I just saw this article on DIY Life and, wow. Just 16 years old, and look at what he did. Watch out big auto makers! This 16 year old is going to pass you up in the research & development department.

This is just way too cool not to share. Takes a while to load, but well worth it. Found on Fark.com

I found the website ForDads.com this morning and wanted to share their list of fun activities and hobbies for kids. Head over to this link for the list. Enjoy!

I'm not the most terribly creative father when it comes to finding activities for my toddler. Most of it is due to the fact that my wife worked in a daycare for toddler-age children, and through that, automatically knows what to do with kids that age. Me being the proud man that I am, I never think to ask her for ideas, but I often find that I'm at a loss for what to do with my son when we're spending 'daddy time' together while mom is catching up on sleep or running errands that have been piling up for weeks.
I think most of my lack of creativity is because I don't really understand what level of development toddlers are at during any given age, so I tend to do whatever seems to keep my son interested (which is mostly TV). I think things will be easier once his vocabulary develops a little more and he can actually ask to do certain things, but until then, I'm going to be at somewhat of a loss. I have resolved to try and come up with better activities to do when I'm spending time with my son, and found a great site that lists some age-appropriate activities that are both fun and also help with a toddler's development. The list can be found here, and offers up some surprisingly easy to organize activities that should give lots of ideas to keep in your back pocket for those days when you can't find something to keep your toddlers engaged and busy.

I found a funny link while surfing for nerdy Star Wars sites: Wookiepedia.

For those of you who don't read wookie, check out the Star Wars Wiki.

A little more ambitious than I would try, but the videos are cool enough to watch, and just the type of thing to spark a young child's interest in chemistry. Check the videos out here.

Or Niagra Falls, Sydney and Yokohama? Check out some of these places in 360 degree panoramic pictures. Maybe not as cool as being there, but it sure beats a regular photo.

I ran into this link while reading GeekDad this morning. It reminds me of my childhood and how many toys I left in the toybox if I had a few boxes or unused couch cushions to make a house out of. Now I'm looking around at all the toys my son has and wonder if I should give them to needy families and get him some nice boxes to replace them. I know that sounds pretty weak and busted, but I'm not sure he'd really mind.


UPDATE:
Head on over to Mr. McGroovy's to check out their cardboard box kits and plans. Also check out their Photo Gallery with examples of some of the projects people have put together. Pretty neat stuff - my favorites are the Pirate Ship and Mystery Machine from Scooby Doo! I may have to work something like this up for my son's next birthday party.

Is it just me, or does anyone else who is a new dad occasionally feel like they are a kid again? I haven't looked at action figures or Legos or other toys and youthful activities like camping, rocketry, astronomy, etc. quite like I have in the past year.

Most of it is due to the excitement I'm feeling about introducing these things to my son when he's old enough to enjoy them. But another part of it is that these things are still pretty damn cool to look at and think about, even at my age. I hope that I'm not projecting my interests on my son, but since he's only one year old, I don't need to worry about being too overbearing about it just yet. And I think I will do fine respecting his feelings if he's not interested in some of the things that I was interested in as a child.

Knowing my luck, however, he'll only be interested in the one thing that I never got into - Sports. God help me if he gets into that, because I don't know much about them other than having watched a few Dallas Cowboy's games on TV. I suppose it would be fun to learn the finer points of sports together, though.

The new year has rolled around, and although it's gotten colder (but not really cold here, since I live in Central TX), I'm anxious to get outdoors enjoy being away from my computer, TV, etc. I'm a big fan of camping, and while my son is still too young to appreciate it, I'm looking forward to taking him in the next couple of years.

I ran across this site today while surfing, and it looks like a nice resource guide. Mind you, I probably don't need it, because I'm an Eagle Scout (Can you just hear me patting myself on the back? :), but for the uninitiated, there are some good tips to consider before embarking on a camping trip and great resources for finding places to go. OK, so I can definitely use the resources pages. As long as I've lived in Austin, I seem to go back to the same places to camp, but a new campsite would be a lot of fun to try out this year.

If you've never been camping, I highly recommend it, especially if you have children. Some of my fondest memories are of camping trips with my parents, uncles, cousins, etc. I'm also glad that I was involved in Boy Scouts, because that got me plenty of opportunities for doing outdoor activities. Mmm - I can almost taste the S'Mores now.....

Today must be the day for stumbling onto custom toy galleries. Geek Dad at Wired has a link to custom Lego figures that represent many of the Marvel and DC superheroes.

Check out the link here.

I found an awesome link while surfing over to the Geek Parenting website this morning. I wish that they made toys this cool when I was young! Not that I didn't appreciate the stock figures that you could buy at the store, but i was always in awe of those kids that had the rare or super-expensive items that you didn't see every day. This would have totally blown them away.

Click over to Sillof's Workshop to view his other custom figures and dioramas. I think a Sci-Fi or Fantasy-themed diorama is a nice idea that I might try with my son, assuming he's into those genres. Of course, I'd be happy to do any kind of diorama, but if he gets into Sports, I'm in trouble, because I've never really watched or followed them all that much (unless he's a Dallas Cowboys fan).

It's been a few days, but I'm back to blogging. A round of colds at my house (wife, son and myself) as well as a week long training at work have kept me a little busier than normal, but I've finally gotten a little breathing room!

Here is my geeky link for the day. Why don't they make Lego sets like this? I'd totally buy them (and not for my son, either!).

I recently found this site while doing my normal morning surfing while my son was busy throwing/ eating his breakfast in his high chair. I love a lot of the articles on the site, especially the ones having to do with crafting toys and experiments.

These are exactly the types of creative things that I'd eventually like to do with my son, so I'm keeping this site bookmarked for future use. There are great articles on lots of great topics, and while the website is semi-focused on providing ideas and support to single dads, I have seen tons of things that are useful for any parent who is looking for a fun activity to do with their kids. Go check the site out and drop the author a note if you like it!

I ran across this link today while doing some morning surfing, and this looks really cool! After reading the how-to section, it looks a little difficult, and my son is way too young to appreciate doing a project like this, but I'm going to keep this one in my back pocket and give it a shot when he gets a little older.

I'm certainly not an astronomy buff by any means, but I do remember that my dad had a telescope when I was young, and we used to look at the moon, Mars, and Saturn. I still remember the sense of wonder I felt when looking at craters on the moon or seeing the rings of Saturn in real life vs. seeing them in a book or magazine. This project definitely takes stargazing a large step forward, and I'm excited to try this out one day with my son.

Thanks to the Geek Dad Blog at Wired Magazine for the find!

Wow. I just learned a term today that I wasn't aware existed: Helicopter Parenting. And after reading the article linked below, I feel dismayed. I feel sorry for these 'victims' of helicopter parenting.

OK, Helicopter Parents - It's one thing to care about your child's future and their pursuits of success and happiness, but come on - let them do it them damn selves! They will appreciate it more and will gain something valuable that you've so far deprived them from(or tried to, at least) - life experience!

I remember being fairly 'pushed along' by my parents, and hated it at the time, but I now realize that their constant pushing to make me a better person has done just exactly that. My parents may have even done it more than other parents when I was young and in their care, but by no means did they hold a candle to some of the activities mentioned in the article. And they certainly let me make my own choices and experience my own failures/successes after I moved out and went to college, something I'm very thankful for. They gave me the tools to succeed, it only seemed natural to use them :)

The really sad part of it for me is that this still seems to be going on (for some) well into their college years and beyond - I think it is appropriate to mentor and instruct your children on doing what it takes to achieve a goal or be successful at something, but this is far beyond the call of parental duty, in my opinion. Link to story

Go to this article, and you can see the top ten signs of being a 'Helicopter Parent' - to me, this looks more like a top ten list of "why your lazy-@ss kid needs a kick to the seat of his/her pants," but maybe I'm a little harsh in my opinion. Thoughts?

Today my wife and I took the boy to Zilker Park to ride the Zilker Zephyr, the small train they have at the park. It looked like the train was full when we got there and were dismayed, thinking that we'd have to wait another hour to catch the next one. However, a nice family moved around when my wife asked if there was any way to make space, and we got on a few minutes before it left. My son had a bit of a cold earlier this weekend, so he was still a little out if it - I hoped he wouldn't freak out in the middle of the trip and start fussing, but he did great and had a lot of fun by the end of the ride.

I had always heard about the train and Barton springs, but had not been there since I was very young, and really don't remember that visit. The train ride was fairly inexpensive (less then 3 bucks per adult and less than 2 per kid, with infants under 1 year ride free), and the scenery was beautiful. I didn't realize that this part of the Downtown/S. Austin area was that hilly, and the train offered up some very nice panoramic views of Barton Springs. Today was wonderful weather for a ride, although it did get a little chilly when the train was near the water, so the jackets we brought didn't go to waste.

I would recommend checking the train out if you're ever in the area. It's a nice way to keep the little one(s) occupied for 20-30 minutes while getting to take in some nice scenery while you're sitting down (something that doesn't happen too often if you have kids, I'm finding out).

Here is a link to info about the Zilker Zephyr: http://austin.about.com/cs/tours/l/blvt_z_zephyr.htm