"High School Musical" a Brain Booster?

“What do they want for Christmas?” I asked. “

Oh anything about “High School Musical,” Stephen replied.

“High School what? They’re just little girls. Cari’s only in 2nd grade.”

“Hey Mom, get with it. 'High School Musical' is the thing.”

So off I went shopping. Sure enough, Stephen was right. I soon found "High School Musical" DVD’s, CD’s, dance mats, bed room lamps, sleep-over bags. You name it and you can get it with the HS Musical theme. HS Musical was everywhere—even in the grocery store.

Finally decided on a HS Musical interactive DVD for 4th grader, Abby and a HS Musical dance mat for Cari. I still didn’t have a clue.

So a couple weeks ago at the video store, Eric said “Let’s rent “High School Musical” and see what all the fuss is about. In case you’re not any savvier than we were, turns out HS Musical, filmed in Utah, is a Disney take-off on “Grease” minus John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John.

A bit hair-brained and not quite as sophisticated as "Grease," but certainly tame enough. HSM 2 struck me as sillier than HSM 1 but then I’m not a 2nd grader. It's been described as a modern-day Romeo and Juliet except everyone lives happily ever after.

The good news is all that dancing. And that’s what the kids are loving. That’s what the dance mat is all about. So is “High School Musical” a Brain Booster? You bet. Doesn’t get any better than dancing, and the dancing in HS Musical rocks.

Now even more curious, I had to Google "High School Musical" and check it out in Wikipedia Seems HS Musical was one of the most successful Disney channel movies—7.7 million viewers in the U.S. saw the premier. Reached best selling album status in 2006.

And in the U.K, HSM got 1.2 million viewers during the first week. In 2006, "High School Musical" was the most watched programs for the Disney Channel in the U.K.

There’s an ice tour and "High School Music 3" is on its way. Disney’s got a winner.

Gabriella, the main character, has her own blog (obviously sponsored by Disney). If you Google, “about High School Musical,” you’ll find chat rooms and online games and even a forum for “I Hate High School Musical.” Plenty that isn't tied to Disney marketing.

At last report, Cari and Abby are learning dance steps thanks to help from the dance mat they got from us. And the little ones, Alison and Andrew, are giving it a try too.

They’re jumping and hopping and crossing the midline like crazy.

Readers of this blog and the Brain Boosters for Your Kids newsletter will remember that any movement which crosses the center mid-line of the body helps increase brain integration between the left and right hemispheres.

Similar in the big picture to Wii Fit that we talked about yesterday. Wii Fit includes dancing and a mat. You can do the High School Musical dance mat with other kids and that's the most fun. (Obviously, you don't need the mat in order to dance since it's one kid at a time on the mat.) Requires digital viewing in order to see those dance steps and you’re moving.

So, I guess, with a bit of a stretch, you could include the “High School Musical” dance mat in the “social network gaming” genre.

That I think the plot is silly, the acting stilted, and the singing dreadful is quite beside the point.

So A+ for “High School Musical”—at least for the HS Musical products that get kids up off the couch and singing and dancing. As for the rest of the products and the online chatter, I’ll pass.

Can't imagine, though, that HS Musical would interest kids much beyond 4th grade, maybe the rare, unsophisticated 5th grader. I'm sure the Ohio grandkids, just a bit older than the NH kids, are saying things like "Yuk, 'High School Musical' is for babies."

Parents, the dance mat is a great toy, inexpensive enough to get a couple of them. And teachers, you can use the CD in your classroom or P.E. class to get the kids not only moving but moving to their favorite music. If you do Brain Gym in your classroom, try a fast HS Musical tune for Cross Crawl.

Meanwhile I’ve been hard at work compiling the “Brain Boosters for Your Kids” ebook and accompanying workbook. I’ve got a self-imposed deadline of two weeks. (Some of you, I’m sure, aren’t holding your breath since you’ll remember this project, in its original incarnation, began months ago and then languished.)

The ebook's got everything from tips and strategies to checklists and quizzes, even a bit of Brain Gym. As the kids say, “Get psyched.”

MaryJo

P.S. Maybe you weren't in the dark about "High School Musical," but you're still wondering what Brain Gym is all about.

Listen to a 4-minute explanation of Brain Gym or spend a full hour learning about Brain Gym and even a couple of BG movements you can use immediately. It's free. Be sure to download the 17-page full-color set of handouts before you click the listen button.

Listen to the 60-minute Intro to BG and get a discount on the next Brain Gym Basics TeleChat starting March 11.

Finally, a Brain Booster Video Game

Well, somedays you just can't win! So we're all set for last night's Brain Gym Basics TeleChat and we had enough out-of-my-control technical glitches at the last minute that we had to postpone it. Even included a glitch from the University of Colorado at Denver which offers the graduate credit for teachers

Now Brain Gym Basics is on for March 11. And the ADD class for April 1st. And that means changes on the websites, changes in the telephone conferencing schedule, changes in the calendar, changes in the online registration, and on and on. Guess what I'm doing this morning? Certainly wasn't part of the original plan for today!

So after railing against video games for years (except for a slight nod to improvement in eye-hand coordination), there's finally a video game that looks like it'll get an A+ from me.

It's called Wii Fit. (Pronounced "we.") Check out the demonstration and a video from Nintendo. It really looks like fun. Nintendo's pushing it as family fun--another A+ from me. I even like the music.

But there's a caveat to the A+--that's only for families who already have the Wii video game system which, unfortunately, allows kids to play some of the most violent games without ever getting out of their chair or moving a muscle beyond wrist and fingers. Although such isn't the purpose of Wii. And the system is a bit pricey. The cheapest I found this morning was $286--before you buy Wii Fit at around $70.

You can use Wii Fit for aerobics, yoga, muscle stretches and games, and get a "core" workout with some of the Wii Fit games. I haven't seen any promotion for losing weight but if you're doing aerobics frequently enough with Wii Fit, weight loss would certainly be a result. Who can argue with that, given the rise in childhood obesity.

Wii fit has over 40 exercises and activities. 8 family members and friends can keep track of their scores and progress.

Don't get too excited, however. Wii Fit isn't scheduled for release until May. If you can't wait, log into Amazon and ask to be emailed the minute you can buy it.

However, the buzz has created a Wii Fit entry in Wikipedia. And Nintendo has blog postings and YouTube videos to promote their product.

Wii represents a new and positive, from my way of thinking, approach to video games. They call it social network gaming. And lots of the Wii software, unlike many of the other social networking games, requires moving around rather than sitting still at your computer screen.

But I don't necessarily recommend the Wii video game system unless your kids have other video game systems which they're into. There's a great review of Wii in the "New York Times."

On the other hand, what's wrong with technology that promotes social and family interaction, involves moving, and having lots of fun? Maybe your children have been begging for a video game system and you've said "No, no, a thousand times no, in the past. You might reconsider with Wii as the option.

Video "games" plus movement aren't new. Exergaming has been around for awhile but has never really taken off. I'd never heard of it until I read the Wii Fit article in Wikipedia. And the Wii system already has Wii sports out where you can play "pretend" tennis, golf, baseball, and bowling. All of which involve standing up, and moving around but not as much movement as Wii Fit. Most Wii systems already come with Wii Sports.

Looks like Wii Fit is ready to make a splash in the U.S. Let's hope so for those families and kids where video games are already part of the daily routine! With 1.3 million units in homes in Japan, it's sure made a splash there.

So to summarize, if kids must play video games, the Wii system is the best around and Wii Fit (and Wii Sports) promises to be one of the best set of games going in terms of Brain Boosting and general health enhancement. Not to mention fun!

Still doesn't take the place of playing, hiking, or running around outdoors. But then sometimes you've got four feet of snow in your backyard and the thermomenter in the car port says ten below. We've have plenty of days like that at our house and still have snow drifts over our heads.

Speaking of snow, Cynthia, my friend who uses Brain Gym with her first graders at the Apache Indian reservation school in Dulce, NM, called to tell me they had SIX feet of the white stuff and her kids are getting cabin fever. They need Wii Fit.

MaryJo

P.S. If you've got snow and warm enough temperatures to bundle up and go outside there're lots of things kids can do. Check out the February issue of the "Brain Boosters for Your Kids" newsletter. Lots of ideas for playing in the snow, including how to do Brain Gym in the snow.