Wells Packard
A wristband that lets you track your children via SMS, and look up their grid references on a map of the park.
"Sour preference is not a fad that has been created by candy companies."
"With every rotation of the merry-go-round, water is pumped out of a well, up through a pipe, and into a tank high above the playground."
"Modern children don't have to forage or walk long distances."
"Suppose, if you will, that I am part of a silent Martian invasion and that my intention is slowly to destroy the whole culture of the human race. Where would I start?"
"What you (the parent) do is hide the cellphone, having first fired up a little application that periodically calls out phrases like 'over here!' through the phone's speaker."
Teaching maths through song. "With rigid hands scything horizontally in front of them, they chorused 'Straighty Straighty Straight-ee'."
The gradual evolution from 14-month-old scribble through to realistic adolescent accuracy.
"British school children as young as seven are using weblogs as part of their normal school routine, and doing better than non-webloggers as a result, their teacher says."
"The child gets a butterfly net with an RFID tag in it and has to hunt for placards with pictures of insects on them."
"In other countries, similar schemes have created a market in people - often children - hiring themselves as 'passengers'."
Treating it as "just a source of light and radiation", it deadens melatonin production, which may affect the onset of puberty.
"This study suggests that building strong storytelling skills early in the preschool years may be helpful in preparing children for learning mathematics when they enter school."
"In a baby's mind, these beautiful faces may represent the stereotypical human face [...] which they have evolved to recognise."
Phones for 4- to 8-year-olds. "The bright coloured plastic mobile has been designed to appeal to children [...] with just 3 buttons controlling all the functions."
"Researchers said they're still working out the kinks, such as creating packaging to sell it in grocery stores and finding a way to extend the fizziness beyond 20 minutes." - home Soda-Stream compression pods?
"Cuteness is not an aesthetic in the ordinary sense of the word and must not be mistaken for the physically appealing, the attractive. In fact, it is closely linked to the grotesque, the malformed."
"Dahl wanted Spike Milligan to play Wonka, but he was considered too much of a risk for the US market."
"The first recorded game of conkers using horse chestnuts was on the Isle of Wight in 1848. Until then, children used snail shells or hazelnuts."