Saturday, April 3, 2010

“[Ads by Yahoo!] Busch Gardens ® Games” plus 3 more

“[Ads by Yahoo!] Busch Gardens ® <b>Games</b>” plus 3 more

[Ads by Yahoo!] Busch Gardens ® <b>Games</b>

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Join your child's favorite Sesame Street Friends in a wild and wonderful new play land!

Come join everyone's favorite Sesame Street friends on a family-friendly Safari adventure where the rhythms of Africa are sprinkled with giggles. It's Busch Gardens' newest land filled with kid-size rides, cool water fun and plenty of memorable adventures. Fly through the desert with Grover. Climb in Elmo's Tree House. Splash in Bert and Ernie's watering hole. You can even dine with your child's furry friends. It's Sesame Street Safari of Fun, where imaginations run wild and there's fun for everyone.      

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

From Play To Pay: Financial <b>Games</b> For <b>Kids</b>

Posted: 02 Apr 2010 11:54 AM PDT


The five-cent lemonade stand or the door-to-door snow shoveling racket may be a child's first romp into the world of the market economy. But what's the next step once the lemons are squeezed, the snow is removed and the money is collected?

Slowly, schools have begun teaching finance basics to their students. These theory-based teachings may provide presumptive education, but hands-on learning--involving other participants, debt and consequences--has yet to be fully explored on a large scale. And many of the options available for real-world money management trading come across as work--not play; tedious--not engaging. Thus, the lessons fall flat. So the question remains: How do we teach our kids about finances before they're buried in debt?

From the Cradle to the Bank
Many psychologists and financial experts agree that children should begin learning about real-world finances before grade seven--when they're developed enough to understand the concepts presented, yet are not predisposed to the details. Without this knowledge, it's feared that students will enter into the world of debt without a bigger-picture understanding and will carry their bad (or simply uninformed) habits into high school, college and adult life.

Over 54% of college freshmen hold a credit card, with an average balance of $1,301. This is despite the fact that people under the age of 18 need parental consent to even apply for one. That number may not seem overwhelming until you consider that many college administrators nationwide believe that credit and debt issues--not grades--account for the majority of college dropouts.

Here, Piggy!
Web sites like Prosperity4Kids (P4K) have dedicated their services to teaching kids the importance of financial knowledge and "smart" investing. And it all begins with one of the most basic inventions that can be found in almost any home: the piggy bank.

P4K licensed the "Money Mama" piggy bank, which is essentially the same as a regular piggy bank, only it encompasses four coin chambers, not one. Children are encouraged to divide their "earnings," (allowance, chore money, gifts) into four categories: give, invest, save and spend--the basics of sound money management. This concept branched out into a number of other products, including books, DVDs and online education.

Kwedit, Pweeze!
Kwedit's concept--allowing you to "purchase digital content and virtual goods now, in exchange for promises to pay them later," may seem like a baited business model. Basically, it operates as a virtual credit card that can be used to buy virtual food for virtual pets and virtual clothing for avatars. And last year alone the virtual marketplace earned over $1.6 billion.

Though the virtual credit broker specifically states that Kwedit is not for kids, many of the "products" that can be purchased are targeted at 12-14 year olds.

Kwedit boasts that it does not charge interest and is simply a service for people without credit or debit cards.

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

From play to pay: Financial <b>games</b> for <b>kids</b>

Posted: 02 Apr 2010 01:16 PM PDT

The five-cent lemonade stand or the door-to-door snow shoveling racket may be a child's first romp into the world of the market economy. But what's the next step, once the lemons are squeezed, the snow is removed and the money is collected? (These three principles apply to all financial decisions, making your money talk with your kids simple and effective. Learn more in The Only 3 Money Lessons Your Kids Need.)

Slowly, U.S. schools have begun teaching finance basics to their students. These theory-based teachings may provide presumptive education, but hands-on learning - involving other participants, debt and consequences - has yet to be fully explored on a large scale. And many of the options available for real-world money management trading come across as work - not play; tedious - not engaging. Thus, the lessons fall flat. So the question remains: How do we teach our kids about finances, before they're buried in debt?

From the Cradle to the Bank
Many psychologists and financial experts agree that children should begin learning about real-world finances before grade seven - when they're developed enough to understand the concepts presented, yet are not predisposed to the details. Without this knowledge, it's feared that students will enter into the world of debt without a bigger-picture understanding, and will carry their bad (or simply uninformed) habits into high school, college and adult life.

Over 54 per cent of U.S. college freshmen hold a credit card, with an average balance of $1,301 (U.S.). This is despite the fact that people under the age of 18 need parental consent to even apply for one. That number may not seem overwhelming until you consider that many college administrators nationwide believe that credit and debt issues - not grades - account for the majority of college dropouts. (While college freshman may be academically prepared for school they often have a lot to learn when it comes to managing money. Don't miss 7 Expensive Mistakes College Students Make.)

Here, Piggy!
Websites like Prosperity4Kids (P4K) have dedicated their services to teaching kids the importance of financial knowledge and "smart" investing. And it all begins with one of the most basic inventions that can be found in almost any home - the piggy bank.

P4K licensed the "Money Mama" piggy bank, which is essentially the same as a regular piggy bank, only it encompasses four coin chambers, not one. Children are encouraged to divide their "earnings," (allowance, chore money, gifts) into four categories: give, invest, save and spend – the basics of sound money management. This concept branched out into a number of other products, including books, DVDs and online education.

Kwedit, Pweeze!
Kwedit's concept - allowing you to "purchase digital content and virtual goods now, in exchange for promises to pay them later," may seem like a baited business model. Basically, it operates as a virtual credit card that can be used to buy virtual food for virtual pets, and virtual clothing for avatars. And last year alone, the virtual marketplace earned over $1.6 billion.

Though the virtual credit broker specifically states that Kwedit is not for kids, many of the "products" that can be purchased are targeted at 12-14 year olds.

Kwedit boasts that it does not charge interest, and is simply a service for people without credit or debit cards.

The Old-Fashioned Way: Fake Gambling!
Possibly the most effective method of teaching financial education for kids is to make a game of it, and one of the easiest platforms for doing this is already in millions of homes in the U.S. alone. Hasbro's Monopoly offers enough structure (and enough customization) to teach the fundamentals of investing, ownership and debt - especially these days. With new (see: updated) boards, rules and add-ons, Monopoly can help teach money management without the kids even knowing it.

By creating a set of family rules - substituting the official rules of the game with "house rules" - players can make the game as much about education as they want. (Learning the basics and habits at a young age is vital to a healthy future portfolio. Don't miss 5 Ways To Teach Kids About Investing.)

While it's important for children to learn about financial responsibility, the movement does have its detractors, who feel that these methods are encouraging the youth to rely on debt, banks and credit cards to survive. Still, with the right guidance and knowledge and some common sense, kids can stand with their heads high in the world of finance, knowing they're ahead of the curve.

From Play to Pay
Whether we like it or not, credit cards and debt are here to stay. When the economy is good, we buy knowing that we can make the minimum required payment; when it's bad, we use credit as a cushion to supplement our regular income. And these habits aren't genetic - they're taught to us through observation of our family and friends, and through opportunities given by banks and lending institutions. But this isn't necessarily a negative.

For the majority of North Americans, credit will aid your well-being at some time, whether that's when it's time to buy a house, a car or save for your children's tuition. The trick is to get a head start in financial education, and not enter the race with a fiscal handicap.

Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.

<b>Kids</b> get a kick out of helping Y

Posted: 02 Apr 2010 01:36 PM PDT

One hundred and forty five games of kickball in 12 hours. One-thousand, two-hundred and fifty local kids. Over $20,000 raised.

Through the chaos of the number of red rubber balls that were careening every which way in the Dana-Farber Field House behind Gillette Stadium march 20-21, a common purpose remained at the center.

In its first five years, Kids Helping Kids raised nearly $30,000 in support of the Hockomock Area YMCA's Reach Out for Youth & Families Campaign. This year's event raised more than $16,000 with children from Foxboro, Franklin, Mansfield and North Attleboro doing their part to help in two days' worth of kickball action. Each participant was required to raise a minimum of $10 with all proceeds going to the Reach Out for Youth & Families Campaign.

"When we were going through the applications, I didn't think they were going to stop; they kept pouring in," said organizer Ginger Bosco. "We never imagined the event would get this big."

The plan for the event was hatched during the Christmas season of 2004, when the Arnold family of Mansfield received a scratch ticket stocking-stuffer. As the penny's fate would have it, it was a winner in the amount of $500. The family eagerly agreed what would be done with the winnings.

In the spirit of the season, they would give it all away to charity.

Looking to do more for their community following the donation of their scratch ticket winnings, the Arnold and Bosco family children to organize the first kickball tournament, which was held at the Foxboro YMCA branch five years ago. The first event was little more than the Arnold children - Katelynn, Michael, and Timmy - and Boscos - Julia, Andrew and Aidan - joining their neighborhood friends in a friendly game.

The event has since grown to include all Hockomock Area YMCA branches.

"We live in a society of immediate gratification and it's sometimes hard to teach children that they're extremely fortunate to have what they have," said organizer Dianne Arnold. "Hopefully, we can help other families in the community through this, help teach children that lesson and, at the same time, allow them to have some fun by doing it."

Brian Borde, his wife, Karen, and their son, Brandon, were in attendance.

The family has taken advantage of the full slate of YMCA programs since moving to Foxboro four years ago.

"They have great programs and the community is very supportive of it," Borde said. "With so many people involved, like the Kraft family, at the YMCA, it's a terrific place to bring your family. It's nice to come here today and support a cause that will help other kids enjoy those opportunities."

Hockomock Area YMCA president Ed Hurley echoed that sentiment.

"The inspiration of the six Bosco and Arnold children, combined with the incredible generosity of the Kraft family and the New England Patriots organization, allowing the kids to hold their tournament at the home of the Patriots, continues to ensure that a YMCA experience is available to their friends and classmates in need," Hurley said.


Five Filters featured article: Chilcot Inquiry. Available tools: PDF Newspaper, Full Text RSS, Term Extraction.
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