Apple Adds Gay and Lesbian Couple Icons to iOS 6

The new version of Apple’s iPhone operating system comes with new emojis, the popular emoticons that are often used in texting and email, especially by young kids and nerdy adults like me. Two of these new pictograms represent gay and lesbian couples for the first time. The icons are placed next to the previous relationship-related emojis …

Amazing cardboard cutout playhouses for kids

My kids adore our Casa Cabana House (below), which has magically survived 5 years of play. The Kidsonroof Rocket would definitely get my son’s imagination going. Here’s your ticket to being superaunt or superuncle! via Swiss Miss

Beach Report Card – iPhone app – monitor the water quality at your beach

Heal the Bay’s Beach Report Card app puts the only comprehensive, weekly analysis of coastline water quality for the West Coast at your fingertips. Now, any time and anywhere, you can get access to A to F grades for the health risks of swimming, surfing or playing at more than 650 beach locations in California, …

Infograph – homeschoolers are growing rapidly with better scores and graduation rates

We’ve all heard about the troubles in our public schools and maybe even know a few parents brave enough to homeschool their kids. But what are the effects of doing so? Is it only for the wealthy or those with teaching experience, and does it make your kids weird? A new infograph from college@home answers …

21st century modern art – graffiti – 26 beloved pieces

I particularly like the paintings on the ground that give depth, like you’re falling into a mouth or a bowl of soup.

DIY: build your own Battlestar Galactica space flight simulator

Six families of makers from the Bay Area are working on building a fully-operational motion controlled flight simulator based on the fighter ship from Battlestar Galactica. Using the fuselage of a small plane, the team has already built a motion platform that rotates a full dizzying 360 degrees in both the pitch and roll axes. …

Kids in 3rd grade are 8 years old and 20% have cell phones

Kids in the third grade are, on average, eight years old. Nowadays, 20 percent of third-grade boys and 18 percent of third-grade girls already have a cell phone, according to a 2011 study of 20,766 Massachusetts elementary, middle, and high school students. By the time the kids reach fifth grade, 39% of the kids have …

Hasbro Star Wars toys – a universe of characters and vehicles

I got an email today about Hasbro toys being 20% off, and so did a little walk down memory lane. And, if you have kids these are some sweet gifts.

Scholastic joins the e-book revolution – new app for children’s books

The kids’ e-book market is still nascent, with e-books making up just about three percent of children’s book sales. That could change now that Scholastic, the world’s largest children’s book publishers, is digitizing much of its list and releasing an e-reading app, “Storia,” that includes a large e-bookstore and lets kids read e-books based on …