By Pauline Chandra

Got computers in your home? Then you know the typical family dilemma for today's parents. Should kids really be spending so much time in front of the screen? Aren't they supposed to be outdoors, playing pick-up basketball in the neighborhood? Didn't mom and dad grow up mowing lawns, climbing trees, having snowball fights? What gives?

But in the technological age, the computer isn't necessarily the monster in the room. There are a number of ways in which computers can be the tool to gain life skills beyond just being trapped in front of the screen. One resource, Children's Technology Workshop, focuses on teaching kids about technology as a way to create, communicate, animate and solve problems.

Karen Busack, owner of the Eden Prairie branch of Children's Technology Workshop says, "We encourage children to think creatively and solve problems." It's easy to play a video game, she continues "but an entirely different experience to design a game, program it, test it and figure out how to challenge players."

Through many local school districts' community education departments, CTworkshop offers classes in video game creation. The company also offers classes in robotics and animation. CTworkshop's mobile computer lab brings the tools and technology to the classroom.

According to Busack, the common thread running through the workshops is that they all involve children using their own creativity to express their ideas. The animation classes add another dimension, requiring students to create a story, use digital cameras, sound and other technology to create short films.

Movie making technology is standard in both Apple and Microsoft computers. While opinions vary as to which one is the best, the bottom line is that most households already have the tools that their children can use to be more creative. (See the sidebar at right for instructions on making a Claymation - or clay animation - movie.)

For the young musician in your home, the computer could be your new best friend. Chaska music teacher Eric Songer recommends several computer programs for music enthusiasts, including Finale (a program for writing music) and Smartmusic (a software accompaniment program). Songer sees the enthusiasm among his young students when they realize there is a new cool way to use the computer.

Garage Band, one of the many standard programs in Apple computers, is a multi-track recording program, sort of like having a recording studio at your fingertips. Add on software called Jam Packs can take the beginning musician even further.

"Every week we see media coverage about the stiff worldwide competition our children will face with technology skills and the lack of opportunities they have to learn these skills," Busack explains. She believes CTworkshop's applied technology programs help to inspire and encourage children to tap into their creativity. Further, Busack believes that as children learn to take control of technology, they also learn value life skills such as problem solving.

Still, the computer doesn't substitute for pick-up basketball and snowball fights. It's just another dimension in a twenty-first century child's life.

The Video

Red Man Waving
Mom and son create a simple, silly Claymation movie
What you need:
Soft clay
Digital camera set to very low resolution
Uncluttered background
Computer (we used Microsoft)
Props as needed

Creating your movie:
1. Sculpt a clay figure with moveable limbs. Imagine a story. Photograph frame-by-frame movements of your figure performing the actions. (The writer of this story and her son took 64 shots for the Red Man Waving movie.)
2. Download the photos into your computer.
3. Open moviemaking software and import pictures.
4. Move pictures from the clipboard to the storyboard.
5. Press play.

Mom Pauline says making the Red Man Waving movie took less than an hour. She suggests including more complex actions in your movie, such as having the figure climb a ladder, throw a ball or jump over a fence.

More technology tools

Visit www.CTworkshop.com or via e-mail at kbusack@ctworkshop.net
Visit www.snapfiles.com/get/stickfigure.html to download an easy animation tool using stick figures.
Check with your community education department for classes in game making, robot building and more.

Visit Eric Songer's Web site at www.chaska.net/~songer for human music lessons and Garage Band classes.

Search www.YouTube.com for computerized music and instrument lessons.