Thursday, December 19, 2013

Evolutionary Parenting - Great Gift Ideas

Some Last Minute Solstice/Holiday Gift Ideas
 
Some items shown for the first time this year:

Fun toys for kids:

A really great development!  Charlie’s playhouse – which had great reality-based toys for kids, is evolving – and offering much more!  Check out their fun toys, kids’ books, interactive online games, and more!  http://www.charliesplayhouse.com.

 
DNA Kit: http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/146f/ 
 
Pop Bead DNA (about the same cost, more versatile, but fewer step-by step lesson activities:  http://www.flinnsci.com/store/Scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=18830 with a description of how to use them here: http://epicofevolution.com/media/dna-popbeads.html
 
Element blocks for kids ages 2-4 (but also educational just to have around) http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/e5f7/ 
 
For the Adults & Teens
 

The Big History Series on the History Channel is a cool overview of how we got here: http://www.history.com/shows/big-history/episodes.  


 

Elemental Birthdays, for Birthdays 1-20, bring our Big History into our lives with fun birthday parties based on the elements:  www.elementalbirthdays.com  (Full disclosure – this is the latest project of Heather and I)
 

 
Earth and Sky Calendar: http://www.earthstorycalendar.com/, another way to bring our Great Story to your daily life.
 
 
Items mentioned earlier that are still the best resources around:
 
Carl Sagan’s Cosmos, now available on DVD).  
 
Essential Books for all Families:
For the youngest kids, aged 3 to 6, “Our Family Tree” by Lisa Peters is a great introduction to how we got here.  Next, for ages 5 to 10, is the “Born with a Bang” trilogy by Jennifer Morgan.  After that the child can read on their own, so Richard Dawkins book, “The Magic of Reality” is a good choice.  Here are pictures and links for all three:
 

The BBC “Walking with” series is also excellent – especially “Monsters”, “Cavemen”, and “Beasts”. - just search amazon or another provider starting with "BBC" and "Walking with......"
 
Lastly, a very useful collection of resources for parents and educators is at http://thegreatstory.org/kids.html

Happy Holidays!