Let your little ones find the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow with this easy Saint Patrick’s Day themed Bento Lunch. I used half a hard-boiled egg to be the pot of gold. If you’re feeling especially ambitious you can use black food coloring or nori (dried seaweed) to make the “pot” […]
Continue ReadingHave you seen the trailer for Emilie Bush’s new book Her Majesty’s Explorer: a Steampunk bedtime story? You can find more info about it on her blog: http://coalcitysteam.wordpress.com About the book Her Majesty’s Explorer: a Steampunk bedtime story – It’s a dirty job, but he loves it. St.John Murphy Alexander walks the world exploring for […]
Continue ReadingOn March 2, PBS KIDS will celebrate the 108th birthday of Dr. Seuss with THE CAT-IN-THE-HAT-A-THON, a two-hour marathon of THE CAT IN THE HAT KNOWS A LOT ABOUT THAT! which includes some brand new episodes kids will love (check local listings for times) featuring Nick, Sally, and of course, Cat. THE CAT IN THE HAT-A-THON […]
Continue ReadingValentine’s Day makes for easy material for cute themed and bento lunches. Here are a few quick and easy ideas that I’ve made for my own daughter using things we have on hand. The absolute easiest idea is to simply use a heart cookie-cutter or cut out a heart with a knife. For […]
Continue ReadingSteampunk Festival Fears Mother Nature Steampunk World’s Fair takes unusual step to keep inclement weather from raining on parade This May, the Steampunk World’s Fair will hit Piscataway, New Jersey with three days of the largest steampunk festival in the country – last year’s fair garnered about 3000 guests in total. With a nation of […]
Continue ReadingMillie and the Lost Key is a storybook app for young children from Megapops LLC and available on both the iPad and iPhone. Millie is a playful pup who leads children on an interactive story adventure. In Millie and the Lost Key a walk in Central Park becomes an adventure as children help Millie on a quest to find The […]
Continue ReadingI first heard about National Novel Writing Month, aka NaNoWriMo in 2007, halfway through November. This is where millions of people, all over the world, attempt to each write 50k in the month of November. I attempted to join it, and was actually working on something that month, but I couldn’t figure out their word count […]
Continue ReadingHow much candy do people eat on Halloween? How many kids go trick-or-treating? What should be on your playlist for your Halloween party? The great folks over at HalloweenCostumes.com answer those questions and more in this great Ultimate Guide to Halloween Infographic we’d like to share with you. < The Ultimate Visual Guide to Halloween […]
Continue ReadingSurprise your child on Halloween with a spooky Halloween-themed bento lunch. Bento does not have to equal difficult, so here are some easy ideas you can tuck into your child’s lunchbox this Halloween. Here’s an open-faced sandwich cut in the shape of a Jack-O-Lantern. Orange cheese will look more pumpkin-y, but this is what my […]
Continue ReadingThe tot has a peanut allergy and her school has a policy where if they even think it could have peanuts (which oddly enough includes movie theater popcorn) they won’t let the kids with allergies have it. Which is good … except that they don’t give the allergy kids anything else. I’m new to the allergy […]
Continue ReadingWhat might have been had events and technology happened a little differently? If we’d kept on as a steam-powered society instead of becoming an oil-based one? “Steampunk: History Beyond Imagination!” at the Muzeo in Anaheim, CA explores exactly that. Visitors are drawn into an era when science and industry combined in new and fascinating ways […]
Continue ReadingOn PBS Kids, Halloween is shaping up monstrously. October 17 through October 31 brings kids Halloween-themed episodes of Dinosaur Train, Sid The Science Kid, The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That!, and Wild Kratts. Ride the Night Train to a “haunted house” with Dinosaur Train, learn “spooky science” with Sid, trick-or-treat with […]
Continue ReadingI’m very excited to show you the cover for my new young adult book. My Steampunk dark fairytale, INNOCENT DARKNESS, book 1 of THE AETHER CHRONICLES, debuts August 8, 2012 from Flux. For more information or to enter my cover reveal contest please check out the details on my blog.
Continue ReadingI am a huge fan of Doctor Fantastique’s Show of Wonders Magazine, which is a great online steampunk magazine that just recently offered a print option through POD. Well, now, they’ve started an amazing kickstarter campaign to really get their print magazine off and running. What we want to do is take the magazine to […]
Continue ReadingSchool has started, the days are getting shorter, the weather is cooling off, it’s now time for that big question, the one that causes angst in even the most laid back kid– What am I going to wear for Halloween? The folks at BuyStarWarsCostumes.com want to make your life easier. They offer a great selection […]
Continue ReadingIf you’re unsure about bento but want to try it out, you might start with bento snacks. I send two snacks to school daily, one for snack time, and one for after school care since she’s there until late. I usually (but not always) make them as smaller versions of lunches and try to include […]
Continue ReadingI’m lucky, and my daughter likes cold rice, which gives me a ton of really neat, easy things to make for her bento lunches. It’s also a great way to use up extra rice. This was made using three colored rice balls and is probably my favorite bento I’ve made. I do have a mini […]
Continue ReadingIn anticipation of Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster which releases October 13, 2011, on Kinect for Xbox 360, they’re released this very cute video staring Cookie Monster and the game’s developer, Tim Schafer. It leaves me wanting a Reese’s. What do you think?
Continue ReadingAs I said in my previous post, bento lunches are not out of reach for the working or busy mom. Bentos can be done on a budget, both a time and food budget, using tools and food you have on hand. There’s a lot of quick, easy and cute things you can make for lunch. […]
Continue ReadingUntil recently, I thought making cute bento lunches was for stay-at-home moms, or at least moms with more time than me. I work a demanding full time job, spend more hours a day commuting than I’d like to admit, have deadlines for my writing, *and* there’s my family (and the cleaning and such). I also […]
Continue ReadingMy daughter is a huge fan of Dinosaur Train on PBS Kids. When we were offered the opportunity to have a sneak peak of Dinosaur Big City, the new one-hour Dinosaur Train movie airing on August 22, 2011, we jumped at the chance. Movie Synopsis (from PBS Kids) Buddy and his Pteranodon family embark on a journey on the Dinosaur Train, […]
Continue ReadingWe’ve all heard that children can lose knowledge in the summer. Also, for some children summer can be a catch up time, several months for kids to learn, re-learn, or improve on skills to be able to keep up with their grade level. There’s a variety of summer activities out there, but between my demanding […]
Continue ReadingMy daughter, who constantly wants me to download her new games onto my iPhone, recently tried out another interactive book Jack and the Beanstalk by Mindshapes, the same folks who brought us the Jellytoons. Jack and the Beanstalk is an interactive story where young readers can choose to either read the story or have it […]
Continue ReadingMy daughter loves trying out new apps and was tickled to check out the interactive book for iPhone Jellytoon’s Birthday Countdown. Jellytoon’s Birthday Countdown is an interactive storybook aimed at the toddler set with its bright and colorful shapes and cute sound effects. Its simple sentences make its “Let Me Read” option a good […]
Continue ReadingDoctor Fantastique’s Show of Wonders is an amazing online Steampunk magazine bringing you steampunk stories, articles, art, and culture from around the world. Starting this month, it’s now also available in print which is an amazing and exciting venture for the Doctor Fantastique team. Check it out today.
Continue Reading‘Princess Arabella Wants to Play’, is an Interactive Children’s Book by RumdeeDum for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch. Featuring beautiful illustrations, it’s based on the Princess Arabella books written by Mylo Freeman. It’s advertised as being suitable for children ages 4-10. When I was asked if I were interested in giving this app a try, […]
Continue ReadingHave you ever wondered if a phaser could hold up against a lightsaber? Who was wiser–Ben Kenobi or Captain Picard? What would happen if the Empire tried to invade the Federation? Matt Forbeck’s book Star Wars vs. Star Trek: Could the Empire Kick the Federation’s Ass? and Other Galaxy-Shaking Enigmas answers those pressing questions and […]
Continue ReadingReading is important, but how to you encourage kids to keep reading over the summer? Check your local library and bookstores to see if they have any summer reading programs. PBS Kids offers some great ideas for raising a reader this summer. They’ve partnered with iVillage to form a Summer Community Reading Challenge with free […]
Continue ReadingJune 14 is International Steampunk Day and has been so for several years. If you missed Steampunk Week here at GeekMom and don’t know what Steampunk is, here’s a primer. Essentially, it’s the intersection of Victorian romanticism and modern technology. Today’s a great day to celebrate Steampunk in all its brass and geared splendor. I […]
Continue ReadingRecently, an article on dark themes in young adult books in the Wall Street Journal rocked the YA community–and not in a good way. Rebuttals are popping up everywhere on blogs run by YA authors, book bloggers, and YA readers (teens and adults alike). The hashtag #yasaves was trending worldwide on twitter over the weekend. […]
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