Happy Holidays from PKTR!

PKTR will be taking some time off to enjoy the holidays and the new year with family and friends.

Happy Holidays!

Merry Christmas!

Happy New Year!

Announcing the Winners of the Wii Games - Rayman Raving Rabids TV Party!!

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We have winners in our Rayman Raving Rabids TV Party giveaway! It's the first game where you control a character using your bottom (on the Wii balance board)!



Congratulations to Pete of My GPS Camera Phone


and PG of Annoyingly Boring!


Each of our winners won a copy of the Wii game, Rayman Raving Rabids TV Party!! That game was one of our top picks this year and is undoubtedly one of the most fun games of the year!



Thank you to everyone for participating by leaving comments here and on our companion blog, Soapbox Mom!

Happy Holidays from PKTR, Soapbox Mom and Ubisoft!!

Rayman Raving Rabids TV Party - PKTR 46

Our holiday show is tons of fun, mostly because we tell you all about the Wii game we gave away today. It's called Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party and it was one of our top video game picks this year.

Seriously, doesn't this look like fun?

We begin the show with some chit chat about Christmas and holiday shopping. Here's the post we mentioned about how to decorate a Christmas tree.

We'll also tell you what we think about some of the shopping bags which some of the stores give you to carry around the mall...

Christmas music comes up in the show, too. Do you like it? What are your favorite songs? One of the hosts will tell you her top five.

Then, we take off on a quick tangent to talk about Heroes (perhaps inspired by Rayman Raving Rabbids?)...


Or maybe the photo above just reminded us of the Isaac Mendez character in Heroes as he paints the futuristic paintings...


Either way...

it's not long before (somehow!?) an iPhone app works its way in to the show. You might be surprised to find out which one. Actually, it's the third top selling application. which one?
iFart (I still can't believe we talked about this...) was the iPhone application the boys of our household demonstrated for you. Ugh. Uh, sorry?

Anyway...

Here are the stick figures we told you about in the show. This part of the game (called "Shake It") is one of our favorites.


You just have to play it to know about this:



Finally, here's the Rabbid Pack we told you about during the show:

Sorry, the Rabbid Pack is only available in the United Kingdom.

Congratulations to our winners! Thanks, again, to Ubisoft for the games.

As always, thanks for listening!!

Another Wii Game Giveaway on PKTR!!

We're thrilled to tell you that our listeners have another opportunity to win a Wii game!

The kind folks at Ubisoft have provided us with TWO copies of Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party to give to our listeners.


This is one of the most fun games we've played this year (and that's why it made our list of Top Picks - Video Games on Wii and PS 3)!


Want a chance to win?

This week, we're asking you to leave a comment telling us which video game is your (or your family's) favorite video game. That's all you have to do.

Besides, now that the election is over, what else do you have to do?


You have until Saturday, December 20 at 4:30 pm (ET).

Tune in to the show that day at 6:00 pm (ET) when we'll announce the lucky winners on our live radio show!


Good luck and Happy Holidays!!

----------> And remember to check my blogger friend Michelle's site, Scribbit, for more great holiday giveaways!

Wii Game Giveaway and iPhone Apps Update - PKTR 45

In today's show we announced the winners of our Wii game giveaway!!

Congratulations to the winners:

Ashlie of Mommycosm

and

April R of Sweet Leaf Tea!

Each will receive a copy of Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip for Nintendo Wii.

Download the show to hear about the game.

Even the website is cool! Check it here.



Thanks to everyone who participated by leaving comments on our companion blog over at Soapbox Mom!

Twilight and a Wii Game Giveaway!! - PKTR 44

Download the show to hear about what we thought about the movie based on Stephanie Meyer's book, Twilight.

We start the show talking about products with eucalyptus and if you, too, like it, how you can easily enjoy the scent in many ways...

Next, we'll tell you how to throw a party for friends easily, inexpensively and with little or no intimidation factor. Just do it!

Here's the link to Oprah's website and her twist this year on her favorite things. We love it! And - bonus! - here's a terrific link which provides many, many holiday entertaining ideas.

_________________

The recipe, as promised, for our fool-proof appetizer is one of the easiest I've ever made:

Goat Cheese Appetizer

8 - 10 ounces of marinated goat cheese
olive oil
fresh thyme
pink peppercorns

Bake the goat cheese at 325 in an ovenproof serving dish until bubbly and just a bit golden brown on top (about 45 minutes). Remove from oven, sprinkle olive oil, thyme and pink peppercorns and serve. Best with pepper crackers and grapes (in our opinion).

__________________

Then, about 22:30 in, we move on to the discussion about Twilight and other holiday movies.


We recommend using your judgment to determine whether to let your preteen read the last book in the series, Breaking Dawn. Approximately three fourths of the book is intense and mature content. We advise that you read it first then decide whether your daughter will like it.

Finally, we'll tell you about that Nintendo Wii game we'll be giving away this week. Just leave a comment to enter!

By leaving a comment, you'll have a chance to win this game:


Here are the links to other giveaways:

Scribbit

Mom Generations

Mogul Baby

Mom Central
5 Minutes for Mom

Thanks for listening!

_________________

Entries will be accepted until Saturday, December 13, 2008 at 12:30 pm (ET). Giveaway is only open to US residents and US addresses (no PO Boxes). See additional rules here.

Wii Game Giveaway Coming Soon!

Join us on Saturday, December 6 when we'll announce which of our top picks (discussed in our show last week) we'll be giving away!

Two lucky winners will win one of these great video games.

Check back soon for more details.

Note that our show will broadcast live at 5:00 pm on Saturday (instead of our usual 2:00 pm timeslot).

Top Picks - Video Games for Kids Over Ten (PKTR 43)

It's time for our annual list of

Top Picks - Video Games for Kids!

Download today's show (free!!)* to hear the PKTR hosts talk about their favorite (and recommended) video games for kids.

PS3:
Madden '09
NBA Live '09
Little Big Planet
Buzz! Quiz TV
Ratchet and Clank Future: Tools of Destruction

Nintendo Wii:
Shaun White Snowboarding
WiiFit
deBlob
Mario Super Sluggers
Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party

But first!
We talk about the many catalogs which arrive in mailboxes at this time of year. Some claim to have all the gifts you need for everyone on your list (really?!), others offer outrageous, extravagant gifts that ... well, we wonder whether anyone should be spending money on such things right now??

So...

We balance the excess found in that over-the-top catalog with another that offers more meaningful gifts. And for those who love all things Christmas? We have something for you, too.

But really, it's all about the video games. We love 'em** and love talking about them.

Stay tuned until the last ten minutes of the show when we'll tell you about what we believe will end up being the hottest holiday game on Nintendo DS.

Thanks for listening!

____________________________
*PKTR shows are always free!
**This is the site for gamer moms we talked about in the show (not the site noted live)

Election 2008 - PKTR 42

Our topic today is the presidential election.

Listed below are some of the websites we discuss in today's show:

My Debates

538

Rock the Vote

Elections '08 Map Gallery - Google Maps




Fact Check

Survey to Select a Candidate

Obama

McCain

YouTube - YouChoose

The White House Project

VP Debate clips

Here are some others worth visiting:

Roadkill Refugee

Politico

CNN

The 39 Clues - PKTR 41

It's here! The exciting adventure series we told you about last December, "The 39 Clues" has been released and is now in stores. We received our copy just moments before the show was taped, so bear with us as we try to make sense of it.

You'll notice a gap in the show at the 10 minute mark - but stay with us - we return within two minutes. Technical difficulties...



Think of this show as our initial impression of the hot-off-the-press first book, "The Maze of Bones" in what will ultimately be a ten book series. Rick Riordan, author of "The Lightning Thief" and all of the books in the Percy Jackson series, wrote the story arc for The 39 Clues as well as this first book.

On our next show we will have much more information for our listeners when we do a full show about The 39 Clues, so tune in again on October 4 to Parents and Kids Talk Radio.

Thanks for listening!

Success in School: Tips for Parents and Kids - PKTR 40

Summer is over and we managed to get the kids back in school - what have we learned in the process?

Plenty!

Today's show will provide oodles of tips and ideas to smooth the transition from summer to school time. If things are still a bit bumpy in your household, listen to this show. We'll have helpful hints that have worked for us.

From school supplies and stocking your own homework/office area to the clothes that the kids love to wear. PKTR hosts share what's worked for them, what they've learned and other things they've observed.

Listen to the last 15 minutes when we'll give you updates on the latest iPhone apps, too, including these:


Hanoi, Hanoi Plus, Lumen lite, iDoodle2 lite, Etch-a-Sketch, Enigmo, Audi A4, KoiPond, TiltSnake, Bubble Wrap, iChoose, Coin Toss, Cradle and Labyrinth LE.


Thanks for listening!

Join us again next week on Parents and Kids Talk Radio.

The Big Apple - PKTR 39

Planning a trip to New York City? Then you must listen to our show. It's all about great things to see if you're taking kids to Manhattan.


Download it here.

Thanks for listening!

iPhone Apps 2.0 - PKTR 38

A couple of shows back we told you about the new iPhone 3G and a few of the initial applications available in Apple's app store. Today, we're updating the info, so we're calling this show iPhone Apps 2.0.

We start by sharing our experience standing in line to buy an iPhone. Next, we provide some insights about Twitter and then it's on to the topic of the day - applications!

App developers are pumping out new applications so quickly that it's almost overly time-consuming to figure out which ones to add to our iPhones or iTouches.

On today's show, we'll tell you all about our top apps. We've tried so many that we are excited to share our findings. We will give you quick overviews of our favorites along with some criticisms.

Bottom line? We found so many fun and interesting applications that if you needed another reason to get an iPhone or an iTouch, you'll probably find one here! For example, look at this:


If you use Twitter, you will probably love Twitterific. Listen to the show and we'll tell you why.

We also tell you about DeBlob, Texas Hold 'Em, Jawbreaker (renamed reMovem), Etch-a-Sketch, Crash Kart, WordPress, Fotomatic, ColorTilt, Enigmo, Break, DizzyBee, Remelody, Math Quiz, Super Monkey Ball, Bubbles and more!

Update: Bubbles is no longer free (it's $0.99). Also, after spending more time with Break, my kids have revised their comments and feelings about Break. They say, "This game stinks." So...for what it's worth...



This one, Enigmo, is probably best for the parents in the house. Look at this brief review:



Thanks for listening!

Join us again next week for Parents and Kids Talk Radio.

Have any questions about syncing Apple apps? Check here. Need troubleshooting assistance? Click here.

Nintendo News - PKTR 37

Listen to the show as the PKTR cohosts tell you about all the latest news from Nintendo!

Soapbox Mom attended BlogHer 2008 in San Francisco and has some exciting news to share!

First, she'll tell you a little about that conference, including a party involving none other than Guy Kawasaki (thank you, again, Guy for a fantastic party!!), then the hosts will tell you a little about one of the exhibitors, Picnik, and what that means to you, finally the hosts tell you that they're thinking about attending E3* next year (or maybe even the E for All Expo later this year)! Why not? According to Seth Schiesel in the New York Times, we're the kind of people that fuel Nintendo.

Just look at John Davison's fantastic site, What They Play - The Parents Guide to Video Games. He seems to agree with us, anyway... We'll tell you a bit about his site (but you should go there right now and be sure to bookmark it!!). You'll have no more excuses for acting clueless about what your kids are playing on their game systems.

At about 15 minutes into the show, it's all things Nintendo, baby!

After a furious rant by Soapbox Mom about EA and its Rock Band title (hoo boy, is she mad!!). If you've ever wondered what she sounds like mad, be sure to listen to the show. And if you're from EA, just tell her that you received the flippin' broken, defective, sliced drum pedal, OKAY?! That's all she wants. Just tell her you received it and that everything's okay. OKAY?!

Ahem...

Back to the show...

You'll hear about this title:


Yes, it's true, Animal Crossing will soon be released for the Nintendo Wii!

You'll do more of the fun activities that you've enjoyed on the DS, but now it's full screen fun on the Wii!!

Here are some great screenshots, compliments of the cool team at Nintendo:


In this show, the PKTR ladies also tell you about Wii Music, Wii Sports Resort, and more.

Thanks for listening! Join us again next week on Parents and Kids Talk Radio.


*(E3 - Electronic Entertainment Expo)
Update: We have since been advised that E3 attendance is by invitation only, so if anyone out there can get us an invitation, please send us an e-mail and hook us up!! (pktalkradio at yahoo dot com)

Away at BlogHer08!

No show on July 19, 2008.

PKTR host, SoapboxMom, went to San Francisco to attend BlogHer '08.

Please join us next week for another Parents and Kids Talk Radio show.

iPhone Update! - PKTR 36

Listen to today's show to hear all about our thoughts about the iPhone 3G and some of the coolest applications available in Apple's app store!

Wall-E Movie Review - PKTR 35

Download this week's show to hear what we have to say about Wall-E.



We'll tell you about this guy:




(maybe?)
Who is that?!

and this main character:



Who reminded us of something we've talked about in an earlier show...
Hmmm...

How did we feel about this?



Click here to listen and you'll find out.

Thanks for listening! Join us again next week on Parents and Kids Talk Radio.

Get Smart! - PKTR 34

Today's topic:

Get Smart!

Here are the links for the online games that we mentioned in the show:

scratch.mit.edu
clubpenguin.com
miniclip.com

Here are some of the other sites and titles we told you about:
netflix.com
thelastmimzy (caution!)
Get Smart - the movie
Get Smart - online game

And, if you're a big Get Smart fan (of the old tv series with Don Adams) here's a fun site we found after the show:

Would You Believe?

That's the show for this week - thanks for listening!
Tune in next week and listen to our live podcast - Parents and Kids Talk Radio.
2:00 pm (ET).

Scratch and Boom! - PKTR 33

School's out! So what are you going to do with your kids? How will they spend their days?

We're here to help.

On this week's show, the PKTR co-hosts tell you about a great online game and yet another fun Wii game.

But first!

We start the show discussing events of the week, like the crowning of this year's NBA champions, the Boston Celtics. Then we talk about bowling from trucks (?). Listen to the show and you'll understand.



Check out the site the kids just can't get enough of:
scratch.mit.edu

Here's the journalist, Warren Buckleitner, whose New York Times article we referenced. We would have never found this site without his help. Read his article. It's worth your time.

It's programming made easy for kids. They click and drag pieces of puzzles that represent commands to program software to make online games. You have to see it to believe it. For kids 10 and up.

Then we tell you a bit about the new Wii game by Steven Spielberg called BoomBlox.

Here's a video of the game:


We wrap up the show first by giving you our WiiFit update - the latest cool creative use of the WiiFit balance board. Then, telling you about a ball of whacks and finally, announcing our PKTR book pick-of-the-week.

Here's a cool one minute video to show you the ball of whacks:



Thanks for listening! Join us again next week on Parents and Kids Talk Radio.

Easy Recipes for Summer - PKTR 32

.

Blueberry muffins, banana pancakes, cherry maple syrup. Is your mouth watering yet? You can make them all in under 30 minutes without a mix. Listen to the show and we'll tell you how.

First, we spend just a little bit of time tipping our hats to one of our all-time favorite television personalities. Just had to. Thanks for indulging us...

Then, we'll give you some great ideas for Father's Day gifts (or anytime you need a gift for an adult male). From books to iPods, we'll help you find the right gift for your guy.

If you have a party coming up, we'll walk you through the easy way to make an ice cream sheet cake that looks and tastes like a huge ice cream sandwich.

Delicious and a huge hit with the kids! It allows for many variations, too. You might be surprised when you hear which website we found that recipe on. And it is filled with many fun, kid-friendly summer recipes. Great summer party tips, too!

The best blueberry muffins I've ever made are so easy to make that you have no excuse to rely on those less healthy mixes ever again. Visit AllRecipes.com. You'll find so many great recipes, you'll come back and thank us (or thank them, more likely!).

We also talked about ilovemilkandcookies.blogspot.com. Tune in to find out why. But here's a clue:

Visit their site - it's well worth your time!!

Finally, do you have leftover bananas? Do you go right to your recipe for banana bread to use them? Well, you don't have to anymore. Listen to our show and we'll give you a great alternative.

Join us again next week on Parents and Kids Talk Radio.

Thanks for listening!

Kung Fu Panda Movie! - PKTR 31

NEW GIVEAWAY: Just leave a comment on our blog and you'll be put into the drawing to win an exclusive Kung Fu Panda item from the Parents and Kids Talk Radio Co-Hosts!
See our "Contest Rules and Guidelines" post for more information.
Hurry now before the contest ends.

In this week's show, we review Kung Fu Panda, the Jack Black movie that was released just yesterday, June 6.

In the show, we talk about Master Shifu, Po, and red pandas. As promised, we included some pictures of each of them.

Master Shifu


Po (With Jack Black, The Voice of Po)


Red Panda


Later in the show, we talk about the Wii Fit game and picture books, including Knuffle Bunny and Knuffle Bunny Too by Mo Willems, Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus by Mo Willems, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie by Laura Joffe Numeroff, and Tacky the Penguin by Helen Lester.


Thanks for listening!

Join us again next week on Parents and Kids Talk Radio.

Movies and Munchies - PKTR 30

Summer vacation is almost here, so we thought it was a good time to provide our top picks for movies for preteens.

In this show, we'll tell you about a movie that's coming soon to theaters near you, a couple of movies that are already showing and many that you can rent on DVD.

Bridge to Terabithia


The Road to El Dorado


Indiana Jones and
The Kindom of The Crystal Skull


To go with those movies, we'll give you some easy recipes that your tween can make for him/herself.

Thanks for listening!

Kindness - PKTR 29

Have you seen the blog called Acts of Kindness (run by the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation)? It's worth checking out. In fact, we liked it so much that we decided to devote an entire show to its topic.

But first!

On today's show, we start out by talking about the two Davids on American Idol. We called it, ladies and gentlemen. You probably put your money on David A, didn't you? But noooo...he didn't win. Do you remember what we said? Yep, that's right, back in April we first said that we were rooting for him and by May we described David Cook as a star.

But...nobody really cares about AI anymore, do they? And we would never say, "I told you so." So we moved on pretty quickly and started talking about kindness.

Listen to the show and you'll hear Nicole talk about people who've inspired her to be kind as well as all sorts of simple ways to show kindness and why it's important to learn to forgive.

We end the show by expressing a little appreciation for our listeners as well as presenting them with a challenge. Are you going to accept it? If you do, let us know. Drop us an email or leave a comment here.

Thanks for listening!

Join us again next week on Parents and Kids Talk Radio.

Preteens, Online Games and Responsibility - PKTR 28

Club Penguin, DGamer, Webkinz.

Do your kids play any of these online games? Do you play with them?
What do you think of them?

In this show we spend a good deal of time telling you what we think about them.

We start the show talking about, of all things, paninis. You have to listen to understand. Then, we make brief mention of Rachael Ray (yum-o!) and WiiFit.


Thanks for tuning in and join us again next week on Parents and Kids Talk Radio!

Tween Time - PKTR 27

What do tweens think about the world today?

We talk about a variety of topics in this show and check in with our resident tween to get a sense of what she and her friends think.

For example:
Passion? What does it matter? Who has it and why? How does it affect what people do? Do we see people display it on American Idol? Does David Cook have it? Archuleta?

Hannah Montana's takeover by Miley Cyrus. What's the deal?

Politics. Very briefly. Okay?

Blogs by tweens and about tweens. Good idea?

The hottest book series for tweens. Do you know what it is?

Then ... back to passion. As it relates to music programs in schools. Is your school cutting back on the arts due to lack of funding? Let us know!

Have you ever been to that diner that Jerry, Elaine & George frequent on Seinfeld? We ate lunch there and had an experience that could have been right from the show. We tell you a little about it.

That's the show!

Thanks for listening.

Join us again next week on Parents and Kids Talk Radio!

Earth Day from Kids' Perspectives - PKTR 26

Earth911.org

Well, we were wrong, this was actually our 26th show, but who's counting.

The topic was Earth Day (which was officially celebrated on April 22, 2008).

Download the show to hear a wide variety of ideas, thoughts and suggestions from some tweens (and a mom) about how we can do just a little to help the environment a lot.

Some of the websites you'll hear about (and some others which we like but didn't have time to get to) include the following:

Boys' Life - Go Green!

We Can Solve It!

Earth 911

Planet Green

TreeHugger

Special thanks to our guest caller, Nadege, for contributing some terrific tween perspectives!

Join us again next week on Parents and Kids Talk Radio!