You never know who may be reading your blog? A mystery package arrived at our doorstep from Amazon. They'd read ageekdaddy.com post about how my kids sleep away summer camp experience had been cancelled due to the pandemic. So they sent some goodies our way to put some smiles on my kids faces!
Delivering smiles Amazon.com surprised our family with the new Ticket to Ride board game that lets you play with Alexa. They sent along an echo dot that provides an audio guided tour of the destinations featured in this edition of the Ticket to Ride game plus even lets you play against Alexa the voice-controlled artificial intelligence virtual assistant created by Amazon.
Ticket to Ride is a cross-country train adventure in which players collect and play matching train cards to claim railway routes connecting cities through North America. Connect cities, monopolize train routes and complete destination tickets to become the Railroad Baron that wins the game! The game is meant for 2-6 players and takes 30 to 60 minutes to play.
My daughter is super excited about the Sand Art kit that Amazon also sent to us. With 7 colors of sand and 10 unique bottle designs this is sure to provide some summer fun. The kids are looking forward to designing their own sand art to decorate their rooms with a personal touch.
Also included in our Delivering Smiles package was a scavenger hunt activity book and a kids guide for exploring nature. Two nice book to capture their attention during the summer break from school. Amazon also provided an exploring nature activity kit that included a backpack, binoculars, bug collecting tools, a compass, whistle and more.
Thanks for delivering some smiles to our house Amazon.com! This dad blogger appreciates your kindness and my kids are excited to have some fun with all these goodies.
My kids are bummed out that their plans to go to sleepaway camp this year have been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Looks like this summer is going to be a staycation for them. So we appreciate Warner Bros reaching out to ageekdaddy.com about having us participate in a summer full of activities that my son and daughter can enjoy around our house. My family is geeked to be a part of the inaugural CAMP WARNER BROS!
Our Camp Warner Bros welcome pack just arrived this weekend. It included shirts and hats for the kids as well as a "Camp Director" set for me. Plus they threw in some other goodies for our Camp Warner Bros experience including a Tie Dye kit. Which do you prefer? Should we stick with the white shirts to do our Camp Warner Bros activities in or tie dye them?
For the next eight weeks, this dad blogger will be posting about different activities themed around a Warner Bros family friendly movie we'll be watching. Swing by throughout the summer to see what we are up to at Camp Warner Bros. We'll be sharing some fun ideas you can do at home too plus hosting a few giveaways.
Check out the camp calendar of activities and movies we'll be enjoying through the summer:
Purchase any of the shows from Best Buy utilizing an affiliate link above and ageekdaddy.com will receive a small commission at no additional expense to you. This dad blogger appreciates your support!
Remember to come back and visit this Geek Daddy throughout the summer for DIY ideas, downloadable activity sheets, giveaways and more as we participate in CAMP WARNER BROS!
Ella Jenkins, know as The First Lady of Children's Music because she's devoted her life to instilling a love of music in kids, is turning 93 in August. She's not letting her age preclude her from continuing to entertain and educate audiences of all ages though. The artist, who received a Lifetime Achievement GRAMMY from the Recording Academy in 2004 and is celebrating 60 years as a Smithsonian Folkways artist this year, just released a new album titled Camp Songs with Ella Jenkins & Friends.
Jenkins assembled a group a group of children, parents and teachers from Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music along with Tony and Kate Seeger from Camp Killooleet to provide an album full of beloved campfire sing-alongs that have been sung by generations of campers. She selected some of her favorite tunes from her own childhood camp experiences as well as from having worked at summer camps as an adult. Camp Songs with Ella Jenkins & Friends begins with a chorus of children singing the familiar "Row, Row, Row Your Boat" which was one of her favorite campfire songs as a child. She made sure to include selections on the album that reflect a broad array of traditions including African-American spirituals and European folk songs. One of the songs, "Everybody Loves Saturday Night" has lines in a dozen languages, including Mandarin, Hindi, Serbian, and Nigerian.
Although Jenkins only takes the lead singing one song on the album, "Sipping Cider Through a Straw," The First Lady of Children's Music is an engaging presence throughout it singing in the chorus, harmonica playing, and conversing about camp experiences and musical traditions with her assemble from the Old Town School of Folk Music. She selected all of the songs performed for the album and provides introductions for many of them explaining why she picked particular tunes. Wanting to promote the fun, bonding experience that people share when singing these camp songs together; the album's final give numbers, which include "Sloop John B" and "Goodnight Irene" are sequenced to resemble a campfire sing-along.
This 25-track collection is a great family-friendly way to entertain children during a vacation car ride, inside the house on a rainy day, or of course while sitting under the stars during a camping trip. Click here to stream a selection of songs from the album from SoundCloud. Camp Songs with Ella Jenkins and Friends is available to purchase through Smithsonian Folkway Recordings, Amazon, and iTunes.
Plus you know that I love to give stuff away, so A GEEK DADDY also has an album to giveaway to one lucky winner. See it pays off to read all the way through my posts doesn't it?! I will randomly select one winner who submits entries via the rafflecopter form below. Must be over 18 years old and have a United States mailing address (No P.O. Boxes) to be eligible to win. The selected winner must respond to their winner notification email within 48 hours or a new person will be selected to receive the prize. Smithsonian Folkway Recordings will be responsible for delivery of the album to the winner. Good luck!
Looking for a way to keep your kids productive and learning over the summer break from school? CAMP Google is a FREE online opportunity for children to engage in interactive science activities and adventures that will run from mid-July through mid-August. Each week will have a different theme: OCEAN Week, SPACE Week, NATURE Week & MUSIC Week. Led by experts, the activities have been designed to encourage kids to ask questions, setting them on a lifelong journey of exploration and discovery.
Our friends at National Geographic Kids will be kicking off Ocean Week on CAMP Google with a one hour LIVE stream at 3pm on Monday, July 13 2015 featuring National Geographic Explorer Dr. Sylvia Earle as she goes on a dive in the Atlantic Ocean. The even will be staged from inside Baseline Explorer's Submarine 'Nemo' where Earle will discuss marine biology, technology and then pilot an OpenROV pre-positioned several miles offshore through a wireless ethernet bridge.
CLICK HERE to tune in for the LIVE video stream featuring National Geographic Explorers and for more information about how to join in on CAMP Google activities and online events. If you missed the live stream you can still watch the presentation by clicking the link.
National Geographic Society Explorer-in-Residence Dr. Sylvia A. Earle has a B.S. degree from Florida State University, M.S. and PhD.
from Duke University, and 22 honorary degrees. Earle who in 2014 was named a "Glamour Woman of the Year", has authored more
than 190 scientific, technical, and popular publications; lectured in
more than 80 countries; and appeared in hundreds of radio and television
productions. She has led more than a hundred expeditions and
logged more than 7,000 hours underwater, including leading the first
team of women aquanauts during the Tektite Project in 1970;
participating in ten saturation dives, most recently in July 2012; and
setting a record for solo diving in 1,000-meter depth.
Earle's research
concerns marine ecosystems with special reference to exploration,
conservation, and the development and use of new technologies for access
and effective operations in the deep sea and other remote environments. Her
special focus is on developing a global network of areas on the land
and in the ocean to safeguard the living systems that provide the
underpinnings of global processes, from maintaining biodiversity and
yielding basic life support services to providing stability and
resiliency in response to accelerating climate change.
Disclosure: A Geek Daddy is a member of the National Geographic Kids Insider blogger program. Insiders get a behind-the-scenes look at National Geographic’s
resources, activities, content and projects for kids and families. They also review copies of books, magazines and toys, and are
offered interviews with authors, explorers and editors.
National Geographic is a global nonprofit membership organization driven
by a passionate belief in the power of science, exploration and
storytelling to change the world. National Geographic Kids teaches kids about the world and how it works,
empowering them to succeed and make it a better place. National
Geographic Kids inspires young adventurers through award-winning
magazines, books, apps, games, toys, videos, events and a website, and
is the only kids brand with a world-class scientific organization at its
core.
** This is a U.S. Family Guide Sponsored Post that I have been compensated for. Any claim, representation, statistic, quote or other representation should be verified with the service provider, Digital Media Academy **
Wow! Only 2 more weeks of school for our kids before summer break begins! What plans do you have for your children and teens this summer to keep them interested in learning and help them pick up some new skills? If you want to make sure your children have a productive summer check out the Digital Media Academy (DMA) which has programs aimed at tech savvy youth that will interest them and build their skill sets at the same time. Kids and teens learn computer programming, app development, 3D modeling, robotics, graphic design, film-making, and much more. DMA summer camps are one or multiple week experiences taught by industry experts and tech professionals. Campers get hands-on experience creating projects using the latest hardware and software from Apple, Canon, Adobe, and more.
When it comes to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) careers women are really lagging in these male dominated fields which often have lucrative salaries and challenging job responsibilities. One of the contributing factors to this disparity is that by eighth grade, more than twice as many boys than girls will be interested in pursuing STEM focused careers. Getting girls interested in STEM topics at earlier ages and parents showing an interest in them learning about these subjects helps overcome a societal stigma that being a computer programer, scientist, or engineer is a "guy" thing. If you are a parent of an elementary or middle school aged daughter, you may want to check out Digital Media Academy's MADE BY GIRLS program. Being offered for the first time this summer, MADE BY GIRLS is aimed to help inspire future women computer programers, scientists, and engineers by empowering girls to embrace STEM topics and close the gender gap in the tech industry.
A Geek Daddy Blog readers can save $75 off summer camps at DMA with code TECHSUMMER at www.DigitalMediaAcademy.org. Sign up for multiple weeks and save big! Campers save $125 for each additional course they register for. Register by May 31,2015 to give your kids a heads up in being able to #CreateTheNext ______.
Don't let your kids by lazy over the summer break. Enroll them in a summer program they will find interesting now and will provide skills that may be of benefit in a future college course or career opportunity later. Digital Media Academy Summer Camps are held at college campuses across the United States. For example, in my home state of Michigan Digital Media Academy is hosting its camp at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. They also have programs at Northwestern University in Illinois, Harvard University in Massachusetts, Stanford and UCLA in California, and Rice University in Texas among other locations. Programs are specifically designed for children 6 - 12 or teens 13 - 17 in nine digital media specialties ranging from Programming & App Development to Robotics & Engineering.
Founded at Stanford University, DMA is ranked as one of the ten best summer camps in the world. Give your teen a pre-collegiate experience or build a child's confidence through project-based learning. Learn at some of the most prestigious colleges and universities throughout the U.S. and Canada. Questions? Call 1(866)656-3342 to speak with a Guest Service Representative or email info@digitalmediaacademy.org and mention this US Family Guide Special Offer.
** This is a U.S. Family Guide Sponsored Post that I have been compensated for. Any claim, representation, statistic, quote or other representation should be verified with the service provider, Digital Media Academy **
It is that time of year when the end of school days is quickly approaching and parents need to start thinking of what their plans for the kids will be during the summer break. If you want to make sure your children have a productive summer check out the Digital Media Academy (DMA) which has programs aimed at tech savvy youth that will interest them and build their skill sets at the same time. Kids and teens learn computer programming, app development, 3D modeling,
robotics, graphic design, film-making, and much more. DMA summer camps
are one or multiple week experiences taught by industry experts and tech
professionals. Campers get hands-on experience creating projects using
the latest hardware and software from Apple, Canon, Adobe, and more. To help inspire future women computer programers, scientists, and engineers, DMA is also introducing a new program this summer, Made by Girls, dedicated to
empowering girls and closing the gender gap in the tech industry.
From talking with my teen aged niece and nephew, I know that designing and making money from creating apps is something all the kids are into right now. Participating in the DMA summer camps can really help a kid get the skill set to put them on the right track to making their own apps. You can't beat an opportunity that lets your kids have fun while learning skills that could help them get into a career field they are interested in.
A Geek Daddy Blog readers can save $75 off summer camps at DMA with code TECHSUMMER
at www.DigitalMediaAcademy.org. Sign up for multiple weeks and save big!
Campers save $125 for each additional course they register for.
Register by May 31,2015 to #CreateTheNext best-selling app this summer!
Founded at Stanford University, DMA is ranked as one of the ten best summer camps in the world. Give your teen a pre-collegiate experience or build a child's confidence
through project-based learning. Learn at some of the most prestigious
colleges and universities throughout the U.S. and Canada. Questions? Call 1(866)656-3342 to speak with a Guest Service
Representative or email info@digitalmediaacademy.org and mention this US
Family Guide Special Offer.
DMA Summer Camps are held at college campuses across the United States. For example, in my home state of Michigan DMA is hosting its camp at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. They also have programs at Northwestern University in Illinois, Harvard University in Massachusetts, Stanford and UCLA in California, and Rice University in Texas among other locations. Programs are specifically designed for children 6 - 12 or teens 13 - 17 in nine digital media specialties ranging from Programming & App Development to Robotics & Engineering.
