Leopards & Tigers & Bears To Wear
Stifled the impulse to run wild for too long? Express your inner animal by slinging an owl, fox or any of more than 20 creatures on your head from spirithoods. It won’t hurt a single living being.
Continue ReadingAuthor: Laura Grace Weldon
Rule Over Tiny Living Worlds
Remember making dioramas in school? Now imagine similarly dramatic scenes set amongst living foliage. That’s what is so inspiring about Tiny World Terrariums: A Step-by-Step Guide to Easily Contained Life. For those of us into tiny enhanced versions of reality this is crazy fun.
Continue ReadingWhat to Expect When You’re Reading GeekMom
You know that rare but amazing feeling when you meet someone and just click? You may not share the same opinions but what you have in common is open-eyed curiosity, a sense of humor others don’t always get, and absorbingly passionate interests. You realize: This is an epic friendship in the making. That is what you find here at GeekMom.
Continue ReadingRaising Aspiring Emigrants
Kids go their own way. That basic principle is easily gleaned from literature, movies, or a quick look at how much our friends differ from their own parents. Years ago I joked that my anti-establishment neighbor’s son could grow up to be a paunchy stockbroker and that my frantically risk-averse friend’s might end up with […]
Continue ReadingLetting My Geek Flag Fly
My “regular” life doesn’t give me much time to indulge in my geeky interests. I edit books, feed chickens and cows, write articles, attend meetings, spend too much time on the interwebz, run errands, interact with the kids I’ve spawned, make dinner, and at the end of each day try to spend a some […]
Continue ReadingFunny Food
Play with your food. Go ahead. Make a banana truck, pancake guitar, pineapple boat, or cereal face. Artfully silly food takes on new appeal thanks to a man who has plenty of experience making creative meals. Bill Wurtzel, an art director and jazz musician, has made amusing breakfast for 50 years to serve his wife […]
Continue ReadingBirthday Week: Throw A BYOB Party
Looking for a cheap party that’s sure to be a hit? Throw one of my favorite events for kids. A BYOB party,as in Bring. Your. Own. Box. Guests are invited to show up with cardboard boxes of all sizes, the more the merrier, the bigger the better. We supply masking tape, duct tape, markers, paint, […]
Continue ReadingHorrible Histories Evolution Tune
Charles Darwin is even more fascinating when horribilized by Horrible Histories. Such delightful horribleness started back in 1993 with author Terry Deary whose books got kids interested in the past via gory details and humorous asides, then spun off into several TV series and sites packed with online games. After writing so much about mayhem and […]
Continue ReadingCrayola Doesn’t Make A Color For Your Eyes
Betcha this will turn into the theme song playing in your head. Kristin Andreassen, you’re singing what we’re thinking, “Crayola doesn’t make a color to draw my love.”
Continue ReadingCopying Just Got More Chocolate-y
Imagine creating custom confections in any shape you desire, watching layer after gooey layer turn into chocolate tastiness. It’s now possible, thanks to a 3D chocolate printer developed by researchers at the University of Exeter and made available by Choc Edge via eBay. Apparently there’s competition in the automated goodie-making field. MIT has a prototype […]
Continue ReadingTime Running Out for Video Challenge Entries
You’ve got a little over a week to get your entry in for the GeekMom Video Challenge! The deadline is April 21. Simple create a video accompanying GeekMom Rebecca Angel’s gently sung but very creepy bedtime song, Monster’s Lullaby. The lyrics offer up all sorts of great potential movie visuals. Zombies. Turtles with knife-like nails. Disembodied arms. Rampaging monkeys. A […]
Continue ReadingI Used To Think
Kids make leaps of logic that don’t always have a factual basis. I sure did. I used to think I could see Federation starships in the sky. I used to think authorities checked to make sure only grown-ups drank coffee. I used to think there were alligators under my bed, which is why I […]
Continue ReadingBook Review: All the Money in the World
The old saw about money not buying happiness is noble and all, but most of us secretly recognize it would be a relief to have more green. Enough to pay off those bills or save up for the kids’ college or finally go on a real vacation. Laura Vanderkam takes on our perceptions about […]
Continue ReadingWatch Jim Henson’s 1963 Robot Film
The Muppets have a granddaddy and he is a robot! Long-forgotten footage by Jim Hensen, created years before the first Muppet appeared on Sesame Street, shows Computer H-14 explaining the new concept of “data communications” to small business owners. The work was commissioned by Bell System (forerunner to AT&T). Henson was given a three […]
Continue ReadingWorking On Your Contest Entries?
Time to polish your entry for our first GeekMom Video Challenge! The deadline is April 21. You (and your kids) have less than three weeks to create a video accompanying GeekMom Rebecca Angel’s gently sung but very creepy bedtime song, Monster’s Lullaby. The lyrics offer up all sorts of great potential movie visuals. Zombies. Turtles with knife-like nails. […]
Continue ReadingNot Your Average Easter Egg
An egg is an egg except when it’s Easter. Even then, tradition doesn’t stray far from hard boiled eggs, plastic eggs, and candy eggs. But there are so many more ways to make an oblate spheroid more festive. Zombie eggs: A bit of mottled paint plus a grimace and your hard boiled egg is […]
Continue ReadingAnother Name For Author?
One best-selling author maps out plot and scene, then hires “collaborators” to do the actual writing. He reviews their work every 30 or 40 pages. Does this make him the book’s author? It does when we’re talking about James Patterson. He spoke about his “writing process” in a Wall Street Journal interview titled “James Patterson Explains […]
Continue ReadingGetting Around To Pinterest Projects
Many of us at GeekMom have fallen for Pinterest in a big way. We started with lots of enthusiasm and are still going strong, now with GeekMom boards you can follow. But the conundrum remains. Pinterest is another time suck in lives already full to the brim. Are we going to find time to do the […]
Continue ReadingRecycle Spoons Into Plant Markers for Your Veggies
Gardening when you’re distracted or in a hurry is a problem. You wonder if you planted rutabagas in two rows or three. You can’t tell if the newly emerging Brassica plants are cauliflower or broccoli. And unless you taste them, it’s not easy to tell if you’re pulling weeds or tender garlic shoots. That’s why I rely on […]
Continue ReadingGeekMom Video Challenge Inspiration
Last week we announced the very first GeekMom Video Challenge! You (and your kids) have the chance to create a video accompanying GeekMom Rebecca Angel’s gently sung but very creepy bedtime song. The lyrics offer up all sorts of great potential movie visuals. Zombies. Turtles with knife-like nails. Disembodied arms. Rampaging monkeys. A bubbling pot […]
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