Turn Your Next Toddler Playdate into the War for Arakkis

This weekend my lovely wife said something that made my mind immediately think of Frank Herbert’s classic novel, Dune. I did not know that if you sprinkle cinnamon in a sandbox that it will keep ants away.

While this is all fascinating and practical, I immediately thought the following: if you sprinkle cinnamon in a sandbox, you create a spice blow in miniature on Arakkis. What better way to engage your toddler with early science fiction / fantasy geekery?

Soon after, Lego harvesters can show up to capture the spice mass and sell it to the spacing guild. Before you know it, a byzantine world of interstellar politics will erupt in your sandbox! Native Fremen will clash with the elite warriors of House Harkonnen. From the ashes of a fallen royal house, Muad’Dib will arise and conquer the galaxy in a bloody war.

In addition to the fun of adding cinnamon to your sandbox, studious use of water toys and Bermuda grass can terraform your once barren Arakkis into a green world. Generations of Fremen and conquerors alike said that it could not be done, but you can prove them wrong.

And it all begins with one simple action:

Believe it or not, I do not have too much time on my hands.

Comments

Human Resources: Featured Sci-Fi on Wattpad

Some exciting news since I've last posted anything. My novel, Human Resources , has been a fe atured science fiction story on Wattpad! It's hard to believe it's been over 10 years since I wrote the story, and almost 11 since I self-published it - starting with iUniverse in October 2015. It's also hard to believe, given my career choices, that I've not done a whole lot to market the book outside of social media and word of mouth but I think I'll save that energy for my next burst of creativity. Anyway, please check out the book at the link above and let me know your thoughts either here or in the comments on Wattpad!

Reflections of a Commuter in the New Year

Every month my wife and I try to give each other one afternoon off. It's meant to be pure discretionary time, spent on doing whatever you want to do: take yourself to lunch, go to a movie, relax at the library, etc..The only rule is really is that each of us should get out of the house. More often than not we spend at least a portion of the time doing at least one chore. Yesterday was my day off and I kicked it off by going to the car wash. Look at that grime fly. When all was said and done, I spent the afternoon at the library planning out my week and reviewing some goals I have for 2014. This morning on my way to work I filled my gas tank. When I went to enter this week's numbers, I realized that today marks the completion of the first full year that I have been tracking mileage. Take a look at what a year it's been: 2006 Hyundai Sonata Mileage driving to/from Atlanta from Buford, GA Prior to moving to Atlanta, I used to walk to the train and walk to work...

Kids' Reward Charts and the Treasure Box

Being a parent to two children under 4 and caring a great deal about how our kids turn out with respect to manners and courtesy, I am so glad my lovely wife devised a daily rewards system ritual for the kids. The Process The kids need to behave a certain way consistently throughout the day and perform specific chores in order to get stickers. These stickers go into a chart or grid and at the end of the day we review and provide feedback on how the day went. If they fill up their charts, then they get to pick anything they want from the "Treasure Box". The Template Each child gets his or her own chart. The tasks or behaviors are "SMART" (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-bound). Don't worry, we aren't trying to micromanage our children like the " anal retentive chef ". Here's a link to a PDF of our two kids' reward charts if you're interested in trying this yourselves. The Review Process We tre...

Walldren's World

Search This Blog