Tag Archives: digital kids

Kazaana & Radio Disney Help Kick Off Girl Scouts Winterfest this Weekend!

. Bloggers, Events, Families . , , , , ,

Kazaana & Radio Disney Help Kick Off Girl Scouts Winterfest this Weekend!

‘Tis the season to give and to receive and we have the best idea for taking care of both- come along with Kazaana to the Girl Scouts of Northern California Winterfest! Kazaana and Radio Disney are teaming up to bring you a day of funs, prizes and games at this, the last BIG event celebrating 100 years of Girl Scouts. It is a magical winter wonderland of crafts, games, and holiday shopping created by Teens Take Over and troops from all over Northern California. You can make your own unique room decorations, impress people with your glamorous jewelry-making abilities, stand out from the crowd with face paint and henna tattoos, play exciting games to win prizes, and shop for one of a kind holiday gifts that you will not find at the mall!

This event is also the culmination of a week-long food drive for Second Harvest Food Bank by the Girls Scouts and you can pitch in by bringing 2 cans of food with you to Winterfest. Kazaana will also be in the giving spirit, and for every kid who signs up for Kazaana at our booth, we will donate an additional can of food to the food drive. But you won’t be going home empty handed, as all kids who sign up also get a very cool, exclusive gift!

See you there!

Details:
Winterfest 2012
Sat, Dec. 1, 2012, 10am – 3pm
Santa Clara County Fairgrounds
$15.00 per child + 2 cans of food or non-perishable food items
$10.00 per adult +2 cans of food or non-perishable food items

cc courtesy of woodleywonderworks on Flickr

Will personal reinvention become a thing of the past?]

. Kids & Tweens, Opinion, Social Media . ,

When I was seven years old, I had one of the most mortifying  experiences of my young life. No matter how many years go by, this event is scorched into my memory- even now as I write this, my cheeks are starting to burn with embarrassment by just remembering it.

On this day, I got all dressed up and went with my dad to a play at the local children’s theatre. My mom stayed home with my sister who was just a baby at the time, so it was just me and my dad- a lovely father daughter outing. At intermission we went out in the courtyard to enjoy a brownie and some lemonade from the snack stand then I decided to join a bunch of other kids in walking around the edge of the courtyard fountain. Big mistake. Trying to show off, I climbed to the top ring of the fountain to walk along its slippery, brick edge. Then I fell in. Sputtering and drenched, I was hauled from the fountain by various grownups while other kids (many that I knew from school) looked on and laughed their behinds off.  Continue reading →

cc courtesy of sundaykofax on Flickr

Making Grandma a Techie

. Families . , , ,
Your parents want to spend more time with their grandkids, but you all live busy lives. Kids are swamped with academic commitments, dance lessons and soccer practices, and that once a week call to grandma that you are able to slot into their schedule just doesn’t really feel like quality time. Thankfully, grandparents can adopt a few key technologies that will help them connect with the grandkids easily and often.


Video Messaging Services

Face time is important, but it doesn’t have to happen in the same room anymore. Video chat programs allow your parents to chat with the kids in real time using only a computer, a webcam, free software, and an Internet connection. Through a video chat, your kids can talk with relatives in a more comfortable and interactive way- think of it as the ability to show AND tell! Ask a kid over the phone, “how’s school going?” and you are lucky to get a response of “fine” out of them. But over a webcam, they can show off their artwork, the A+ they got on their spelling test, or even the new family dog. Now, that’s vastly more interesting for both parties than a quick phone call, right?  These programs are also a great way for grandparents to talk to or play games with friends or other relatives who have retired to other cities.

Continue reading →

cc courtesy of deryckh on Flickr

What are your kids doing online, anyway?

. Kids & Tweens . , ,

My tech-savvy 12-year-old niece, Alice, lives across the ocean from her best friend, Lena, who moved to Hawaii last year. Alice and Lena use email and Skype to stay in touch in spite of the distance and an 8-hour time difference. 15 years ago they may have remained pen pals, exchanging letters every month or so, but now technology allows them to communicate faster, more often, and with more friends.

Today, most kids lead active online lives. Eighty-one percent of teenagers between 16 and 17 have a social networking account, and they use these sites to do more than just post pictures and status updates. For children like Alice, online activities impact friendships, education, and even future career prospects.

Continue reading →

cc image courtesy of woodleywonderworks on Flickr

Digital Charm School: Teaching your child netiquette

. Kids & Tweens, Opinion, Social Media, Uncategorized .

Name-calling. Hurt Feelings. These are some of the heartaches of childhood that we all experienced at some point. These days, with more kids online, these kinds of behaviors aren’t relegated to the schoolyard anymore. Heck, even some adults haven’t figured out how to be polite online yet! Here at PixyKids, we realize how important it is for you to have the tools to help your kids navigate this online world with the best etiquette — or netiquette — possible.


The Basics of Netiquette

The combination of the words “social network etiquette” form what we call “netiquette”, and it helps set some rules and boundaries for how we behave in our online world. While netiquette undergoes sometimes subtle — and sometimes less than subtle — changes along with each new incarnation of technology, there are some fundamental acceptable behaviors. Unsurprisingly, they are a lot of the same values and ideas our parents taught us, but in a new and more complicated context.
Your kids will find better social footing  by understanding some of the basic ways to stay sensitized to other people’s feelings online – a place that seems to be moving away from that concept more all the time. The potential to lose sight of the human factor in social media can be easy enough for adults, so it’s no wonder kids can fall prey to the same pitfalls involved with nearly instant communication.

Continue reading →

Girl with iPhone

Teaching Your Kids Manners In The Digital Age

. Kids & Tweens, Social Media .

As digital natives grow up using social media more and more for everything from making friends to sending out birthday party invitations, children may think the online environment should be the only environment in which they interact with peers. They grow up wondering why they can’t just say a quick ‘thanks’ online, rather than hand-writing a thank you note to their grandparents. Though communication has indeed morphed due to the information age, simple etiquette deems a phone call or a pen and paper more appropriate for certain occasions. Your child may need help recognizing these times, so that they learn how to navigate the line between tech and tradition from you. Continue reading →