ImaginativePRO Blog

8 DREAMY KIDS' BEDROOM CEILINGS TO STIR THEIR IMAGINATION

As a cild, I’d lie on my canopy bed searching for faces in the wood grain slats above me. As I grew older, I continued to focus my imagination upward, standing on tiptoe on a footstool to stick glow-in-the dark stars to my ceiling (the adhesive would later become the bane of my parents’ existence) and helping a friend transform ceiling light cans into a tangle of psychedelic flowers.

Now that I’m thinking about having children of my own, I’m once again turning my gaze skyward as I begin to think about a space for our someday child. There’s one feature that’s a must-have: a magical ceiling to dream to.

Here are eight dreamy ceilings to inspire a child’s paradise.

Contemporary Kids by Seattle Photographers Hage Creative (Click To Enlarge Image)

Fort making was one of my favorite games as a child, and the best forts were almost always made with bedsheets and piles of pillows.

This magical draped ceiling evokes the adventures of Arabian nights. In this space full of hard surfaces and sharp corners, it provides just the right amount of softness to send its young occupant on a magic carpet to dreamland.

Contemporary Kids by Orlando Design-Build Firms Hobus Homes (Click Image To Enlarge)

This vibrant mural is amazing on its own, but the dimensional features help make it truly out of this world. Artist Jeff Huckaby brought texture to a traditional drywall ceiling with a slight knockdown before handpainting the mural. I love the way he transformed a central pendant light into the sun for planets to orbit around.

Traditional Kids by Mamaroneck General Contractors Murphy Brothers Contracting (Click Image To Enlarge)

A slanted ceiling provides the perfect opportunity to draw the eye upward — even if your space doesn’t include access to a loft playhouse. The three-dimensional detail of the ladder and fence helps this mural come to life, creating an “outdoor” playspace that can be used even on a rainy day.

Traditional Kids by Grand Rapids Architects & Building Designers Visbeen Architects (Click Image To Enlarge)

We’ve all seen ceilings painted to look like clouds, but what makes this room truly special is the way the artist played on the curved shape to create the illusion of a horizon. By using every surface except the floor, the muralist created an immersive play and sleep space for imaginative children.

Contemporary Kids by Brooklyn Interior Designers & Decorators Emc2 Interiors (Click Image To Enlarge)

If you’re struggling to find a way to make the cloud idea all your own, consider a sunset. I feel like a unicorn is about to jump out of this surreal ceiling, making it perfect for a pair ofprincesses.

Traditional Kids by Milford General Contractors M.J. Whelan Construction (Click Image To Enlarge)

A geometric carpet helps ground the space, creating the feeling of a grassy patchwork while keeping the room from feeling like it has its head in the clouds.

If you want to do it yourself but don’t trust your skills as a muralist, consider a stencil. MJ Whelan Construction pulled in the same pastel lavender as on the wall for the ceiling, then used a wall stencil to add a delicate pattern in grays, whites and lavenders to create a subtle, almost textural effect.

How to Use an All-Over Wall Stencil

Eclectic Kids by Other Metro Architects & Building Designers MEXICAN DESIGN ARCHITECTURE (Click Image To Enlarge)

Decals can be a great solution for a room that needs to grow with your little one. I’m used to seeing them on the walls, but I love the way this giant flower hangs its head over the bunks, watching over the wee ones during nap time.

Eclectic Kids by Park City Architects & Building Designers Jaffa Group Design Build (Click Image To Enlarge)

Mobiles aren’t just for babies anymore. Groups of mobiles arranged in a creative tableau can help transport your child into the dreamscape of your imagination. 

This idea works particularly well with curved or vaulted ceilings — as in this space — which add additional dimension and help prevent adults from knocking their heads on the decor.

See more dream kids’ rooms

COMMENTARY:  Now that's what I call cool kids' rooms.  The murals on the ceiling of their rooms conjures images of Peter Pan, Cinderella and Snow White.  What a fantasy and so much fun for kids.

Courtesy of an article dated July 4, 2014 appearing in Houzz

THE XO TABLET REPLACES THE ONE LAPTOP PER CHILD INITIATIVE, COSTS ONLY $150 AND AVAILABLE AT WALMART

XO Tablet is a fairly low-performance tablet, includes Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean OS, a 1.6GHz dual-core ARM processor, a 7-in 1024x600 display, and boasts nearly eight hrs of battery life (Click Image To Enlarge)

THE ANDROID SEVEN-INCH TABLET ASKS CHILDREN NOT WHAT APP THEY WANT TO LAUNCH BUT WHAT THEY WANT TO BE.

The One Laptop Per Child initiative has always believed in the power of technology to transform the lives of children. Founded by outspoken techno-utopian Nicholas Negroponte with the goal of putting a working $100 computer in the hands of every child on Earth, OLPC has not always been without controversy. In some parts of the developing world, kids have far less use for laptops than clean drinking water, working toilets, and a good deworming. Even so, ever since the first OLPC computer came out in 2006, the project represents a vision of the future in which free access to information and technology in considered to be the clean drinking water of the mind: a basic human right.

The XO has a lot of the bulbous, bright green colors of the XO-1.  It’s durable, accessible tablet designed by Yves Béhar, who also designed the Jawbone products like the Jambox and Jawbone Up (Click Image To Enlarge)

The first Children’s Machine came out in 2006 during a curious period of mass insanity in the computer industry when everyone thought that netbooks--cheap, crappy laptops with tiny keyboards that didn’t do anything particularly well--were the future of computing. Half e-reader, half netbook, the OLPC XO-1 is now used by over 2.4 million children around the world--but it looks as much like computing’s future as a pair of parachute pants represents the future of fashion. As Steve Jobs once famously put it, we’re now living in the post-PC world. That’s the one kids are going to have to grow up in.

Enter OLPC’s latest Children’s Machine, the XO Tablet, available to buy starting today at Walmart and for $150. A co-production between OLPC, design house Fuseproject, and gadget maker Vivitar, the XO Tablet is a Children’s Machine for the post-PC world that takes a dash of inspiration from Neil Stephenson’s The Diamond Age to give kids the tools and inspiration they need so that they can realize their dreams, no matter their background.

The specs of the XO tablet is the aspiration of dreams, not clock cycles, but the MO of OLPC.  What makes the XO so interesting is the way it reimagines Android as a hub of dreams that children can explore. (Click Image To Enlarge)

The first thing you’ll notice about the XO Tablet is its kid-friendly design, which inherits a lot of the bulbous, bright green visual queues of the XO-1. It’s a durable, accessible gadget masterminded by design legend Yves Béhar, who is also the principle designer behind Jawbone products like the Jambox and Jawbone Up.

The XO Tablet comes pre-loaded with a large number of apps, games, and e-books that children might enjoy. (Click Image To Enlarge)

Underneath the green rubber shell, the XO Tablet is a fairly low-performance tablet running Google’s Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) operating system. It features a 1.6GHz dual-core ARM processor, a seven-inch 1024 x 600 display, and boasts nearly eight hours of battery life. But the specs of the machine aren’t really the point: aspiration of dreams, not clock cycles, is the MO of OLPC. And what really makes the XO Tablet so interesting is the way it reimagines Android as a hub of dreams that children can explore.

It’s also fully Google certified, meaning that kids can download and install apps from the Google Play store if they want to. Perfect for would-be hackers. (Click Image To Enlarge)

The XO Tablet doesn’t want children to interact with a touch screen; it wants them to touch their future. When a kid boots up the XO Tablet, they are presented with a menu that doesn’t ask them what app they want to launch, but what they want to be. If a child tells their XO Tablet that they want to be an artist, it would show them a number of tools that would help them realize that goal: a picture book of art, or a fun drawing app. If a kid wanted to be an astronaut, they might get to explore the solar system, or learn more about NASA. A budding writer might find a collection of e-books or an app that asks them to collaborate on writing a story. And while the XO Tablet comes pre-loaded with a large number of apps, games, and e-books that children might enjoy, it’s fully Google certified, meaning that kids can download and install apps from the Google Play store if they want to. Perfect for would-be hackers.

A finger hold makes it easy to tote around. (Click Image To Enlarge)

It might seem odd that a computer meant for kids in the developing world is first going on sale at Walmart, but OLPC has always tried to offset the cost of getting cheap computers into the hands of children who need them by selling the same computers locally to those who can afford to pay more. Anyway, even in America, there are still children for whom the future is murky and grey and dreamless. If there’s one thing that the XO Tablet has been designed to correct, it’s that.

The tablet is available from Walmart for $150. (Click Image To Enlarge)

COMMENTARY:    Now that's what I call a cool tablet.  WIFI accessibility still remains a problem for families in poorer communities, but I am glad to see that the people at XO have taken the lead in producing a tablet targeted to young children.  The 1.6Mhz dual-core processor and 7-inch display provides more than adequate horsepower at the $150 price point.  That little ring in the corner is perfect for young hands.

Courtesy of an article dated July 22, 2013 appearing in Fast Company Design  

THE TRUTH ABOUT KIDS AND SOCIAL MEDIA, AND THE TOP 10 SOCIAL NETWORKS FOR KIDS

ACCORDING TO A RECENT STUDY, 78% OF PARENTS HELPED CREATE THEIR CHILDREN’S FACEBOOK PAGES, AND 7.5 MILLION USERS ARE UNDER THE AGE OF 13. THE WAY YOUR KIDS USE SOCIAL TODAY WILL SHAPE THEIR FUTURE. IT'S TIME FOR EVERYONE TO GET EDUCATED ON HOW--AND HOW NOT--TO LIVE ONLINE.

Kids and social media.

Most people cringe at the thought of these two terms used in the same sentence, and it falls into the same scary category of kids and drugs. Why?

We don’t like what we don’t know or understand. Parents don’t like the thought of their kids embracing social media because they don’t fully understand the benefits and dangers. In many cases, they also don’t understand the social platforms to their full extent. Education is key for the parents as well as the kids. Not to mention teachers! Everyone involved needs to understand the pros and the cons.

As most of us already know, there are clear downsides with kids using social media and this topic has been covered for years. Cyberbullying, privacy, and identity theft are only a few negatives that should be considered. Just as we teach our children how to ride a bike, we need to teach them how to navigate social media and make the right moves that will help them. The physical world is similar to the virtual world in many cases. It’s about being aware. We can prevent many debacles if we’re educated.

So what are the benefits of kids using social media?

This is where parents and educators need to think long term and recognize that kids are building a personal brand from an early age. Their digital footprint will have an impact on their future. Where they end up getting admitted to college, getting a job, and more. Social media will help connect them with like-minded individuals, including mentors, that share similar interests and aspirations that can help them achieve their long-term goals.

Here’s a scenario to consider. A few weeks ago, my team and I had 40 third graders come to the Digital Royalty office. They asked us questions and we asked them questions. When we asked how many of the third graders were either on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, more than half raised their hands. Facebook has a minimum age restriction of 13 years old to create an account. But according to Consumer Reports, last year 78% of parents helped create their children’s Facebook pages and 7.5 million users are under the age of 13 and lied about the age associated with the account.

After getting into a discussion with the third graders, we learned that several of them had abandoned their Facebook accounts because that’s where their parents were. They knew that the adult powers that be are a hop, skip, and a click away from monitoring the kid’s accounts on Facebook. The third-grade solution was to hop from Facebook to Instagram (which, ironically, Facebook also owns). In some cases, kids said they created new, rogue Facebook accounts where they connected with their friends and used their old ones as a decoy for parental supervision.

Admittedly, this is not formal research and not all third graders are using social media. However, if a substantial portion of third graders have embraced this new form of communication, what does that mean for fourth, fifth, and sixth graders? Are they seasoned pros at selfies? (And if you’re unaware of what a selfie is, I rest my case.)

Fast forward 8-10 years and the same children are now graduating from high school, or they’re preparing to, and they’re applying for colleges or jobs. Everything they’ve posted online for the past decade is searchable, and social media only amplifies what already exists, both strengths and weaknesses.

Imagine a college admissions recruiter evaluating two applicants side by side. They both look the same on paper. They shine academically, with impressive transcripts, essays, and SAT scores. Both have an extensive list of extracurricular activities and outstanding recommendation letters.

The difference is Applicant A has a large social following of Twitter followers and Facebook friends which they’ve used proactively to connect with future professors, industry leaders, and executives at companies. They’ve already built a network of people who they are sharing valuable content with, allowing their strengths to shine. You are able to get a genuine understanding of the applicant by seeing how Applicant A engages with their followers and posts about the issues he/she is passionate about.

Applicant B may have a social media presence (what college-age kid doesn’t?), but never took the time to fully develop it and turn it into an asset by having a “neutral” (read: a non-keg-stand) avatar photo, removing inappropriate language, and posting information that spotlights passions and strengths.

As the college admissions recruiter, you can only choose one. Who would you choose? In this case, Applicant A’s wise use of social media gives him/her an edge over an otherwise perfect Applicant B.

Why? Universities want to recruit the students that they believe will best represent the university, both online and offline, while in school and beyond. Students with a robust social media presence and clearly defined personal brand stand to become only more influential. These students are positioned to become leaders in their respective fields, which will reflect positively on the university social communication word of thumb. Additionally, the recruiter has full access to who the applicant associates himself or herself with by who they’re following and engaging with. It’s a sneak (organic) peek into the life of the applicant.

The scenario remains the same for job applicants. When choosing between two similar applicants, hiring managers are increasingly turning to social media outlets to supplement information they are unable to glean from applications or interviews. Many companies use social channels as screening tools. According to a recent study conducted by the Society Of Human Resource Management (SHRM), 77% of employers use social media to recruit candidates. Additionally, they can get a sense of cultural fit within the organization and identify red flags that may include inappropriate posts or even a candidate who is bashing a previous employer.

So now that we know education is key, many parents ask us at Digital Royalty, what’s the first step? Similar to how we begin the education process with executives of brands, sit down with your kids and ask them what they know. Do an informal assessment and study their proficiency. Hop on the computer and mobile phone to evaluate their proficiency and better understand what they know. You might be surprised. Then, after you’ve educated yourself, educate your children.

--Amy Jo Martin is the founder and CEO of Digital Royalty, a social media and education company based in Las Vegas, Nevada, and of Digital Royalty University. In 2012 her book Renegades Write the Rules made the New York Times Best Seller list. Follow her on Twitter at @amyjomartin.

COMMENTARY:   Over 20,000 kids age 13 and under try to cheat the age limit and sneak into Facebook every day, and it’s easy to see why. What kid wouldn’t want to watch funny videos of their friends, chat with their neighborhood peers or play an addicting game like Farmville? Unfortunately, Facebook and other popular social networks are also filled with adult content, unfiltered comments and potential for cyberbullying, identity theft and child predators.

With this problem in mind, several companies have attempted to create safer alternatives that are essentially “Facebook for kids” –safe social network platforms where kids can be themselves without all the risks.  Social networks for kids are built on the balance of entertainment, expression, experience, education and engagement without endangering exposure. Facebook isn’t for kids, but social networking can be.

Social networks for kids are a safe alternative to Facebook because they are built with safety in mind and age-appropriate fun. The best social networks for kids have all the features of traditional social communities (friending, chat, photos, profiles, comments, etc.) but also have more kid-friendly features like games, virtual gifts, contests, art projects and more. Most importantly, kid-friendly social networks are monitored and include parental oversight to make sure everyone is safe.

More than just a digital babysitter, social networks for kids can be a useful teaching tool, helping kids learn about appropriate social network etiquette, safe sharing practices and online citizenship. You and your kids can enjoy social network training wheels while they prepare for the inevitable rite of passage of one day getting a real Facebook page. When they're ready to move on to the real deal, you can still keep in the loop by using Facebook parental controls.

Click on any of the top 10 social networks for kids to learn more about the exciting features and benefits in store for you and your kids. You can find an age-appropriate social network that your kids will love and you can approve of. Your kids will like them better than Facebook, and you’ll rest easy knowing they’re protected.

Togetherville

For the kids: Togetherville is an “online neighborhood” for kids and their parents. The social network includes kid-friendly games, video clips, art projects and more. Kids can customize their own profile page and use pre-written status updates, text message comments and virtual gifts to interact with each other.

Adult supervision: Togetherville works in tandem with Facebook. Parents need to have a Facebook account in order to sign up their kids for Togetherville. Then parents will be able to log in and monitor their kids' Togetherville account directly from Facebook. In fact, your child’s online circle of friends is populated only with people they already know who you approve of through Facebook.

The lowdown on Togetherville: Disney put their trust in this online neighborhood, and so can you.

Click Image To Enlarge

What’s What

Kid tested: This kids-only social network is fun, safe and secure. A webcam is required to log in with biometric facial recognition for added account security. Once logged in, kids can customize their MePage, watch videos, play games, take polls and earn MePoints.

Mother approved: Friends are limited to kids within one grade level (unless the parent approves). Kids can share photos, join groups (school class, sports team, etc.), message friends and show off their talents. All photos and videos are moderated, and comments from peers will only display on your child’s wall if they approve to show it.

Our verdict: What’s What is a fun Facebook alternative for kids, complete with face-recognition login.

Click Image To Enlarge

ScuttlePad

For the kiddies: ScuttlePad is a new kid-friendly social network for basic status updates, friends, messages and photo sharing.

Supervised safety: The unique safety feature of ScuttlePad is that content in messages, status and comments are kept age-appropriate by only allowing pre-defined words from the special ScuttlePad sentence tool. All photos are reviewed by ScuttlePad staff before they are posted.

Our overall opinion: With fun features and supervised interactions, ScuttlePad is an especially good social network for younger kids.

Click Image To Enlarge

giantHello

Hi kids: giantHello is specifically devoted to kid-friendly social games but also includes profile pages, an internal messaging system, photo sharing and fan pages (animals, teen celebrities, games).

Hello parents: Friends are made through email addresses you already know, not from random online invitations. With plenty of games and other fun things to do, giantHello is a fun and safe place for kids to play.

Game on: If your kids are into games, giantHello is the social network for them.

Click Image To Enlarge

Skid-e-Kids

Kid-friendly features: Skid-e-Kids is filled with video games and social tools. Kids can socialize, sell or swap toys, watch full-length movies and even get help with homework.

Skid-e-Parents: Parents are always in charge, with special features that allow you to track all activity and monitor friends.

Should you skid? The rules, educational applications and pictures of kids wearing sweater-vests make it pretty clear this one is marketed towards parents; but kids might like it.

Click Image To Enlarge

Imbee

Kool kids: Self-billed as a social media mega-platform, Imbee has everything a kid could want in a social network: chat, photos, videos, blog, a “shout” wall, music, groups, avatars, games and celebrity news.

Parent features: Parents have full access to everything done on Imbee and can set age-appropriate parameters and enable or restrict certain features. Everything is constantly being monitored to ensure that Imbee is a safe place to play.

The verdict: Imbee is a trendy and feature-filled social network for tweens.

Click Image To Enlarge

Kidswirl

Kids world: Kidswirl is a fun online environment for kids, complete with games, photo albums, quizzes, videos, music and more.

Parental controls: The parent control panel lets you monitor all of your child’s activity and ensure that everything is appropriate.

Should you give it a whirl? While the idea behind Kidswirl is great, it doesn’t have the same finesse or security as the best social networks for kids.

Click Image To Enlarge

Everloop

Fun for tweens: Everloop is a “social looping” platform where kids can create custom profile pages, play online games, buy virtual goods and talk about what’s important to them with other kids via email, instant messaging and voice chat.

Keeping parents in the loop: Your kids’ private loop of friends is protected from anonymous intruders, and you can monitor all actions and approve age-appropriate activities.

Is it for me? Everloop is a new social network for kids that proves to be a compelling alternative to Facebook.

Click Image To Enlarge

Club Penguin

Kids Club: Disney’s Club Penguin is more of a virtual world and multiplayer game, but it’s hugely popular and does have some social-network inspired features. Kids represent themselves with a penguin avatar and can interact with others through emoticons, chat and social games.

Penguin Parents: Parents can sign up for a parent account to manage their kids' activity, and everything is monitored by adult moderators and “secret agent” veteran players.

Facebook alternative? Club Penguin isn’t a replacement for social networking, but it’s a friendly social community for younger kids to learn safe online interactions.

Click Image To Enlarge

Yoursphere

Cool stuff for kids: Yoursphere is a social network for kids that has games, contests and prizes, personalized avatars and access to the private social gaming community ourWorld. The kid-oriented social network lets you ask and answer questions with friends and chat about what you’re interested in. “Spheres” of interest include music, sports, gaming, fashion, art, animals, travel and more.

Parentsphere: Kids under the age of 13 can’t sign up with Yoursphere without parent approval, which also grants you access to a special parent portal where you can monitor everything your child posts (but only what your child posts).

Overall: Yoursphere is a pretty cool place for kids to interact, combining social networking features with a virtual world.

Click Image To Enlarge 

Courtesy of an article dated May 24, 2013 appearing in Fast Company and an article appearing in 10TopTenReviews 

HOW BANGLADESH FIGHTS FLOODING FROM RISING SEA LEVELS DUE TO GLOBAL WARMING BY BUILDING SCHOOLS THAT FLOAT

Using the rivers to transport information, health care, and energy is a brilliant idea--independent of the dire circumstances--comparable to the invention of the car, or the building of the railroads (Click Image To Enlarge)

MOHAMMED REZWAN IS HEADING UP A NONPROFIT THAT BUILDS SCHOOLS AND HOMES THAT FLOAT.

Climate change is getting a lot of attention in America this fall, thanks in part to the havoc wreaked upon New York by Hurricane Sandy. But that’s nothing compared to its effects on low-lying Bangladesh, which has struggled with global warming-induced floods for years now. Bangladesh now endures two annual floods, leaving millions of people without access to clean water, electricity, and other basic amenities for huge portions of the year.

 

Since the rising tides of global warming won’t be slowing down anytime soon, a group called Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha has come up with an incredibly simple alternative: build homes, health care offices, and schools that can float. Founded by a Bangladeshi architect named Mohammed Rezwan in 2008, the nonprofit runs a fleet of almost a hundred boats that offer education to kids and their parents, as well as access to libraries, health care, and information about agriculture and financial management.  One young student says.

“I like the floating school.  During the Monsoon, water is everywhere. Everything is shut down. Only the floating school comes around at that time, right up to our doors.”

Rezwan, speaking over email, compares the program to a cross between a school and a school bus.

Rezwan says that Shidhulai is reaching 1,657 students right now (Click Image To Enlarge)

The number is likely to grow--scientists say that nearly 20% of the low-lying country will be underwater by 2030 (Click Image To Enlarge)

What’s fascinating about Shidhulai is the technology it’s actively developing to help families in the lowlands.  Writes the nonprofit.

“Issues like this need local solutions by local people.”

Rezwan oversees a small army of engineers and technicians, who manufacture everything from PV panels to bicycle-powered pumps. He’s developed a warning system for floods, and three different types of solar-powered lamps, which are given to families for free if their kids attend school on a regular basis. The batteries can be used to light homes or charge cell phones, and they can be recharged at the boats on a weekly basis. Rezwan also designs the boats, he explains,

"To adjust to any equipment configuration as well as to protect the electronic equipment from inclement weather, even during the height of the monsoon."

Each school boat has Internet, a laptop, and a small library.

Shidhulai Swanirvar Sangstha runs a fleet of 88 boats that offer education, health care, and connectivity to flood-stranded Bangladeshi families (Click Image To Enlarge)

The nonprofit was founded by an architect named Mohammed Rezwan, who designed the boats, along with several solar-powered systems and lamps (Click Image To Enlarge)

The shift has ended up offering new opportunities to people who otherwise would have little access to these types of services (Click Image To Enlarge)

Shidhulai also focuses on improving families’ access to farming techniques. Rezwan created a system he calls "solar water farming," which lets stranded villagers harness solar power to continue feeding themselves even without access to land or fertilizer.

He tells Co.Design.

"[The system includes] floating beds made of water hyacinth (to grow vegetables), a portable circular enclosure created by fishing net and bamboo strips (to raise fish) and floating duck coop powered by solar lamp.  It has a recycling system--duck manure is used as fish foods, old water hyacinth beds are sold as organic fertilizer, and the sun energy lights up the duck coop to maintain the egg production."

 

Rather than wondering whether they should be building homes near the river (as New Yorkers are now doing), Shidhulai is actively building homes on the river. Rezwan says that 46 of its 88 boats are being converted into climate shelters for displaced families. The shift has ended up offering new opportunities to people who otherwise would have little access to these types of services. Using the rivers to transport information, health care, and energy is a brilliantly simple idea, despite the dire circumstances. After all, breakthroughs in transportation usually go hand-in-hand with education and economic growth.  Rezwan says. 

”It’s helping people adapt to the changing climate.  And at the same time, it’s teaching them how to protect the environment and use the natural resources.”

332 schools were destroyed in the 2007 floods. Rezwan’s idea? Let’s put the schools on the river (Click Image To Enlarge)

Each of the floating schools has an Internet-connected laptop, as well as a library (Click Image To Enlarge)

Shidhulai also offers adult education, ranging from agriculture to financial management (Click Image To Enlarge)

COMMENTARY:   It's just incredible how a country like Bangladesh, in spite of its extreme povery, is still educating its children through shear creativity and resourcefulness.  Schools that float is a great idea, and it works, in spite of incredible disadvantages.  This is somethig that entire world can learn from.

Courtesy of an article dated December 8, 2012 appearing in Fast Company Design

"CHOP STICKS," A TREEHOUSE AND PLAYGROUND FOR KIDS MADE FROM THE NATURAL TRUNK OF A 100-FOOT TREE

Chop Stick is a building constructed almost entirely of one tree (the same tree you see sticking right through its center) - Click Image To Enlarge

THIS KIOSK IS MADE FROM PARTS OF A SINGLE TREE, A SINGLE TREE THAT STAYED MOSTLY INTACT.

Just about every building is made, at least in part, from trees. But Chop Stick, by Visiondivision, won’t let you forget that fact. It’s a “treehouse” made almost entirely from a single yellow poplar tree for 100 Acres park in Indiana. For an additional twist, every bit of the tree that wasn’t used served as an epic cross beam for the structure. So to the onlooker, there’s basically a whole tree sticking straight through a wooden kiosk.

Everything about the construction required extremely careful planning and modeling, as bits from the tree had to be removed without challenging its structural integrity (Click Image To Enlarge)

The project is meant to remind us that natural materials are sacrificed for everything we build (Click Image To Enlarge)

The team tells me. 

“Normally, we don’t think about where things are coming from in our daily life, and we really wanted to make it obvious.  Paper, bricks, mobile phones, whatever they might be, don’t just pop up by themselves … our idea is that we should really show this raw material in a pedagogic way, to see where things are coming from, and to also make a pretty awesome building.”

The project required an incredible amount of patient ingenuity.  Once the actual tree had been selected, all of its bark was removed and treated to serve as shingles (shingles that are maintenance free for 80 years, I might add). For the remainder of the project, the team had to closely analyze the shape of the tree itself to see which chunks could be removed without destroying its structural integrity.

But Chop Stick’s tone is positive, or playful even--you can even purchase the tree’s sweet sap from the snack counter (Click Image To Enlarge)

Youngsters along with their parents have fun on the Chop Stick swing (Click Image To Enlarge)

The team explains.

“We had to calculate each board that was required for the kiosk and also say exactly where this piece of wood was coming from.”

The team labels this process the most difficult part of the project.  Of course, these cuts gave the tree a newly balanced weight, meaning new mathematical simulations were run frequently, leading to the inverted jigsaw puzzle that was ultimately built.

In its new life, the tree will provide a beautiful swingset for kids in the park, and it will also serve refreshments. On the menu? Yellow poplar syrup that was extracted from the tree’s bark. As the team put it best, “you could actually eat a part of the building.”

COMMENTARY:  I just love how Visiondivison has carefully crafted into the construction of the Chop Sticks treehouse and playground the natural beauty of nature.  Regular steel swings are so boring after seeing the Chop Sticks treehouse and playground.  Chop Sticks is not just a playground, but a community watering hole where parents and children congregate, play and socialize. It's an outing and a celebration of nature's beauty.  

Courtesy of an article dated December 5, 2012 appearing in Fast Company Design 

THE MECHANICAL TOY WIZARDS AT LEGO OUT DO THEMSELVES AGAIN WITH THE 'GREAT BALL CONTRAPTION' OF ALL TIME

Lego Great Ball contraption moves balls from one spot to another (Click Imge To Enlarge)

Designed by Lego, they’re called Great Ball Contraptions. All they do is move miniature balls from one place to another--in the most complicated manner mechanically possible. For the Lego Technic-loving designer/engineer, they’re an elite, Rube Golderberg-esque litmus test of skills.

Click Images To Enlarge

But one epic build by 'Akiyuky’ may have just put all others to shame. It’s 100 feet of a ball-moving assembly line, constructed over 600 hours, with each new turn representing another ingenious mechanism in moving and sorting. My personal favorite moment happens about 2:00 in, as a triad of catapults launch the balls at a basketball hoop, but only those that make it move on to the next stage. 

 

Any of us who talk about design on a daily basis inevitably focus on an idea of core elegance, when simplicity, efficiency, and functionality combine in a fundamentally beautiful product. It’s a fun wake-up call to remember just how much delight one can find in the total opposite end of the spectrum, that inefficiency, overwroughtness, and sheer organizational absurdity has its place in the joy of design, too.

That said, I do appreciate the fact that my phone doesn’t take me through this contraption every time I check my email. Though every once in a while, it wouldn’t be the worst thing.

COMMENTARY:    Lego's Great Ball Contraption is an absolutely remarkable piece of mechanical toy technology.  I would never believe it if I had not watched the video.  The kids will go absolutely crazy over Lego's latest wonder.  Can the technical toy wizards at Lego ever out do this?

If you love this post, you will love my other blog posts about Lego dated February 10, 2012, April 9, 2012, and April 23, 2012.

Courtesy of an article dated July 1, 2012 appearing in Fast Company Design

 

BUDDY BEAR RETURNS WITH "MY FIRST DAY ADVENTURES," AN ORIGINAL AND UNIQUE EDUCATIONAL CHILDREN'S VIDEO SERIES

Join The Adventure!

From the creative minds of JOHN AGUIRRE and DALE FABRIGAR...

BUDDY BEAR IS BACK and ready to go on new adventures!

But we really need your help!

CLICK HERE TO MAKE A DONATION THROUGH INDIEGOGO

My First Day Adventures is an original and unique children's series concept that reinforces positive, educational and developmental themes such as conquering fear, working together, peer respect and the acceptance of new ideas – while conveying the fun and colorful learning a day with Buddy Bear inspires.

Buddy Bear : My First Day Adventures Pitch from Buddy Bear on Vimeo.

Sweeter than a Beehive Full of Honey!

Hello, my name is John Aguirre. In 2002 I had an idea that turned into a one-day shoot resulting in the award-winning "My First Day At Preschool With Buddy Bear." I realized I was on to something special when we received a myriad of awards, great press and accolades from parents and critics alike for our micro-budget show.  In 2005, ThinkFilm launched their ThinkFilmKids brand with our title, with the intention of producing a series of My First Day Adventures With Buddy Bear. Unfortunately, they couldn't weather the economic downturn that soon followed and went out of business – taking Buddy Bear down with them. Not being one to give up on my dreams, I teamed up with Dale Fabrigar to produce and design a new looking Buddy Bear and to create a new set of shows dedicated to educating and entertaining a new generation of young audiences.

We can't do this alone.

With your help, we'll have the opportunity to "re-boot" Buddy and the series to create new shows that will "Edutain" kids and families for years to come. We’ve already assembled a team of dedicated and talented cast and crew to help make this happen.

Our goal is to raise enough money to complete production on "My First Musical Adventure with Buddy Bear," a new chapter in the series that introduces our young audience to musical instruments, songs and dance, and encourages children to get up off the couch and participate. 

CLICK HERE TO MAKE A DONATION THROUGH INDIEGOGO

WOWEE-POWEE-KAZOWEE!

Whether you’re a major studio or an independent filmmaker, it takes a lot of money to produce quality shows. We’ll be producing half-hour shows at 1/10 the average cost of a major studio.

We will need at least $50,000.00 to produce a broadcast quality show. Every penny raised will be used for production. Expenses range from script development and acquisition, to construction of our main puppet characters, to production rentals including: stage, grip / electric, camera, sound, lighting, talent fees, music production, catering, insurance, location fees, editing, post production mix, sweetening & color correction, animation, final output, marketing and much more. 

We've already incurred many expenses, beginning with the design and development of our animatronic puppet character, Buddy Bear, as well as the camera tests we've shot and original music produced. Your hard earned contributions will go to help take the sting out of some of those expenses if we don't make our complete raise. No matter what we raise, I will do my personal best to complete at least one new episode of "My First Day Adventures With Buddy Bear."

Contributions from supporters like you will also have a strong effect on the remaining financing of the total production budget. If we raise contributions beyond our target goal, your support will enable us to expand this amazing project by adding more shows.

A great thing about crowd funding is the possibility of giving something back immediately. We’ll keep you posted on our progress with frequent updates, feedback, photos and videos from the production. Additionally, we’ll be giving away some great rewards and perks based on your generosity!

The entire team (below) is extremely excited and passionate about this project - with your help, we believe we can make Buddy Bear a success!

Other Ways You Can Help

If you can't contribute, we understand. You can still help by clicking the "Like" button above and sharing this Indiegogo page everywhere you can. It will be a tremendous help. Post it to your facebook, tumblr, twitter, reddit, pintrest or wherever else you can spread the word! There are a ton of preschool teachers and bloggers out there and it's really tough for us to reach out to them by ourselves. Indiegogo has some fantastic tools to help all of you spread the word.

The Team

JOHN AGUIRRE - Director / Creator

John's recent directorial credits includes 2 music videos he co-directed with Dale Fabrigar; both, "Feels So Right" and "Laugh Laugh" videos were assigments for mega music producer, RedOne (Gaga's secret weapon). The videos are currently enjoying hundreds of thousands of hits on YouTube and Feels So Right enjoyed a broadcast run on national tv in Morocco where it was shot. John's Indie feature film credits include "The Utopian Society (director), "You Did What" (produced by), Black Gold (2nd unit director) Soul Fire Rising web series (director) My First Day At Preschool (director). Other recent credits are stage managing for "The Bold and The Beatuiful" and assistant directing gigs on "Big Time Rush" and "Fresh Beat Band" for Nickelodeon and "Pair Of Kings" and "Lab Rats" for Disney.

DALE FABRIGAR - Producer / Director

Dale is a creative force to be reckoned with. He just completed directing the feature film entitled, "Lonely Boy" for Extit 43 Productions, due for release in 2013 and also recently directed the popular creature feature/thriller, "Area 407" for IFC Midnight/Sundance Selects. He produced and directed a web series for STARZ Digital Media and Koldcast.tv and has many short film and 2nd unit directing credits. Not only is Dale producing, but he will be directing a future episode of My First Day Adventures With Buddy Bear. Dale and John have successfully collaborated on several projects together over the past 4 years.

ROLAND CANAMAR - Executive Producer / Director of Photography

Roland is a veteran D.P. and craftsman of motion pictures. He's worked on feature films, tv pilots, commercials and web series. After years of hard work in the trenches, he has bulit an affordable studio environment, Silver Dream Factory, where independent filmmakers are able to express their creativity and realize their dreams without having to sell off an internal organ.

ROB MANKOWITZ - Business Development

Rob has been affiliated with My First Day Productions since 2004 and has been instrumental in ongoing public relations, marketing, promotions and development of the Buddy Bear brand.   Rob has broad entertainment experience from the creative, sales and marketing side of the business.  Rob was instrumental in securing national recognition for “My First Day at Preschool” which led to numerous awards.  

TERRA JOLÉ - Buddy Bear Suite Performer

Terra is a veteran performer of stage and screen. She has performed on both large and small stages, on television shows and in films and is an accomplished pop singer and dancer. Terra is armed with a positive attitude and brings an electric energy as well a lot of heart when it comes to animating Buddy Bear to life. She's an integral part of the show and inspires the crew to do their best.

Thank you for your support!

John Aguirre and Dale Fabrigar

CLICK HERE TO MAKE A DONATION THROUGH INDIEGOGO

 

FACEBOOK HAS 5.6 MILLION CHILDREN WITH ACCOUNTS IN SPITE OF BAN, AND PARENTS' CONCERNS CONCERNING KIDS' SAFETY ON FACEBOOK

Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) does have prohibitions and a tiered screening process in order to try to filter out children under the age of 13 from setting up accounts and accessing its social-networking site. However, the company has a secret that it hasn’t disclosed to investors in its SEC paperwork  and refused to acknowledge due to federal law – Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) has about 5.6 million accounts in the U.S. (about 3.5 percent of its U.S. total) that belong to children who are under age 13.

A 1998 federal law called the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) requires Web sites to give special treatment to Internet users under the age of 13. Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB), like many Web sites, prohibits younger Internet users  from using their sites or building accounts. However as the 5.6 million number indicates, despite Facebook’s tiered screening system, there are ways that children can work around the system and have access to Facebook and other sites. The goal of the law was to prevent online marketers from targeting children in their advertising. The Federal Trade Commission is due to finalize some new rules to further compel Web sites to restrict access to their sites by young children, though Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) claims that the new regulations wouldn’t apply to it because it has explicit warnings and prhibitios of younger users.

However, Reuters tested the Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) protocol, and while a fake child’s account registration was denied, an hour later that account was allowed with the same information (name, e-mail address,etc.) except for the birth year. The reason? Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) is not allowed by COPPA to save data from younger users or account registrants. A study revealed, though, that Facebook’s screening process does seem to eliminate about 800,000 child accounts on an annual basis, which is apparently progress from the company.

Filtering out children from the Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) account records might reduce its user numbers by nearly 4 percent, but it’s possible that investors in Facebook stock, like hedge-fund manager Chase Coleman of Tiger Global Management LLC, will appreciate the efforts that Facebook makes to cleans its Web site of the most vulnerable demographic.

COMMENTARY:    The new revelation that 5.6 million children under 13-years of age have been able to open accounts on Facebook shows just how poor Facebook's security has become.   If I were Facebook, and if it were possible, I would be contacting the parents about this immediately. Furthermore, I would establish a safe harbor for children by moving these 5.6 million under-13 accounts into a separate social network just for kids.  This would prevent children from otherwise interacting with children over 13 and adults.

MinorMonitor.com, a crusader for kids online safety, prepared this interesting infographic which analyzes the concerns of a sampling of 1,000 parents concerning kids' safety on Facebook: 

 Click Image To Enlarge

Courtesy of an article dated September 20, 2012 appearing in Insider Monkey and an article dated April 4, 2012 appearing in MinorMonitor.com

TEACHING WITH TABLETS: ADOPTION OF TABLETS BY K-12 AND COLLEGE STUDENTS, AND THEIR LONGTERM EFFECTS

Young children, students K-12 and college students, have all embraced tablets like the Apple iPad, and for this reason more tablets are making their way into the classroom.  The following infographic designed by Online Universities.com explains graphically tablet adoption by demographics and how students and teachers are using tablets in their classrooms.  The most popular tablets, including the Apple iPad 2, Kindle Fire,  Asus Nexus7 and Intel Studybook are compared, and consumers were polled for their opinions regarding tablets, including some speculations surrounding smaller tablets like a rumored iPad Mini and Kindle Fire 2.  

Click Image To Enlarge

COMMENTARY:    

Tablet Adoption - K-12 Classrooms

Tablet computers appear to be having a transformative impact on K-12 classrooms across all grade levels. They certainly offer the promise of empowering students to achieve more and learn with ever-increasing enthusiasm.

It’s important to distinguish between the types of tablets in the market. There are “slate” tablets—like the Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet or the Apple iPad—and “convertible tablets” such as the ThinkPad X220t, which provide a combination of laptop and tablet features. In this post, I’m going to be focused on slate tablets.

Tablets have dynamic touch screens and, in some cases, digital pens. Slates in particular offer longer battery life than most PCs, they boot up faster and users enjoy an ever-growing number of applications. Most importantly, they provide extreme mobility. Their small size enables students to move between learning spaces without difficulty—whether those spaces are in school, at home or elsewhere.

Researchers agree.  According to the 2012 edition of Horizon Report (PDF), which looks at emerging technologies in K-12, published by the New Media Consortium. 

“In the past year, advances in tablets have captured the imagination of educators around the world. [Tablets] have come to be viewed as not just a new category of mobile devices, but indeed a new technology in its own right, one that blends features of laptops, smartphones and earlier tablet computers with always-connected Internet, and thousands of apps with which to personalize the experience.”

As an example, Forsyth County Schools in Georgia launched a Bring Your Own Technology program in 2010. Today, more than 80 percent of the district’s students use their own tablets and mobile devices to work on projects at school and at home. Their NOBLE Virtual World Project is a project born from this high adoption rate, and is designed to use mobility to facilitate great cooperation between students and with their teachers.

Interestingly, tablet computers appear to be delivering meaningful results for K-12 students of all ages, despite their relative newness to the market.

Frank Ganis, a general partner at the Gilfus Education Group, believes tablets work better for young children than desktop PCs or laptops.  He says, pointing out that students’ motor skills and mental facilities are not synchronized enough at early ages to permit effective typing.

“The reason tablets are so important, especially in the lower grades of K-6, is because if students at that age have to use a keyboard it interferes with their ability to absorb and retain information.  By removing the keyboard from the learning applications, the tablets are more effective than a laptop or a PC.”

Tablets are also proving valuable to older students. One recent study conducted by the Pearson Foundation, found that tablet ownership quadrupled among college-bound high school seniors in the past year with 17 percent now claiming ownership of one of the devices. In fact, 69 percent of high school seniors said they believed tablets would replace textbooks within the next five years.

Considering these trends, it’s not surprising that tablets would be central to the larger movement toward 1-to-1, mobile-based learning.

Adds the New Media Consortium report.

“People expect to be able to work, learn, and study whenever and wherever they want to.  Life in an increasingly busy world where learners must balance demands from home, work, school, and family poses a host of logistical challenges with which today’s ever more mobile students must cope.”

Tablets meet that growing demand for convenience and speed, the report suggests.  The report says.  

“A faster approach is often perceived as a better approach, and as such people want easy and timely access not only to the information on the network, but to their social networks that can help them to interpret it and maximize its value.  The implications for informal learning are profound, as are the notions of ‘just-in-time’ learning and ‘found’ learning, both ways of maximizing the impact of learning by ensuring it is timely and efficient.”

All that being said, we don’t think tablets will be replacement devices for a notebook or PC anytime soon. Tablets are typically more suited for content consumption than content creation. While students can create content on a tablet, they are better suited as a companion device to a PC. Tablets simply are not yet on par with a notebook when it comes to computer power, which limits their ability to create rich content.

What do you think? How are you using tablets — either slate or convertible — in your classrooms? We’ll be talking more about trends in mobility tools in upcoming posts and welcome your feedback.

Tablet Adoption - College Students

Tablet ownership among college students has more than tripled since 2011, according to survey results released Wednesday, March 14, 2012.  As students bring more tablets to college, IT leaders likely will be forced to change the way they provide services and interact with students.

Out of approximately 1,200 college students surveyed online in January 2012 by Harris Interactive, 25 percent have a tablet. Last year, that number was only 7 percent.

The survey, commissioned by the Pearson Foundation, dovetailed with an updated 2012 forecast for tablet production. On Tuesday, March 13, the International Data Corp. changed its forecast from 87.7 million units to 106.1 million units. This revision reflected strong Q4 results in the tablet market — partly due to the introduction of the Kindle Fire. 

Tablet adoption also is rising among the general U.S. population. Between mid-December and January, the percentage of adults who owned tablets jumped from 10 to 19 percent, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Research Project. In two post-holiday surveys of 2,000 people, 24 percent of tablet owners were 18 to 29 year olds.

The largest user base came from the 30- to 49 year-old range, at 27 percent. Combined, the surveys have a margin error of plus or minus 2.4 percentage points.

The 2012 NMC Horizon Report suggested that tablet adoption would become mainstream in the education space within a year or less.

In a world where students will own devices and universities won't, campuses need to figure out the role of their IT organization, said A. Michael Berman, a member of the 2012 Horizon Project Higher Education Advisory Board and the vice president for technology and communication at California State University Channel Islands.

In general, universities are anticipating two major changes: End-users will own devices. And tablets will be so inexpensive and common that students won't need to search for and process information at computer labs. 

Berman said.  

"The idea that you would go somewhere to use something that you don't have — to do those kinds of activities — is really going to be obsolete." 

In a few more years, instructors likely will expect students to bring tablets, smartphones and other devices to class. Because tablets should become cheaper, more college students should be able to pay for them.

Berman said.  

"The biggest impact will be on teaching and learning because most of us have operated from the premise that computing power is scarce, so you have to go somewhere to get it."

But the shift to tablets also presents challenges, such as distributing software and other tools, and managing security.

Berman said.  

"I think that it's easy to see what the general trend is, but it's really hard to understand the implications." 

While it's too early to tell what these changes mean, IT leaders know they're coming and that they should try to figure them out as best as they can.

How Apple Plans To Dominate The Education Market

In a blog post dated January 20, 2012, I told you how Apple plans to dominate the educational market with the iPad and eBooks instead of hardcover textbooks, and apps targeting the teacher.  

At a New York press conference in late January 2012, Apple announced three products that aim to get students and teachers to use the iPad's touch-screen interface to read, write, plan classes and communicate with each other.  

• iBooks Author - A free app that lets anyone create a digital, interactive textbook.  In a demo at the event, an Apple employee created an e-book with the app in about five minutes, according to live blogs.
• iTunes U - Special free software that lets teachers plan their curriculum and communicate with their students over the iPad.   iTunes U will "allow anyone, anywhere, at any time to take courses for free.  
• iBooks 2 - A free app and a new online textbook store that will feature digital e-books for schools.  Apple said it is partnering with several major textbook companies -- including Pearson, McGraw-Hill and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, who will make e-books for the store, according to Fortune.

Some Concerns About Tablets

I personally believe that the adoption of tablets by K-12 children and students are a great idea whose time has come.  However, not all socio-economic households and schools can afford a tablets, mobile apps and access to WIFI for their school-aged children.   For this reason, I am afraid that many families and classrooms will be left behind as tablet technology becomes mainstream.   Only higher income households and schools scoring high on standardized tests will be able to afford these new technologies.  

My other concerns are privacy issues and proper supervision of students as they gain access to the Internet.  Teacher and parental supervision are paramount for all age groups to insure that they are not being exposed to improper online content.  Teachers and parents must make sure that tablets are being used responsibly by their children and students, and that these devices are being used for educational activities, not just for playing games and online entertainment.   

We won't know the affect tablets and computers will have on the quality of education.  Goals must be established and educators must make sure that tablets and other mobile teaching devices are producing higher test scores and grades. 

Courtesy of an article dated August 21, 2012 appearing in OnlineUniversities.com and an article dated March 14, 2012 appearing in Converge Magazine and an article dated May 30, 2012 appearing in K12 Education Technology

FRENCH DESIGNER GUILLAUME BOUVET INVENTS THE 'AZ DESK', A DESK THAT YOUR KIDS NEVER OUTGROW

Kids grow. Their belongings do not. Enter the AZ desk.

Kids grow. Their belongings do not. Which sucks for parents who could be spending dough on a hot new car college fund but instead have to buy new shoes, bedroom furniture, and the like every time their offspring sprouts a few inches.

AZ desk concept from guillaume bouvet on Vimeo.

Enter the AZ desk. Designed by Lyon-based Guillaume Bouvet, it includes a chair and writing surface that get taller as your child morphs from a shrimpy toddler to a full-blown adult. Even the writing surface “grows up,” converting from a kiddie-friendly chalkboard into an ergonomic table that could pass for something at mom or dad’s office.

Clever, right? Parents only need to buy one desk in 18 years, which means more money for, uh... college! Unfortunately, AZ is just a prototype. But Bouvet tells Co.Design that he plans to put the desk into production next year. We'll keep you updated.

Attracted to work with his own hands and with curiosity to discover the world, Guillaume Bouvet embarks on the ‘Tour de France’ of the Compagnons du Devoir at the age of 17. To become a craftsman, a cabinet maker.

Drawing his inspirations from travelling, from Scandinavian design culture and the incontrovertible book of Raymond Loewy « la laideur se vend mal », Guillaume Bouvet makes his first exploits as product designer at the side of Gilles Damon from Damon Design.

In close contact with the professionals who he discovers in books and visits in their workshops he confirms his desire for the conception of wooden furniture, ergonomic and adjustable. His special interest lays with flexible furniture for the young. From these encounters, his new ideas and building on his solid ‘savoir-faire’ develops “AZ Desk”, un new desk for kids growing up. It is going to be presented at the Exposition Internationale de Design, the DMY-Berlin in June 2011.

COMMENTARY:   The beauty of the AZ desk is its simplicity, transformability and functionality. Less is more.  Solves the problem of kids outgrowing their desks.

Courtesy of an article dated July 22, 2011 appearing in Fast Company Design