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June 2002 - Innovations Newsletter
New Google Search Feature Google (my favorite search engine) has made it easy to find information published in mail-order catalogs that were not previously available online. Their Google Catalog Search includes the full content of hundreds of mail-order catalogs selling everything from industrial adhesives to clothing and home furnishings. Try it by typing: Catalogs.google.com into your favorite Internet browser. Then enter a category such as “videos” or “motorcycles.” Birthday Chronicle: I hope you and your friends are enjoying the free Birthday Chronicles we’ve sent out over the past few weeks. We’re just about ready to offer a new personalized product, “The Sands of Time”, which is a beautiful printout listing 25 things that happened on a given day in history. Newsletter subscribers will have an opportunity to purchase one at a significant discount. New Book Coming: I can’t tell you the name yet, but it’s a big star whose movie is opening the middle of June. I’ll send out a special email announcing the arrival of the book and a special price just for newsletter subscribers. You can also go to: http://www.rwrinnovations.com/mailing_list.htm (our newsletter page) and check out our current specials. Looks like summer is finally here. The kids are out of school and looking for things to do. Here’s this months collection of interesting web sites. Kid Friendly Vacations Here are two sites that list every kind of music festival in the United States. http://www.festivalfinder.com and http://www.festivals.com Welcome to Chart Jungle! Free printables and reproducibles for baby, preschool, kindergarten, and more. Use the charts provided to help you get more organized in your life and activities. http://www.chartjungle.com/ Photo Stamps Here’s a company that makes stamps out of anything you can draw, photocopy or scan and then email to them. http://www.stampaway.com/ Mr. Rogers lives on the Internet Neighborhood of Make Believe including areas: For Neighbors of all Ages, Song List, Parents and Teachers. A great site for those who enjoy Mr. Rogers. http://pbskids.org/rogers/ Battle of the Buildings This site tells the story of the battle of the buildings that occurred in New York in This 1920s, ending with the history of the Empire State Building. A wonderful history listen for the youngsters. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/newyork/laic/episode5/topic5/e5_topic5.html Soap Opera site Provides information about the hottest topics, behind the scenes info, and spoilers that add to the enjoyment and excitement of your favorite "Passion". http://www.Soaps-411.com Free goodies for children Lists free goodies for children. Also has links to sites listing product recalls. If you’re worried about the safety of a product, this is the site to go to. http://www.webfreebees.net/kidslinks/kids-babies.html Ever wanted to be a filmmaker? Here’s a neat site that lets you create a digital film and then email it to anyone. It’s not Disney, but it is a lot of fun! Unleash your creativity and make your digital film for free! Choose a background scene, characters, animated actions, dialog, introduction, and ending credits. Put your name as the producer and email the movie to your friends! You can also signup at no cost as a registered user, which gives you access to more advanced features, such as being able to save or edit the movies that you create. http://digitalfilms.com Great Ice Cream Site: Provides serving tips, recipes, and presentation ideas for those special occasions. http://www.haagen-dazs.com The Lemonade Stand Game Are your kids thinking about having a lemonade stand this summer? Before they do, have them try out “The Lemonade Stand Game.” http://www.lemonadegame.com/ Tie Dyes for Tots Has everything you could want tie dyed, even for adults. http://www.tiedyesfortots.com/ Free education on the Internet Choose from over 120 different vocational and academic disciplines. http://www.free-ed.net Fairy Tale Sites Here are some sites that provide online fairy tales for children: http://www.aesopfables.com/ http://www.umass.edu/aesop/ http://www.nationalgeographic.com/grimm Dr. Seuss National Memorial web site http://www.catinthehat.org/ Free Animation Software: Maya Complete lets users build, animate and add voices to 3-D characters and create 3-D objects and environments for movies and games. You can download a free version that adds a watermark that keeps you from selling your creations. But, still lets you learn how to use the software. http://www.aliaswavefront.com Picture Search: Great Site for Movie Buffs. Lets you enter the name of a person and then searches for pictures of that person. I used it to look up Virginia Madsen (loved her in Electric Dreams) and got a lot of good information back. http://www.picsearch.com Rules for Games Web Site: Every wanted to play a game, but couldn’t remember or find the rules? Here is a site that has rules for just about every type of game. http://www.everyrule.com Something to think about: A few years ago, I worked for two summers in a kid’s camp in Pennsylvania. We had 500 children (girls and boys ages 6-17) for eight weeks, day and night. It was quite an experience! I slept in boy’s camp, in the middle of about 250 boys. Not good for a light sleeper! My official title was “Computer Science Director” (I ran the computer program), but, wanting to enjoy the entire camp experience, I got involved in a variety of things. Filled in as a counselor, served meals to the kids, helped the lady who taught cooking, and did anything else I could to help when needed. One night I was walking through boy’s camp and heard the usual screaming, “fighting” and noises in the first of several “bunks” where 6-7 years old buys were quartered. I asked the “guard”, a counselor sitting on their porch, if I could go in. He said, “It’s your life, good luck!” I went in and asked them if they would like to hear story? I got several books tossed to me. And so, began my nightly story sessions with the little ones. After that first night, I ended up reading to five groups of kids and was able to get a group to sleep in about 15 minutes. The older kids were another thing entirely. 12 year olds were to grown up for stories. So, one day at the mall, I bought some old time radio tapes and tried them. The older kids (and the little ones too) were fascinated by the tapes. They would calm down, listen to the stories, and go to sleep. My experiences may not be typical, but I’ve found that plopping a kid in front of a TV or a computer for hours at a time is not good for anyone. But, letting them use their imaginations is wonderful for everyone! So, try this some evening when you’re at your wits end and want the kids to calm down. Get an old time radio tape, make some popcorn, dim the lights, stretch out on the floor or the couch and let your imaginations soar. Some of the old time radio shows are superior to anything made today. Two of my favorite shows were “X Minus One” and “Sleep No More.” X-Minus One was a science fiction series from one of the popular magazines of the day (Astounding or Amazing I think), and “Sleep No More” was horror stories. I especially liked the Poe stories such as “The Pendulum and the Pit.” Here’s a link to a site that has old radio shows for sale (For more listings type “Old time radio shows” in Google and you’ll get a list. http://www.radiomemory.com/ See you next month. Ron Nixon RWR Innovations We Make Reading Fun Again! Issue: 06/01/2022 ISSN #: 1543-9275 Note: The websites in this newsletter are listed because I find them interesting and have value to parents and children. They have not paid money or given me anything to be mentioned. RWR Innovations Personalized Books make great fund raisers. Personalized Children's Books P.O. Box 460939 Papillion NE 68046-0939 402-592-9199 Webmaster: Ron Nixon wa8zde@bellsouth.net 3807 Shadowood Parkway SE Atlanta GA 30339-2301 770-850-1400 Site Map 06/01/2002 |