The Nutty Professor Returns – Nov 25
Monday, November 24th, 2008![](https://www.kidsfirst.org/images/Blog/NuttyProfessor2.jpg)
While browsing one of my favorite cooking websites, epicurious.com, I found this great article about getting your young ones involved in the kitchen and the benefits of so doing. Here are some of their salient point. For the full story, go to http://www.epicurious.com/articlesguides/everydaycooking/family/cookingwithkids
No matter how young or old your kids, sharing the preparation of a holilday feast gives you a greater sense of intimacy and makes them feel part of the process. When that meal gets taken to the table, their sense of pride in pulling it off is evident. For young learners, there are many lessons to be learned in math, science and reading. Also, preparing and eating dishes from other cultures fosters learning about other people, other languages and even geography. Last, and important in today’s environment, getting involved in food preparation helps kids develop healthy food choices and an appreciation for “real food.”
You can help your preschoolers develop their fine motor skills with activities such as pouring, stirring and measuring. Their math skills are aided by counting ingredients. Working as a team helps develop their social skills.
Older children benefit from learning how to increase or a decrease a recipe which teaches or reinforces multiplication or division skills. The basics of nutrition are picked up by menu preparation. Reading and leadership skills can be enhanced by reading recipes and leading others in the team as they execute them.
Remember that learning and fun can be one and take the opportunity to enjoy this holiday with your kids or grandkids so that everyone can enjoy both the process and the results.
Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! Wubbzy, the animated preschool show on Nick Jr. stars a bright yellow square of a guy who loves to play and makes you laugh. He gets stuck in awkward predicaments that he gets out of thanks to the help of his pals, Widget and Walden.
Bob Boyle is the creator and executive producer of Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! for which he received the Individual Achievement in Animation award at the 2008 Emmys. Previously, he was a producer and art director for Nickelodeon’s hit show, The Fairly OddParents. Bob is also a fun loving Libra .
I love this show! One of the things that is most refreshing about Wubbzy is its sense of humor which most other pre-school shows don’t even come close to. Bob talked about what it was like when he started designing a preschool show. It was something he had never done one before. He looked at other successful shows such as Dora and Blue and observed their educational content. “That idea terrified me. I didn’t know how to do that.” He had come from working on Fairly OddParents which is all about being funny all the time and thought it would be fun to translate that to a preschool show. It was an offbeat idea, and obviously it worked.
I asked Bob what would happen If Wubbzy ever appeared on David Letterman. “Hopefully he wouldn’t be there to do stupid pet tricks. Although, he could do that since he’s got the tail. He’d probably wonder what was in the cup on Dave’s desk or he’d stare at the gap in Dave’s teeth. He’d probably enjoy it because Dave is silly. He’d much rather be on Letterman than Leno. Letterman is kooky.”
I think that if Letterman had a Top 10 List of “Why It’s Fun to Be Wubbzy” it would look like this:
10. You don’t have to drive in LA traffic.
9. You can eat as much marshmallow lasagna as you want and not gain pounds.
8- Not having to wear pants
7- Being able to make funny cartoon sounds every time I fall on my head
6- Three words- Kickity Kickball! Ooops, I guess that’s just 2 words.
5- I get to pal around with Dora the Explorer on the weekends!
4- I get to work out my social awkwardness in front of millions of viewers. Hey wait! That’s not very fun!
3- Sure beats my last job in the fireworks factory.
2. I can terrorize my writers any time I feel like it.
1- Did I mention not having to wear pants?
All silliness aside, Wubbzy does have some deeper messages. They are different in every episode. Some of the bigger things are being yourself, knowing it’s okay to be different and that everything doesn’t have to be perfect. Wubbzy makes a lot of mistakes and he learns from them. It’s stealth learning at its best. There are songs at the end that wrap up the episode. So, you end up singing the lesson of something such as “don’t lie.”
Bob offered some advice to novice animators. “The key is – like the people at Nike say, ‘just do it.'” By that, he means – draw. Draw draw draw all the time. Create your own stories. You don’t necessarily go to animation school to get into this business. It helps to take drawing classes. Many people in this business that come from many walks of life who just stumbled into animation. There’s definitely not a straight path or set of rules. Once you’ve done your work, show it to other people. Don’t be afraid to show to others and get criticism. Listen to their feedback and take it to heart. Thanks Bob, can’t wait to see what you do next!
Contrary to common wisdom that suggests grandparents are too far removed from the realities of child rearing to understand and protect children from injury and harm, the study find that quite the opposite is true. Analyzing data from the National Evaluation of the Healthy Steps for Young Children Program, researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health determined that children are less likely to be injured when in the care of grandma than in other situations. That’s right, grandma takes better care of the little ones than organized day care centers, other relatives and even stay at home moms.
The reasons for this aren’t clear, but we could speculate for days. Grandma might be less distracted than professional caregivers and even moms. Maybe grandma keeps the kids on a shorter leash and therefore out of harm’s way. Whatever the reason, this should be comforting news for the increasing number of families who depend on grandparents to provide regular child care.
For more info, go to http://www.parentdish.com/2008/11/05/grandparents-take-better-care-of-the-kids/ or
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/04/kids-safest-under-grandparents-care/
It’s up to three very unusual Christmas Spirits to take Eden on a fantastical holiday journey that will open her heart to the spirit of the season and the joy of giving. “Barbie™ in A Christmas Carol” is sure to become a family favorite to enjoy every holiday season!
Regular child and adolescent violent video game use early in the school year predicted later aggressive behavior in both the U.S. and Japan, according to a new study. In “Longitudinal Effects of Violent Video Games on Aggression in Japan and the United States,” researchers monitored the behavior of more than 1,200 students in Japan, ages 12 to 18, and 364 U.S. students, ages 9 to 12. The study results were similar: habitual violent video game play early in the school year predicted later aggression. The more the children played violent video games, the more physically aggressive they became. The study authors recommend reducing child and teen use of violent video games.
For additional information on the study, please go to http://www.psychology.iastate.edu/faculty/caa/recpub.html. Scroll down to the bottom of the page.