Halcyon Nights: W. C. Handy Blues Festival

Davina and the Vagabonds bringing down the house. photo credit, WC Handy Blues Festival @HandyBluesCrew

Yesterday evening, when Jim and Ranger got home, I woke up our napping girls and pushed everyone out the door.

The rainy, cloudy day was clearing, turning into a perfect night for sitting in a park on a blanket watching the sun set and the moon rise.

After a short drive to Henderson, Kentucky, we arrived at the W. C. Handy Blues & Barbecue Festival at the city's waterfront Audubon Mill Park.

Even in the parking lot, my reluctant crew started dancing to the irresistible magic of Davina and The Vagabonds. The potent energy of live (wailing) music and early summer evenings caught us all immediately and held us long past normal bedtimes.

I'm not able to write anything about Davina and the Vagabonds that successfully captures the energy and brilliance of their performance and music. Please listen to her newest album, especially Flow, which I hope my kids will love as much as I do.

John Nemeth & the Bo-Keys, photo: W.C. Handy Blues Festival

We're really lucky to live near one of the best blues gatherings in the nation. The only thing more astounding than the line-up and the gorgeous setting is the festival's deep community commitment. The Handy festival is totally free and open to all.

Davina and the Vagabonds yielded the stage to John Nemeth and the Bo-Keys with Percy Wiggins who carried the evening's allure into enchantment with new roots music like "If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It."

Barges on the river slowed their pace to listen longer and periodically raised their horns to greet the crowds. Fireflies and children danced as sunset turned to twilight to moon glow.

Cool breezes from the river carried the music to the splash park fountains.

It was a gorgeous night. A night to remember, and a night to repeat.

What opportunities will you seize this summer?

 *** Baby Toolkit is the sporadic story of a couple geeky Midwesterners and their kids. Though we benefit every year from the miracle that is the WC Handy Blues & Barbecue Festival, we have no fiscal relationship with them that they don't offer freely to everyone else. We're Amazon affiliates, so if you purchase through our Amazon links, a small portion goes to us and pays our domain fees every year (thanks!).

To Tell a Tale: Rory’s Story Cubes

We are a family in love with stories.

We tell them, we read them, and as this blog attests we often write them down and share them in some form or another with total strangers. Adrienne and I have been readers our whole lives. We even turned to stories, in the form of Barbara Lehman’s wonderfully illustrated but wordless books, to help Ranger learn to better express himself as he described the details of the quirky scenes in Lehman’s illustrations.

For the past year or so, as Ranger has passed from a toddler to a preschooler, he and I have begun to play “story games” to pass the time. While we’re waiting in line somewhere or when car trips are lasting longer than either of our patience, I’ll start asking Ranger semi-directed questions similar to what we’ve practiced with Lehman’s books to fill out the details of a free form story. I might ask, “Who is in the story?” or “What should our story be about?” and as Ranger fills in the details, we begin to explore these free form worlds that we create together. It has become such a part of our life, that Ranger will often interject into any long silence, “Let’s make up a story!”

It’s tremendously fun and puts our creativity through the paces. As I hadn’t done a lot of this sort of thing for a long time, I was rusty at first, but persistence has paid off. What was difficult and awkward at first, is now second nature to us both. We roll with any suggestion and seem to be able to incorporate most any idea into at least a semi-recognizable narrative.

This sort of thing was easier when I was younger. As a young geek child of the 70’s and 80’s, I came of age slinging polyhedral dice while playing role playing games ( or RPGs). My friends and I imagined adventures in underground lairs filled with traps and monsters, smashing cars into each other, going insane from viewing nameless horrors, and hiding out from “The Computer” during endless story telling sessions of Dungeons and Dragons, the Palladium Role Playing Game, Car Wars, Call of Cthulhu, and Paranoia. These “games” were exercises in imagination and storytelling more than winning some sterile objective. I think they helped my writing, encouraged my reading, exercised my imagination and generally improved my overall communication skills.

Ranger’s a little too young for these types of games but luckily there are other games and play activities that are springing up that we happen to really enjoy and that accentuate the story play in which we already engage. One of those play/game activities is Rory’s Story Cubes. Published by Gamewright, Rory’s Story Cubes are nine six sided dice that come in a sturdy magnetically fastened box. Each white dice has a unique black doodle or pictogram on each of its six faces. The pictograms include doodles of a water fountain, a turtle, a bumble bee, a bolt of lighting, a castle keep, fire, and a shooting star. If you do the math, there are 54 images across the die faces. That’s quite a lot of potential story inspiration when you consider all the possible combinations.

The simple idea of Rory’s Story Cubes, is to take some or all of the dice and roll them, and then work alone or together to make up a story that includes elements from all of the face up pictograms. That’s it. It’s a simple activity and, while there are suggested ways to use the cubes, the included booklet also encourages you to use them in any way that inspires fun and creativity. Since there’s no “right” way to do it, kids are free to let their imaginations wonder unhindered by any “correct” interpretation of the images that  they randomly encounter from any particular roll. For instance, one doodle is of an Egyptian scarab as you might find on a pyramid burial chamber wall painting or depicted in an ancient Egyptian cartouche, but Ranger usually incorporates it into his stories as a generic “bug” or a slightly more specific “beetle”.

Some people may be turned off by the randomness of the activity, but I’ve found the activity of making a story (and perhaps not even a good story) from the randomly occurring images to not only be mentally challenging but also very inspirational. I have imagined seeing them being used by writers as a warm up exercise or a way to work through writer’s block. Perhaps teachers could use them in creating writing or speaking prompts for their students. I can just hear high school speech students groaning at the idea of giving a recitation of an extemporaneous story inspired by the fateful roll of the cubes.

I know from experience that the exercise of using the cubes and pushing ourselves to work within their imaginative constraints has broadened Ranger and my general story telling and creation abilities. He’s become surprisingly good at taking a random word or phrase that we may come across and turn it into wonderful little tales. He’s one heck of a storyteller these days. As an example of the types of stories that he now come up with on his own after a couple of months of playing with the cubes, this is my favorite story that he created after I tossed out the phrase “octopus soup” to him in car trip a couple of months back.


Octopus Soup
------------------

Once upon a time, there was octopus soup sitting in a cup on a table. A little girl sitting at the table wanted to try it.

She took a sip and it was wet... and slippery... and yucky. It made her feel dizzy. Then she wobbled off her chair and fell on the floor.

All of the sudden, she turned into an octopus.

When her mommy came into the room, she yelled "Oh no! There's an octopus in my house!"

She picked up the octopus right away and rushed it over to the aquarium and said, "Here. You take it."

When she got home, she couldn't find her daughter and figured out that the octopus was her little girl. So she went back to the aquarium and said, "You have to give me back that octopus! It's really my daughter."

The man at the aquarium said, "Oh good. The octopus turned back into a girl after you left. Here you go... She's a little wet."

When they got back home, the little girl said "I'll just have a peanut butter sandwich."
--------

The box can double as a rolling tray.

Making up stories with anyone, but especially with little kids, is a lot of fun and Rory’s Story Cubes definitely greases the imagination in pursuit of that goal. This simple, portable activity is sure to be a lot of fun for any family, though I wouldn't limit it to just families or kids. I can see it as a great party activity for adults, an icebreaker activity for gatherings, or an improv exercise. It’s a wonderful game to play that we highly recommend. Also, for those that are interested, there’s an iPhone App of the cubes, but there is a visceral thrill in rolling actual dice that is really part of the fun of the whole process. The retail price for the physical Rory's Story Cubes game is $12.99 and comes in a sturdy portable box that is slightly larger than a deck of playing cards.


We’re curious what type of stories that you’d come up with using a roll of Rory’s Story Cubes. Given the rolls in the pictures above, what does your mind come up with? Post them to the comments below.

***Baby Toolkit the sleeper hit blog on a short stretch of a quiet street in Southern Indiana- unless of course one of our neighbors has started a blog (like the clown family down the street- amazingly not a joke). We received a review copy of Rory's Story Cubes from Gamewright. We're Amazon affiliates, so a small portion of purchases made through the Amazon links on the site comes back to us and we use it to pay for connectivity or the downpayment on a Baby Toolkit corporate jet (thanks!).

[Note from Adrienne: Jim's new blog at storiedadventures.blogspot.com hosts even more gaming content.]

GenCon 2010: A family adventure

Long before we started loading the car, I knew Ranger was eager for GenCon Indy.  Last Halloween, when he first donned his Mario costume he said, "Let's go to the Costume Place [his name for GenCon]!"  For the next 10 months, every time he saw his Mario costume I had to explain that GenCon only happened once a year and yes, we would pack his costume.

We worried about how Scout would tolerate the crowds this year.  Last year, she rode in our awesome Kelty Town backpack where she napped a lot.  She was not yet a walker, so her independent nature wasn't insulted by the continuous carrying.  This year, she's a toddler who prefers running to walking and she only endures a stroller for short periods of time.  The backpack offers her a better perspective, but we couldn't imagine her quietly napping between intervals of waving and people-watching like last year.

And her brother wanted her to dress as Luigi.  I envisioned her felt mustache, hat, and overalls staying on for maybe 30 minutes before she demanded something more comfortable.  After filling my bag with snacks, small games, and a girly sundress, I crossed my fingers that her upcoming meltdown wouldn't deafen too many innocent bystanders.

After the long drive to Indy, Ranger was so excited to change into his Mario costume.  Scout was far less enthusiastic to change clothes.  We had to park in a nearby mall parking garage and take skyways to the convention center.  When we entered the elevator to enter the mall Luigi was whining in her stroller and Mario was bouncing off the walls.  Then the elevator doors opened to a chorus of "awwwww" spouting bystanders and Jim and I magically transformed into celebrity handlers.  We weren't 10 feet out of the elevator when the first person asked to take the kids' photo.  The photographer was a mall shopper, not even a con-goer.

Scout has strong social instincts and relished the attention.  Ranger can be shy, but as Mario he's unflappable.  As we neared the convention center and met more costumed people, the kids filled with excitement.  Their euphoria reminded me of childhood Halloweens and returning to summer camp.

Within our first hour at GenCon, Luigi was kidnapped by the World's Tallest Leprechaun.  Her casual attitude about towering over all the people surprised us.

The kids got to meet icons of our childhood like Zelda's Link, Alice's Mad Hatter, and the Duck Hunt Dog (with Ratchet) .

They also picked up world-domination tips from the villainous, venomous Cobra Commander:

The next few days were a bit of blur.  Jim and I stayed up way too late trying to solve Puzzle Hunt 9 the night after the family scoured the convention hall for all the clues.  The kids insisted on wearing their Brothers Plumber costumes every day and relished all the smiles, waves, and high fives that resulted.  Ranger climbed and bounced around LEGO Games' giant inflatable Ramses' Pyramid at every opportunity.  We played demo games, tracked down some titles we've been looking for, and people watched.

We also ran from the Beholder, swam in the hotel pool a lot, spent time with old friends, and enjoyed being back in the Circle City for a couple days.  The days were splendid and jam-packed.  We all wanted it to last longer and are looking forward to next year.

Keep an eye out for upcoming reviews of the games Ranger and Jim played.


***Baby Toolkit is the ongoing saga of geeks with kids.  We're Amazon affiliates, so a small portion of purchases made through Amazon links on the site does come back to us and we use it to pay for connectivity (thanks!).

Photos (all but Link): (c) babytoolkit.blogspot.com, 2010 all rights reserved.  The Link photo is John Stanifer's (Link).

The Red Book: Instant Adventure, Just Add Words

Over a year ago, when we asked Ranger about his morning at preschool, we had a hard time getting a clear response.  His responses to any open-ended questions (like "What did you see at the zoo?") came out of left field, and didn't really answer the questions.  Often, he'd prefer to discuss something currently happening or something he wanted to do in the future.

Storytelling was clearly not one of his interest areas.  The resulting vagueness caused a lot of misunderstandings, and I was frustrated that he seemed disinterested in telling me about his experiences.

In the Spring last year, illustrator Barbara Lehman's wordless story The Red Book was featured in Ranger's Scholastic flier.  Intrigued by the cute book's mysterious story, I added a copy to our order.

The first naptime we settled in to read it, I asked Ranger questions about what he saw on each page and what he thought was happening.  Each vibrant page offers a lot of things to observe and describe, and the cumulative story is both magical and clearly understood by an older toddler.

The Red Book is a sweet adventure story about a new friendship where the narrative is told through sequential images that the reader can explore and interpret.  Lehman's nonverbal storytelling encompasses enough mystery and magic that the events mandate explanation with each new discovery.

Ranger really liked telling me the story of a child who finds a red book in a snow drift and the ensuing events.  He empathized when one of the main characters became afraid and celebrated when everything worked out in the end.


At naptime and bedtime, Ranger only wanted to read us The Red Book.  His storytelling got better and better, and we all found new information in the images to make the story richer and more interesting.

A month or two later, I bought all of Barbara Lehman's other wordless books:  Rainstorm, Trainstop, and The Museum Trip.
Each of her stories centers around brave discovery by a curious, courageous, and independent child.  This is a great message for children finding their wings as new readers and storytellers.

These are great books to get your kids talking and reading.  The Red Book and Trainstop each tell the story of a girl while Rainstorm and The Museum Trip have boy primary characters.  While the gender of the protagonist seems to have no influence on Ranger's enjoyment of a book, I like that Lehman varies boy and girl heroes in her adventures.

Ranger's storytelling reluctance receded as he practiced daily with Lehman's books.

These wonderful stories opened some important new avenues of communication for our family.

A visiting friend's observation on Ranger's relationship with these books matched our own perceptions.

Right now Amazon has The Red Book marked down to $9.32 (hardcover or Kindle edition) and a bargain paperback edition of The Museum Book for only $5.78.

If you have a pre-reader chomping at the bit or a reluctant storyteller, definitely check out Barbara Lehman's picture books at your local library.

Which kids' books helped your family?

***Baby Toolkit is a collection of dispatches from some bibliophilic geeks with young children.  While we love to curl up with a good book, we recognize that a lot of kids' books are dreadful.  We also confess that there are a handful of books shoved under our heavy sofa so we never have to read them aloud again.  We have no fiscal relationship with Barbara Lehman or her publishers.  DISCLOSURE: Amazon associations we are, so a small portion of sales through our Amazon links comes back to Baby Toolkit and pays for our internet connectivity (thanks!).

Don't Miss The Horse Boy Tonight on PBS' Independent Lens

Tonight on PBS, Independent Lens will feature The Horse Boy.

This documentary chronicles a family's journey to Mongolia for shamanic treatment for their son Rowan's autism.

The family's unorthodox approach to addressing their son's needs seems like a recipe for greater turmoil, but during their journey across Mongolia on horse back things begin to change.

The documentary portrays a personal solution for a family in crisis.  It isn't a one-size-fits-all recommendation that Shamanic horse tours of Mongolia will cure autism.  Instead, the film shows layers of parental expectation, self-recrimination, and concerns about social perception falling away.  During this process, these parents can more clearly see their child and their own needs and desires.

The Horse Boy tells a complex story of quiet change and the remarkable gifts of intentional living.

The movie leaves me hungry for quiet engagement with my own family.  I hope you will watch it tonight on PBS.  It's also currently available on Netflix's live streaming and Amazon.  Jim and I both have much more to say about it after it has aired, and we'd love to hear your thoughts on it.

 ***Baby Toolkit isn't buying tickets to Mongolia any time soon, but these geek parents could certainly use a large dose of quiet perspective.  Disclaimers: PBS sent us a free burned DVD of The Horse Boy for this review.  We are not affiliated with PBS or the makers of this film.  We are Amazon affiliates, so a portion of any purchases made through our links helps us get one step closer to our own corporate jet kick scooter.

Have you heard? ListenAlongStoryBook.com podcasts popular picturebooks for free!

In the 70s, my favorite rack in the public library held plastic bags with books and records. Over my childhood Arnold Lobel's Stone Soup evolved into Sterling North's Rascal while the records were gradually usurped by cassette tapes. Today, the mention of those authors' names conjure memories of laying on the green shag carpet in front of the stereo and engaging in those well-told tales.

Following the Raptor's toddling path through the library last week, I found that the library still has a small collection of those books on cassette (and now CD), but I suspect that those kids' audiobook are becoming a less common feature in libraries today. The audio mediums are more prone to breakage than print materials, so the collections require more patron care and general maintenance.

One children's publisher (Sterling Children's Books) is making it possible for excellent dramatic performance to be a childhood standard yet again.

On March 1st, Sterling launched ListenAlongStoryBook.com which offers live streaming and podcasts of their most popular picture books.

Sterling's publicist sent us a copy of Cesar Takes a Break by Susan Collins Thoms (MRSP: $14.95), so 4 year old Ranger could experience the podcast with the book.

Cesar Takes a Break is a very timely choice for kids about to take a Spring Break. Cesar, a classroom iguana, decides to explore the school when the children of the class leave for vacation. Ranger is in his second year of preschool, but every break seems to surprise him. This story seems a good way to make him mindful of the upcoming week's opportunities.

Jim thinks the book's varied characters (the school's other class pets) lend themselves to expressive reading. Ranger loves it when Jim reads this story as well.

The high quality podcast entails excellent and expressive readings (by Sterling Children's Book staffers) and original music.

Ranger loved the Cesar Takes a Break podcast with and without the book. His reading skills at 4.5 leave him a bit baffled about when to the turn the page. The story pleases him even without the book in hand. We would love to see a subtle signal added to cue page turns as it would allow pre-readers to follow along with greater independence.

Listen-Along Storybook's first 8 podcasts include the classic folktale Jack & the Beanstalk and new releases like Perfectly Arugula.

Ranger and I will get the books from the library so we can follow along with the vibrant illustrations, but YOU have a chance to win the 8 book set from Sterling Children's Books.

Sterling Children's Books has offered to give each of THREE lucky Baby Toolkit readers (in the U.S. or Canada) all 8 books currently featured on the podcast site.

[Contest closed.]
(Contest entries close at 11:59 PM Thursday, 3/18/2010. Winners will be notified by email.)

For a peek behind the production curtain check out the making of Cesar Takes a Break:


Sterling has also launched a Jokecast for the younger set. WARNING: These are serious groaners, and I know Ranger is going to love telling them to me HUNDREDS of times.

***Baby Toolkit is the brain dump of two Midwestern bibliophile geek parents with opinions on almost everything. We received a free copy of Cesar Takes a Break from Sterling Children's Books (~$15 value). While free books are a decent route to our bookworm hearts, we wouldn't bother telling you (at least not in non-lambasting tones) about something we didn't like.

New Prepositions: Dancing with the Squares

You wouldn't guess it to see us (or to see us dance), but Jim and I have taken years of social dance classes. As generally graceless people, we've been able to endlessly repeat beginner's classes without arousing any suspicion of prior experience.

Over the years, Jim and I have taken lessons for everything from sewing to stained glass to guitar to greeting card writing.

A few weeks ago a small roadside sign caught my eye. A new course? I called Jim, he looked up the website, and before I knew it, he had signed us up for square dance lessons.

Those who know me would suspect this to be something I resist (like romantic comedies) or something undertaken solely for snark value (like watching regional beauty pageants on television). But peeling back the layers of this onion, one can find a wide-eyed girl who secretly adored every moment of square dancing in 5th grade gym class.

The $5 weekly fee (per couple) for a 2 hour class appeals to my inner (and outer) cheapskate.

On the way to our first class, we talked about the sheer pleasure of some colorful new prepositions in our lives. "In square dance class..."

Yep. Colorful lives are drawn from a wide array of colorful prepositional phrases and experiences.

What's new in your lexicon?

Word on Sesame Street: Free eBooks!

Ranger and I spent part of the afternoon listening to lovable, furry old Grover read the audio eBook There is a Monster at the End of this Book. Each word is highlighted as Grover narrates. The audio effects cracked Ranger up.

To celebrate its 40th birthday, Sesame Workshop issued its most popular title ever in ebook form [trivia: There is a Monster at the End of this Book hasn't been out of print since its original printing]. They plan of offering a new free ebook every week. Some of the ebooks will have audio and interactive capabilities. Early in 2010, Sesame Street and Impelsys (the technology provider) plan on offering even more titles for individual purchase and subscription.

The eBooks can be viewed through a web browser, but do not seem to have a download option (please let me know if I'm overlooking something).

Users can print pages from coloring and activity books like the seasonally appropriate Celebrate.

Sesame Street ebooks can be found at http://ebooks.sesamestreet.org.

For more information about the future of Sesame Street's eBooks, read Impelsys' recent press release.

***Baby Tookit is the independent opinion of a couple geek parents. We have no fiscal, social, or familial relationship with Sesame Street, Children's Television Workshop, PBS, or Impelsys. Heck, we're actually suspicious of newfangled characters like Elmo and Abby Cadabby and we feel like Big Bird doesn't get enough air time, but these eBooks are cool- especially while they're free.

In addition, we are Amazon.com affiliates, so if you click through the picture above and buy the book (or other stuff), a small percentage of the sale will go to support Baby Toolkit (thanks!). We do own this book, and Ranger loves to hear it read by Jim even more than the ebook (sorry, Grover).

GenCon 2009: The Family Edition

Wonder Woman, a 15 foot tall pirate, the Ghostbusters, Buddah, Darth Vader, Chihiro, a Gamorrean guard, Jim, Ranger, the Raptor, myself, and 27,887 others attended GenCon 2009 earlier this month in Indianapolis.

As first-timers, we did not know what to expect. Despite the fact that my friends were making GenCon widow plans, I lack the graciousness required to jealously listen to stories about the awesome gaming convention. Our preschooler loves games, so we knew he would be amused; our only concern was keeping him from moving players' game pieces. At 9 months, the baby is very opinionated, but she loves riding in the backpack and her patience can now be bought with Cheerios (lots and lots of Cheerios).

After our first disorienting minutes in the vast exhibition hall, I wondered if I had made a huge mistake in coming with the kids. Polyhedra rarely seen outside of theoretical geometry labs surrounded me like tribbles, gleaming brightly from row after row of plexiglass bins.

My mind flashed back to the first night Jim's cousin brought over Descent. While he laid out the chits, cards, and *blush* statues, I cringed. When he dumped the bucketload of dice required on the table, I balked openly, "Um, guys, I think my ovaries prevent me from playing any game with this many dice." But they needed me for a quorum, so I set aside my derisive comments about "pizza boys" and picked up the biggest battle axe in the deck. I've never looked back. GenCon was no time for second thoughts.

We floated through the exhibition hall on a wave of humanity (and alienity). Suddenly familiar sights started appearing in the booths. Memories of great get-togethers (with and without space colonization and zombie attacks) popped up as favorite titles came into focus. Companies I have long admired offered opportunities to talk with employees, ask questions, meet designers, and try new games.

Ranger loved playing demo games, Jim grooved on the geek zeitgeist, I liked asking about kids' offerings (and getting good answers), while the Raptor contentedly left a Cheerio trail in case we needed to retrace our steps.

Party gamers Out of the Box [earlier review: Apples to Apples] introduced us to some new favorites for kids (and the rest of the family). Playroom Entertainment enticed us with their games for the preschool set. Simply Fun (a home-based consultant company- think Tupperware party) astounded us with their elegantly straightforward Ribbit by master designer Reiner Knizia. Gaming closet favorite Rio Grande came through with a great kids version of Carcassone that works for ages 4 and up (this must-have for Carcassonne fans quickly sold out at GenCon). Winning Moves' Cir*Kis caught both Jim's and my hearts, but we didn't move fast enough to buy a copy before they sold out.

While the crowds (especially in the exhibition hall) were daunting with young kids, the attendees and staff made the kids' experience quite good. People were gracious and generous with the baby and very willing to help our preschooler have hands-on gaming time. On the whole, it seems like the people at GenCon welcome kids more than the average crowd. I wouldn't have wanted to navigate the place with a large jogging stroller (it would just seem rude in the limited space of the exhibit hall), but other parents seemed to do okay with infants in mid-sized strollers.

A few tips for those thinking about taking kids in 2010:

• If you're going strollerless, take along a large comfortable bag (that you can wear) if you might do any shopping. The vender bags tend to have small hand holes, so something you can sling over a shoulder is valuable.

• Toting a lot of small gear (changes of clothes, snacks, toys, etc.) that you want on site, but not on hand? Rent a locker in the morning (seriously, they sell out fast) to use as a home base. The lockers I saw were 75 cents to a dollar and only take quarters. You'll need to pay each time you visit the locker, so you won't want to visit too frequently.

• Kids from elementary school on up could really thrive in this environment. It's exciting and there are lots of games to play. If (or, more accurately, when) we take older kids, I will purchase an unlimited library card ($20) to the GenCon games library. That way kids can try new games and household standards even if there's not much for them in the demos. If we had a group of families with kids going (you know who you are: hint, hint), it seems quite reasonable for kids to game in the library with adults exchanging supervisory time.

• This trip we stayed with our gracious friend in Indianapolis. While such wonderful free housing would be a fine arrangement for adults, the commute to and from nap time was extended. The skywalk connected convention hotels (there are a number to choose from) seem a great asset with young kids. Not only could the wee ones get better naps, pit stops and snack times would be easier too. Plus, while the kids napped, an adult (assuming more than one are in attendance) could go back to the convention halls for some solo gaming. Our kids would love the opportunities to swim in the hotel pool. The zoo and State Museum would become workable side trips (as we wouldn't be driving around town so much). The event schedule runs literally 24 hours a day, so one parent (or both if they alternate childcare) could still participate even after the kids have been put to bed.

• For game-friendly teens and tweens, GenCon seems a great playground. The cos play and LARPers give the con a festival atmosphere that's irresistibly offbeat (4 year old Ranger insisted on wearing a cape after our first visit). Adults seem quite willing to give a young geek a place at the gaming table, so kids with interest won't be relegated to the sidelines or simply shopping the hall.

GenCon was a great experience for our family, and we are already making plans for 2010. I'm sure we'll have more to say on this year's con and the great games and companies we met there throughout the next few weeks.

Photo credit: Gurney5 on Flickr, Creative Commons

http://www.flickr.com/photos/brentnewhall/ / CC BY 2.0

Fun With a Twist: the Hula Hippos Game

Ranger is now a member of the preschool set. That's a pretty big milestone, but one that we are almost as proud of is being a budding member of the board gamer set. You see, Ranger sees us playing games pretty regularly and has recently taken a keen interest in joining in the fun. Luckily, Adrienne has been preparing for this very situation and has been stockpiling age appropriate games that she comes across in thrift stores for months (and we'll surely talk about some of them). With an eye towards his fascination, we also recently accepted some games from Gamewright to test with him.

One of those games was Hula Hippos.

Hula Hippos is a dexterity game that requires players to spin a wooden ring and then flick wooden hippo tokens in such a way that they wind up in the playing area inside the ring once it stops spinning. It is the American version of the German Habba game Maus nach Haus, which had the same mechanic but replaced the hippos with little wooden mouse tokens.

There's no real complexity to the game(s) beyond that. Line the tokens up around the edge of the playing area, each player takes a turn spinning the ring (something that my three and a half year old son can handle with the well balanced wooden ring) and then each player tries to flick the token into the playing area. Play continues until one player has successfully captured four hippos when the ring has stopped spinning. This may take a few turns around the table as some rounds go scoreless and others score one to a couple of points per spin.

I'll be straight with you. I really like this game.

It is simple enough that Ranger can start learning the basics of playing any game; learning to wait his turn, what a turn consists of, following the rules, setting up the game, etc. Part of the nice thing about Hula Hippos is that each turn is so short, lasting only as long as the ring spins, that we can take time to focus on all these parts of general game play.

Before we start a turn, we line up our hippo tokens and give Ranger all the time he needs to mimic us as he does the same (and that can take a little while with a preschooler). Then we try to take a practice flick of the tokens around the table. This gives Ranger a chance to see how to do it so that he can imitate us in learning this skill. Then whomever's turn it is to spin the ring, takes the turn and we do our best to judge our shots so that the ring stops around our tokens. If we're lucky, we have the opportunity to practice counting for the scoring round.

Even though this is a simple game, it isn't easy. It takes a bit of skill and luck to position the hippos such that they actually score points. Once (and only once), I was able flick a hippo hard enough that it knocked the ring from its rotation straight down around its hippo captive. Kids will definitely gain some dexterity skill over time while playing this game. There is a visceral thrill you get when actually capturing one of your herd and Ranger gets very excited when any player scores a point. Hula Hippos is fun enough that as soon as one game is over, we're generally setting up for a few more rounds.

So, if you want a simple game that is rewarding to play and takes a bit of skill to master, definitely give Hula Hippos a try. If you have younger players (recommended ages are for 5 and up), pick this up and try it out. As it has small pieces that could present a choking hazard, be careful playing it with these younger players, but a well supervised game shouldn't pose a problem.

What dexterity games do you like to play?

Do Something Productive: Project Awesome Blobbies.

On Tuesday night (one of the coldest of this icy year), 6 friends lugged sewing machines, fabric, and gear up our steep driveway while Jim cleared the ice.

What inspired them to carry small appliances around on surfaces normally achieved only by Zamboni?

Project Awesome.

At the end of MLK Day, I realized that I missed the boat on dedicating the any part of the day to public service. It turned out, I wasn't alone. Lots of friends with toddlers didn't find the time to serve (though they wanted to).

My friend Karen has a gift for finding acres of nice fabric at low, low prices. When the Raptor was born she gave me enough soft flannel to swaddle our house (roof and all). We had discussed an evening of sewing something flannel for non-profits, but it never got off the ground.

Two days later, buoyed by the inauguration, I started looking for a use for all that flannel. My first thought was Soule Mama's recent Mama to Mama sewing project for newborns in Haiti, but our materials were not recycled and all the deadlines had long since passed.

After a few Google misses, I hit the motherload at CareWear.org- a nationwide, non-profit network of volunteers who provide handmade items for hospitals. Not only do they offer patterns and guidelines for crafting, they have a registry where hospitals can request items.

I called Karen. We decided to make baby blankets and started scouring the hospital database for recipients. We even called our local hospitals, but their needs are presently met. Our state seems to have a lot of volunteer-ism, so there wasn't much need here for items we felt qualified to make.

You might be wondering why we would want to make blankets for hospitals? Of course hospitals already have blankets, but those blankets can only be accurately described as institutional. The visually sterile environment can be hard on a parent if a child is admitted for any time longer than a regular maternity stay.

In a neighboring state, Karen found a children's hospital with an urgent need for blankets. After a phone call for more details, we knew we had found our project. We decided to dedicate our time to better blankets.

A recent reading of Maura Madden's Crafternoon: A Guide to Getting Artsy and Crafty With Your Friends All Year Long had convinced me to invite friends over for a game night (we have a big game closet and a craft night required far more supplies than I could expediently arrange).

That night Karen and I invited our friends to join in the craftivism, and Project Awesome (as Jim dubbed it) was born.

We set a date for a sewing night and people started gathering fabrics to use from their home stashes. In recent years, we have seen many fabric stores close, and I am always drawn to the bright, cheerful kid flannels. There was a lot to share.

So, two weeks later (after the ice storm subsided, when power was finally being restored), six fabulous women came over for dinner and blanket making.

In three hours we completed 11 blankets and cut cloth for over a dozen more. The house was filled with light and laughter despite the cold outside.

This project has done a lot to warm my heart too. It's a wondrous thing to be able to give when the world seems so full of bad news and anxiety. Most of what we sewed was surplus yardage rather than new purchases, so we were able to give without spending extra. A few great folks have offered to help us with postage.

The blankets brought back a lot of memories of our own kids' time in hospitals. One sweet boy in our group fought for his life in a local NICU. Other babies travelled to our state's major children's hospital for procedures. The days that Ranger spent in the local hospital when Rotavirus overwhelmed his skinny body were among the very worst of my life.

We all liked the thought of brightening the atmosphere and offering a small measure of normalcy for families experiencing heart wrenching anxiety.

Around Karen's house blankets are beloved "blobbies." When Karen's daughter heard about Project Awesome, she thought it would be better named Project Awesome Blobbies.


Hospitals' need for blankets extends from tiny receiving blankets to crib size to lap blankets to twin sized because preschoolers, big kids, tweens, and teens are all served by their hospital. Older kids get a lot less attention than babies, but they like friendly blankets too- especially duing treatments. Apparently some of the kids will pass the time of their treatment counting and recounting the knots on knotted fleece blankets.

If you happen to sew and would like to be a part of Project Awesome Blobbies, feel free to create and mail some blankets to Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago:

Children's Memorial Hospital
Attn: Children's Services Coordinator
2300 Children's Plaza
Chicago, IL 60614
773-880-6018
Needs: BLANKETS--most needed item.
Contact Teri Foster, Fax 773-880-4264; e-mail: TeFoster[at] childrensmemorial.org

We used a very easy (free) blanket pattern from Mama to Mama; it makes simple, but lovely blankets.

Email me (babytoolkit [at] gmail.com) about your project (we love pictures) or send me a blog link if you decide to join in!

I'll post an update in a couple weeks when we gather all the finished blankets, play games, and eat great food.

What projects are warming your heart these days?

Nutcracker Revelations

While watching the Nutcracker with Ranger, a crazy list of thoughts ran through my head ("like sugarplum fairies," Jim interjects):

• Watching Ranger enjoy this ballet charms me. His pure enjoyment of the music and movement helps me remember my own blissful connection with music and dance (before adolescence and 80s pop made everything awkward and self-conscious). We bought a storybook concert version of the Nutcracker (based on a Maurice Sendak book) when Ranger turned 2, and he watched it so often that I thought he would wear out the tape.
• Just last week, I came out to my friends as a hardcore childhood ballerina-wannabe (I don't know that anyone would guess it of me now). I adored ballet, leotards, tutus, and beribboned pointe shoes, that is until my little pink ballet flats hit the hardwood floors of actual ballet lessons. A few weeks of the basic positions convinced me that it was far more fun to leap, prance, and spin alone at home.
• The only reason I told my friends is because both of their daughters are going through ballerina stages where they want to wear leotards around the clock. My ultra-girly 5-year-old self still has the ability to embarrass me 30 years later. Let's just call that early interest my road less taken.
• Going to bed tonight Ranger tells Jim, "I like dancing."
  "Really?" Jim asks.
  Shrugging shoulders, "It's pretty great."
  
• Ranger and I have actual debt of gratitude to Tchaikovsky. My mom was raised in a family that prohibited dancing, so it was a little surprising that my dad's plan for their first date was this holiday ballet. Despite the fact that mom's upbringing suggested the road to hell was toe-polished wood lined with sugarplum fairies, her rebellious spirit overcame those fears. She and my dad were married within a year (secretly, but that's another story).
• About 45 years after their first date, my parents took Ranger to see a children's dance theatre production of The Nutcracker. They thought their 2-year-old grandson would drag them out the door before the end of the first act, but he sat rapt for most of the production. It means a lot to me that he and my parents enjoyed the show together as it is significant in our family history.

I wouldn't have watched this ballet alone. Ranger makes it fun for me. His interest in movement far exceeds my rather superficial ballet-obsession (which was really more about looking pretty and wearing lots pink things with ribbons and sequins). I think he might actually practice if we enrolled him in hip-hop classes.

Ranger's love for dance is deep and joyous: one friend commented at his birthday dance party that she "didn't believe in reincarnation until [she] saw Ranger dance. Elvis is with us."

For Jim and I there is great wonder in watching our child discover what makes him happy (even if it is a dream that never captured us). My mom's divergence from parental preferences reminds me that even rebellion can turn out well in the long run. What more comforting holiday story can a parent wish for?

What stories lead you wax philosophical about your family?

Win Giggles Baby Nursery Rhymes Software

Happy Monday, folks!

Last January, I wrote about Giggles Software for Babies at Parent Hacks. We, especially Ranger, really like the software.

Since that time Giggles' maker Leveractive, has issued a great new Giggles offering: Nursery Rhymes.

Nursery Rhymes offers a Toddler setting for more advanced play. Ranger loves it so much that we bought a flexible USB keyboard so he could play on our laptops without handling the whole machine (thanks, Parent Hacks for this smart suggestion!).

Win Nursery Rhymes:
Leveractive generously provided us with a copy of Nursery Rhymes to give to one lucky reader! To enter, please send an email to babytoolkitcontests[at]gmail[dot]com with the subject Nursery Rhymes.

General rules: Entries will be accepted until 5 PM CDT, Friday, Sept. 19. One entry per household. US residents only. Winner will be determined by random number generation. Winner will be notified by email. We're cheap, so shipping will be through the US Postal Media Mail (which puts the snail in snail mail); we'll do our best, but if the software gets lost in the mail, we'll take it as a bad omen and will not provide a replacement. Baby Toolkit family members cannot enter (sorry, Mom).

Good luck!