Bringing the Inauguration Home!

Inauguration 2009 + National Day Of Service

As President-elect Obama takes the oath of office next Tuesday during the 2009 Inauguration, parents of every political affiliation have an opportunity to talk with their children about democracy and civics. This election marks a turning point in American history for lots of important reasons, including how the youth in this country turned out to vote in record numbers. We're seizing the chance to get the next generation of voters -- our kids -- interested in the democracy they will inherit. We've created conversation starters for kids of every age: from discussing civics issues with older kids (the language of the Oath of Office, the peaceful transition from the past administration) to talking about First Family issues with younger children (will Malia have a Facebook profile, can Sasha go on sleepovers?). To watch history in the making, we will tune in on Sunday night for HBO's We are One concert on the Mall (on a free feed), watch our new President take the Oath of Office on Tuesday and watch Nickelodeon's kid-friendly coverage later in the evening. Finally, to really give our kids a hands-on lesson in how one person can make a difference, we are joining in Michelle and Barack Obama's challenge to celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King's dream of social justice by participating in a National Day of Service. To make it easy, we link you to a website that lists service activities in every zip code, like donating blankets or volunteering at a food pantry. Join us!

Click here for a link to find volunteer activities in your area, information about media coverage of Tuesday's Inauguration and the We Are One concert, and a list of questions to help turn the Inauguration into a homespun civicis lesson at the dinner table.

The Tale of Despereaux + Cooking Minestrone with Kids = Kids Off The Couch and IN the kitchen!

Recent bone-chilling weather has had a homey influence on our New Year's Resolutions, which include warm family meals and reading books by the fire. The new animated film The Tale of Despereaux (still in theaters), adapted from one of our favorite read-aloud books by Kate DiCamillo, stars an intrepid sword-wielding mouse who seeks to lift a kingdom's ban on soup. Inspired to spend some time cooking with our kids, we sought out a kid-friendly Minestrone recipe from Caroline Styne, a Los Angeles restaurateur and mom. The secret ingredient? Kids in the kitchen! With Caroline's expert tips, our kids were shopping and chopping, stirring and spicing up a broth made of local, seasonal vegetables. A perfect recipe for family fun on a blustery day. Click here for Caroline's tips for cooking with kids, learn her recipe for Minestrone and read why this film isn't really G-rated.

Kids Off The Couch's Favorite Family Films of 2008

Happy Holidays from Our Couch to Yours!

It's time to eat, gift and be merry with the family so here's our own Top Ten list of new DVDs that are worth purchasing for your home library. Wrap and enjoy!

For Younger Viewers (Rated UR, G and PG):
August Rush - Sweet tale of an adopted boy who reunites with his parents when he runs away to NYC to explore his own musical talents. (PG).

Enchanted - Disney sends up the princess genre in a delightful story about an animated princess who drops into contemporary NYC and has to learn to navigate the real world. Guess what? She still gets her prince. (PG).

Kung Fu Panda- With gorgeous animation, and lots of martial arts, this film reminds us how fun it was to watch the Olympics last August. (PG).

The Red Balloon - The french classic about a boy who chases a balloon around Paris was finally released on DVD this year. Lyrical film making at it's best (G).

For Older Viewers (Rated PG-13 and Beyond):
Into the Wild - The adaptation of Jon Krakauer's true tale of a teen who takes off into the Alaskan wilderness is directed by Sean Penn and co-stars Twilight's Kristin Stewart. (R).

Iron Man - An excellent, comedic action film about a comic book hero comes to life with a surprisingly great performance by Robert Downey, Jr. (PG-13).

Man on a Wire - Riveting documentary about a rogue tightrope walker who strung a wire between the Twin Towers and completed a dazzling feat. (PG-13).

Persepolis - This graphic novel turned film is a stunning visual account of a Iranian woman's politicization. (PG-13).

12 Angry Men - The classic Henry Fonda tale about our justice system is one of the best films every made. One juror believes in the innocence of a man whom the other 11 jurors think is guilty. (NR).

Under the Same Moon - A woman leaves her child in Mexico as she seeks work in California, but the boy runs away from home to find her. We like this for it's sympathetic depiction of the trials of immigration.(PG-13).

The Visitor - An older man bonds with an illegal immigrant couple who are squatting in his NY apartment, but helps them when the man teaches him to play the drums. (PG-13).

Thanks for reading our e-mails throughout the past year and for sharing our newsletter with your friends. We wish everyone a happy, and healthy, 2008; you'll hear from us next in the New Year!

Diane and Sarah

Kids Off The Couch

Contact Us: info@kidsoffthecouch.com

www.kidsoffthecouch.com

Greening The Holidays Contest!

Getting Eco-Friendly + Spending Less Money = Making The Holidays Meaningful

What does a Green Holiday mean to us? Trimming the budget and tree at the same time. Here are a few of our personal solutions -- which we hope will inspire you to share great ideas with our KOTC community and win a $100 Amazon Gift Card.

KOTC IDEAS: (1) Wish Trees -- Inspired by Yoko Ono's Wish Trees, we're asking everyone to write wishes on hang tags and tie them to our Christmas tree or pile them around the Menorah. (2) Recycled Gift Wrap: We're keeping old newspapers, pulling out all those half used paint sets, and going to town on personalized wrapping paper. Our kids are using twigs and berries from our yards to decorate their packages.

Diane's Idea: This year, I am trying new kind tradition - a gift of special time. Each member of our family is asking another for a regular date doing something together. I will ask my teenager for a cup of tea study break once a week, Grandma wants to play a Scrabble game once a month with her grandchildren, Dad (this is a tough one) will request 9 holes on the golf course every two weeks.

Sarah's Idea: The adults in my extended family pick Secret Santas to reduce the stress of shopping for 20-odd relatives at the holidays. It also reduces the amount of silly ties and bad sweaters in the closet. (In fact, one terrible tie does get shuttled around each holiday, showing up as a gag gift in a different stocking each holiday). This frees us up to buy one well researched and thought out gift for a sister, or brother in law and leaves time to play Santa for every adorable, deserving niece and nephew.

Please share your Greening The Holiday ideas with us and win a $100 Amazon.com Gift Card! If you're not already a member of Kids Off The Couch, please sign up here – it's free. Then leave your "Greening the Holidays" suggestions below in the comments section of this Blog posting and you will instantly become eligible to win a $100.00 Amazon.com Gift Card. (US Residents, 18 years and older only please.) Our winner will be chosen on December 19th, 2008. We will also be publishing some of our favorites on the Kids Off The Couch website and sending them out next week all over the country with your name as the Author.

"Chasing Vermeer" + Vermeer Painting Visit = Kids Off The Couch

Chasing Vermeer, a chapter book heralded as "The Da Vinci Code for kids," had our children burning the midnight oil, avidly following clues and secret codes to solve an art caper -- who stole Dutch master Johannes Vermeer's A Lady Writing? As our kids met up with fictional art experts, librarians and teachers throughout the novel, they learned a lot about Vermeer, and to our great delight, asked to see the real deal. In many cities, locating a Vermeer on exhibit is impossible -- there are only 35 known Vermeer's in existence! Yet, when one of these luminous masterpieces was loaned to a museum in our city, we packed everyone into the car for a rare treat -- the chance to see a Vermeer in person. Our kids admired an intimate portrait of a young woman, dressed in silks and pearls, bathed in Vermeer's signature light. Just as big a treat? Having our kids get excited about a museum visit! Click here for our inside scoop on how to bring Vermeer's art alive with a treasure hunt at the museum and Dutch cooking at home.

"Annie" + Talking About Money = Kids Off The Couch

The Sun Will Come Out, Tomorrow... Won't It?

Over Thanksgiving break families will have plenty of time together, and inevitably adult conversation will focus on the economy. We think it's a perfect time to sit down with your kids to calm whatever anxiety has been passed along (unwittingly) to them, and to set a solid path for the future. This week, we turn to KOTC Financial Guru Nathan Dungan, a national expert on helping parents teach their kids healthy financial habits. Dungan has created a series of questions for Kids Off The Couch subscribers to get the conversation started, like asking Great Grandma about her most treasured possession or about how values have shifted in a generation. With these memories being shared, why not create a new Thanksgiving tradition and record these conversations? (This Friday is National Day of Listening, and we provide a link to their site to show families how to record these stories for posterity). If all this talk is sounding bleak, fear not -- we kick off this earnest topic with a screening of Annie, the sunniest movie we can think of, to remind us that money isn't the key to happiness.

Click here for Dungan's conversation starters as well as a link to his recent Chicago Tribune article on how to talk to kids about job loss. And for Parents - we highly recommend Slumdog Millionaire, a wonderful treatise on money, values and love (rated R, in theaters now) to inspire you to tackle this tough topic.

"Holes" + Digging for Ancient Artifacts = Kids Off The Couch

Many kids feel a burning curiosity about the days before they were born, which is why it's magical when an old object (discovered perhaps, in grandmother's closet) summons up a different world. Our kids learned how the pros look for treasures when they participated in a Family Dig at a local museum, an inventive program where families learn about ancient cultures by excavating pottery shards from an archaeological pit. To get them ready to dig, we screened Holes (starring Shia LaBoeuf in his first film role), an adaptation of the wildly popular novel by Louis Sacher. Our kids eagerly followed the story about the young inmates of Camp Green Lake, a detention home, who are forced to dig holes in the desert all day. When the kids unearth long-buried secrets, they go on the run to keep what they've found from the evil prison warden (played to perfection by Sigourney Weaver). This is one of the smartest kid movies we know because it reveals how past generations walk along with us, a perfect conversation starter for discussing why we insist on stuffing our garages with Great Grandma's lace aprons and Great Granddad's musty books. Click here for our recommendations about whether your kids can handle this PG-rated movie, more about the popular Sacher book, and how to find some Dig experiences in your city.