Most of today went well. Hubby and I took the kids out today for some family time, and we had a good time, all in all. A few roughspots, but mostly a good day.
First stop, Home Depot. There was definitely a party at the Depot today! I remember practically living there when we first moved into this house. They were having a huge sale on outdoor grills today - we were SO close to buying one, but alas, the guilt and our budget clearly led us into the "we really don't need a new one" mindset. Whew, that was close.
After picking up some filters (water and furnace), a little birdbath, some suet (bird food) and some bug spray, we were off to Toys R Us. The kids were THIS close to not getting toys. ONE toy each, Daddy said. Did you get toys often when you were a kid? I certainly didn't. And we try to not spoil these guys, but every so often, with good behavior as the reason for them, they get to go to the store to pick out 1 toy each. But as I said, they were testing us today, and we were close to rendering them toyless. They turned things around, and there was much rejoicing. YAY!
You know, it's kinda interesting to watch my hubby be the disciplinarian. He's real good at it, really. He has that booming voice, but most of the time, it's his quiet, stern attitude that gets them all weepy. What is REALLY interesting is that I heard Princess really get under his skin today. Now we've had recent discussions about how I tend to react to Princess with anger as of late, and he makes a solid point there, and I'm not proud of it. I'm working on it. But to see him get his hairs up when she constantly doesn't listen to him certainly makes me take notice and file it all away. He sometimes really experiences how difficult it is to stay calm with that little pill. I am NOT losing my mind! That girl REALLY has a talent!
But I digress. They got their toys, after they shaped up and flew right. We proceeded to lunch at the mall, and then some hang out time at the bookstore. I love bookstores. Today it was reading with the girls while Daddy took Pumpkin about. It was wonderful.
Then we came home. OMG. These kids were SO tired. And bouncing off the wall. And weepy for NO reason. Did I tell you that Sweetpea has a tendency lately to WHINE? OMG. Take the batteries out of that kid! Needless to say, it was an early bedtime for all.
I can almost hear quiet up there. (Princess is STILL playing up there. PLEASE fall into deep slumber, my little sassafrass! Wait, is that Sweetpea singing? I KNOW that Pumpkin is sleeping - he was half asleep playing with his new helicopter earlier.)
Ah, to be a kid again.
Showing posts with label kids. Show all posts
Showing posts with label kids. Show all posts
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Video games let children play while they learn
Kids with cancer are getting unconventional advice from some North Texas doctors: Eat your vegetables. Take your medicine. And don't forget to play your video game.
Physicians and nurses at Cook Children's Medical Center are urging youngsters to try a shoot-'em-up computer game called Re-Mission that teaches them about their disease and pushes them to keep up with treatments.
Re-Mission is just one example of an emerging spate of so-called "serious games" that blend technology, entertainment and education to reach the so-called Xbox generation.
Although such games account for just a sliver of the $7.4 billion video game industry, they've taken off in recent years -- focusing on themes from everyday money management to the genocide in Darfur.
"Technology is allowing us, now, to approach the teaching of things in new ways," said Marc Prensky, chief executive of New York-based Games2Train.
"Instead of just talking about it, you can actually do it," he said.
Trenton Shepard, an Arlington teen who was treated for leukemia at Cook Children's last year, said the Re-Mission game helps him better understand the vomiting, fatigue and mouth sores that he experienced.
The game puts players in the role of a microscopic robot that travels through the human body blasting cancer cells, defending against infections and grappling with often life-threatening side effects.
"I just like the way it shows you exactly what you're going through," Shepard, 17, said. "Tumors, you get to shoot them all."
Re-Mission was created by California-based HopeLab, a 6-year-old nonprofit organization started by Pam Omidyar, whose husband is the founder of the eBay auction site.
Omidyar paid most of the $4.6 million price tag for the game, which has been given to more than 80,000 players in 74 countries since its launch in April 2006.
The payoff came last year in a clinical study, which included Cook Children's cancer patients among the participants.
HopeLab researchers found that youngsters who played the game knew more about their disease and were more likely to follow treatment instructions, such as taking antibiotics and undergoing chemotherapy.
That's significant, because adolescents often have trouble sticking to treatment, HopeLab spokesman Richard Tate said.
The game's fun approach connects with young people, and the strategy has potential for other childhood ailments, such as obesity and autism, he said.
"There's a whole generation of people who are so native to this technology," Tate said. "Games are really a part of everyday life."
Still, Prensky, who has researched the rise of serious games, said they've been slow to catch on with mainstream video game makers who don't see much profit potential in a small target audience.
"The majority of it, I think, is being funded by either the government or foundations," Prensky said. "The question that people are struggling with now is: Can you be a commercial company, make these, and sell these, and make any money?"
Prensky, who counted 50 serious games when he began his research in 2000, estimates that more than 2,000 such games are now on the market -- although few are as sophisticated as Re-Mission.
His predictions: Developers will move to more complex games that have powerful graphics and numerous levels of play.
And the expansion of serious games will continue, even if the market remains small.
"This stuff is going to happen," Prensky said. "People will always come up with something, because they have passion about it."
Some serious games
Archimage Inc., a Houston-based design studio, is creating two video games aimed at preventing obesity and diabetes in children.
The company describes Escape from Diab and Nanoswarm: Invasion From Inner Space as "sci-fi adventures in healthy eating and exercise." With a grant from the National Institutes of Health, Archimage is collaborating on the games with researchers from Baylor College of Medicine.
Massachusetts-based Design Continuum in 2002 invented a headset that connects to a Nintendo GameBoy system, allowing a child to play a game while the device administers anesthesia. The NIH paid for the research and development of the device, called PediSedate.
A group in West Virginia is working to put Konami Digital Entertainment's Dance Dance Revolution -- a foot-stomping, hand-clapping stamina-buster -- into every school in the state. Other U.S. schools, including the Academy at West Birdville in Haltom City, already are using the popular game in their physical-education classes. In February, researchers in West Virginia found that the game improved the health of players who participated in their study.
Darfur is Dying was created by mtvU, the Reebok Human Rights Foundation and the International Crisis Group to raise awareness about the genocide in Sudan. The game is a simulation, from the perspective of a displaced Darfurian in a refugee camp.
Physicians and nurses at Cook Children's Medical Center are urging youngsters to try a shoot-'em-up computer game called Re-Mission that teaches them about their disease and pushes them to keep up with treatments.
Re-Mission is just one example of an emerging spate of so-called "serious games" that blend technology, entertainment and education to reach the so-called Xbox generation.
Although such games account for just a sliver of the $7.4 billion video game industry, they've taken off in recent years -- focusing on themes from everyday money management to the genocide in Darfur.
"Technology is allowing us, now, to approach the teaching of things in new ways," said Marc Prensky, chief executive of New York-based Games2Train.
"Instead of just talking about it, you can actually do it," he said.
Trenton Shepard, an Arlington teen who was treated for leukemia at Cook Children's last year, said the Re-Mission game helps him better understand the vomiting, fatigue and mouth sores that he experienced.
The game puts players in the role of a microscopic robot that travels through the human body blasting cancer cells, defending against infections and grappling with often life-threatening side effects.
"I just like the way it shows you exactly what you're going through," Shepard, 17, said. "Tumors, you get to shoot them all."
Re-Mission was created by California-based HopeLab, a 6-year-old nonprofit organization started by Pam Omidyar, whose husband is the founder of the eBay auction site.
Omidyar paid most of the $4.6 million price tag for the game, which has been given to more than 80,000 players in 74 countries since its launch in April 2006.
The payoff came last year in a clinical study, which included Cook Children's cancer patients among the participants.
HopeLab researchers found that youngsters who played the game knew more about their disease and were more likely to follow treatment instructions, such as taking antibiotics and undergoing chemotherapy.
That's significant, because adolescents often have trouble sticking to treatment, HopeLab spokesman Richard Tate said.
The game's fun approach connects with young people, and the strategy has potential for other childhood ailments, such as obesity and autism, he said.
"There's a whole generation of people who are so native to this technology," Tate said. "Games are really a part of everyday life."
Still, Prensky, who has researched the rise of serious games, said they've been slow to catch on with mainstream video game makers who don't see much profit potential in a small target audience.
"The majority of it, I think, is being funded by either the government or foundations," Prensky said. "The question that people are struggling with now is: Can you be a commercial company, make these, and sell these, and make any money?"
Prensky, who counted 50 serious games when he began his research in 2000, estimates that more than 2,000 such games are now on the market -- although few are as sophisticated as Re-Mission.
His predictions: Developers will move to more complex games that have powerful graphics and numerous levels of play.
And the expansion of serious games will continue, even if the market remains small.
"This stuff is going to happen," Prensky said. "People will always come up with something, because they have passion about it."
Some serious games
Archimage Inc., a Houston-based design studio, is creating two video games aimed at preventing obesity and diabetes in children.
The company describes Escape from Diab and Nanoswarm: Invasion From Inner Space as "sci-fi adventures in healthy eating and exercise." With a grant from the National Institutes of Health, Archimage is collaborating on the games with researchers from Baylor College of Medicine.
Massachusetts-based Design Continuum in 2002 invented a headset that connects to a Nintendo GameBoy system, allowing a child to play a game while the device administers anesthesia. The NIH paid for the research and development of the device, called PediSedate.
A group in West Virginia is working to put Konami Digital Entertainment's Dance Dance Revolution -- a foot-stomping, hand-clapping stamina-buster -- into every school in the state. Other U.S. schools, including the Academy at West Birdville in Haltom City, already are using the popular game in their physical-education classes. In February, researchers in West Virginia found that the game improved the health of players who participated in their study.
Darfur is Dying was created by mtvU, the Reebok Human Rights Foundation and the International Crisis Group to raise awareness about the genocide in Sudan. The game is a simulation, from the perspective of a displaced Darfurian in a refugee camp.
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