Setting the Stage

Anyone with children has been in a situation where you’d love to get some good photos of your little darlings in the school play. Unfortunately, the last time you tried resulted in tiny faces barely recognizable. This was due to the distance and the fact that the flash didn’t carry too well causing a weak, grainy enlargement.

Since you have to arrive early anyway, reserve a front row seat with a prepared sign and take a few snaps of your made-up, costumed kids behind the scenes using the props as a background. Snap a few full length photos and some closer up. If you have more than one or another player is available, have the children act out one of the skits (a highlight if possible). Medium shots of the actors interacting make great pictures. This should take only a few
minutes if you work fast.

Nowadays, zoom telephoto lenses are commonly used on DSLR’s and point and shoot cameras. Read the manual to find the longest distance effective with a fast (400 ISO) setting. An DSLR or EVF camera with a 200 mm lens at f 5.6 will probably be effective to thirty feet. A point and shoot with a 100 mm telephoto setting at f11 will only cover 10 or 12 feet to the subject. The most effective combination (and most expensive) is an APO 300mm f2.8 telephoto lens on an SLR with 400 ISO film. No flash would be necessary and higher shutterspeeds would be available (1/30 to 1/60 sec). An alternative would be a prosumer digital camera with lens or chip stabilization. Wide and medium angle shots should be metered on a face that fills the view finder and used for all exposures. If possible, set your camera for manual control of the f stop and shutter speed. Exposure readings of the stage at a distance will invariably over expose the faces by several f stops, making them appear faded out.

After the performance, be sure to capture those excited faces lit up by the tremendous applause with a few fast shots. Don’t neglect yourself by handing off the camera to a friend for a picture with the kids. Finish up with some group photos of the actors and their friends. When the pictures come back, make two small albums with your favorite picture pasted on the front, one for you and one for your little stars!

In order to preserve your memories, you have to take the pictures.

The Family Values

I recall this change happening at about the age of eight. At the time what my elders had to say really didn’t have an effect on me. I wasn’t tending to not listen, it was just that I was usually busy doing and thinking about other things, like why my parents had been getting a divorce, or why my cousin felt the need to pick on me all the time, and that led to me getting lost in the television every chance I got. Even to this day it is a family joke that my ‘Abuelo’ Thomas would call for me, “Ardy, could you help me with something?” and I would respond, staring at the television as if to be hypnotized, “Bueno, Abuelito.” I would never come to his aid. I would just somehow forget and get lost in the television again.

Sometimes if there was nothing on T.V. and my family was going together outside my Abuelito’s house, such as a small cookout on a Saturday night, where everyone (especially the men) would be sitting around a fire telling stories and jokes, I could sit there with them. I did not even really listen while I was sitting there. I could usually be lost in the fire, like the television, throwing twigs and leaves in the fire while everyone else were talking. I did this till I was about twelve. Around that time I started to get bored and I preferred again to isolate myself during these functions, to go grab a plate of food and to turn on the television. This usually annoyed some of my family members especially my mother and abuelo. I didn’t really notice it until my mom brought it up and started trying to encourage me to go join everyone but I always declined. She and everyone else eventually gave up and let me be.

Later on around the ages of fifteen and sixteen, I started to become intrigued by what my ‘Abuelito’ had to say. As we gradually started to work more together, I heard more and more stories about what he had seen and where he had gone through in his life such as things that he worked on with his father or ways the family had earned their living. Ironically one day he told me about a time when he was having difficulty listening to his father.

Once when I was sixteen we went fishing down by a nearby riverbank. He told me his best stories while we were fishing or on our way there.

On one particular day we were just casting a line with several hooks across it. To do this we had to tie both ends of it to the edge of the riverbank on whatever bushes or shrubs available there. When he had bent over to cut the line and tie it, he slipped and fell right in the river. We both struggled for a good ten, maybe, fifteen seconds as our hands were trying to embrace each others till we finally got the opportunity to get him out. I was scared to death to see him sitting there in the dirt soaking wet. To my surprise, he began laughing and said, ” I bet you were thinking ‘Whoop’s! There goes the old man!’” I then was relieved that it wasn’t as big a deal to him as it was to me and I began laughing too.

From that day I have caught myself asking questions as if trying to trigger a story, and I have always been successful.

Now after all this time and experience I truly see how important and precious the time, which we spend with our elders, is because you never know what could happen. They could be here to give us great wisdom, and experience one day, and they could be gone the next.

The article was produced by the member of masterpapers.com.
Sharon White is a 5-years experienced freelance writer and a manager of Dissertation Writing Services support team. There you can get custom term paper tips and view Essay Papers for free.

Raising Fit Kids Starts in the Kitchen

When was the last time your family experienced a memorable mealtime?

Sadly, memorable is not the word used to describe most American meals. We skip breakfast and lunch, then super-size supper. We eat fast and frenzied, and we rarely do it with our families. According to the National Restaurant Association, one- third of Americans say fast food or restaurant-prepared meals are essential to the way they live. And those rare times when we do eat at home? Two-thirds of us consume our foodit can hardly be called diningin front of our television, according to the A.C. Nielsen Co.

We have sacrificed cooking for convenience. Old-fashioned memories, rituals such as saying grace, sit-down dinners, and family conversations have all but disappeared. Meal preparation often consists of quick entrees of dubious nutritional value. The late Julia Child believed food was much more than sustenance and children must be taught that cooking is akin to art. As a parent you may get inspired to see cooking through the eyes of Julia Child, “as creative and as imaginative an activity as drawing, woodcarving, or music.”

“Children … learn to become obese in an environment that encourages it. If parents are eating poorly, that’s what they’re providing their children,” says Debra Haire-Joshu, RN, PhD, director of the Obesity Prevention Center at Saint Louis University School of Public Health. Haire-Joshu believes obesity is a family illness and to help children eat a moderate diet, parents must eat healthier first.

A new federally funded study, known as the Dietary Intervention Study in Children (DISC), provides the science to confirm what we have known all alongthat families can learn to enjoy healthy foods and be selective about food choices. Parents can give their children access to healthy foods, encourage regular physical activity, and demonstrate good habits themselves. Funded by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), DISC is the first to test the effects of a low-fat regimen on growth and development in children with high blood cholesterol.

Some of the long-term healthy eating habits will translate into eating well and creating memorable mealtimeslike making smiley-face pancakes on a Saturday morning, picking fresh produce from a local garden, and finding backyard flowers for the pitcher on the table. Eating well can also include a creative table setting, good conversation, and a grateful heart for sharing time with family. Through cooking activities, food becomes a powerful learning tool, empowering kids and producing positive changes in the overall health and wellness of families both now and in the future.

Cooking may seem frivolous in this time-obsessed society, but the process stimulates creative family time and passes a legacy to our children by teaching the next generation the art of eating. Parents must know there is more to a healthy diet than just increasing veggie intake and reducing fast food stops. They need to be taught to create a healthy nutrition culture in their home, to teach their children to love food, and to not be afraid to let kids experiment in the kitchen. Kids need to experience foods hands ontaste, touch, and smell as they golisten to the sizzling, bubbling, and crunching.

Lynn Fredericks is a mother and business owner/founder of FamilyCook Productions based in New York City. Fredericks has conducted hundreds of school- and community-based interventions over the last 10 years aimed at promoting positive dietary changes in families and children starting in New York City and expanding across the United States through her family workshops and school-based programs.

FamilyCook is on a mission to bring families together around delicious, fresh food while helping parents find creative ways to balance opposing needs and time constraints that are a fact of modern family life. Fredericks is now seeing this goal realized: Moms are beginning to get out of the convenience habit of buying fast food or unhealthy frozen meals. Precut veggies in the supermarket and other short cuts that make “from scratch” more doable are a positive trend. According to Fredericks, this helps parents, who still perceive cooking as time-consuming, buy into the idea that getting kids to help in the kitchen is a path to less picky kids and less stressed parents.

The first two stages of including children in the entire process of making a meal are Don’t worry about the mess, and Don’t worry about how long it will take to cook.

FamilyCook’s 10 years of field testing confirms that children do love to cook; if kids prepare food, they will try it; learning about food and preparing it empowers families to take positive control over their diet; and multicultural food study is celebratory and promotes well-being and a desire to recreate the experience with family and friends.

As a parent, take the challenge to return meaning to the mealtime experience and ultimately help reverse the trend of childhood obesity. Consider getting involved with your local community and school system to make food literacy a priority in education and incorporate the study of food and nutrition via a hands-on multidisciplinary approach. Get involved in the nutrition education process with fun, hands-on learning experiences with their children.

Kindy Peaslee is a registered dietitian and wants to help your family learn how to identify food and beverage choices that contribute to healthy lifestyles. Look for her recipe Web site for parents, http://www.healthy-kid-recipes.com

The Zoo is the Place, and the Animal at the Animal Theme Party is You!

An Animal theme party is always a hit, especially during off-peak seasons, such as the autumn of the year, when the heat is off. The key a successful animal theme party at the zoo is planning. Consult the zoo administrator, ahead of time to determine what is allowed, confirm that the zoo allows parties, and see if a zoo official can act as tour guide, so you can concentrate on keeping your little animals in line. You will definitely need help, so enlist the aid of several parents, and/or your spouse, to help setting up, keeping track of the guests, and cleaning up after the party. Sometimes teenagers are very good at this, and tend to work pretty inexpensively, if you need to bring in hired hands to corral the ‘wildlife’.

Either hire someone (or find a volunteer) to paint animal faces on the guests as they arrive, and be sure parents know when and where to pick up their little ‘animals’ when the party is over. Have sandwiches, chips, fruity drinks and, of course, cake, available. If the zoo allows it, you can set up the coolers with spouts and throw away paper cups (near trash bins) so that there are plenty of ‘watering holes’ available during the tour.

In respect for animals living in the zoo, I don’t recommend noise makers during the party. Party goers can tour the zoo, while you take Polaroid snapshots for ‘animal’ guests to take back to their own ‘lair’ when they leave the zoo.

Identifying pre recorded animal sounds (if your guests are too young to read and write, you can always have animal photos for them to choose which animal made the sound) with the matching the most animals to their sounds, being named King (or Queen) of the jungle. Party ‘animals’ can be given goodie bags filled with party favors, as their parents pick them up to leave. Some good choices would be animal printed pencils, erasers, animal cards or posters, and the snapshots from your animal theme party.

Mrs. Party… Gail Leino is the internet’s leading authority on selecting the best possible party supplies, using proper etiquette and manners while also teaching organizational skills and fun facts. Tons of fun Animal Party Supplies, party favors, decorations, pinatas, free games and ideas to help complete your event.

Printable Puzzles Create Your Own Custom Puzzles!

Depending on the age of the party guests, the party theme, and type of party, it is easy to create printable puzzles to be used at any party. Whether you create a picture find puzzle, where Sesame Street characters are printed onto paper in an interesting Hollywood (Sesame Street) Squares pattern, and in a line below, for smaller children to draw a line connecting one to the other, or word find puzzles for an older Barbie party crowd, printable puzzles are a great activity.

Even at baby showers, printable puzzles can be such fun! Have each guest give you a baby photo. Scan and print sheets with baby pictures, and have a photo identification puzzle to match the baby to the adult.

Create an Acrostic puzzle where the answer to the question is revealed when you name that baby item. For example, you can create a puzzle where the question to solve is, “Who is most excited about the new arrival?” and the questions could be

What starts out white and ends up wet and smelly Diaper
What is used to clean little noses? Aspirator
What is Mommy’s Name? Denise
What is Grandma’s Name? Debbie
Who is taking this Quiz? You!

The answer to the quiz question: “Who is most excited about the new arrival?” is DADDY!!!

Send printable puzzle crosswords as cute invitations. Have questions like: Who sits in front of Bobby Smith in Mrs. Collin’s class? Which girl in my class has long blonde hair, wears glasses, and has a Spongebob backpack? Then, at the bottom, you can print: “The girl with long blonde hair, wearing glasses, who has a Spongebob backpack, wants YOU to come to her birthday party!” and include all the required information. Most teachers love to help with this type activity, and if you contact them ahead of time, they will allow children to complete the puzzles in class during activity time, so if they have any problem, she can help them figure out the answers.

Or make a collage of famous new parents, like Britney Spears, Brad Pitt, Brooke Shields, Catherine Zeta-Jones, or Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, just using photos of their eyes, have a list of the celeb parents’ names, print copies for each guest, and then see how many can guess which eyes belong to which famous, fab parents, for an interesting and fun printable puzzle game!

Mrs. Party… Gail Leino is the internet’s leading authority on selecting the best possible party supplies (http://partysupplieshut.com), using proper etiquette and manners while also teaching organizational skills and fun facts. The Party Supplies Hut has a huge selection of free party games, coloring pages, word find, word scramble, printable baby and bridal shower activities. Tons of Free Party Games (Party-Games-etc.com) for every occasion, birthday, holiday and party theme including free printable games and activities. Plus, over 1,000 free baby shower games, bridal shower games, birthday party games and printable party games for kids parties. All the games have easy instructions. Also, printable activities for kids parties, baby showers, holiday celebrations and bridal showers.

Virtual Wrapping Paper and E-Gifts- Is There Really An Online Santa

The internet has proven to be an amazing delivery conduit for words, information, music, pictures and generally anything that can be turned into little 1s and 0s. As we approach the end of the year the question is asked “Can the Internet deliver my Christmas presents?” Now thanks to a remarkable innovation at www.ustargames.com the answer is yes, there really is an online Santa.

Kite Capers, the first of the U Star Games range of interactive, personalized PC Story Books is now available as a present that can be delivered over the internet.

What the brains behind U Star Games have discovered is that although the ultimate worth of their product comes from the experience the end-users enjoy once they play the game, the actual giving of the gift is an experience rich in value itself.

So how do you replicate the whole experience of opening the carefully chosen card, reading the thoughtfully composed message, the unwrapping of the brightly colored wrapping paper and the joy of digging in pulling out your present? By simply providing exactly the same experience through an online animated, interactive experience.

The present buyer has their choice of 3D e-cards which they can personalize by writing their own message on the inside. Unlike usual e-cards, these appear much more like real-world cards, complete with front cover and two panel interior. Unlike real-word cards, however, these cards are interactive and even contain small simple games for the child to play.

The buyer has their choice of virtual ribbon and wrapping paper which is used to wrap a 3D gift box. After the easy job of personalizing their gift-box and card, the user simply fills in the recipient’s email details includes a brief message and the present is on its way.

The child gets an email, addressed from the sender’s email address, containing a gift-link. Once this is clicked on the child is taken to a special site where they are presented with their card and gift-box.

After opening and reading the card, the child is then offered the option of “opening” their e-gift. This causes harps to strum, the ribbon to gracefully slide off the box, the lid to swing back and balloons to fly out of the box. Springing out of the box then is the 3D graphical representation of the Kite Capers CD-ROM package.

The child is asked if they’d like to download their present, if they do, the package is then downloaded quickly onto their hard-drive and away they go.

The process seems as fun to the gift-giver as to the lucky child and provides a wonderful option for those with young relatives they’ll be unable to visit on their birthdays or this Christmas.

And much less mess for the rest us to clean up.

So have a look at Virtual Wrapping Paper and E-Gifts at www.ustargames.com the process is free and very easy to trial and you might find yourself sending your first present through the internet.

Halloween Safety Tips for Kids

Hey Kids and Parents… Here are some ways for you to keep this year’s Halloween Safe & Sound:

By following these Halloween safety tips, kids can have a fun and spook-tacular time trick or treating while parents know there child is safe from harm.

Michelle Annese, “The Diva of Defense

Popular Electronic Games - They Are Not Just For Kids Anymore

Superheroes battle monsters and space invaders in fast action games. Players take on the role of these superheroes in epic battles. In other games players race cars, boats, motorcycles, helicopters and planes against villains and even less evil opponents to win high stakes races.

Game titles such as Burnout3: Takedown, ESPN, NHL - 2K5, Silent Hill 4: The Room, Terminator 3: The Redemption, Donkey Kong 3, and, Pokemon have joined the national lexicon as kids have flocked to the lure of electronic games.

Parents, teachers, preachers and politicians, have criticized and in some cases even banned electronic games. Electronic games have been blamed for poor grades, poor conduct and even poor health. If you listen long enough, electronic games are responsible for all of the problems our young people experience today.

One thing is certain. Kids love them. They buy and play them in ever increasing numbers. Electronic games are here to stay.

People have been trying to play games on computers almost since the days of the very first computer. As early as 1950, Claude Shannon, a mathematician and engineer, believed that computers could be programmed to play chess in competition with humans. He became intrigued with the concept of artificial intelligence. In pursuit of this idea researchers and scientists designed crude games that could be played on the huge and clumsy computers of the 1950s and 1960s.

The first actual electronic games as a consumer product were built as coin operated arcade games in the early 1970s. In 1971 Nolan Bushnell, Ted Dabney and Al Alcorn formed the first game company, Atari. Soon after they produced the first game console and their first electronic game, Pong, as an arcade game. Pong was immediately successful.

This success led Atari and other firms to begin work on home game consoles that could be hooked to TV sets. Atari released its first home console in 1977. Soon games were put on cartridges that could be changed at the whim of the player.

By 1979, the company, Activision, was formed by former Atari game designers. The purpose of this new company was to focus strictly on game software. They decided to leave the development of equipment to play electronic games to other people. This was the first company to build a business of developing and selling electronic games software.

In a short time a spate of game companies sprang up trying to develop software for the infant electronic game industry. The result was a glut of poorly conceived games hitting the market. Consumers turned away in droves and the home electronic game industry faded hit the skids.

By the early 1980s, electronic games were being developed for personal computers. Color graphics, flexible storage capacity and general purpose processors made games much easier to play on personal computers. The game console business was all but dead.

In the late 1980s, two Japanese companies introduced a new generation of game consoles that were technologically capable of handling the new electronic games being produced. These companies were Nintendo and Sega. These game consoles had graphics capabilities that exceeded those of most personal computers. Nintendo also offered a feature that let the console record the game action so a player could pause the action of a game.

Right behind Nintendo came Gameboy, a hand-held game console. Game consoles enjoyed a resurgence of popularity during the 1990s. A new, even more sophisticated generation of electronic games was introduced by 2001. These consoles included Playstation2 and Xbox. Electronic games continued to become more complex with more action and more graphics.

Electronic games, today, have achieved art form status. They are sort of a wonderful combination of board games and comic books all rolled up into one medium with spectacular graphics and compelling audio. Curiously enough, most electronic games are similar to board games. They have one of two central themes. The first is racing and the other is capturing area or opponents. Perhaps it is because of these similarities that electronic games have begun to capture a wider audience.

As electronic games have matured they have begun to attract more mature audiences. Initially these games were primarily toys for boys. The growth area in the game industry is no longer adolescent males. It is mature adults, both men and women. Many of the most popular board games have been adapted to electronic game formats. Where youngsters hooked game consoles to TV sets, adults are playing games on their PCs, often against other players across the Internet. Grandparents are playing electronic games with grandchildren. They are also joining game clubs to play electronic games on the Internet with other senior citizens in another state or half a world away. Many of the top game companies are betting that older adults are the new growth market for the game industry.

Claude Shannon believed that computers could be programmed to play chess. In a sense he was right. He certainly never imagined chess players reaching across cyberspace as they exercise chess strategies on computerized game boards. Nor could he have imagined video poker, Internet casinos and all of the other popular electronic games people of all ages are playing. Electronic games aren’t just for kids anymore.

About the author: Royce Armstrong is a successful freelance writer with a business and banking background who believes consumers should get the best value for their money when shopping for toys such as electronic games, playstation 2, and game boy.

Melbourne with the Kids

Melbourne is an energetic, cultivated and cosmopolitan city with stunning architecture, world class facilities, bustling markets and an abundance of leafy park lands. Visitors flock to Melbourne for the Restaurants, Shopping, Sports Events and the many Cultural Activities. Kids and Adults alike, will love this lively city with it’s remarkable choice of family friendly attractions.

20 Things to do with the kids in and around Melbourne

1. Visit the Melbourne Aquarium and watch the sharks and stingrays swim over your head.

2. Go to the Melbourne Museum it’s an innovative playground of interactive fun encompassing culture, history and nature.

3. Visit the Melbourne Zoo, it’s Australia’s oldest zoo with over 350 species of animals set in lovely botanic gardens.

4. Ride on Puffing Billy the historic steam train through the stunning Dandenong Ranges.

5. Visit Healesville Wildlife Park, they have over 200 species of Australian Wildlife in their native habitat.

6. Go to Werribee Wildlife Park and join the Wildlife Safari Tour where you will see rhinos, giraffes, zebra and eland.

7. Explore the Botanic Gardens; it has a special Children’s Garden, an Ornamental Lake, Rainforest Walk and a Water Conservation Garden.

8. Get lost in Arthur’s Seat Maze, there are three formal mazes including one especially designed for children with tree fairies and a lock ness monster.

9. Let the kids milk a cow at Collingwood Children’s farm, you will also see donkeys, horses, goats, sheep, pigs geese and ducks.

10. Take a ride on the Tram to Fitzroy, South Yarra, St Kilda, Carlton, and Richmond or around the city loop.

11. Have a picnic on the banks of the bustling Yarra River; there are lots of lovely spots near the Botanic Gardens.

12. Visit Queen Victoria Market on a Sunday, it has an outdoor caf

Child Safety Airbag Tips

Airbags are deemed important for preventing injuries and deaths in car crashes. Yes, that’s what most surveys have noted. It was in fact reported by recent researches that airbags save more than 1,500 lives per year. That may seem amazing in the first place, but just like any thing in the world, airbags have their own disadvantages. Although it is highly beneficial for reducing the chances of injury for adults in a crash, the force of an airbag when deployed can injure the small children seriously and severely.

Well, the real reason for its being injurious to toddlers is that when deployed, the airbags have the tendency to inflate faster than the blink of an eye. They tend to explode out of the dashboard and side panels of the car to protect the driver and the front seat passenger from hitting hard surfaces during a crash. But imagine that same force hitting a small child in the front seat of the car. As you may realize, that’s too dangerous for them. It is basically for this reason that certain child safety airbag tips are considered.

Now if you want to know exactly how to protect your small children from the injurious force of deployed airbags, I recommend you to read on. I have given below a few child safety airbag tips for you to consider. Just note all these child safety airbag tips and make sure to apply these tips if possible.

* Children under the age of 12, including newborns, should ride in the rear seat, buckled up comfortably. For further security, parents are advised to use child safety seats, booster seats or safety belts that fit well to them.

* To ensure that the child safety airbag will not hit your child so badly, place your infants in a rear facing child seat and fasten securely in the back seat of the car. Note that the perfect place for children is the back seat.

* It is important to ensure that your child is buckled up with both lap and shoulder belts on every trip. It is also important to move the front passenger and the driver seat as far back from the dashboard as practical.

* If you carry with you an infant that needs constant attention, you should bring another adult to ride with them. This is suggested as part of this child safety airbag tips knowing that it is easy to get distracted, which is not good when driving.

* Always wear your safety belt, and make your child securely buckled up on his comfortable seat.

So those basically are the most helpful child safety airbag tips I’ve known. Consider them and you will benefit on how effective they are for preventing child injuries during car crashes.

Milos Pesic is a successful webmaster and owner of popular and comprehensive Child Safety information site. For more articles and resources on Child Safety related topics, visit his site at:

=>http://child-safety.need-to-know.net/