Catch a breeze ... it's kite season!

Maybe you're a kid at the beach with a simple one-line kite. Maybe you're a well-built grown-up maneuvering a giant squid kite in the breeze using so many strings you look like a marionette handler. Or maybe you just like to relax in a lawn chair and watch a wondrous Chinese dragon kite soaring on the breeze. Choose your fancy. Kites are for everyone. Whether you want to watch way-larger-than-life teddy-bear kites fly at a festival this summer, make and decorate your own kite, or just buy one and start flying, here are a few ideas to get you started.

Kites in the past
Kites are used mostly for recreation these days. When you're flying your kite, you're doing one of the same things people did for fun in ancient Japan and medieval Europe (and still do pretty much everywhere else around the world). But kites have also been used for serious business. During the Civil War, the Union Army dropped messages with kites asking the Confederate Army to surrender, and the Wright brothers flew big, sturdy man-lifting kites on the way to inventing the airplane.

Make your own kite
It's easy to make your own kite out of a few things you probably already have around the house. Here are some instructions for a small kite that flies beautifully in a moderate breeze. Young Poloppo artists have tried these and loved them. Or, if you're looking to recycle all those plastic bags cluttering up your kitchen drawers, you can turn them into a lightweight, easy-to-fly kite.

Decorate your own kite
Remember that kites are seen from afar, so bold colors and designs tend to work best. Try using 2-4 colors in big stripes or quadrants. Animating kites with eyes can be fun too. You could imagine a kite as any flying creature; a bird, dragon, pegasus or even some other fictitious flying creature of your own invention.

Go spy a kite
There are hundreds of kite festivals where you can purchase kites, learn to make them, and watch stunt kiters and kite ballet artists perform. Try googling your local kite festival and get ready to fly!

Go buy a kite
You can buy a kite at just about any toy store or department store. If you're thinking about buying a specialty kite, here are a few great kite stores and their web sites:

Into the Wind, Boulder, Colorado

Kitty Hawk Kites, Nags Head, North Carolina

Colors on the Wind, Spokane, Washington

Follow the Sun

Sunprinting: an old technique for new ideas (and a great summer-time activity for kids!).


Did you know that one of the oldest types of photographic printing is also one of the easiest? Cyanotypes were first developed in 1842, and artists and kids are still finding ways to make these blue-colored prints look modern.

Cyanotypes are a type of sunprint. That means you don't need to be in a darkroom to make them. You just need paper that's coated with a light-sensitive chemical, a tray of water, some objects or photographic negatives to make your image with, and sunlight. (Cyanotype chemicals are relatively safe. You need to be careful to keep them away from your mouth and to wash your hands after using them, but they're suitable for young artists.)

The easiest way to make sunprints is to buy a sunprint kit. It contains small squares of pre-coated paper, and it's about $5. The kit is just the right size to carry along to the beach or on a hiking trip, and you can use it to make images of flowers, shells, or whatever else you find along the way. Here are some examples of pictures made with a sunprint kit.

To make your sunprint, just place some leaves, flowers, or other objects on the paper and place it in the sun for a few minutes. Then rinse it off in a tray of water. If you don't have a photo-chemical tray, a clean, plastic take-out container works great. Watch this short video to see how much fun it is to watch your picture appear.

You can also use photographic negatives to make your picture. (Your parents probably have lots of them! Use them make new prints of old family photos.) Just place them on the paper, then put a sheet of glass on top to hold them down. (If you use a kit, it comes with a small sheet of Plexiglass for this purpose.) Your picture will be the same size as your negatives. If you have some 35 mm negatives, you can print a whole strip of them on one piece of paper.

You can even make your own negatives. Print your favorite photos, drawings, text, or collages onto clear ink-jet transparencies that you can buy from an office supply store. Clear ink-jet mailing labels make nice little negatives too.

If you get hooked on sunprinting and you want to try some more advanced techniques, you can buy a cyanotype kit from your local photography supply store or order it online from Photographers Formulary for about $20. This kit includes two chemical solutions that you mix together and apply to paper using a brush or a glass rod. (If you're a teenager and you read the directions carefully, you can do this yourself. Younger kids will need an adult's help.) Coating your own paper will let you make prints as large as you want, and you use different kinds of papers. For a traditional look, try a nice watercolor paper, or for a more experimental look, try brown paper shopping bags, cardboard or fabric.

Look what other artists have done using cyanotypes!

Cyanotype images of dresses, glassware and sea animals by artist Dan Peyton

A cyanotype quilt by New York artist Sandra Sider

Artist Bily Renkl used cyanotypes along with other techniques to make mixed-media collages.

[ This post is by Kris Vagner ].

Elementary, My Dear

Anshul Samar is CEO of Alchemist Empire in Cupertino, California, and designer of Elementeo, a card game that brings chemistry to (surreal) life.

Samar has the eager, toothy smile of a 14-year-old. Oh, wait! He is a 14-year-old. Poloppo interviewed the fast-rising game-design star by e-mail about his creative process.

Poloppo: When did you first conceive of the Elementeo game?

Anshul Samar: I thought of Elementeo some time in elementary school. I always used to see kids interested in fantasy and fun and parents interested in learning and education. I wanted to combine those two worlds together in one action-packed, fun, educational game.

P: Have you thought of other games in the past?

AS: I haven't thought of many games in the past, but I've always been interested in forming companies. In second grade I wrote a story on how I will beat Microsoft, and in fourth I made a newspaper for my elementary school.

P: Do you draw? Have you ever drawn in the past?

AS: At one point I was oil painting and I took painting and cartooning classes in my summer break. In fact, in the very beginning prototypes, I had to hand-draw many card pictures. I then took a picture of them, uploaded them into my computer, edited them with free printing software, and then inserted them into the template.

P: Would you consider yourself to be evenly balanced between creative and scientific, left and right brain?

AS: I'm not really sure. First of all, science and creativity are those two types of things that are extremely similar but at the same time extremely different. I don't think you can compare them. In both creativity and science you have to think out of the box and solve problems. In both you have to create combat and conquer. And both of them you have to venture out and explore new possibilities. But then again, in some sense creativity is limitless, and science is related only to facts. Science comes from creativity and you think creatively in science. I don't think that really answers your question about how balanced I am... I really don't know. Maybe I am more creative.... I am always into thinking up of new ideas... it is what I love to do!

P: How highly do you value your creativity?

AS: First of all, without creativity the world would be a black-and-white photograph. There would be a pile of boredom in our lives, and color would be gone from every aspect. Creativity creates variety. Creativity causes new ideas, which create new technology and more things that can make our lives cooler and more enjoyable. Creativity is a gift that everyone has. If someone were to take creativity away from me that would be like taking the fish from the ocean and putting it in a small tank of water. Fun and excitement would disappear from my life. So yes, I value my creativity.

P: Do you consider creative development (especially the capacity to think "out of the box") to be an important part of your education?

AS: I think the more our schools can get me to think out of the box the better it is for me and for the whole world. The schools do a great job of creative development with projects and math. Out-of-the-box thinking allows people to find those hidden solutions in the corners of their minds to solve problems from disease to technology.

P: Do you have other games in mind for development once Elementeo takes off?

AS: There are many logical extensions of Elementeo, but I'll keep that as a surprise.  : )

Printables Are Here!

Are you the type of kid (or grown-up) who likes to practice your fine motor skills by coloring inside the lines? Or do you love to color outside the lines and scribble your dreams and fantasies down on a piece of paper?

Either way, today's a great day to pick up a crayon and express yourself. Today is World Kids Coloring Day. School groups from 13 countries are holding coloring events to raise funds for Save the Children's Rewrite the Future campaign, a program that helps children in war-torn regions secure a quality education.

We're celebrating World Kids Coloring Day with the official release of our brand new "printables" - coloring pages adapted from drawings by our young artists from around the world. These pages are a unique and fresh take on "coloring-in".

Sometimes, what begins as the simple and therapeutic process of "coloring-in" can become a highly creative process that moves beyond lines and into the realm of pure imagination.

The debate between "coloring-in" and "blank page" drawing is an age-old one. Many art educators believe the process of "coloring in" inhibits a child's creative development. I've been drawing with my 4-year-old daughter since she was around 18 months old. The experience has been at various times both deeply therapeutic, and bountifully creative - sometimes more one than the other, and other times both in equal doses.

My daughter and I often resolve things on paper. Firstly, the very act of drawing, with its repetitive yet free nature, has an immediate calming effect. It's a form of meditation in a way, that slows the heart rate and reduces stress.

If it's down-time we need, we'll often just "color in", as opposed to drawing or painting on a blank page. But the blank page is vital for a different kind of expression; we express our mood and feelings through the colors, shapes, characters and situations we create on the page. It might be something as happy as a flower, as dramatic as a thunderstorm, or as peaceful as a meadow ... or it could be something much more complex, like "My dancing flower fell over in the blue rain" (which, translated might mean "I fell out with my best friend today").

Here at Poloppo we believe in both the therapeutic and inspirational capacity of art for children, and we can see endless possibilities in stimulating children's creativity by providing a different kind of coloring page - one that captures the freshness and immediacy of child art and encourages endless imaginative possibilities.

Today, we'll donate 25% of all sales of our raglan T's and baby onesies to Save the Children. Shop Poloppo.

Bubble-icious

It's Tuesday night and I'm sitting at JFK airport jostling for airwaves at JetBlue's free wireless hotspot, while I wait for the 8pm flight back to San Francisco. Robert and I have just had a whirlwind few days in New York City at the hip kids' trade show, Bubble. (Okay, I confess this post is a week overdue).

But Bubble-icious it was! Entirely sheltered from any mediocre swag, this was a tasty sample of the world's creme-de-la-creme of children's apparel, toys and household products. We were rapt to have been selected for participation and the show was a great success for us in terms of strong interest from both press and buyers (and yes, even orders). We were especially stoked by interest shown from the president of FAO Schwartz.

So who was there, and who rocked the show? In line with our objective at Poloppo to develop the website into a creative resource for parents and kids alike, here are some of our most favorite companies from the show. With toys, decor and clothes like these, your wee ones will be well on their way towards learning that creative fun happens well outside the box ...

Hip From Holland. These Dutch lasses located in Boston are cleverly importing into the US some of the hippest kids' products from The Netherlands including eco-friendly and quick-to-assemble cardboard playhouses and interlocking toys. www.hipfromholland.com

Our Children's Gorilla. "Children's imagination is our inspiration" say the Swedish team from this quirky and fun company creating children's paraphenalia. Never thought your kid needed monkey-shaped coat hangers or a ceramic alien piggy bank? Think again. The New York fire station and brownstone doll's houses made from recycled cardboard are especially cool. www.ourchildrensgorilla.com

Lea's Alphabet. This charming chap from France seems to have spent much of his early fatherhood roaming the cities of Paris and New York photographing colorful signage letters (I'm sure he had his first-born daughter napping in the stroller or back-pack at the time). He then takes the letter images and places them next to pics of objects with the same first letter (you know, L for lollipop, A for Apple). www.gregoireganter.com

Romp. You can be sure to bring your kids' rooms to life with these vintage wallpaper shapes hand-cut into silhouettes of safari animals, birds and trees. Originally out of Brooklyn, you can find them at www.rompstore.com

i golfini della nonna. LA-based mom-and-daughter team draw on their Italian design roots with these darling soft toys which they have knitted up in Bolivia. www.golfini.com

Deglingos.These crazy little French critters deserve their own country! So soft and tactile too. www.deglingos.com

Wall Candy Arts.What a fun way to decorate your kids' rooms! www.wallcandyarts.com

Scout. Comfy, colorful and organic with cute artwork (some inspired by different world cultures) ... these ladies are Bay Area neighbors, based in Oakland! www.scoutbaby.com

Like A Bike. This bike looks like so much fun, you'll wish you were four years old all over again. www.likeabikeusa.com

PS Big kudos to Florence and Vanessa for putting together such a beautiful show. Nous aimons Bubble!

PPS Robert is our all-round star industrial and graphic designer, housefrau (no printer is beyond his fixing), and sales magician (resist him if you can!).

Bye Bye Opa

My father-in-law died two weeks ago after a valiant struggle with leukemia. Our daughter Annabelle knew her grandfather as "Opa" and we saw him in Michigan several days before he passed away, knowing it may be the last time we would see him.

To be honest, his frailty and oxygen prongs freaked her out a little but it was nevertheless one of those precious moments you can be forever thankful for. He was so rapt to see us, and especially her. As a good friend said to me, "Can you imagine how nice it would be if you're that age and dying, to hold a little girl in your arms?"

It's an interesting experience to be introducing the concept of death and dying to a child at such a young age. The first time Annabelle really grokked the concept of death was around six months ago, when she was three-and-a-half. I can't recall exactly what triggered the conversation; it may well have been Opa, but what was so poignant was her deep despair and disappointment at discovering that none of us would live forever. I decided there was no point in trying to disguise this fact and that by confronting it head on she would overcome the initial trauma of that knowledge and move forward more confidently. (By the way, don't try this technique at home unless you're prepared for a lot of tears and are able to let your child cry in your arms without trying to quell the emotion - you might want to read psychologist Aletha Solter's books on children and crying for more tips on this method).

In any case, it really seemed to work. Annabelle was able to take the death of her grandfather pretty much in her stride. The day he died she seemed unusually angry for a couple of hours. Once my husband and I managed to talk about it with her she broke down crying and said to her dad, "But he will always be in your heart." (Never mind that this was a line she borrowed from the movie Brother Bear 2 - it certainly worked for us!). She was also a great comfort at the funeral and during the closing of the casket, when her grandmother was peaking with grief, Annabelle impulsively ran up to her and hugged her.

Now that the rawness of his passing has gone, Opa lives on in our hearts, and for Annabelle through a fascination with Jesus (he was a deeply spiritual and religious man). When they put the coffin into the hearse after the funeral Annabelle asked me, "Are they going to put him on the cross now?". Yesterday she was jumping off a stool onto some cushions and flying through the air with her arms outspread. We'd capture photographs of her doing this and at one point she said; "I look like Jesus!" and a minute later, "Does that make you think about Opa daddy?"

That kind of innocence and directness is precious beyond belief.

Out of Our Minds - Sir Ken Robinson

Sir Ken Robinson Speaks Up For Creativity.

Today I had the good fortune of seeing the British educator, Sir Ken Robinson speak at an event titled "Creativity in Learning" hosted by the Bay Area Discovery Museum at the Ritz-Carlton in San Francisco. To be honest, good fortune is somewhat of an understatement. This was one of those life-changing events that gets to the very core of our existence:

What are we here for? How do we want humanity to evolve? What are the tools we need to get us there?

Here was this genius educator reminding us of our very raison d'etre, and inspiring hundreds of people (the crowd was at least 95% women!) to think divergently, creatively, and effectively, about our future, and the role of education in that future. Sir Ken was not only brilliant in his analysis of current human evolution, but hugely entertaining. Shamelessly name-dropping collaborations with the likes of John Cleese and Sir Paul McCartney, you could see that this man was truly deserving of the knighthood Queen Elizabeth bestowed upon him.

"We have dislocated the concept of creativity from intelligence," says Sir Ken, "... Yet creativity is the portal to our true abilities."

"You can be creative with anything that involves your intelligence." He describes the style of our current educational system as "industrial" and relevant for an industrial era, not a highly technological era like the one we're in. "Our current system confuses education with industrial manufacturing," he says. He made poignant references to the prevalence of prescription drugs for the treatment of the "disease" of ADHD, and the disconnect between the volumes of information children receive in this era and the archaic educational system we use to deal with it.

Divergent thinking (the capacity to see multiple possibilities and answers) is a crucial skill required in solving problems that don't have easy answers. Sir Ken described a study of genius levels in divergent thinking with a group of children over a period of 10 years. At 5 years old 98% of these children scored genius level. By the time they were 10 years old, 32% scored genius level, and by the time they were 15 years old only 10% were ranked as geniuses in the process of divergent thinking.
"The major reason for this decline is the process of becoming educated," says Sir Ken, "... of being told there is only one answer, and it's at the back of the book."

Yet we're all born with a tremendous capacity to think divergently, and our ability to do so enables tremendous things to happen. "We need to look systematically at how to grow creativity," says Sir Ken. Our capacity as human beings to think imaginatively and symbolically is uniquely human. We need to harness the power of our imagination to deal with the environmental problems we currently face, and to develop the quality of our human resources.

Sir Ken received a standing ovation. I was able to exchange a few brief words with him at the book signing and can confirm he was just as remarkably personable up close. We couldn't wish for a better endorsement, and hope he'll take a look at Poloppo.

If you're new to Poloppo, we hope you'll appreciate what we're up to here. We're only six months old, and have a long way to go to fulfil our dream of becoming a truly creative outlet for kids worldwide. Nevertheless we have oodles of drive, talent and enthusiasm. We're currently researchng and exploring the numerous possibilities for creative expression of kids online. One of the avenues we're looking at developing on the Poloppo website is the ability for kids to work on creative projects from different locations at the same time. Very soon we'll be introducing our unique range of interactive "printables" (watch this space!), and we're also working on animation collaborations between our Poloppo child artists and grown-up designers.

Our mission is to encourage creativity in children, and our hope is to establish a highly creative space for the bountiful flow of ideas between young creative geniuses throughout the world.

We thank you for your support!