THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, December 6, 1994 TAG: 9412060073
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ESTHER DISKIN, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 94 lines
SANTA'S CONSCIENCE is bothering him.
This year, his elves seem out of control, in their frenzied creation of toys with violent or materialistic themes. Plastic guns and knives. Dolls loaded down with fake gold and gems. Computerized games with characters shooting and kicking each other.
Those elves must be watching too much television, Santa thinks, maybe even sneaking some R-rated movies when he's not looking.
But whenever he complains, the elves wave around one of the educational toys that occasionally fall off their assembly line and stuff it into his big sack. Fine, all right, Santa grumbles, but sometimes he just wants a little more than teaching the basics of reading, writing, math and science.
Whatever happened to a moral message? Isn't anyone thinking about values this Christmas? Aren't there any fun ways to teach kids how to make wise decisions in daily living? Where are the games to teach the next generation how to protect their planet? Is that too much to ask?
So Santa had a notion. If the elves won't make the toys he wants, he'd send out some explorers to give him some ideas for store-bought toys that might fit what he had in mind.
Maybe parents could use a list to give them some ideas for presents with ethics wrapped inside the fun. In South Hampton Roads, an afternoon's search turned up some possibilities:
- Kid's Choices and Teen Choices. Two board games, for three to 10 players, designed to teach kids to apply biblical principles to everyday situations. Cost: $16.99. Store: Heaven & Earth, with three locations in Virginia Beach and one in Chesapeake.
An example of a choice in the game for kids, ages 6 to 12: ``You see your friend slipping something under her coat in the grocery store. Do you confront her?'' An example of a teen choice, for ages 13 to 18: ``You hear of term papers for sale on campus. You lost the paper you wrote. Will you buy a new one?''
- David and Goliath play set. A plastic play set that includes 50 battle soldiers 2 to 4 inches tall. Kids who like to play with action figures can learn the Bible story from this set. Cost: $14.99. Store: Heaven & Earth.
- Women of Faith dolls. Plastic dolls of similar height and style to Barbie, but modeled on the biblical matriarchs, Ruth, Esther and Mary. Each comes with a story cassette. Cost: $14.99. Store: Heaven & Earth.
- Black Americans of Achievement ($17.99) and African-American Discovery Game ($19.99). Two board games, designed for two or more players, which use a quiz style to teach about the accomplishments of black Americans in the nation's history. Both can be played by teams. Store: Toys R Us, Norfolk and Virginia Beach.
- Projects for a Healthy Planet. A book of fun experiments to teach kids understanding and respect for the environment. Some projects: Create a ``friendly'' oil spill with popcorn and water; investigate the meaning of ``biodegradable'' in a test with milk, vinegar and plastic bags. Cost: $10.95. Store: Earth Friendly Co., locations in Virginia Beach and Chesapeake.
- Exploring Ecology. An experimental lab kit, similar to a terrarium, to conduct 35 different small-scale tests on air, soil and water pollution, or the Earth's energy sources. Ages 9 and up. Cost: $38.95. Store: Earth Friendly Co.
- Paper-Making Kits. A variety of kits are available to show kids how to make recycled paper from junk mail, comic strips, gift wrap. Cost: $17.95, on sale in some stores for $8. Store: Earth Friendly Co.
- Kids Make Music. A book of music-making and dancing activities that don't require anything more than household items. Some ideas: how to make a ``boom-bah'' out of baby rattles, keys and pot covers'' turn old sneakers into tap-dance shoes, with old pennies and some glue. Suited for all ages, with some adult supervision. Cost: $12.95. Store: WaldenKids, in Greenbrier Mall.
- Cassettes and CDs. Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop, ``In the Land of No Manners,'' ($9.98 cassette; WaldenKids); ``The Friendly Snowflake,'' a fable of faith, love and family by M. Scott Peck, best-selling author of ``The Road Less Travelled'' ($8.95 cassette, WaldenKids).
The Rabbit Ears Radio series - featuring movie-star narrators like Mel Gibson and Glenn Close and music groups like Bela Fleck and the Flecktones - includes Bible stories, ``The Creation,'' ($13.99 CD, Blockbuster Music) and ``Moses in Egypt,'' ($13.99 CD; Blockbuster Music), as well as ``The Song of Sacajawea,'' the true story of the American Indian woman who guided Lewis and Clark's expedition across the Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean ($13.99 CD; Blockbuster Music).
- Free gifts. How about taking your kid to do some volunteer work, either by helping a neighbor, or through something more organized, like helping to build a home in the Habitat for Humanity program or pitching in at a local homeless shelter? Can you get them excited about cleaning up and giving away some of their old toys, which can be taken to various charities? Cost: $0. Store: None needed. ILLUSTRATION: JANET SHAUGHNESSY
Staff
by CNB