It’s always great to find something that the kids like and that you like watching too. Those old Monkees episodes really take me back. Smirk about The Monkees if you will, but in 1967, they outsold the Beatles and the Rolling Stones combined. My little girlfriends and I loved singing the main theme song: “Here we come… walking down the street…” wherever we went. Everyone had their favorite Monkee. As a kid, mine was Davy (like 95% of girls, and the show clearly pushes Davy Jones as a heart throb to the exclusion of the others.) Aunt Judy’s favorite was Peter–she always did favor the underappreciated!

A big point in favor of taking The Monkees on vacation: all three of the kids, from little Jack-Jack (3 1/2) to going-on-jaded Violet (almost 10) really enjoy them. The Monkee goofiness works on several levels. Watching them now, I realize The Monkee’s most lasting contribution to culture is as a precursor of… Scooby Doo, another favorite of the niece/nephews!

We watched a couple of episodes of The Monkees each night. They are short, they won’t cause bad dreams, and they have absolutely NO sexual innuendo! (Have you watched some of the shows aimed at kids lately? Sheesh…)

(The Monkees, Season 1, packaging is also cool: it’s designed to look like the old compact record players.)

Aunt hack ratings:

Age group: 3 and up.

Duration of activity:The episodes are about 20 minutes long. There’s no commercials, but the final credits run with big boxes of Corn Flakes and Apple Jacks plastered next to the boys’ faces. Old school!

Cost: $78 for the set on Amazon. Also available on eBay, for less in most cases. I paid around $45.

Child/aunt fun ratio: 45/55. What can I say? It’s fun for the kids, but it’s a little more fun for me. Depending on whether you love the Monkees, your ratio may vary.

I described in an earlier post how the iPhone is an indispensable part of my savvy aunt’s toolkit. A good chunk of my trip preparation time was spent downloading the latest software for iTunes and the iPhone so that I could install some of the new third-party iPhone applications. (Of course, I backed up my computer completely before attempting to do any of this, with my favorite Mac backup utility, SuperDuper.)

Until the iPhone App Store was launched, there was no way to put games onto the iPhone. You could play them online using a wi-fi or AT&T network connection, but if you were without a connection… no games. I knew that our destination, the Oregon Coast, was not going to be well served by any internet service. I have often bribed Dash with a game of Bejeweled on the iPhone, and I didn’t want to be without this vital element of my aunt coping skills.

(I did learn that it was a bad idea to let Dash play with the iPhone Calendar.)

I loaded up a lot of free games from the App Store that looked like they might be fun for the kids. In the end, I did not download Bejeweled for the iPhone because it was priced at $9.99, and I think Dash was already starting to get tired of it. It took a little time to find good things to download: you can go to a page of the top iPhone free apps, but that will include lots of stuff besides games good for kids.

To save you time and money, fellow iPhone-owning aunts, here are the best ones I found. The links go to the iPhone App Store in iTunes, so if you don’t use iTunes, you don’t want to click on them. (and why aren’t you using iTunes?)

(Disclaimer: I’ve already documented. on this blog that I am willing to let my niece and nephews play with a $600 gadget. Violet, Dash and Jack-Jack are not particularly destructive and the iPhone is remarkably hardy. In the year since I bought the iPhone, we have had a few drops, but nothing has damaged the phone so far. As they say, YMMV – Your Mileage May Vary!!)

PhoneSaber (no longer available)
This will sound really silly to a lot of people, but trust me: this is one of the most fun apps. It turns your iPhone into a Star Wars light saber. When the app is launched, you can wave the iPhone back and forth, up and down, and it emits the appropriate sound effects.

Age group: 3 and up. Most adult geeks I know love playing with this too, so good for uncles/boyfriends…

Tip: You did read the disclaimer, right? Kids could easily get carried away and iPhones could go flying out of little hands. I use the Speck ToughSkin iPhone Case which gives more “grippage” to promote a firmer hold.

Update: Oh no! George Lucas has forced them to pull PhoneSaber from the iTunes App Store. The rumor is that a licensed version might be available. So far iTunes hasn’t deleted this from my phone, but lots of kids and adults are going to be sad about this.

TapTap Revenge
A little like Guitar Hero for the iPhone. Music is played, colored bubbles must be tapped in time with the music. Violet and Jack loved this.

Age group: 7 and up. Too fast and complex for the little ones.

Tip: There is a co-op mode where two players can play against each other. Try to imagine two children tapping on your iPhone simultaneously. Re-read the disclaimer. Put the iPhone on a table so they don’t have to hold it, and to decrease the chances of the iPhone being dropped.

PearMe
This is a matching game. It can use your photos to create a game over 3 to 42 card-pairs, which means you can set it to be easy for the little ones or more difficult for the older ones. It’s very basic. Tap one card to turn it over, then tap a second card. If they match, the pair gets put in your pile. If they don’t, the cards are flipped over and you try again.

Age group: 3 to 10. It can be customized to have as few as 3 pairs, and using your own photos makes it fun for older kids who have otherwise grown out of matching games. There is a timer and it counts how many tries you take, so there is a competitive element that appeals to the older ones (including Uncle Bob) as well.

Tip: This is 1000% more fun for kids if you customize it with photos of them and things they know, like your house, pets, toys, etc. Click the little “i” icon in the lower right corner to access the customization options and then click on “Available Photos.” By default, there are a bunch of photos of European locations and lusty young women. (Typical…) You can delete these and add photos from your iPhoto library or your iPhone Camera roll. It’s a little tedious, but worth it.

BubbleWrap
This provides a piece of digital bubble wrap that you tap on to pop the bubbles. It’s fun in a silly way that works for Jack-Jack (age 3), but it is also a game. After you’ve popped a number of bubbles, some of them randomly re-inflate and you have to pop them again. There is a timer and a score, which appeals to Violet (9) and Dash (8).

Age group: 3 and up. Adults have fun with it too.

Tip: As I might have mentioned, some of these games are potentially hazardous to your iPhone’s health. A good case and a steady surface on which to place your iPhone will help minimize your risk.

I’ve downloaded some others that look promising, like DizzyBeeFree and JirboBreak (which is not free, but only 99 cents). The kids have played with them briefly, and I’ll review them and more apps as we find them in future posts.

So I was curious to see how they would approach a program specifically targeted at children.

I put my testing panel (Violet, Dash and Jack-Jack) to work. They love trying out new software. Also, it was TV Turn-Off Week, and they may have been a little starved for any kind of screentime. My sister Peg (aka Elastigirl) said it would be OK if it was something educational.

Doozla is a drawing program with four options: freehand drawing, coloring pages, backgrounds you can draw on, and webcam snapshots for drawing. The choices are presented in a very clean and simple way. Violet and Dash (who are 9 and 8 years old) had no problem navigating to what they wanted to do. They played a bit with the coloring pages, but found them too easy. What really sparked their interest was the webcam option. Provided you have a built-in camera, Doozla will snap a photo which you can then decorate with the drawing tools.

Jack-Jack, who is 3 1/2 years old, was more interested in the coloring pages and backgrounds, but he doesn’t have the mousing ability to actually use the tools. At first, I was disappointed, because I thought it would be so much fun for him. But then I realized that he found it very entertaining to watch me do the coloring according to his instructions. (His personality has become a bit imperious of late…) We also took a web cam shot, and I colored him in as I prompted him, “What color do you want your eyes to be? Do you want a blue beard? etc.” So Doozla will keep a toddler entertained, with the caveat that you might have to be part of the entertainment.

The tools are very easy to use and there are a lot of fun elements, as befits a product from plasq. When you click on a tool or a color, a little voice says the name with a kind of squeal that is hilarious. We clicked numerous times on “bright yellow” just to hear it. I really like that they’ve included semi-transparent colors, which makes it more fun to draw on the web cam pictures. There’s a control panel so you can prevent kids from printing (boy, would that cost you a lot of ink!) or quitting without you entering a password.

By default, Doozla opens in full-screen mode, which means that kids would not be able to move out of Doozla and into, say, an internet browser. A password could prevent them from quitting the program, so in theory you wouldn’t have to worry about them using other programs or accessing other files. But the full-screen mode can be toggled on and off without a password, which would circumvent that protection. An option to prevent kids from leaving full-screen mode would be a great enhancement.

The little ones, like Jack-Jack, are going to need your help anyway, so its unlikely that you’d be leaving them alone. A 4- or 5-year-old could probably entertain themselves with Doozla. At first I thought the older kids would not be interested, but the next time I came by the house, Violet showed me several more drawings she’d made in the meantime. It’s fascinating to watch her learn the program, and then learn its limitations. She started thinking of things she’d like to do, like patterns and copying, that are beyond Doozla. I’m going to get her copy of Photoshop Elements soon. I think she and Dash are ready for the challenge.

Doozla is a great introduction to computer use for the toddler/preschool set. They’ll learn basic drawing concepts (color selection, line tool, paintbucket, etc) and develop mousing skills in an easy and fun virtual environment. And with a developer like plasq, you can be sure that it will be interesting to watch this software evolve from its v.1 state.

Aunt hack ratings:

Age group: 3-7; older kids will play with it, but not for long

Duration of activity: 30 minutes

Cost: $24.95 (Download and buy at plasq’s site.)

Child/aunt fun ratio: 60/40. It was fun to color in Jack-Jack’s web cam photo.

What is an indispensable part of the new homeowner’s tool kit that also makes a great plaything for the niece/nephews?

(If you answered “cordless drill,” I’m taking away your aunting license.)

Correct answer: masking tape. I had a whole roll of it on hand, as I am more or less repainting every room in the house.

I discovered this non-painting use for masking tape while the kids were playing with that other standard cheap repurposed toy: the cardboard box. I have a huge one from IKEA, after buying a little fold-out sofa (Solsta) for the upstairs den. It is literally big enough for all three kids to fit into.

Dash and Violet were in the living room, taking turns getting into the box and closing the flaps, when Dash comes over to ask, “Jean, do you have any tape?”

I do have packing tape, but my mind immediately jumped ahead to an image of one of them being sealed shut in the box while I wasn’t looking, panic ensuing, followed by tense moments with the utility knife.

I also have Scotch tape, but that didn’t seem practical: too ineffective in small quantities, and they could easily use up a whole roll.

Then I remembered the masking tape: secure enough, but easily removed, doesn’t leave a mark on floors or walls. Added bonus: my roll was purple.

They had a blast with it. The addition of masking tape easily extended the entertainment value of the cardboard box for another 30 minutes. And Dash found an interesting secondary use: removable face painting.

Aunt hack ratings:

Age group: 5-10

Duration of activity: 30 minutes each for tape and box

Cost: Masking tape: $3. (If you don’t buy the good stuff, it will stick and leave marks.) Box: free with a Solsta couch from IKEA ($129)

Child/aunt fun ratio: 70/30. It was fun to watch, and even better, easy to clean up.

Playing with the Calendar app. Ack! Visions of my schedule scrambled flew through my brain. Until now, his iPhone activities have seemed relatively harmless. His favorite thing to do is add obscure cities to the Weather widget. (It’s 46 degree in Usa=shi right now, btw.)

Me: “Um, what are you doing with the calendar?”

Dash: (engrossed, no answer)

Me: (Looking over his shoulder) “Oh, are you looking to see what day your birthday is next year?”

Dash: “No, I want to see how far in the future I can look. I want to go to 3000!”

- a minute or so goes by -

Dash: “Darn it! It only goes up to 2068. (Pause.) You’ll be dead then.”

So now I know what I’ll be doing in 2068. Apparently I still have some meetings scheduled, though.

(Original iPhone image from Lovely Fig Rolls on Flickr. Photoshop enhancement by me.)

When I was trying to decide about buying this house, I showed some photos to my friend Shonna, who said, “It’s such an aunt house.” “Oh no,” I said. “Don’t say that–then I’ll have to buy it.”

Which I did. I am very excited about moving, but it’s a total time sink right now. I will be posting updates on how the kids like the new house, but in the meantime, here’s a cute photo of Dash and Jack-Jack, who love the walk-through closet upstairs. Excellent prospects for building forts!

Aunt hack ratings:

Age group: All ages

Duration of activity: 30 years, according to the bank.

Cost: All your money. And then some.

Child/aunt fun ratio: 40/60. The kids are really enjoying playing in the empty house. The fun factor for me is somewhat mitigated by the work factor getting ready to move in. My fingers are covered in paint as I type this.

Now, Court (bro-in-law) says I only come over to play Guitar Hero, rather than to visit the niece/nephews. Not true. I come over to play *with* the niece/nephews. Violet and Dash are both better than me. Jack-Jack is a little young for it.

For those who don’t know, Guitar Hero lets you “play” classic rock and heavy metal tunes as part of a rock band. You choose your avatar (see mine at the right) and you pick a song to play. The game comes with a guitar controller that is a kind of miniature plastic guitar with five buttons on the neck and one “string” button to “strum” on the body. As the song plays, a series of color dots appear on a guitar neck on the screen. You have to press the corresponding buttons on the guitar and “strum” the note at the same time in order to score points.

Warning: the first few times you try this game, you will suck. And when you suck, the audience starts booing. Try not to take it personally.

Once you make it through a song, you’ll earn some money for the gig. It’s fun to go to the store and pick out new guitars or outfits. My avatar now has a sweet all-purple leather outfit. I’ve also bought a new guitar, but new outfits are more satisfying. Nobody said Guitar Hero was about the music…

Before you go judging me for leading Violet and Dash into Nintendoland, let me just say that I have tried to turn it into an educational experience. Dash is taking guitar lessons now (on a real guitar with strings, not buttons) and he has a cool teacher who is teaching them guitar riffs from Jimi Hendrix and Cream. So I’ve downloaded those songs (Purple Haze and Sunshine of Your Love) on the iPhone and let him listen to the real thing. We’ve gone to YouTube to look for videos of Hendrix playing Purple Haze live.

My biggest complaint about Guitar Hero is the small number of songs by female rockers available. But I’ve used it as an opportunity to show Violet some old videos of Heart, whose Barracuda is one of the most fun songs to play in the game.

I’m almost done playing my “career” through the Easy level. All that’s left is a guitar battle, a kind of competitive contest against a computer character, to the tune of The Devil Went Down to Georgia. Dash and Violet are already on the Medium level, and I might have to accept the fact that they will always be better than me. Unless I get my own Wii…

[2/15/08 Update: I'm a rock goddess now. I had to wait until the kids went to bed though, so I didn't get heckled for all my failed attempts. And Medium level is going to be soooo hard for me.]

Aunt hack ratings:

Age group: 7 and up

Duration of activity: 30 minutes minimum; if you’re not careful you could play this for hours. I recommend against that–it doesn’t set a very good example.

Cost: Nintendo Wii: $250; Guitar Hero III: $90. Guitar Hero is also available for PC/Mac, so you wouldn’t need to buy the Wii, although from what I’ve read, the Wii is more responsive

Child/aunt fun ratio: 50/50. Until it’s bedtime, and then it’s 100% aunt fun.

I talked about how you can use DiscLabel to make fantastic packaging for your nieces’ and nephews’ favorite music, and how the iPhone is the ultimate aunt tool.

I brought along The Preschool Money Manager Kit from The Tessy & Tab Reading Club. Megan’s kids are trying it out the magazine now.

You can check out the podcast on iTunes or at the TWiT website.

We tried some of the fun animated backdrops that come with it. We could have done a better job finding a blank wall to go behind us, so Photo Booth could have more accurately inserted the roller coaster and aquarium scenes.

But that did not diminish our fun! (And it kinda reminds me of some of those ’60s psychedelic videos…)

Aunt hack ratings:

Age group: 9-12
Duration of activity: 30 minutes
Cost: Photo Booth comes free with your Mac; iMovie is part of the $79 iLife ‘08 suite
Child/aunt fun ratio: 60/40

I composed the video using iMovie ‘08. A lot of people complained that this latest version of iMovie is a step backwards, including me. But then I heard Bob LeVitus of the Houston Chronicle speak. He said that he has cut in half the time it takes him to edit family videos! So I gave it a tryout, and sure enough, you can very quickly edit a little video project. And iMovie ‘08 seamlessly uploads your video to YouTube.

I have hours of video of the niece/nephews that I’ve never edited, because it used to be a minimum 2 hour project – and usually much longer. Now I can do nice short videos in a half hour, or less. This Photo Booth movie took 10 minutes to edit, add music and transitions, and upload to YouTube.

Somewhere there is a dividing line between quality and quantity. I’d rather edit more cute little movies of the kids with iMovie ‘08 than fewer videos that are more sophisticated. I’ll always use Final Cut for documentary filmmaking. But I’ve learned to love iMovie because it takes away the barrier to just getting the kid videos done.

If you want to do even more cool stuff with your iSight camera, check out Freak Show, a cool little piece of software developed by my friend Cosmo. It’s only $12.95, and it’s quite fun. Charlotte and I did a couple YouTube pieces with that last year.

He wasn’t crying or freaking out, and there was a bandage already on the hand, so I was confused as to how it had happened. And I froze for a second. I didn’t know what to do first. Court, my brother-in-law, was nearby, and I managed to say, “Hey, come here. Jack-Jack’s hand is dripping with blood.”

It turns out that Jack-Jack had gotten a nasty cut over the Christmas holidays while visiting Court’s family back east. Somehow he opened that back up. Court carried him off to clean up the cut and rebandage it.

Later, Uncle Bob said “Did you lift up his arm over his head?” I said no, that I didn’t know what to do right away. And I admitted my embarrassing secret: I hesitated because I was afraid of getting blood on myself. Bob said, “You’re coming with me to a first aid course at the Red Cross.” Bob is required to attend these because he runs a foster home for developmentally-disabled adults.

I guess I need to add “Learn First Aid” to my 2008 Aunt Resolutions.