Is your kid the next Albert Einstein or Marie Curie? The Department of Astronomy and Physics at UCLA is hosting a free, dynamic and innovative day of events called “Exploring Your Universe 2011.” The family friendly event will have activities for all ages including workshops, planetarium shows, solar telescope viewing, comet making, weather tours, and dinosaur fossils. Topics for the activities highlight Stellar Evolution, Bottle Rockets, the Science Behind Optical Illusions and Constellation Detectives.
Details: “Exploring Your Universe”
Price: Free
Location: UCLA Campus
Time: 12:00 pm to 8:00 pm – Saturday, November 12, 2011.
Is your kid a hipster? Are you an urban bohemian parent? Are you looking for an off the beaten path cultural and recreational activity this Saturday? Bring out your Polaroid camera, old-school sneakers and thick-rimmed glasses for the Folk Art Bike Ride in Historic South Central LA.
The Craft and Folk Art Museum is leading an exploration of art, neighborhoods and unique community gathering spots. The bike ride will journey through Historic South Central LA, which includes LA’s historic and underground jazz district and visit the African American Fire Fighter Museum. The event is free to everyone and RSVP is encouraged.
Details: Folk Art Bike Ride in Historic South Central LA
Price: Free
Location: Mercado La Paloma, 3655 S. Grand Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90007
Do your kids want to do something fun, creative and outdoors for Halloween? This Saturday afternoon LACMA will be having a free show in honor of the final weekend for the Tim Burton exhibit. Children will design and create props, costumes, and instruments for a participatory storytelling performance. The performances will be about bones, dogs, pumpkins and other Tim Burton inspired themes. Master storytellers Karen Golden and Rebecca Martin will be performing. Definitely no tricks, and just treats for this event!
Details: Pumpkin Bones, Picnic Stones and Hallow’s Eve Tales
Price: Free
Location: Hancock Park
Time: 12–1 pm Prop Making Workshop, 1–2 pm Storytelling Performance
No matter how busy their schedule, all children deserve a positive afterschool experience. Here are ten achievable goals for when the school bell rings:
Have Fun
Be Creative
Be Inspired
Be Safe
Discover Opportunities
Take Risks
Develop Confidence
Learn New Skills
Exercise Outside
Meet New Friends
As the demands of homework, commuting to extracurricular activities and attending social functions pack your children’s schedules, remember these goals and do your best to encourage them to “Take Ten.”
Generation X had Web 1.0, Generation Y has Web 2.0 and Generation Z will have Web 3.0. The next generation of startups is accelerating a revolutionary user experience. Read below to learn why:
Web 1.0: In the 1990’s, a one-way path of read-only content defined mainstream websites. Remember anticipating the launch of HotWired and the Library of Congress? Information flowed strictly from the page to the person. Generation X left their desktop monitors with the impression: “Now, I know more about the history of the Beatles. Rad.”
Web 2.0: For the past decade, user generated content defined popular websites. Think Myspace and Facebook. Information is exchanged in a dialogue between the page and the people. Generation Y left their laptops with the impression: “Now, I know you like the Black Eyed Peas, and you know I like the Black Eyed Peas, and check out this website with unreleased lyrics to Where is the Love. Sweet.”
Web 3.0: As for Generation Z, action and not information will define emerging websites. Visit SCVNGR (the gaming gurus) and TruantToday (recipient of the Clinton Global Initiative Award for “Most Likely To Succceed”). These websites do not only exchange content between users, they inspire real action in the community. Generation Z will leave their smartphones with the impression: “Now, we can meet at the rec center and learn the shuffle* from that dancer on America’s Got Talent. Epic.”
Our goal is for the next generation to use Afterschool.me as a call to action. We envision Afterschool.me as a springboard for families to get their kids healthy, creative and inspired. Call us crazy to use the web as a launchpad for activity, but today there has been no better moment to “Think Different.”
*If you aren’t a member of Generation X, Y or Z, and you don’t know what the shuffle is, we respect you. Just click here and turn up the volume. You should be fine – the video already has 230 million views.
Official Blog of Afterschool.me 