Luke Judge

One of the trends I noticed at this year’s International Toy fair is an emphasis on the intersection of physical object and digital entertainment –toys that are controlled via the Internet, or download new behaviors, or otherwise change the play experience based on interaction with a computer.

One of the most intriguing examples of this is Activision Blizzard’s “Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure.” It’s at heart a video game, but one that combines aspects of console games, action figures, and even collectible card games. if I was a little kid, I’d be drooling at the chance to play with it.

At the center of the Skylanders universe are cartoon monster heroes, including the fire-breathing dragon Spyro, who has already starred in several of his own games. Players can take over and play the game as any of these monsters –but only if they own the corresponding “interaction figure” for that character.

In other words: Buy the physical toy, and then you can play as the digital character.

I can imagine there are a lot of gamers out there groaning after reading that, since there’s an obnoxious trend in the video game world of making important characters and missions accessible only through extra-cost “bonus” downloadable content. But Skylanders is different in that you’re actually getting something physical for your money, and the toys have certain properties that actually improve the game itself.

Here’s how it works. To play the game, you need the software, a peripheral called the “portal of power,” and one of the Skylander toys. Plug the portal into your console, and boot it up; you’ll enter the world of Skylanders, but won’t actually be able to do anything until you put one of your toys on top of the portal. When you do that, it appears in the game, and can be controlled just like any other video game character. Take the toy off the portal, and poof, the character disappears in-game.

This mechanism comes into play when the game introduces challenges designed for particular monsters. you might be playing as Spyro, and find a door that can only be opened by a character with the tech skill. Spyro doesn’t have that, but the furry gunslinger known as “Trigger Happy” does –so you remove Spyro from the portal, and place Trigger happy there instead. he appears in the game right where Spyro left off, and can go ahead and open that door.

The game is designed so that you can play and win with just one character, but having more of the toys opens up more of the world.

It’s a clever idea. But what really excited me about Skylanders is this: each toy has its own internal memory, so as a character levels up and grows more powerful in-game, his skills and powers are saved to the toy itself.

That means if you take the figure to a friend’s house, and put it on his portal, next to one of his figures, you can both play at the same time, with your own characters, in co-op mode. or you can both compete against each other, in player-versus-player arena battles.

It’s like these toys are real world Pokemon –you collect different breeds, go on adventures and fight to make them more powerful, and then square them off against your friends. I think kids are going to go mad for them.

Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure will be released this Fall. So far it’s only confirmed for the Nintendo Wii, but Activision assures that it will be available on all “viable platforms.”

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LAGUNA NIGUEL – With paper and tape, lengths of PVC pipe transform into rockets, customized by student engineers hoping to launch the highest flier.

The 17, sixth through eighth graders enrolled in UCI’s Young Math and Science course have spent the last two weeks learning about satellites, rockets and robotics with some help from NASA and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. On Thursday, the class launched their creations, each with different sized and shaped paper wings, tails and nose cones at Laguna Niguel Elementary School.

“I figured if you make the cone pointier, it would go faster,” student Grace Kim said.

Most of what the class does is hands-on, often applying science, math and technology concepts into games. The activities are designed to let students figure out how scientific concepts work for themselves.

“A lot of stuff you see on actual rockets would work on your own model,” student Jonathan Somayajulu said.

UCI began offering the math and science class as an extension of its Young Writers summer program. The camps enroll students from kindergarten to eighth grade at locations in Irvine, Rancho Santa Margarita, Huntington Beach and Laguna Niguel. Teacher Linda Galloway said her own interest in space and engineering influence her class’ curriculum. The class will practice trigonometry, for example, when they measure their rockets’ altitude.

“Virtually every day they’re building something they can take home and play with,” she said.

Some of the students weren’t initially excited about spending their summer in a classroom. Michelle Sror said the class wasn’t what she expected.

“I expected us just to be sitting doing math tiles,” she said. “But it’s fun.”

The toys and games are mirroring real science, said Sandra Kaszynski, an education specialist working with the NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory Education Resource Center. Among the materials she shared with students is Marsbound, a game where teams must plan a Mars mission, keeping factors like power and mass balanced and within a budget.

“The conversations you hear from them are the conversations real engineers and real scientists have,” Kaszynski said.

Kaszynski said she wants to encourage a love for science in the younger generation. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory continues to work on robots used in space exploration, and the goal of a human expedition to Mars in 2035 remains.

“The three human beings that will walk on Mars are in middle school today,” she said.

Space exploration is ultimately about curiosity, she added, a trait that will serve kids well even if they don’t become scientists. Problem solving is another core ability science and technology education promotes.

“We hope that kids will get into a higher level of thinking, that they will learn there are many variables to a problem,” she said.

Contact the writer: or 949-454-7309

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Children’s growth and development depend very much on the foods they are fed and the benefits of healthy eating for kids is detailed in this article to alert parents to the dangers of neglecting this aspect of the child’s development. Balanced, nutritious meals are a must for every growing child because the benefits transcend into adulthood. Poor diet leads to obesity and a host of medical and psychological problems for the child.

For those of us not aware of it there is a good guide pyramid, which can help us better understand the different food groups. All of our food is divided into grains, vegetables, fruits, dairy products and meats, beans, poultry, fish and nuts. Your child gets a balanced diet when all the food groups are covered. There are some groups where the intake needs to be lesser than the others, such as the oils and meats.

The benefits of healthy eating for kids will not be felt if you blindly follow the food groups. For example an apple in its natural state will do more for your child’s well being and overall good health than an apple pie with sugar would.

For children to develop healthy eating habits the parents will need to lead by example. It is always advisable to start a child out eating right from a very small age because this becomes habit forming. You should never put a child on a restrictive diet without the approval and supervision of a pediatrician. Overweight children go through quite a lot of trauma as a result of their size and all of this can be avoided if the parents take onus for ensuring that the children eat the right kinds of healthy nutritious foods they need.

Given below are some ideas on how to draw on the benefits of healthy eating for kids:

o You can guide your family’s choices by doing the shopping right; never dictate it will not go down well. Make sure your home has plenty of healthy foods like fruit and vegetables, yoghurts and dips that you can turn into healthy meals and snacks for the family. Don’t stock up on crisps and other junk food no matter how attractive the packaging and how easy it makes the shopping, to simply load up the trolley with a bunch of pre-packaged foods for kids.

o Make mealtimes a family affair with a lot of happy talk and exchange of ideas. This will help children to eat more slowly. Gobbling food will not help a child differentiate between a full and overfull stomach. When there is fun and laughter at the table you will find your children wanting to stay put and take the meal at a slow pace.

o Take your children with you when you go shopping and when you prepare meals as much as possible. Take the time to learn about their preferences and use the opportunities to teach them about the importance of nutrition and the benefits of healthy eating for kids.

o It is no secret that children enjoy snacking between meals and plenty of low fat milk and fruit should be the healthy alternatives. Try to avoid over eating at any cost. Always remember that what you don’t have at home your children cannot eat – so throw out the junk food!

Exercising and being active goes hand in glove with eating right so make use of this article to better understand the benefits of healthy eating for kids.

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