This is slightly off-topic, but it’s important for us all to be discussing. As a parent I find it particularly alarming. The first video is from a great TED talk by Jamie Oliver and the second is from the Oscar-nominated documentary called Food, Inc..
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This awesome video from the band OK Go is buzzing around the internet right now.
It reminded of a post that I’ve been wanting to do about attempting a similar Rube Goldberg-style chain reaction with your kids. You can find a whole slew of similar of other attempts on YouTube.
A good friend put together a smaller scale contraption with his son, Asher. He was kind enough to let me share it with you (Thanks, Jeff!). As is the case with any video I’ve shot with my daughter, it ends with “and now can I watch it?”. Have a look:
Oh, and remember this? This was Pee Wee Herman’s morning routine, which includes an elaborate breakfast making machine:
And here are several other OK Go videos that are pretty ridiculously great… Also potentially great sources of inspiration.
Thud. Another great click-tivity created by Rafaël Rozendaal.
Here’s a fun (and perhaps educational?) way to spend a thirty minutes with your kids. Save some toilet paper rolls, make yourself some binoculars, download the iPhone app called Chirp! (available from iTunes), and go pretend bird watching! Or, if you can go REAL bird watching maybe you should do that. In a pinch, however, this works.
Many of you have probably already seen this, but now it’s accompanied by a soundtrack by Sigur Ros. Your kids will love this story.
Here’s something fun (and pretty) to click on with the kids. By Rafaël Rozendaal.
This is by far the best interactive website I’ve come across. Packed full of interesting and playful things to do and hardly any fluff or annoying loading screens. I was really amazed at how many different ideas they managed to squeeze into this. They’re trying to keep it free of advertising, so if you like it, make a donation!
If you’re looking for some great books to add to your collection, I highly recommend any of these by Laurie Keller. They’re exceptional on every level; well thought out and amazingly clever. I love flipping through them as much as my daughter loves having them read to her. Each time through you’ll find something new to look at and discuss. And no surprise either, her website is very cute. Available from Amazon.
This year, the members of The Polyphonic Spree, along with two other bands (TBD), will join the Invisible Children crew and La Blogotheque on a journey to Gulu, Uganda. While there, the bands will learn about the many affects the 24-year-long war has had on the area and its inhabitants, and they will learn about what’s being done to stop it. During their stay, each of the bands will play a show – in La Blogotheque’s Take Away Show fashion – interacting with the locals and using the surroundings and the scenery to enhance the experience for all.
The result will be a documentary film – a series of three Take Away Shows interspersed with band member interviews and local events. The film will be sold by Invisible Children in an effort to raise funds to further promote awareness of the 23-year-long war and to support the Invisible Children programs.
Invisible Children and La Blogotheque want YOU to be involved. Your support will not only help get production for this project under way, but it will ultimately help us in proving to the world that ‘musical notes can be more powerful than bullets, and songs more powerful than bombs’. Click HERE to donate to this great cause or learn more.
INVISIBLE CHILDREN: In the spring of 2003, three young filmmakers traveled to Africa in search of a story. What started out as a filmmaking adventure transformed into much more when these boys from Southern California discovered a tragedy that disgusted and inspired them, a tragedy where children are both the weapons and the victims. After returning to the States, they created the documentary “Invisible Children: Rough Cut,” a film that exposes the tragic realities of northern Uganda’s night commuters and child soldiers. See this film and you will be forever changed.
Get it HERE for only $10. Watch it, then pass it on to a friend.
Whoa, would this make the most amazing baby blanket or what? I wonder if the artist, Rebeca Raney, would be willing to take such a commission. What if I promised her work would be drooled over? She currently has a show exhibited at the Mountain Fold Gallery in New York through February 20th.
As if I wasn’t already aching to visit Berlin, check out these amazing See Saws designed by DS Landscape Architects. And just when I thought wee saw would never get to post about a see saw… Oh happy day!
A very cool lo-fi animation by this graphic designer living in Singapore. I can imagine trying a (far more simplified) version of this with my daughter once she’s a little older. Maybe you wanna give it a try? If nothing more it’ll make your kid excited to get to the playground and jump around.
Babies is a beautifully filmed documentary, set to release next year, that follows the lives of “four of the world’s newest human inhabitants” (from Mongolia, Namibia, San Francisco and Tokyo). I think this serves as further evidence that, at least at the beginning, we’re all really not that different.
For convenience I’ve embedded the trailer here, but to give the imagery justice I recommend watching it from here.
Perhaps the best seating for a child’s playroom EVER? Available from Jellio.
My brain hurt a little (as I’m guessing yours might) after looking at these amazing images by Korean photographer JeongMee Yoon. They’re so loaded with objects and implications that it’s difficult to sort out your own emotional response and appreciate them as simple artistic works. I’m equal parts repulsed and engrossed. Still, it’s hard not to wonder if there’s something physiological that draws us to specific colors, or whether it’s just a result of successful marketing. Be sure to pop over to JeongMee’s site to read what his intentions were with the project. Very interesting.
Interested in finding something for under $20 that will entertain your kids for… I don’t know… say… their entire childhood? Of course you are. Get on over to eBay and win yourself an auction on a “lot” of scarves. From peek-a-boo, to dress-up, to fort siding, you will NOT run out of ideas and uses for these things. Search “lot vintage scarves” and you should have yourself some options. Obviously “vintage” is optional, but the patterns from ‘back in the day’ seem far more inspired.
Have I mentioned I love ShapeMaker blocks? Oh, yes, I did. And I still do. I even sometimes let my daughter play with them. Here’s my most recent creation.
How great is this? Music box meets train track. Amazing on many levels, but I think my favorite part is that you can shuffle up the track pieces to create different musical configurations. If anyone figures out where it can be purchased please let us know.
I don’t really need to say anything, do I? But I’m going to… This is brilliant. So simple, so smart. You can buy from Muji’s website. Although you may need a translator.
Love these beautifully designed height charts designed by Studio 1a.m..
And while we’re posting that little bit of awesomeness, it seems like an opportune time to share something else. Back in June we posted about a participatory art installation by Slovakian artist Roman Ondák at MoMA. Below is a new video featuring the artist describing his work. Pretty fun.
These beautiful images by Grant Hamilton sure seem like perfect inspiration if you’re about to paint your kid’s room (Or any room for that matter). Not sure it’d be possible to capture the beautiful subtleties in tone of a Polaroid, but it sure would be worth a try. To watch a Flickr slideshow click here (treat yourself to full screen, you deserve it).
Some questions you’d probably ask Grant if given the chance are covered in Josh Spear’s brief interview with him from back in ’08.
The Flip camera is brilliant. Particularly if you’re a new parent, you need one like you need a stroller. Seriously. You’re gonna have enough to manage that you’re won’t want to lug around a bulky camcorder, but you WILL want some of those moments documented. Making them even more convenient, they connect to your computer by way of a self-contained USB arm that snaps out with a flick of a switch.
