The ultimate collection of DIY activities to do with your kids to teach STEM basics and beyond, from a wildly popular online dad. With more than 3 million fans, TheDadLab has become an online sensation, with weekly videos of fun and easy science experiments that parents can do with their kids. These simple projects use materials found around the house, making it easier than ever for busy moms and dads to not only spend more quality time with their children but also get them interested in science and technology. In this mind-blowing book, Sergei Urban takes the challenge off-screen with fifty step-by-step projects, including some that he has never shared online before. Each activity will go beyond the videos, featuring detailed explanations to simplify scientific concepts for parents and help answer the hows and whys of their curious children. Learn how to: explore new fun ways to paint; make slime with only two ingredients; defy gravity with a ping-pong ball; produce your own electricity, and more! With TheDadLab, parents everywhere will have an easy solution to the dreaded "I'm bored" complaint right at their fingertips!
Set in an incarceration camp where the United States cruelly detained Japanese Americans during WWII and based on true events, this moving love story finds hope in heartbreak. To fall in love is already a gift. But to fall in love in a place like Minidoka, a place built to make people feel like they weren’t human—that was miraculous. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Tama is sent to live in a War Relocation Center in the desert. All Japanese Americans from the West Coast—elderly people, children, babies—now live in prison camps like Minodoka. To be who she is has become a crime, it seems, and Tama doesn’t know when or if she will ever leave. Trying not to think of the life she once had, she works in the camp’s tiny library, taking solace in pages bursting with color and light, love and fairness. And she isn’t the only one. George waits each morning by the door, his arms piled with books checked out the day before. As their friendship grows, Tama wonders: Can anyone possibly read so much? Is she the reason George comes to the library every day? Maggie Tokuda-Hall’s beautifully illustrated, elegant love story features a photo of the real Tama and George—the author’s grandparents—along with an afterword and other back matter for readers to learn more about a time in our history that continues to resonate.
Children's books are very special, and have introduced millions of young people to the joys of reading. Single mums and top celebrities alike have penned best-sellers promoting the virtues and values for children to lead happy, healthy lives. There are many different ways that a children s book can be written, from the simplest rhyming picture books to more involved novella stories. Whatever your story may be, publishing it is within your grasp. The book provides a complete overview of everything a prospective children s writer needs to complete and publish his or her own children s book. You will start by learning how to recognise the market that your book's style fits. You will learn the basics of the children s book publishing industry and how it is fundamentally different from that of the rest of the publishing industry. You will learn how to choose the right publisher or print on demand printer for your book and how to start preparing the package, with special consideration for illustrations and other aspects of your book that might change the overall presentation. You will learn what morals and values publishers and readers look for in good children's books and what you should expect in a publication deal. You will learn how to build a relationship with your editor, what to expect in revisions, and how to learn the process of selling your book. You will learn how to gain publicity on your own and what you can do to build your book into a long-term career. For anyone that has ever written or is considering writing their own children s book, this book will provide the information and resources you need to get published.
This book is a way of sharing insights empirically gathered, over decades of interactive media development, by the author and other children’s designers. Included is as much emerging theory as possible in order to provide background for practical and technical aspects of design while still keeping the information accessible. The author's intent for this book is not to create an academic treatise but to furnish an insightful and practical manual for the next generation of children’s interactive media and game designers. Key Features Provides practical detailing of how children's developmental needs and capabilities translate to specific design elements of a piece of media Serves as an invaluable reference for anyone who is designing interactive games for children (or adults) Detailed discussions of how children learn and how they play Provides lots of examples and design tips on how to design content that will be appealing and effective for various age ranges Accessible approach, based on years of successful creative business experience, covers basics across the gamut from developmental needs and learning theories to formats, colors, and sounds
Education is not only about being able to read, write, and count. Creativity is a huge part of the educational process and of our lives. Children are naturally creative and they like to be busy, especially if this is fun and something comes out from their hands. Adults often do not recognize the value of this important activity. We can not only spend a great time together, but we can help our kids develop many skills and abilities. It also provides an excellent opportunity for trying new ideas. Creativity is what makes a difference in developing creative ways of thinking and problem solving. Creativity is much more than product: it is a process. It is a specific form of self-expression. It is to learn with inspiration from personal experience. The importance of a childs creative process is also in the opportunity to experience and explore materials. Cooperation is an important component in the creative process, which is directed by the adult, but should be a result of the childs preference. This kind of activity can help us learn more about our kids, about their feelings, their way of thinking, their uniqueness and their mental and emotional health. Childhood development of creativity is not about telling them, but showing them, and doing it with them.
JavaScript is the programming language of the Internet, the secret sauce that makes the Web awesome, your favorite sites interactive, and online games fun! JavaScript for Kids is a lighthearted introduction that teaches programming essentials through patient, step-by-step examples paired with funny illustrations. You’ll begin with the basics, like working with strings, arrays, and loops, and then move on to more advanced topics, like building interactivity with jQuery and drawing graphics with Canvas. Along the way, you’ll write games such as Find the Buried Treasure, Hangman, and Snake. You’ll also learn how to: –Create functions to organize and reuse your code –Write and modify HTML to create dynamic web pages –Use the DOM and jQuery to make your web pages react to user input –Use the Canvas element to draw and animate graphics –Program real user-controlled games with collision detection and score keeping With visual examples like bouncing balls, animated bees, and racing cars, you can really see what you’re programming. Each chapter builds on the last, and programming challenges at the end of each chapter will stretch your brain and inspire your own amazing programs. Make something cool with JavaScript today! Ages 10+ (and their parents!)
An intense battle is raging for the hearts and minds of America's 33 million teenagers, the largest generation of teens in U.S. history. These teens have an enemy. He has crafted an offensive strategy, stealth tactics, sophisticated reconnaissance, and subtle propaganda. You only have to turn on your TV, talk to your teen's friends, go to the movies, or listen to the radio to catch a glimpse of his destructive campaign. Ron Luce is sounding the battle cry, calling parents and Christian leaders to wake up to the war against America's teens. Are you willing to reject "quiet Christianity" and make a world-shaking difference by dreaming new dreams to recreate our culture? Now is the time to use your God-given creativity and claim this generation for Christ, because a generation that the world cannot change is a generation that can change the world!
So, you wanna turn Junior into a smarty-pants? What parent doesn't? Thing is, kids nowadays are more independent than ever and aren't always receptive to what parents want. In fact, if you tell your kids that studying is "good for them," they're more than likely to mumble, "Yeah, sure," in your general direction and head off to do something "fun." Sharpening the minds of your youngsters presents more challenges than climbing Mt. Everest, and the responsibility of making your kids use more of their brain cells can be overwhelming – even when you don't encounter resistance. Raising smart kids requires long-term commitment, sacrifice, and diligence – not to mention the patience of a saint. And as long as you don't obsess about being the perfect parent, you will be able to enjoy your kids' journey of self-discovery right along with them. But how do you accomplish this? How do you overcome the resistance? How do you tackle the overwhelming task of not only helping your children succeed in school, but also increasing their ability to make their own way in the world? That's where Raising Smart Kids For Dummies steps in to help. Written in easy-to-understand terms (and absolutely no slick psycho-babble), this book gives you sound advice on encouraging your kids to set their sights high and achieve success, whether at school, with friends, or in your community. And you don't have to be a new parent to gain insight from this book; experienced parents can reap rewards with the help of this book in their effort to raise fulfilled children. Here's just a sampling of what you'll find in Raising Smart Kids For Dummies: Recognizing the characteristics of smart kids Knowing when to push – and when not to Disciplining your kids in a positive way Growing smarter kids from healthier bodies Planning the development of your kids' brains: From newborns to teenagers Taking your smart kids beyond high school Eliminating brain drain from school-skipping, drug abuse, and raging hormones Top Ten lists of family characteristics that nurture smart kids, what smart kids read, and resources for bolstering parents' confidence You've heard it said a thousand times: The children are the future. Children have such potential, but rarely live up to it. Why take this chance with your own kids? Make the commitment to prepare your kids for life on their own. With Raising Smart Kids For Dummies, you, too, can achieve success – and have a little fun along the way!
Packed with fun, edifying, and joyful art experiences, Play, Make, Create is filled with simple, yet powerful, "art invitations" that are focused on the making and doing, not just the final projects. Founded in a process-based philosophy, this unique book includes over 40 activities set up as invitations—carefully designed prompts or provocations to play or make something. Author Meri Cherry has over 20 years of teaching experience, and her blog www.mericherry.com has set the standard for meaningful and enriching process art experiences that are both manageable for moms, and engaging and fun for kids. Play, Make, Create begins with an in-depth guide for parents, teachers, and facilitators that shares all the details—how to set up materials in an inviting way, how to present the activity and talk to kids about art, and how to stock your cabinets with the right materials for ongoing creativity, plus best-practice tips for clean up, trouble shooting, and more. Within the book, parents will find four types of creative invitations. Invitations to Explore are process-based, open-ended activities that are set up for ongoing play and discovery. Invitations to Create inspire children to make something. By exploring, playing, and discovering what the materials offer, children will create exciting projects such as salt paintings, a mini book, a shadow box, puppets, nature crafts, clay sculptures and more, each with completely individual results. Invitations to Play are sensory-based activities such as making doughs, slime, moving toys, and more. Lastly, there are Invitations to Collaborate. These are fun group projects, perfect for playdates, families, classrooms, and parties. As children explore the activities in Play, Make, Create, they are engaged in active, meaningful, and socially interactive learning. Children are encouraged to wonder, to experiment, and to use critical thinking—and most of all, enjoy the process. By following their own inclinations and making their own choices, children gain self-confidence and hone their problem solving skills. GetPlay, Make, Create and give your children the gift of creativity. These activities wake up kids' brains and get them busy doing things. The tactile, colorful, and engaging materials also offer a way to decompress and relax, as well as build fine motor and critical thinking skills. Giving your children these creative play opportunities is a way to say "I love you. I thought about you. You are important to me. Your ideas are important to me."
How and Why to Read and Create Children's Digital Books outlines effective ways of using digital books in early years and primary classrooms, and specifies the educational potential of using digital books and apps in physical spaces and virtual communities. With a particular focus on apps and personalised reading, Natalia Kucirkova combines theory and practice to argue that personalised reading is only truly personalised when it is created or co-created by reading communities. Divided into two parts, Part I suggests criteria to evaluate the educational quality of digital books and practical strategies for their use in the classroom. Specific attention is paid to the ways in which digital books can support individual children’s strengths and difficulties, digital literacies, language and communication skills. Part II explores digital books created by children, their caregivers, teachers and librarians, and Kucirkova also offers insights into how smart toys, tangibles and augmented/virtual reality tools can enrich children’s reading for pleasure. How and Why to Read and Create Children's Digital Books is of interest to an international readership ranging from trainee or established teachers to MA level students and researchers, as well as designers, librarians and publishers. All are inspired to approach children’s reading on and with screens with an agentic perspective of creating and sharing. Praise for How and Why to Read and Create Children's Digital Books 'This is an exciting and innovative book – not least because it is freely available to read online but because its origins are in primary practice. The author is an accomplished storyteller, and whether you know, as yet, little about the value of digital literacy in the storymaking process, or you are an accomplished digital player, this book is full of evidence-informed ideas, explanations and inspiration.' Liz Chamberlain, Open University 'At a time when children's reading is increasingly on-screen, many teachers, parents and carers are seeking practical, straightforward guidance on how to support children's engagement with digital books. This volume, written by the leading expert on personalised e-books, is packed with app reviews, suggestions and insights from recent international research, all underpinned by careful analysis of digital book features and recognition of reading as a social and cultural practice. Providing accessible guidance on finding, choosing, sharing and creating digital books, it will be welcomed by those excited by the possibilities of enthusing children about reading in the digital age.' Cathy Burnett, Professor of Literacy and Education, Sheffield Hallam University
