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Parent By ANN PLESHETTE MURPHY
Games to keep the kids active
n
If the colder weather
tends to make couch
potatoes of your kids,
then consider toys that
inspire them to exercise
more than their thumbs. Some ideas:
A FAVORITE among toy experts,
Wild Planet’s Hyper Dash (ages 6 and
up; $24.95, hyper-dash.com) has an
electronic “tagger” and five “targets.”
Place the targets far apart and watch
your kids dash to where the tagger
tells them to go; they can try to beat
their best time or compete against each
other. “It’s like a relay race, but you
can do it indoors,” says Alison Marek,
the managing editor of TDmonthly
Magazine, which is a toy industry
trade magazine.
Fit Smart jowge cruise _
Biking’s fun. Stay safe.
“Studies have shown that wearing a
properly fitted and safety-approved
bicycle helmet can reduce head in
juries by up to 85%,” says John T
Gill, M.D., spokesman for the Ameri
can Academy of Orthopaedic Sur-
geons. “Still, only
about half of cy
clists bother to put
on a helmet before
they ride.”
In addition to
wealing a helmet.
Helmets
can reduce
biking head
injuries as
much as 85%.
there are other precautions you can
take to make sure your bike-riding
experience is a safe one. “Don’t turn
your brain off when you climb on the
saddle,” Gill says. “Most injuries re
sult from rider error. Knowing what
to do, and paying attention to your
4 USA
WEEKEND
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4
USA WEEKEND • Dec 14-16,2007
Smart
THIS HOLIDAY sea
son, rent the movie A
Big, then order the ■
updated Dance Mat 1
Keyboard from FAO 1
Schwarz, where Tom '
Hyper Dash is
like an indoor
relay race.
Hanks’ character perfected A
Chopsticks. See if you and Mk
your kids can hop, skip
and dance some tunes of
your own sages 3 to 7;
$45, fao.com).
WHAT CHILD doesn’t IV'
love to slide around on H
surroundings, can help you avoid ac
cidents.” Also, be sure your bike fits
you properly; a poor fit can lead to
lack of control. Even while cycling in
doors, adjust the seat to your height
to avoid injury.
And stay well hydrated when you
bike even during the cooler months.
President & CEO ■ Marcia L. Bullard
Publisher • Charles Gabrielson
Executive Editor & VP • Jack Curry
SVP/Advertising • Rob Harrison
Dir./Finance • Edward Maxwell
DirJHuman Resources • Bhavna Sharma
Dir./Marketing • Sonia David
Dir./Research • Frank Dokimascolo
To ask any USA WEEKEND columnist a quastion, visit usawoakond.com.
HELPFUL TIPS FOR YOUR EVERYDAY LIFE
hardwood in his stocking feet? Fun
slides attach to sneakers and work on
carpets (ages 6 and up; $19.99, visit
funslides.com for locations).
THE EVER-POPULAR Dance
Dance Revolution video
tak game provides such a
good workout that some
schools use it in PE
class. The home ver-
sion of the game uses a mat
Bfciy consisting of nine squares
' on which to “dance” while you
j A attempt to keep up with the
E
various formats, starting at $39.99 with
dance mat included; konami.com).
Ann Pleshette Murphy is ABC's
Good Morning America parenting expert.
Scent Smart nataue ermann russell
Try out new perfumes
Now’s a good time to try a new per
fume. as many fragrance houses de
but their latest for the holiday sea- f
son. But how do you know w T hat fra-1
grance will fit you?
Tanya Killeen, a beauty buyer for 1
Wynn Resorts in Las Vegas, recom- ' _
mends picking a classic fragrance and
building from there: “Find your basic
scent, then layer on others. So, if you’re
going to pick a seasonal winter scent,
like Jo Malone’s Pomegranate Noir, go
with the shower gel and body lotion.
Then put something like the Orange
Blossom on top of that You’ll have a
musky fragrance as your base, with cit
rusy on top of that”
A fragrance specialist at a perfume
counter can help you figure out which
layers work together.
Managing Editor Brenda Turner Creative Manager Casey Shaw
Senior Editors: Craigh Barboza, Pamela Brown (Make A Difference Day), Carol Clurman,
Constance Kurz, Lorrie Lynch, Priscilla Totten Copy Chief: Jill Golden Copy Editor Ali Cybulski
Senior Writer. Dennis McCafferty Associate Editors: Michele Hatty, TJ. Walter
Assistant Editor Kathy Rowings Fact Checker Elena Kelthley
Editorial Assistant: Reyhaneh Fathieh Design Director Leon Lawrence 111
Art Director Pamela Taylor Associate Art Director Christina Cook
Senior Photo Editor David Baratz Deputy Photo Editor Sarah Claxton
Online: Amelia Stephenson Office Coordinator Troy Artis
Tech Smart melanie d.g. kaplan
Not kids. Not yet teens.
Cool stuff for tweens.
The iPhone may be coveted by all,
but some of us aren’t keen on hand
ing over such a sophisticated (and ex
pensive) device to Junior. Fortunately,
there are options when it comes to
“kewl” hybrid gizmos.
Nickelodeon and Imation recently
rolled out their Npower line for multi
tasking tweens. The Naked Brothers
Band Rision Digital Media Player
($99.99, at memorexelectronics.com/
npower) lets you play videos and pre
loaded Java games, listen to music and
view photos. Navigating the features
is simple, which I learned from my
young tester who didn’t even bother
to read the instructions. Within min
utes, he had connected with the Nick
characters and was sucked into a video
and ignoring his parents.
If your tween is end-
musical com
mands that are
on the screen
(ages 6 and up;
lessly IM’ing on the
family PC, you might want to check
out the Z 2 ($149.99, zipitwireless.com),
a sleek handheld with flip-out color
screen and keyboard that lets you send
instant messages and store music and
photos. The device’s WiFi capability
means users can hook up to an exist
ing wireless network nearby and text
for free through IM services at AOL,
MSN and Yahoo, ca
Contributing Editors
Pam Anderson, Ken Bums, Jean Carper,
Stephen Covey, Jorge Cruise,
Steve Dale, Kenneth C Davis,
Sharon Epperson, Denote Hughes,
Walecia Konrad, Lisa Ling,
Lou Manfredini, Dr. Tedd Mitchell,
Ann Pleshette Murphy, Cokie Roberts,
Steve Roberts, Tavis Smiley,
Terry Stickels
Play videos,
music and
games on
multi-task
media players.
CHILD: LENNETTE NEWELL
Regional Directors/
Newspapers
Charlie Williams
Taaz Williams
Luci Day
c Copyright 2007
USA WEEKEND.
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