6 Ways To Get Kids Outside And Moving This Summer, suggested by Kaboom

June 1, 2011 Beth Kelley2 Comments

It doesn’t really feel like summer here in the Pacific Northwest yet, but we’re already scheduling picnics and camping trips and weddings and all kinds of outdoor activities in hopes of the weather getting nice. But there are more ideas for getting outside than (hopefully not) tedious nuptials or a forced march uphill. Darrel Hammond, CEO of Kaboom (not the SNL guy), has some ideas specifically for families:

Summer should be a time for roaming, discovering and running outside — but unfortunately, for all too many kids, more free time means more screen time and more structured activities.

It’s up to you to ensure that your kids get a healthy daily dose of unstructured outdoor play. Here are six ways to get your children moving, nurture their creativity and provide them with all the rich learning opportunities that outdoor play presents. In the process, you’ll meet new neighbors and contribute to a nationwide movement to save play.

Suggestion #4: Close a street for play. I’ve actually seen several neighborhoods around town grab a permit for the afternoon to close down their street and have a block party. Some cities are probably easier to work with than others, but the idea of a block play party sounds fabulous!

We all need a little push to get out the door (especially when it’s too hot, too cold, too windy, not windy enough, etc.), so having a planned event or project like this can be very useful.

more suggestions by Darell Hammond: 6 Ways To Get Kids Outside And Moving This Summer.

Kaboom! is a play-focused non-profit that is working to ensure that every child has a great place to play within walking distance of their school or home. They certified a playground here on Mercer Island, WA, and are working to install or certify others all over the U.S. Another idea to get your kids out and active: help build a playground!

community · creativity · education · health · learning · school · technology · youtube

Google Global Science Fair 2011: Finalists announced

May 17, 2011May 17, 2011 Beth Kelley

What a great way to support kids’ love of science and exploration! I also like how the proposals are via YouTube videos. This is more than just the typical science fair fare (so to speak), it contains some pretty hard-hitting science stuff.

The Judging Panel has identified the 60 semi-finalist entries, and now it’s up to YOU to decide which project will take home the People’s Choice Award. You can vote once in each of the three age-group categories until 20 May at 11:59 PM EST. The People’s Choice winner will be announced on 23 May, along with 5 finalists in each age category.Click on a project title below to learn more and vote for your favorites.

more via Google Global Science Fair 2011.

Google Science Fair: Vote To Find An Einstein Of The Future (techie-buzz.com)
Google Science Fair 2011 – Global Science Competition for Teenagers (neurosciencenews.com)
Google Starts Science Fair, Pitching Products to Students (makezine.com)

behavior · children · creativity · design · play

Bookshelf/Playground combo makes putting your toys away fun

May 13, 2011May 13, 2011 Beth Kelley

My mom always told me not to climb up my bookshelves when I was a kid; now I wish I was little again and could beg her to get me one of these. This is actually a great tool for learning, because it allows kids to think three dimensionally, in a playful way. Trying to decide which cubbies hold what items, and climbing, sliding, and thinking of an object as two things at once (a bookshelf AND a dinosaur) are great exercises for the brain at any age.

Casaurus, the senior thesis project of student designer Koichiro Hoshino from Tokyo University of the Arts. The designer’s dinosaur-shaped bookshelf includes plenty of space for a bookworm’s library, a tail-like slide for kids to whiz down, shelves made for climbing and small boxes that add length to the dino’s tail. Kids can also find a reading nook underneath the dino’s belly.

more via Koichiro Hoshino’s Casaurus is a Bookshelf and a Playground | Inhabitots.

community · creativity · play

Knitting the potholes together in Paris

April 27, 2011April 27, 2011 Beth Kelley

In 2009, Juliana Santacruz Herrera began filling Paris’s potholes with elaborate knitted plugs; she called it “Projet Nid de Poule” (Project Pothole). What the yarn lacks in durability it makes up for in whimsy.

projet nid de poule (via Craft)

creativity · culture · design · play

Crochet Vandals Do Graffiti Like Your Grandma : NPR

April 26, 2011 Beth Kelley

I love this kind of public art! There was a tree in town that got a sweater a couple of years ago, and I’m so excited to see this is now becoming a “movement.”

“Captain Hook” is part of an international movement of so-called yarn bombers taking an old-school approach to street art. Unlike most street artists who travel with spray paint or markers, Captain Hook — as she asked NPR to call her — works with a crochet hook and yarn.

Her “walls” are public fixtures, like the bronze bear statue in L.A.’s Griffith Park that stands zombie-like with its paws out. “This is crochet on a statue,” she says, sitting in her Los Angeles apartment, a pile of granny squares in her lap. “This could be happening in 1725.”

more via Crochet Vandals Do Graffiti … Like Your Grandma : NPR.

behavior · creativity · design · psychology · writing

How The Mundane Can Produce Creativity

April 11, 2011April 11, 2011 Beth Kelley

I subscribe to this business blog, The 99 Percent (Success is 1% inspiration, 99% determination), that typically offers business strategies and stuff, but this article I found really interesting; the idea that having a ritual around your day actually allows your brain to focus on being creative:

You follow the same routine, sipping your coffee, browsing your email, skimming through the same blogs, the same news pages, the same social networks. As your colleagues arrive, you exchange the same greetings, the same gripes and gossip. As you drain the cup, you get the same itch for the same music, take your headphones out and plug yourself in. You open the same blank document, give it the same hard stare. The music kicks in.

Now you can begin.

If that sounds anything like your morning routine, you’re in good company. Over the years, as a coach and trainer, I’ve heard a similar story from hundreds of creative professionals. Of course, the details will vary – if you’re like me, your trip to work will be the “30 second commute” known to freelancers the world over, and you’ll be making your own coffee. You may incorporate meditation, or other exercise into your morning routine. And you may use a camera, easel, guitar or whatever instead of a computer.

But the chances are you’re living proof of one of the great paradoxes of creativity: that the most extraordinary works of imagination are often created by people working to predictable daily routines. There’s even an entire blog (sadly now on hold) devoted entirely to accounts of the Daily Routines of writers, artists, and other interesting people.

more via How Mundane Routines Produce Creative Magic :: Tips :: The 99 Percent.

It says the 3 common threads of these rituals are:

Uniqueness – it should be something (or a combination of things) you don’t associate with other activities, otherwise the effect will be diluted.
Emotional intensity – the kind you experience when you’re really immersed in creative work.
Repetition – the more times you experience the unique trigger in association with the emotions, the stronger the association becomes.

Athletes, actors, and even accountants have these rituals, so why not creative types? What about you, what behaviors or rituals do you have to help you concentrate on being creative?

community · creativity · culture · happiness · music · play · Social

Promoting public dancing through flash mobs!

April 11, 2011April 11, 2011 Beth Kelley

A pillow fight that took place in Lausanne, Sw... — Flash mob pillow fight in Switzerland (neutral, yeah right!). Image via Wikipedia

Thanks again to the Seattle PI for bringing us great stories of spreading joy and happiness (see posts from earlier this week)!

If you were out and about in Seattle Sunday, you might have encountered more dancing and music than expected.

You can thank the TV show “Glee” and Seattle’s propensity for flash-mob participation for that.

“Glee” flash mobs broke out in several spots around the city Sunday afternoon. Here’s video of one of the best performances I’ve seen out of a bunch posted on YouTube.

Continue on to see the video (direct link below).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWr-wQ8kBOI&feature=player_embedded

This is such an awesome trend of seeing flash mobs of people performing public dancing and performance, from Michael Jackson’s Thriller to Glee to improv and beyond.

anthropology · creativity

Mindful photographic consumption

March 4, 2011March 3, 2011 Beth Kelley

I was exposed to this visual project courtesy of Shreve at Honey Rock Dawn:

For one year, William Rugen photographed almost every single thing he ate, snacked on, or otherwise consumed.

My first impression was “that’s dedication.” And an insight into a man who looooves peanuts and chocolate.

architecture · behavior · children · community · creativity · design · education · environment

Green learning and sustainable knowledge

February 16, 2011February 24, 2011 Beth Kelley

Kids learn the best by what they see and experience, not just what they are told. What better way to teach about environmental and sustainable practices then by demonstrating that at school?! Two projects in the Pacific Northwest are combining creative alternative designs and technologies to create an ideal environment for learning and minimizing impact on the environment.

I always wanted to live in a tree house or a hobbit hole. But going to school in a “living building” would be a pretty close second. From KUOW:

LEED–certified buildings are meant to be environmentally friendly and highly energy efficient. But now, there is a new standard that goes well beyond that. It’s called the “living building” and there are only three of them in the world. In Seattle, one elementary school is building what could be the first living building in the state.

The kids got to offer ideas for the school, and with its grand opening last friday, will hopefully make a splash (it does have it’s own little stream, after all).

In a related project, a school in Poulsbo is putting in Washington State’s fifth largest solar array:

“Next month, Lander, 56, will flip the switch on his first full-size community solar project atop Poulsbo Middle School, the largest of its kind in Washington and the fifth-largest solar system in the state.”

I also love the fact that both of these projects are community-based, in that the kids got to provide input on the school, and the solar panels are also community-driven.

community · creativity · design · happiness

From: DesignSponge » paul price’s signs of affection

February 3, 2011February 3, 2011 Beth Kelley

Just in time to get into the Valentine’s Day mood: enriching signs that spread joy and cheer to everyone, not just your favorite sweety!

Colorful “Signs of Affection” from graphic designer Paul Price. Wandering by one of these on a cold afternoon sure would be a cheerful surprise. I’m hoping Paul’s work somehow makes it over to the gray Brooklyn streets in my area, so I can stumble upon “Your Hair Looks Dashing.” That would totally make any bad day feel like it was taking a turn for the better. Click below to check out more of Paul’s work online.