You know that your baby is a genius, but now there may be a scientific way to prove it!

The Rutgers Early Learning Lab (earlylearning.rutgers.edu) is looking for children two years and younger to participate in the Early Learning Project. Under the direction of program director Dr. Carolyn Rovee-Collier, the project documents the learning process and memory of babies from 3 months to 2 years in their own homes.

The Rutgers Early Learning Project has been quoted in most early development textbooks, national magazines like Parents, American Health and Good Housekeeping, and on TV shows like PBS’s "Childhood" series and CNN’s "Science Watch."

When Rovee-Collier began her studies more than 30 years ago, most people didn’t think babies could learn and very few studies were performed. But from her initial study with colorful baby mobiles, she found that infants do learnand can remember at various lengths.

The current project includes 3 tasks, all of which are performed over a few days in the baby’s own home environment with a parent present. They include a control test and some form of extinction or non-reinforcement test.

The youngest participants start with the Mobile Game (2, 3 or 6 months) where a colorful mobile is brought in to the baby’s room and a ribbon is placed around his or her ankle.

As babies reach 6 months, they are introduced to The Train Game (6-24 months). The baby learns that pushing a lever will make a toy train move around a track. The train apparatus includes colorful fabric walls and realistic figurines which can be changed to test for learning and retention.

The final test is The Puppet Imitation Game (6-24 months) where the baby is shown two hand puppets. He or she watches as the hand of one puppet is removed in order to ring a bell inside. The next puppet is then returned to see if the baby attempts to remove the hand to ring a bell. Tests do show that babies react appropriately with the second puppet.

At the conclusion of the study, babies are given a Certificate of Appreciation and parents receive a report on the findings.

If you’re interested in learning more about this volunteer project, visit earlylearning.rutgers.edu or call 732-445-4819.

Proud Mommy Hilary Morris, (www.mrsmonj.com) is Managing Editor of NJ My Way  and author of this column.

This deep freeze leaves us looking indoors for playspace for the little ones—our furniture just can’t take it anymore!

Springfield mom Shelia Sayah, founder of www.njplaygrounds.com, has prepared a listing of various indoor play spaces and is offering some of her top picks for the area:

Best pay-per-play area: Unbelieva-Bills in Montclair (www.unbelieva-bills.com). Admission is about $5 for the jungle gym and $4 for 20-minute shows. On Saturdays, they offer “Drop Off Parties” where parents can have a night off while their kids play with adult supervision. If you sign up for their emails, they also have some free bagel/coffee Fridays once in a while.

Top picks in Essex County: Funtime Junction in Fairfield (www.funtimejunction.com) has an enormous jungle gym and arcade plus a toddler area and rocking chairs if you’re trying to soothe a baby. Ashley Soccer indoor soccer dome in Montclair (http://www.ashleyssoccer.com/) has power wheels for the kids to drive around on Tues/Thurs from 12-1PM.

Top pick of Bergen County: Space Odyssey USA (www.spaceodysseyusa.com) is a “members only” family oriented play space with 3-level playgrounds, an alien train ride, arcade games, paintless paintball & laser tag, glow-in-the-dark bowling and more. The party rooms make a popular destination for Sweet 16s, Bar and Bat Mitzvahs and corporate team building. Must be at least 12 years old.

Absolute Best place to take the kids: Kidz Village in Kenilworth (www.kidzvillage.com) has wireless internet, a great staff and tons for the kids to do including the indoor jungle gym, movie theatre where kids videos are played, salon, dance academy, tool shop, play diner, play grocery store with carts, and spongy ball launching place for older kids.

Written by Mira Park, NJ mom and founder of MiraBest.com, a New Jersey blog about kids stuff, party planning and good deals. Catch Mira’s updates at www.mirabest.com

Are you smarter than your preschooler? When it comes to computer knowledge, you may not be!

Since 1984, children as young as 3 years old have been enriched by technology education with Computer Tots/Computer Explorers, (www.ComputerExplorers.com) a program for anyone aged 3 to adult.

Montgomery Township resident, Jen Morack is celebrating 20 years with the home-based business as president of the Mercer and Hunterdon location. There are nine others listed across the state.

When Jen started with the company, Technology Education involved introducing students to the Apple IICs and its parts.  But now computers have become a tool for education. "We’ve gone from "this is a mouse" 20 years ago to utilizing digital cameras, digital microscopes, and robotics and GPS systems in our courses."

With a curriculum written by educators, each Computer Tots class is designed to engage small groups of children in computer lessons that teach a variety of educational tasks like Math, Reading, Problem Solving and Memory development. The motor skill development is also apparent, as young children learn how to maneuver the mouse with one hand.

After only a few weeks with Computer Tots, you may hear words like Icon, Desktop, CD-Rom, Delete and even USB Port from your child and don’t be surprised if they give you a lesson with using the computer.

"Our preschoolers of today are "digital natives," added Jen.  "They are born into this technological age of cell phones, laptops, netbooks etc. while most parents are still "digital immigrants" - learning as we go!"

This NJ My Way article was written by contributor Hilary Morris of www.mrsmonj.com.

There will not be silence in many of our En Jay libraries this summer. And that’s a good thing.

When the members of Junior Jam (www.juniorjam.com) take the stage at libraries across the state, they’ll get the crowd of youngsters and toddlers singing, shouting, and jumping up on their sneakered and sandaled feet.

Junior Jam was created by Jeff Eisenberg of Somerset, a speech and language therapist. His partners are cabaret performer Elayne Kessler, a former sign language teacher and singer Adrienne Asterita, both of Manhattan.

The songs are aimed at children from pre-school to second grade, and are both entertaining and educational. The performance includes sign language, so by the end of the show the youngsters are signing and can follow lyrics with their voices and hands.

“I’ve been writing songs since I was a young child,” Jeff wrote us. “It became natural, as an adult, to tie together my songwriting talents and my experience working with
children as a speech and language therapist.”

This current tour heads to Princeton’s Public Library next Monday, they’ll be at the Edgewater Library on Tuesday and Paramus on Wednesday. Keep an eye on the group’s website for future appearances.

The goal is to reach more and more children, and eventually, stage a live interactive musical theatre.

This summer, enjoy this cool jam session –your little ones won’t be the only folks tapping their toes and raising their hands.

So, you say you like it hot?  How about 2200 degrees Fahrenheit hot?  That’s the temperature inside the oven or “glory hole” at Hot Sand, (www.hotsandap.com) a fun hot glass studio on the boardwalk in Asbury Park.

With the help of Hot Sand staff, children age 9 and up can blow simple glass bubbles.  You also can create glass pumpkins, a glass cast of your hand or foot, tumblers, and much more.  Workshops are offered and experienced glassblowers can rent studio time.  Several glass artists sell their delicate, colorful wares in the Hot Sand gallery.

Thomas Stevens and Paul Elyseev started Hot Sand in 2007, so named to connect the studio’s beachy location with one of the main ingredients of glass – high quality sand.  The partners say the fact that you can turn molten glass into a simple piece of glass art in 15 or 20 minutes fits right in with the boardwalk scene.

On our recent visit, the studio was packed with girls enjoying a glassblowing birthday party, shoppers and curious onlookers.  It was great to see lots of people strolling Asbury Park’s once desolate boardwalk and playing volleyball on the beach.

The cost to create a glass bubble starts at $20 with a la carte items - like color - costing $5 and up.  Hot Sand is open seven days a week during the summer.

New Jersey has a long history of glassmaking, dating back hundreds of years.  Stevens says at his modern day studio, business has been heating up every summer since opening.  He predicts a hot summer at Hot Sand, no matter the weather!

Visit www.njmyway.com to see a video of Hot Sand glassblowing in action!

Article and video contributed by Sandy Levine, freelance writer and television producer, with video shoot assistance by Caroline Fairhurst. www.sandralevine.com

{mosimage}

You know the kids in your high school that always had their hands up first for a science question– and the answer left you feeling like they lived in an alternate universe?

Beginning Friday, dozens of high school teams with kids like this from all over the state will convene on Trenton’s Sovereign Bank Arena, to compete in the FIRST Robotics Competition (www.usfirst.org).

{mosimage}

Each squad of teens is paired with professional engineers from sponsor companies, and they’ve spent weeks constructing a robot that will compete against the others. The winners from regional competitions across the country will strive for a national title, and ultimately, compete against kids from several different countries. The grand champs of these prestigious contents will be awarded scholarships and international recognition.

The FIRST program (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) was created by multimillionaire inventor Dean Kamen, (www.dekaresearch.com), best known for his Segway electric scooter. He’s recruited a plethora of directors and advisors from corporate America; companies like J&J, Motorola, Bristol Myers Squibb provide engineers and financial support. Additional help comes from schools like NJIT and MIT.

The Mighty Monkey Wrenches of Ewing, Team Chaos of Gladstone, Blue Steel from Newark’s Central High, The Thunderbirds of Mahwah, are among the many battling in this first round. In just six weeks they’ve assembled their team android, using computer assisted design, motors, electrical circuits, remote controls—the tools of any professional engineer.

These are the inventors of the future. Friday and Saturday, in Trenton, energy and imagination and brainpower are on display—the kids that always knew the right answer in class get a chance to take the supreme test.

{mosimage}

8th grader Trevon Molder of Trenton takes his business seriously.

He runs Tick’s Toys and Things, selling toys, gifts and party novelties at street fairs, networking events and other local gatherings. He’ll soon have a webpage to sell on-line, but for now his blog (www.trevonmolder.net) tells the story.

Trevor is a shrewd marketer. Early on, he just sold children’s toys. But he added the adult novelties when opportunity knocked.

“My target customers are mainly children but since adults are bringing their children to these events I added gifts too. My advantage is that I keep my prices low so that everyone can find something affordable and fun,“ Trevon wrote us.

{mosimage}

Three years ago, Trevon enrolled in the Minding Our Business (MOB) program at Rider University, (www.minding-our-business.com) an after-school program teaching business entrepreneurship to middle school students. Several times, he’s won the school’s competitions, been profiled in the local newspapers and interviewed on radio programs.

The secret to driving the sales? Trevon understands his market.

“I attract customers by actually playing with my items or having my sister walk around the event areas playing with my toys. “

Trevon credits his family; mom, grandmother—and his sister—for giving him the support he needs. The other secrets to success:

“…being prepared for the events (proper set-up, marketing my business) and being pleasant and honest. I have learned that even if a person does not buy from you that day, having good customer service will keep my customers coming back!”

In this recession-crazy time, we thought you’d like hearing some sound advice from 14 year old Trevon Molder, the owner and CEO of Tick’s Toys and Things.

{mosimage}

Architect Stephen W. Schwartz wants to build you a downtown. With the help of kids.

Sunday afternoon, they built downtown Summit.

Schwartz, who is based in Livingston, founded Building Blocks Workshops (www.buildingblocksworkshops.com) to bring kids and parents together for “a great family bonding experience” making miniature versions of New Jersey downtowns with Lego (www.lego.com).  

{mosimage}

At the event in Washington School in Summit, some three dozen families received 60,000 Lego blocks and got their pick from photos of local historic buildings. When they finished, everybody laid out their masterworks on a 400-sqare foot map of the downtown drawn by Schwartz.

Sharon O’Sullivan and her kids tried their hands at a classic “rail car” style diner dating from 1938. “We hope it will look like the Summit Diner when we are done,” she said.

Ten-year-old Ryan Bonko, a lifelong (well, pretty much) Lego fan, came with his family wearing his Lego t-shirt, still excited about his visit last year to Legoland in California (www.legoland.com). He worked on a replica of Summit Unitarian Church, built in 1913.

Ryan listened carefully when Schwartz, making the rounds, arrived at his table and pointed out architectural elements like the columns and gable of the portico, inspired by 242-year-old St. Paul’s Chapel (www.saintpaulschapel.org), which survived the collapse of the World Trade Center and served as a place of refuge for rescue workers.

“These workshops are a great way to teach a child history,” Schwartz said. “All of a sudden, they become more aware of their architectural surroundings.”

But it’s not homework-ish history. “It’s fun to put together stuff and be creative with it,” Ryan Bonko said.

So far this year kids have also built the downtowns of Montclair and Harrison-Kearny. For 2009, Schwartz hopes to add Morristown, Princeton and Westfield. Local historical societies will benefit from entry fees.  Kids benefit, too. And have a blast.

{mosimage}

What’s cooking at Colonia’s popular Country Cow (www.countrycow.com) ice cream parlor? Plenty, if you skip past the ice cream into the spacious back room.

Country Cow co-owner Ed Dubroski is known for offerings  like his twinkie ice cream and for creating specialty flavors for Sharon and Ozzy Osbourne. But under the careful tutelage of Ed’s sister — a real teacher — the  ice cream parlor also offers cooking classes to kids as young as three years old.

It looks like a first grade classroom. There are colorful posters, teaching different kinds of measurements. There are all different shaped cake pans and a long table for the young chefs. Armed with wooden pins, cookie sheets, fresh dough and M&Ms, a group of youngsters was busy rolling and shaping peanut butter cookies.

The lessons cost $16 each, or you can buy a series. There’s usually a seasonal theme. This week they’ll be making Irish Flag cookies; next week, Easter egg cupcakes. There’s even a summer camp program, and classes for moms and dads to cook together, along with grandparents.

It’s a cool way to spend an afternoon with the kids — only you can sit out front and leisurely sample Ed’s flavor of the month while they stir, shape, and bake. And you don’t have to clean up afterwards. That may be the best reason of all to bring your kids to cook at The Cow. 

{flv}videos/beatthedrums{/flv}

…and the xylophone, and shake the maracas, and scratch the güiro.

That’s what several dozen children—and probably their parents, too—learned about at the “Meet the Percussion” program sponsored by the New Jersey Youth Symphony (www.njys.org) on Sunday in New Providence (click here to watch the video).

Scott Simpson, percussion coach for the group, and three of his teen musicians demonstrated different kinds of percussion instruments, for different kinds of music. It’s part of the Youth Symphony’s Meet the Orchestra series. The idea is to educate kids about 3 to 8 years old about the different kinds of instruments a symphony orchestra uses.

Back in November, the focus was on woodwinds. On February 24, they will demonstrate the different instruments in a brass section. And on April 13, it’ll be the woodwinds.

Sunday’s percussion demonstration began with a marching band rhythm that featured snare drum, cymbals and a huge bass drum. It moved on to Latin beats that included maracas, bongos, and the two sticks called claves uses to beat out the 1-2-3, 1-2 rhythm — also called the clave (www.formedia.ca/rhythms/1clave.html) — that is at the heart of Afro-Cuban music. Later the musicians played the xylophone and the timpani, the tunable kettle drum widely used in classical music.

In between, Simpson and his students talked about each instrument and how it is played. When the children in the audience were asked what “percussion” meant, they all started out talking about instruments that you hit. Little by little, Simpson guided them into realizing other percussion instruments can be played by shaking, like maracas, or by scratching, like the güiro (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guiro).
 
Simpson and the other leaders of the Youth Symphony hope to nurture musical talent, whether in the full symphony orchestra for advanced students or the Orchestral String Training Ensemble, for beginners in grades 3-5.

The concerts are held at the Suburban Community Music Center (www.scmcmusic.org) of New Providence, which offers music instruction and concerts involving some 1,100 students. If you’ve got a little one who likes music, it’s never too early to get them tuned in.