawstring bag, lanyard, and membership card.  Your kid will also receive a subscription to the team's  Orioles Kids  print magazine.  It costs $20 for a new membership and just $17 for renewing a membership in the Oriole's Dugout Team.  CLICK HERE for more information.  Follow the Baltimore Orioles on twitter @Orioles

3) Colorado Rockies - this kids club provide its members with a variety of exclusive special events that provide children with access to the team's players and facilities including  the Rockies Rookies Fest Carnival & Baseball Clinic at Coors Field.  In addition to receiving a monthly e-mail newsletter, Rockies Rookies members get a baseball cap, t-shirt, and drawstring bag.  Members can also purchase up to 32 tickets for select home games at 1/2 off .  Memberships are $17. CLICK HERE for more information.  Follow the Colorado Rockies on twitter @Rockies

4)  Detroit Tigers - OK, I have to support my home town team and favorite MLB ball club on this list.  For the reasonable price of $17, provides a Justin Verlander drawstring backpack, Paws the mascot mini Fathead, bracelet, lanyard, and membership card.  A nice extra touch is that the Tigers will send your child a birthday card on his or her special day.  Members receive three issues of the PawsPrints print magazine during the season.  The Tigers Kids Club also offers discounted ticket pricing and several exclusive membership events during the year.  CLICK HERE for more information.  Follow the Detroit Tigers on twitter @Tigers

5) Chicago Cubs - The price is a little steep compared to some other MLB clubs at $37,  but the Cubs have a decent package for their kids club members providing  a baseball cap, catcher's chest protector backpack, Cubs-themed school supplies kit, stickers, lanyard, and a membership card.  Membership also provides one free Wrigley Field Tour ticket and one free children's admission to Legoland Discovery Center in Chicago.  Another perk is members get front-of-line privileges for Kids-Run-the-Bases at any Cubs game.  CLICK HERE for more information about the Cubs Kids Club.  Follow the Chicago Cubs on twitter @Cubs

In an effort to reach out to younger fans, MLB has also recently launched a website aimed at kids called ClubMLB (www.clubmlb.com) that has instructional videos with tips from coaches and players, video games, league news, game highlights, a souvenir store, and links to the kids clubs for the MLB teams that host them, among other features.  CLICK HERE for the menu of all the MLB teams' website kids' sections.  Some of these teams have kids clubs and others just have information of interest to kids posted online.

Cheering on your favorite sporting team can be a great bonding experience and fun way to spend time together as a family.  Our family is always excited when spring training arrives because that means winter is almost over and the boys of summer will soon be playing again on the ball diamond. Go Tigers!

Vote Marvin E. Quasniki for President

The Republican Presidential Primary in Michigan is just days away and unfortunately our local television programming is being carpet bombed with negative advertisements attacking everything under the moon about each of the candidates.  So it's been pretty refreshing to see the Republican dark horse candidate Marvin E. Quasniki, a Turquoise farmer from Tonopah, Nevada,  steadily moving up in the polls.  For being a write-in candidate that's pretty impressive!  Quasniki's "no bullshit" campaign pledge seems to be catching on!

Quasniki's presidential campaign is running on the following 3 point platform:

1. No bullshit; anyone who does bullshit gets thrown out of the Oval Office.

2. Make the Oval Office more circular and pleasing.

3. No more bullshit again, because if you give people a few more hours they are back to you with bullshit.

Additionally his though provoking campaign theme "How Much Worse Could It Get?"has been creating a national dialogue on the problems facing our country and the need for positive solutions to address them.  Quaniki's financial backing is primarily coming from The Jim Henson Company's AlternativeDivision , that promotes puppetry applications with more of an adult oriented edge compared to the company's past work with Elmo, Fraggle Rock & The Muppets, and the notorious media conglomerate The Nerdist.

It has been nice to see Quasniki courting the geek vote through his support of the Course of the Force fundraiser for the Make-A-WishFoundation and his indepth interview with  GeekChickDaily.

You can follow the Quasniki presidential campaign on twitter @MarvinEQuasniki and on facebook at www.facebook.com/MarvinEQuasniki.  He also has a youtube page and a websiteselling campaign t-shirts and buttons.

Vote Marvin E. Quasniki for President in 2012 & Happy President's Day to all my readers!

I took my superheroes to see Elmo's Super Heroes

We had been considering taking our twins to see Sesame Street Live for awhile, but had been putting it off for a variety of reasons. Would our kids be too scared of the characters? I'd already had several "incidents" taking our children to see costumed characters Curious George, Sid the Science Kid and the Easter Bunny that we will just say didn't end well.  Would they be able to sit through the whole show and would it keep their attention?  Three year olds are notorious for short attention spans and when we took them to see their first movie Puss & Bootsa few months ago they only made it through the first half of the show before they were ready to go home.  Was the theater going to be a claustrophobic madhouse of crazed kids and parents?  Come on we've all been there! 

Your kids are only young once and how much more family-friendly a production can you go to than Sesame Street Live? So we finally committed to go and I'm pleased to report that it was an excellent experience taking our superheroes to see "Elmo's Super Heroes" at the Fox Theatre in Detroit last week. The show was very engaging, fun and educational for its preschool audience (probably best age range to go would be when your kids are 3 & 4 years old) with some side jokes and dance numbers to keep the parents amused and entertained as well (a very talented Cookie Monster did an Irish jig that would give Mike Flatley a run for his money).  There were a number of skits and songs that reached out to the kids in the audience encouraging them to interact with the Sesame Street characters throughout the performance. 

The premise of the show is that Super Grover had lost his super powers so Elmo and his friends have to become super heroes to replace him.  Elmo's squad goes on a variety of missions where they learn valuable lessons (my favorite was when Oscar the Grouch turns Sesame Street into "Oscar's World").  In the end they use these lessons about things like eating healthy food, making time to exercising, taking care of yourself with bathing & grooming, and getting enough sleep to help restore Super Grover's self-confidence and his super powers.

Our twins were riveted to the show.  They counted with the Count, danced the Pigeon Dance with Bert, clapped along with Ernie, sang with Zoe, and  yelled out answers to Elmo's questions.  They didn't show any fear of the costumed characters and probably could have sat through another hour as they were disappointed that the show wasn't longer.  I was so proud of how well the twins behaved during the show as they sat in their chairs and focused on the performance .  The show kept our kids attention the whole time...wow!  In fact, the crowd wasn't even the headache we were worried it would be either as the seating and exiting of the theater was very organized and most people were very polite and respectful of the other families in the audience.  It was a great experience for our family! So I would say the twins give two thumbs up to Sesame Street Live: Elmo's Super Heroes.

Two warnings though! First, beware at intermission they bring out these really awesome looking Elmo helium balloons  to sell that all the kids want.  At $12 dollars a pop that can be a pricey souvenir for a family with 2 or more kids with them.  I told our kids that their balloons were waiting for them at home and stopped by the Dollar Store after the show.  For $2 dollars I was able to get them some Elmo balloons that are still floating almost a week later and the kids are still playing with.  I'll admit they weren't as nice as the ones at the show, but they were $22 cheaper and hey we're talking about making 3 year olds happy here.  Secondly, my son and daughter have asked us every day since the show when we were going to be able to go back to see their friend Elmo again.  Be prepared for some creative solutions to that question because if you go to see Sesame Street Liveyour kids are going to have a great time and want to go back again, probably right away.

Can't have a Star Wars movie without merchandise

Star Wars: The Phantom Menace (TPM) - Episode 1 in 3D is now in theaters.  I'm probably not going to see it because I've already watched TPM numerous times and am not into paying to see old movies because they're now in 3D.  What I am going to check out are all the promotions  taking place along with TPM.  Here are a few that I know about:

BRISK ICED TEA

Lipton's Brisk Ice Tea is partnering with the Star Wars franchise by promoting the 3D release of TPM in commercials, on product packaging, and with a FREE video game for apple and android mobile devices called BriskSaber.  I discovered Brisk's iced tea with lemonade - tasty! - after being attracted to this promotion so I guess it got them at least one new customer. 

The BriskSaber game lets you use your finger as a light saber where you take on a variety of challenges and level bosses.  I downloaded the game for my ipad. You can get additional game upgrades after downloading the free app by entering codes found on Brisk Ice Tea caps into the welcome screen but the game is also very playable without these enhancements.  I've found it fun to play and the app received a positive review from  CNET's  Jaymar Cabebe.  Most importantly it was kid-friendly enough that I felt comfortable letting my 3 year old twins play the game which they got a real kick out of.  So two thumbs up from my toddlers is always a plus!

CLICK HERE to download the IOS app for Apple ipad, iphone, and itouch.

CLICK HERE to download the app for Android mobile devices.

DURACELL

Duracell batteries are holding a sweepstakes on their Facebook page where you can win movie tickets, Hasbro Collectible Force FX light sabers, Star Wars Blu-ray box sets, and limited edition Duracell Star Wars battery packs.  You just need to LIKE their Facebook page for a chance to WIN prizes.  Click here for more information.



CHEERIOS
General Mills cereals will feature specially marked Star Wars themed packages containing one of eight different collectable pens.  Each pen will represent a character from TPM and have a unique ink color. The eight pens will be: Anakin Skywalker, R2-D2, C-3P0, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda. Darth Maul, Queen Amidala, and Jar Jar Binks.  Keep an eye out at your local grocery store!

MCDONALDS

McDonald's is getting into the action with eight Star Wars TPM themed Happy Meal toys.  These toys are called spinners, which are launched like tops from a Star Wars themed spring-loaded handle.  The spinner handle TPM tie-ins will be Darth Maul's light saber, Sebulba's podracer engine, Mace Windu's light saber, Qui-Gon Jinn's light saber, Yoda's light saber, Anakin's podracer engine, Obi Wan Kenobi's light saber and R2-D2's body.  I foresee through the force that a visit to McDonald's may be in your near future.







DARTH VADER BURGER

Unfortunately, you can't get this last promotion in the US, but for Star Wars fans in France the European-based fast-food chain QUICK has a limited edition DARTH VADER BURGER with a midnight black bun.  According to the Christian Science Monitor this gourmet burger will be available through March 5 in honor of the 3D release of TPM. 

NFL Player's Reaction to Devastating News is Inspiring

When it comes to us guys, I'm sure almost every little boy has dreams of one day playing in a Super Bowl game and every player who has ever suited up for a high school, college, or NFL game has to have envisioned themselves running out the tunnel onto the field for the big game.  So it must have been devastating when the New England Patriots' Tiguan Underwood was cut from the team roster the night before the Super Bowl.  In an era when many professional athletes personal behavior and antics make them less than stellar role models for our youth, Tiguan Underwood's reaction to the bad news was both refreshing and inspiring.  At a moment when many people most likely would have reacted with profane expletives  or angry rants, Underwood sent out a few messages on twitter expressing that this would MOTIVATE him to perform better on the field in the future and that he knows there are people with more serious problems in the world than being cut from a football team.  Kudos to you Tiguan!

According to the Boston Herald, the last minute move was not made for any disciplinary reasons, bad behavior, or poor performance but rather because Patriots head coach Bill Belichick wanted to add another defensive lineman to the roster from the practice squad for the Super Bowl.  Tiguan himself had been bounced on and off the Patriots roster three times this year from the non-roster practice squad, but to do it one more time just before the Super Bowl was a truly cold move.  Based upon the regular season, it was unlikely that Underwood would have played in the big game, but his replacement defensive lineman Alex Silvestro had been on the practice squad all season and didn't get on the field for Super Bowl XLVI.  Anyone who has ever played football knows though that you never know when your number might be called for a play depending on the circumstances of a game, so Tiguan could have possibly played.  Unfortunately, at least this year, Tiguan Underwood will never know if he could have contributed to a Super Bowl victory.

The good news for Tiguan is that he will be getting the $44,000 paid to each member of the losing Super Bowl team squad since he was on the roster leading up the game and was an active player on the team for 8 games during the regular season according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.  NBC Sportsalso reports that the Patriots have just resigned him for next season allowing Underwood to participate in off-season workouts and training camp.  So Underwood is walking away with some consolation prizes from the experience.

You have to wonder though that in such a close contest with the New York Giants winning by just 4 points in dramatic fashion during the closing minutes of the game if bad karma cost the Patriots a Super Bowl victory in Indy.

INTRODUCING: MIKE THE KNIGHT

If you have preschool toddlers like me than you are probably very familiar with Nickelodeon's  Dora the Explorer television show which combines fun with educational exercises for an interesting learning experience.  Nickelodeon is launching a new animated show, MIKE THE KNIGHT,  which transports modern preschoolers into a medieval world filled with  dragons, princesses, horses, castles, and knights of course, that teach educational lessons on problem-solving and self-confidence.  Huzzah!

Mike the Knight must rise up to solve missions in each episode with the help of his two best friends, a pair of comedic dragons named Sparkie & Squirt.  Joining along in the adventures is Mike's trusted steed,  Galahad, who helps keep this adventurous gang on the right track. Huzzah!

I watched a special kick-off showing of MIKE THE KNIGHT with my kids that aired Friday, February 3 on Nickelodeon and was impressed by how my twin 3 year olds interacted with the show laughing at skits and shouting out answers to challenges presented in the show.  It was a hit!  In fact, my son has been asking me all weekend when he can watch the dragons again on tv!  Fortunately that won't be that far away with Nickelodeon debuting the regular airing of MIKE THE KNIGHT on Monday, February 6 2012 @ Noon ET & PT.  Brand new episodes will be airing all this week to kickoff MIKE THE KNIGHT's first season.  Huzzah!

And what's with all the Huzzah's? Huzzah is Mike the Knight's catch phrase when he successfully completes a challenge or mission.  I'm sure this is a word I'm going to hear a lot of around the house in the future.  Nickelodeon has posted some fun crafts, coloring pages, and games,  along with more information about the show and its characters , which you can check out by clicking here. 

Check out the premiere week of MIKE THE KNIGH February 6 - 10, 2012 on Nickelodeon airing at Noon ET/PT.