Friday Faves: 6 Stories to Fuel a Child's Imagination

Imaginative play is part of childhood.  Dressing up and pretending to be characters from faraway lands, favorite characters in stories, and community helpers all help children make sense of the world around them. Building forts out of sheets in the yard and creating caves under the dining room table are part of the magic that is childhood.

Having recently read The Costume Trunk for From Left to Write, I was inspired to bring favorite stories to life for the sole purpose of activating the imagination. Here are 6 books that you can read to fuel your child’s imagination, create conversation, and show that you want to preserve their childhood as you accompany them on wonderful adventures!

Create a dress up box— The Costume Trunk is all about a spectacular box full of a wide variety of garments that the children find and allow them to be anything they want to be. Create your own dress up collection by assembling old costume jewelry, parts of previous years’ Halloween costumes, and items from consignment or thrift stores to create a treasure trove of materials that provide open-ended play that’s only limited by the imagination.

Go exploring— Remember We're Going on a Bear Hunt? Act out your own bear hunt in your backyard. Make some toilet paper roll binoculars, don a backpack, and bring a butterfly net and set off into the wild of your neighborhood to act out the story.

Attend afternoon tea— Who doesn’t love to dress up and play tea party? While playing tea party and using fancy dishes is always fun at home, switch it up and find a local tea.  A real life tea party is a wonderful excuse to dress up a la Fancy Nancy, use your best manners, and snack on finger sandwiches and scones.  We recently attended tea a Prince and Princess Tea at Strathmore Mansion that was a wonderful experience. The kid friendly fare, an appearance by a prince and princess, and a princess story read by the princess herself at the conclusion made for a spectacular break from reality as we immersed ourselves in a refined world with royalty.

 

Be a zookeeper— Just as the gorilla and zookeeper say goodnight to all of the animals in Good Night, Gorilla before going to bed, your child can do the same by lining up favorite stuffed animals and wishing them sweet dreams.

Go on a rock hunt— Who knows if the rocks around your yard might be the magic pebble like the one Sylvester from Sylvester and the Magic Pebble had! A rock hunt can yield all kinds of interesting conversation about the attributes of a magic pebble and its powers!

Practice organic farming- Everyone says is convinced those carrots won’t come up in The Carrot Seed. Activate the imagination by talking to your kids about what they think will happen when they put the seeds in dirt. Will they or won’t they come up like in the story?  They will be amazed at how quickly and easy it is to grow their own carrots in a paper cup with some soil and then will tell those naysayers otherwise!

These are only some of the many books that can spark the imagination.  What are your household favorites? How do they inspire imaginative play in your house?

This post was inspired by The Costume Trunk, this month’s From Left to Write book club selection.  I received a copy of the book for review purposes.  Strathmore provided tickets for us to attend tea.  No compensation was received for this post.  Amazon affiliate links are contained in this post. All opinions are my own.

Parrot MKi9200 Review: Bluetooth for Hands-Free Talking & Music in Your Car

With local and state governments passing laws requiring use of hands-free devices to prevent distracted driving, Bluetooth phone integration is a must-have feature for new car buyers who need to talk on the phone while their vehicle is in motion.

But since it’s not practical to purchase a new car just to have in-vehicle Bluetooth navigation and fumbling around with a corded headset or having to charge a Bluetooth headset each night as well is idea, a professionally installed Bluetooth car kit is a great option.  

Parrot MKi9200

Parrot makes aftermarket car Bluetooth integration kits that allow you to update your car with Bluetooth and digital music playback capabilities at an affordable price. Parrot systems features iPod/MP3/Bluetooth streaming audio capabilities and voice dialing that works with your car’s current stereo system.  

We’ve been using the Parrot MKi9200 system ($198.99 from Amazon), Parrot’s most full-featured kit that features Bluetooth phone integration, voice dialing, iPod/USB MP3 playback, and even Bluetooth streaming.  Their kits are compatible with just about any vehicle.  

The MKi9200 consists of two visible components, a control pad, and a LCD screen. The 2.4 inch color LCD displays caller ID, address book names, and status information while using the phone.  For music playback, it displays artist, song, and album version as well as full color album artwork.  Nice!  Most car manufacturers are starting to offer iPod docks, but most are quite primitive.  Few, if any, display album artwork.

The control panel is a black panel with your familiar red-green cell phone buttons to place or end a call, as well as fast forward, rewind, pause, and a knob.  It's a compact panel with just enough buttons to get the job done quickly without looking down at the panel.  The basic idea is that you mount the screen up higher on the dashboard so it’s easily viewable without having to take your eyes from the road while the control panel is mounted in an easy-to-reach place.

Example of Parrot MKi9200 dashboard mount

I was concerned about putting something this fancy/nice into our car and whether it would be a magnet for thieves.  Honestly, this system is pretty invisible to those strolling past cars. The Parrot is installed so all of the wiring is internal rather than being strung across the dashboard to draw attention the device. The control pad is mounted on the center console where it's not easily seen from a distance. The screen is mounted on the dashboard and it has a quick-release so that you can take it off if you're worried about it.  We take ours off when parking in a sketchy area or when leaving the car for long periods of time, such as the airport. The screen pops off easily, leaving only a boring looking black piece of plastic and tiny USB connection. Given all the black plastic on most vehicle dashboards, it really blends in and has a very low profile even when still on your dashboard. Parrot includes a soft pouch for keeping the screen safe in your purse, under the seat, or in your laptop bag.

Car integration

So how does this thing integrate with your existing car stereo?

I believe there are several options, but I will describe how ours is hooked up, which I've come to think is the best method.  In our car, the Parrot sits between the car stereo and its speakers. If a call comes in, it cuts off the audio from your stereo and plays a ringtone. You press the green button on the dashboard to answer it.  When you're done, you press the red button.  About as simple as using a 10 year old cell phone.  Green button.  Red button.  

When you use the buttons on the Parrot to play your iPod, it does the same thing. When it has audio to play, it overrides your existing car stereo.  The Parrot has its own built-in amplifier and doesn't use your stereo for anything. In our case, I think the Parrot's audio quality is superior to our factory installed car stereo. The only slightly confusing thing is that in this setup, you the car stereo volume has nothing to do with the Parrot volume.  It takes a day or two to get use to it, but it works great.  

Pairing

Without any fuss, we were able to pair the system with an iPod and an Android phone.  The Parrot will download the address book from your phone and store it locally.  This is useful for several reasons. First, it allows the Parrot to display caller ID with name for incoming calls.  Secondly, it allows you to use the address book entries for making outgoing calls, most importantly, through voice recognition. 

The Mki9200 pairs with multiple phones, allowing multiple family members to use the Bluetooth system when driving.  If the whole family is in the car, the Parrot talks to only one phone at a time, preferring the one it talked to last.  

Making Calls

To place an outgoing call, press the green button.  The system comes alive and the little woman in the box says, "Who do you want to call?" I should note that we opted for the British female voice as she sounds more sophisticated and the kids like her accent!  You speak the name and (home/work/mobile) and it calls your contact.  

Unlike many built-in car phone integration kits, the Parrot gives you the option of using its internal speech recognition system, or the one built into your phone.   Depending on your phone, you might to decide to use one or the other.  On an iPhone, the iPhone's speech recognition worked just as well as the Parrot.  On an Android phone, with its half-functional voice recognition, Parrot's system worked better.  

While talking on the phone, the caller's audio comes through the car's speakers, with volume controlled by the Parrot.  It's plenty loud and easy to adjust. Your voice is picked up by a double microphone mounted out of sight (likely near the rearview mirror).  The system contains DSP software that eliminates background noise.  People I call when in the car using the Parrot say the quality is good and nobody has complained about road noise.

If you're someone who ends up on long conference calls, you'll appreciate Parrot’s physical mute button on the control pad. Simply press the play/pause button to mute.   This is helpful when you need to talk to the kids in the back seat while still pretending to be paying attention to a conference call!

Listening to Music

Several years ago, we put an iPod dock in our car.  It was one that made the iPod look like a 6-disc changer.  It worked, but you could only access 6 different playlists, and there was no track names or other information.  The Parrot is a huge step up from that original dock.  

With the Parrot, you can scroll through your playlists on the LCD display, picking out what you want to listen to with pin-point accuracy.  Typical iPod-like menus are available to listen by album, song, genre, playlist, etc.  Once the song starts playing, the artist, title, and album are displayed on the screen, along with the cover-art.  The knob on the control makes it a breeze to move through the menus.  The fast-forward and rewind buttons are within easy reach for moving through your music quickly.

In addition to connecting an iPod, you can play music from an SD card, a USB flash drive, USB MP3 player, or even Bluetooth streaming.  If you want to play the audio from something else, like an XM radio, or DVD player in the car, there is also an AUX-input jack.

Miscellaneous

If your car came with steering wheel controls, but you didn't purchase the radio/navigation unit that had the Bluetooth feature, the Mki9200 can interface with the factory-installed buttons using an optional kit.

Parrot makes several different car Bluetooth/audio kits.  The MKi9200 is currently the top of the line.  Other kits have similar features but have cheaper (or no screen), or do not include iPod functionality.

Summary

For making or placing calls, the Parrot Bluetooth kit is about as simple as it gets without buying a brand new car.  No headset to put on, no separate device to remember to charge at night.  You get in the car, it's there, charged and ready to go.

It connects to your phones, it's got voice dialing, quick and easy access to all of our music on the iPod, and excellent sound quality. 

I think that if the Parrot had an FM radio built into it, I could probably just unplug the factory stereo and use it all the time.  Other than listening to traffic reports and some NPR, we listen to the Parrot non-stop whether on long trips or just driving around town.

Pros

• Excellent Bluetooth kit for a professional, permanent, no wires-showing result.  
• iPod integration including cover art.
• Cheaper than buying a new car, and has more features than most factory Bluetooth/iPod kits.  
• Software upgradable for future bug fixes, phone compatibility, etc. 

Cons:

• I wish the Parrot booted up faster when pulling out of the driveway.  I'm impatient and don’t like to wait until I’m in the street until I can use it.
• I wish there was a "shuffle songs" button directly on the iPod menus to shuffle among whatever music is at that level. 

For more information, take a look at the Parrot Mki9200 Manual.  There are also a lot of people discussing Parrot use in different cars in various online forums.

Parrot MKi9200 is available at many online retailers including Amazon, Crutchfield, and BestBuy. Consider buying the unit with installation as a package from a Parrot Certified Installer. Installation at the Parrot Certified Installer where I took my car ran $250 but it was well worth their professional opinion plus installation and the lesson about how to use it before leaving.

Parrot provided me with a MKi9200 kit and vehicle installation. No compensation was received for this post and all opinions are my own.

Back to School Netbook and Laptop Shopping Resources

It’s back to school time and many families are scouring the Sunday ads and online deal sites looking for the best prices on technology including cheap netbooks and cheap laptops from all the major manufacturers like Toshiba, Dell, Sony, Samsung, and HP. 

Before you purchase a laptop, be sure to ask yourself how you’ll be using your new piece of technology. 

Answering the following questions can help narrow your choices:

• What is your budget?
• Who will use it and what will you be using it for?
• Are you looking for a machine to take everywhere?
• Do you plan on using it on the plane due to frequent travel?
• Are you looking for a laptop that will spend most of its time sitting on your desk or kitchen table, and only occasionally leave the house?
• Do you want to watch DVDs on it? Blu-Ray?
• When at home, will you plug it into a big monitor or use it with the built-in screen?
• Are you a gamer who wants fast performance and amazing graphics?

Since everyone uses their computers differently, such questions help determine the type of laptop that may be best for you. Of course, there are many computers to choose from with a dizzying array of specs and how do you know which is the best?

Some helpful resources on my site include:

• HP Pavilion dm1z review
• Choosing a perfect laptop for college
• Factors to consider when purchasing computers for kids 
• First SPARK review- A Toshiba Laptop Designed with Kids in Mind 
• A how-to guide to understanding AMD Vision technology to simplify your PC purchase. 
• My Holiday Gift Guide is a great place to start in narrowing down the many choices you have when buying a new computer. The pros and cons provide great food for thought!

This sponsored post was written as part of a compensated campaign but all opinions are my own. Photos courtesy of Photos.com.

Happy 5th Birthday Captain Computer (w. Thomas & Friends giveaway)

I loved you the minute I saw you. A big healthy 8 lb 13 ounce boy born in the heat of the summer unlike your sister who was born in the dead of winter.  I know it’s cliché to say, but it does seem like just yesterday. 

Today that baby is long gone. He’s replaced by a big boy who would rather tinker and build while completing a great project than write, read, or show me what he knows about the alphabet. You could care less about showing off for a teacher or performing for a test. You’d rather be in the yard figuring out the properties of water, exploring the principles of flight as you swing through the trees, practicing aerodynamics in the pool, and doing any sort of work that taps into the engineering gene that runs strong in your DNA.

I can’t believe you’re 5 and that you’re starting kindergarten soon. You’ve been my nap buddy, my cooking helper, and my companion during the hours that your sister has been at school.  I’ll miss our time together answering your many questions, snuggling on the couch, your hysterical laughter, and filling the living room with track for intricately designed routes for your many train cars. Whether wooden or electric Lionel, you’re always quite the problem solver when it comes to new train setups!

It’s only fitting that we’re celebrating this milestone birthday with a trip on Amtrak to New York City and giving away one of your most favorite toys ever- a Thomas & Friends Crane & Cargo Figure 8 Set. See giveaway instructions below.

You’re a big picture kind of kid who doesn’t like to play with the little sets for long. You think of things on a larger scale, always telling me to connect things here, make track go there, and testing the limits of your toys through exploration within reason.

Exploration within reason is the way you live your life. Sometimes it makes me nervous but I’ve come to accept the fact that you know your limits that have maybe come with one too many accidents and trips to the hospital in your younger years.

I’m also coming to accept the fact that you’re growing up but a part of me knows you’ll always be my baby.

Happy birthday big boy! I love you always!

GIVEAWAY: In honor of Captain Computer’s 5^th birthday, share a birthday memory that you have of your children or of your own childhood by Wednesday, August 17. Leave an email address or a Twitter handle where I can reach you when you win.

For extra entries, complete the above and any of the following:

• Leave a comment about the Thomas & Friends train car that is the favorite in your house.

• Tweet this daily and leave a link to your tweet in your comment: @TechSavvyMama celebrates her train loving son’s 5^th birthday w/ #Thomas set #giveaway from @LCToys. Enter here: www.TechSavvyMama.com

I received a Thomas & Friends Crane & Cargo Figure 8 Set for review purposes prior to Captain Computer’s birthday. It was just fitting to hold this giveaway on the day of my train lover’s birthday.  All other Thomas & Friends items pictured in the above photos were personally purchased or gifts from family members. Amazon affiliate links contained in this post.  Happy Birthday photo courtesy of Photos.com.

BlogHer 2011: Find me in the Geek Bar & moderating How to Create a Kick A$$ Proposal

Hi Leticia!  Would you say you’re an expert on social media platforms?

-Jes Ferris, BlogHer Conference Programming Manager

First of all, Jes Ferris emailing me?!?  Secondly, um…Expert?

Red flags went up in my brain because it’s a huge no-no in the world of social media to ever call yourself an expert. Expert? No. Knowledgeable, yes! So here’s how I responded:

“Hi Jes!  I'm careful to say I'm not an expert because not only does that get me in trouble in the blogosphere, but there are always others who know a little bit more than me!  But yes, I am quite knowledgeable about social media platforms!  :)  ”

If you’re heading to BlogHer, you can find me in the Geek Bar on Friday from 10-12 pm doing a session called “Everything You Wanted to Know About Social Media Platforms But Were Afraid to Ask” with Grace Duffy, my  techie friend who writes about all things tech over at ShePosts, fellow Splash Creative Media member, and Wonder Twin.

Set up like the Apple Genius Bar, the Geek Bar is a place where you can sign up to come and ask us about Facebook, Flickr, Pinterest, Twitter, YouTube, StumbleUpon, Instagram, and Skype.

It’s a place where you can feel safe asking us anything you want. No question is a dumb question. We’ve all been social media newbies and it’s our job to help you at least create an account and get started in the short time we have together. So bring your laptop and your questions and we’ll see you in the Geek Bar on Friday morning!

If you’re a more experienced blogger who is looking for tips on crafting effective proposals and pitches to companies, I’ll also be moderating a panel called How to Create a Kick A$$ Proposal on Saturday, August 6 from 3-4:15 pm.

Here are the session details:

You could throw out a pitch on Twitter, but chances are that 140 characters won’t be enough to describe who you are and what you can do to adequately represent a company!  Learn how to craft pitches that effectively convey your experience and strengths so that brands can capitalize on your talents–all from established bloggers who have created successful campaigns for a multitude of companies.

Panelists include moderator Leticia Barr, along with Andrea Fellman, Julie Meyers Pron, and Kelly Whalen: half of the eight-person Splash Creative Media team, and some of the brains behind Fill the Backpack, All About the Bump Month, and several other campaigns.

Andrea, Julie, Kelly, and Leticia collaborate as Splash Creative Media but also work individually to successfully pitch companies like BabyCenter, Lands’ End, Mabel’s Labels, Clever Girls Collective, and Location Labs for campaigns, conference sponsorships, speaking engagements, ad revenue, and consulting jobs.  They will share practical strategies about how to craft pitches that won’t just be noticed, they’ll be funded!

If you're heading to BlogHer, don't be shy! Come find me in the Geek Lab, in my session, at a party, across the crowded room! I'd love to see you too!  :) 


Or if you're a BlogHer newbie, feel free to leave me a question about the conference! This will be my 4th BlogHer and I'm happy to share what I've learned as a regular attendee with you!

Kleenex Field Trips & Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History- Friday Fave

Whether a lover of living things, prehistoric creatures, gems, or cultures, the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History is a great place to explore all of the above while providing hands on experiences for kids of all ages. 

Yesterday Little Miss Techie, Captain Computer, and I braved a hot, humid, code orange air day and ventured to one of our favorite Smithsonian museums for a field trip coordinated by The Motherhood and sponsored by Kleenex with fellow members of The DC Moms.

Mammal Hall at National Museum of Natural History

A field trip sponsored by Kleenex?  Yes! It may seem random but for the 2011 – 2012 school year, Kleenex is committing $500,000 to their Kleenex Save the Field Trips Initiative that helps fund school field trips as part of the educational curriculum.  Field trips are an important component of children's education that seem to be disappearing along with art, music, and physical education as we focus on teaching to the test.

As a former teacher, I know that field trips are an important part of the educational experience because they offer learning in real world settings and hand-on instruction that differs from what is taught in the classroom. Unfortunately, though, one in four schools in the U.S. is being forced to cut or even eliminate field trips due to budget cuts, according to a 2009 survey conducted by the American Association of School Administrators.

The kids love all things prehistoric thanks to Dinosaur Train!

For our #KleenexFieldTrips, DC Moms @thienkim @MinkyMoo @wifeandmommy @ciaomom @noteverstill @teachmama @GoonSquadSarah @JanineNickel @thenagainphoto met at the National Museum of Natural History where we met docents, Donna and Francis, and Joe, from the Kleenex team, and enjoyed an educational day filled with hands on learning and fun on a hot summer day.

The hands on Discovery Room is full of treasures!

We started in The Discovery Room to find a room full of experiences that delighted the senses of curious kids of all ages. Captain Computer loved The Research Station and spent most of his time in The Discovery Room examining different x-rays on the light table and peering at specimens through a microscope. I loved the Discovery Boxes that held plastic boxes of insects galore.
 

One x-ray showed eggs inside a turtle!

Our next stop was upstairs where we stopped in the Forensics Anthropology Lab that is part of the Bones exhibit. Little Miss Techie was enthralled with the trays of human bones. She got to handle jaws containing teeth and Captain Computer picked up a hip bone to match to the standing skeleton. I loved how helpful the Smithsonian staffers were to guide the conversation about the kind of information that bones provide to scientists!

The kids learned that bones can tell anthropologists the age of a person

Everyone eagerly anticipated our visit to The Butterfly Pavilion that offered an up close encounter with a variety of different butterflies, especially when they landed on Captain Computer’s back and my hand!

Just two of the gorgeous butterflies in the Butterfly Pavilion.

A trip to the IMAX theater for a showing of Grand Canyon: A River at Risk not only served as my kids’ first IMAX movie but also conveyed the importance of water conservation through beautiful imagery that displayed the impact of global warming and man made dams in a way that made sense to my children.  They also loved that they recognized some of the songs in the movie since the soundtrack was by Dave Matthews!

This creepy crawly was fun to hold and had a hard shell and tons of legs!

Sitting around the table during lunch, I couldn’t help think of all the fun I used to have as a kid on elementary school field trips. It was always great to get out of the classroom but I think the strong positive memories I have come from the hands on and real world experiences that were a departure from the routine of paper, pencil, and textbook learning.

As a former teacher and parent, I’m so glad that Kleenex is investing in education by ensuring that field trips remain as part of educational experience for children across the country. Here’s some additional information about Kleenex’s Save the Field Trips Initiative and how to receive funds for your school’s field trips:

The Kleenex brand Back to School Sweepstakes will award 100 schools a $5,000 award to be used toward field trips during the 2011 – 2012 school year. Starting in July, consumers can enter the sweepstakes with a few simple steps:

• Visit www.Facebook.com/Kleenex
• Click on the "Back to School" tab at the top of the page
• Vote for your favorite participating school    -or-
• Register the school of your choice by clicking the "Add a School" box and filling out the digital
• registration form

Parting gifts included the new Kleenex packs- perfect for backpacks & purses! 

#KleenexFieldTrips is a campaign coordinated by The Motherhood.  Kleenex sponsored admission to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History is free but our tickets to The Butterfly Pavilion and IMAX, as well as vouchers for lunch, were provided. I am receiving compensation for my involvement in the campaign but all opinions are my own.