Sparklelab's YULEanda

We've been huge fans of the Sparklelab Toy and Game-making club since it opened its doors to all creative kids out there.
But yesterday, that fan factor went up another notch. The kids were making toys to be given as Christmas presents to the young survivors of Yolanda. What a brilliant idea!

Thrilled with the concept of creating and giving, my boys set off to complete the task at hand.

Kenji was making a school bus.

Miro was making a rocket. No, a robot. Wait... a ray gun! Or, or a telescope! Miro was having an idea overload. lol!

2 hours later... just WHOA...
It's cool how with a whole lot of imagination in that packed room, simple household materials transformed into these.

Kenji's bus had a drawable surface, "So the kids can draw passengers!", Kenji excitedly said. But... he ended up drawing the passengers himself. Haha!

Out of his gazillion ideas, Miro chose to make two toys. A toss-and-catcher, and a pair of goggles. The lenses of the goggles turn. "So the kids can choose if they want to see in focus or to add shine, like when they're watching stars.", he says.

Cue proud mimi moment here. :)

I call this a successful event!
Thanks, Sparklelab for giving us a well-spent Saturday.
And to the young Yolanda survivors ...A HAPPY, PLAYFUL CHRISTMAS FROM ALL OF US!

A Spark of Genius, SparkleLAB.

455 P. Guevara Street, San Juan, Metro Manila. 

If you ever find yourself in San Juan, somewhere near Cafe Ysabel and the Metro Art Gallery, why don't you enter that quaint little red house in the corner?  It's a whole new world inside.  I promise you.

Picture frame made out of old toys.

This unassuming abode is actually SparkleLAB, a toy making+game making camp for kids ages 9 to 99.  99... Guess that's why I was invited to its Open House.  Lol!

Inside, you'll be greeted by the coziest, most colorful explosion of childhood fun.

Keyboarc couch.

Nom-noms while lounging on rock pillows (love those!).

HAPPY WALLS!

Even the office is a playground.

The coolest chill out activities --which happen to be where kids draw inspirational nuggets as well.

Board games.

More board games!

Floor games.

And yes, video games.  Here, owner Miss Rosanna plays Little Big Planet with my boys.

And they never spoke to me again.  Lol!

And be amazed by the awesomeness children's imagination can accomplish.  From recycled scraps to ingenuity from scratch, every end product totally pulls out a huge success factor for your little ones.

Kid-made toys.

Kid-made puppet.

Kid-made fridge magnets, Fire Princess and Treetrunks.

Kid-made iPad case, Flambo.

Kid-made hooks and key chains.

Kid-made barrettes.

Kid-made headbands.  The calculator keys headband floored me. :)

Kid-made stuffed toy.

Eye candy falls short in describing SparkleLAB.  Although if you do get visually overwhelmed with joy, it's normal.
What it really is, is a hands-on adventure.  The kind only inventive kids and kids at heart can possibly embark on.  Speaking of which, you and your family might want to take your minds and hands on this one-of-a-kind trip this summer.  SparkleLAB has educational and innovative workshops for every toy making and game making itch you may have.  Click here for fun levels and schedules.

If you can think it, you can make it.  If you make it, you can play it.  At SparkleLAB.
Thanks again, Miss Rosanna!  We'll be back!

The Geeky Guide to Summer 2013

As it has been year after year, Miro has challenged my summer camp hunting skills to the hilt.  No, he doesn't want those run-of-the-mill arts and crafts programs.  No, he's not going for the expected  kickball or swimming training.  He, as always, is on modern man all-geek mode.
If you have a child who's as tech savvy as mine, you might want to check out these summer 2013 workshops I've discovered after a couple of months of relentless research.

FIRST Robotics Learning Center

Miro has gone to the Lego Mindstorms Robotics Workshop for a couple of summers and he loved it big time.  But here's a level up.  I actually found a school dedicated to Robotics.  It's FIRST Robotics Learning Center --with a badass Space Exploration theme for the season.  It's fully-equipped with the trappings of a regular school while being fully-loaded with subjects outside of a regular school.  The 8-session workshop is worth Php8,500, but you can get a 4-day trial class for a little under Php4,000.  Cool deal if you ask me.

Power Mac Center

Last year, Miro took Digital Arts leading to Video Game Creation and he found the pacing kinda slow.  So here's a pick-me-upper!  Power Mac Center offers a slew of Mac Apps workshops you can choose from with just 2 1/2 hours' training for each.  Now that's fast learning!  And you don't even need to commit to a number of sessions.  Choose your next workshop (from Photoshop to Flash Animation to Photo Manipulation to Video Game Development, and more!) as you go along.  And pay as you go along.  Fexible, fast, and fun!  Php950 each training day.

SparkleLAB 

Ok, Miro has been pestering me about getting into (the very, VERY rare) Video Game Development  for almost 3 years now, right?  Now look what I stumbled upon!  It's the whole toy and gaming caboodle!  SparkleLAB gives you the first ever holistic approach to 'play creation'.  Kids get to create their own toys, cook up the mechanics to their own board games, and finally, publish their own video games online.  Awesomeness!  It's Php15,000 for the whole 12-day course.  Kinda steep.  But if you have the funds, this should be worth it.

Whew!  There you go!
If you're a mom at her wit's end hunting for high tech in the sea of garden variety summer programs this year, check out these camps.  You'll make your little geekazoid extremely happy.  Geeks (and their moms, haha!) rule!!!