Posts Tagged ‘toys’

The World’s Oldest Computer Made From LEGO

Sunday, December 12th, 2010

LEGO is big in our house.  Pretty much everyone, including the kids, likes building with it.  My oldest has made some pretty impressive models using LEGO bricks.  I’ll admit, however, that none are anywhere near as impressive as Andrew Carol’s functional model of the Antikythera mechanism.

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Should Toy Donation Programs Censor Toys?

Thursday, December 9th, 2010

When I was growing up, toy guns were strictly forbidden in our house and we were not even supposed to play with them elsewhere.  While I didn’t like that policy as a kid, now that I am a parent myself, I have the same rule in place for my children.  I don’t think guns are an appropriate toy for kids to play with and I don’t think I’m alone.  So what sort of donated toys do you suppose the Salvation Army destroys rather than see end up in the hands of children?

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Zero-Maintenance Pets

Sunday, November 21st, 2010

While we were on holiday this past summer, I noticed an advert playing in heavy rotation on whatever kids’ television station they had on in the dining room of the hotel where they served the free breakfast each morning.  At the time, it seemed like one of those annoying, over-priced, “as seen on TV” products that we’re all used to being disappointed by, should we be foolish enough to purchase one.  Fast forward to the advent of the year-end begging-for-toys season and I’m dreaming of the relative peace of blaring television ads.  Yes, my kids want Pillow Pets.

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Talking Cow Encourages Sex Ed

Monday, June 21st, 2010

So abstinence education doesn’t work — even Bristol Palin admitted that.  Teenagers need realistic, accurate information about sex and pregnancy.  It simply makes sense that teenagers get that kind of information as part of an overall biology/health education program in school, so that what is taught is both correct and consistent.  The alternative is to have kids learn about sex on the playground or, even worse, from potential (hopeful?) lovers.  That’s where ideas like “you can’t get pregnant the first time” and “if you love me, you’ll let me” come from.  So, yes, sex education is a good thing.  But should it really come from a talking cow?

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