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I’ll just state the obvious, because we’ve all thought it: We need more giant rubber duckies floating around in our lakes, rivers, and harbors. We also need more artists to think of ideas like this.
The giant yellow ambassador of fun pictured above is the work of conceptual artist Florentijin Hofman, who states: Continue Reading →
I’ve written before that one of the BEST parts of being grown-up is having the ability and the know-how to take awesome things from childhood to a new level of awesomeness.
The sweet photos above? No, they were not created by some guy in a small plane or captured with the iPhone of a blimp pilot. They were taken by a camera attached to a kite.
Yes, a freaking kite. You know, that thing kids play with on windy days? In fact, Kite Aerial Photography is a real thing. Google it. Continue Reading →
Training began about a month ago. Perhaps that wasn’t enough time to prepare, especially if you have a hard time jogging around the block without feeling like you have to hurl. But Kim and I had each other to hold ourselves accountable and, as you can see from the photo above, Kim was all business. Continue Reading →
One of the worst parts about growing up (I know, there are many): outgrowing your Big Wheel. Yes, upgrading to a two-wheeled bike is cool, but nothing beats the pure joy of operating an old school Big Wheel tricycle. Being that low to the ground is kind of like driving a Ferrari.
One of the best parts of being grown-up is having the ability and the know-how to take awesome things from childhood and making them even…awesomer.
I give you the grown-up version of the Big Wheel, with alloy V-Brake and levers, a plush custom seat, a pneumatic 26-inch front wheel and molded 14-inch plastic wheels to promote epic Power Slides. Plus tassels!
I don’t know about you, but I want one.
I put on my snow pants, boots and mittens and scoured the vast wastelands of the Internet to uncover a whole bunch of neat tips for making your next snowman the envy of the neighborhood. Please keep in mind that these tips are for building a traditional snowman, which is typically three snow balls placed on top of each other. If you want to get all crazy and create some elaborate snow sculptures, this is not the post you’re looking for.
These tips are for those times when you want to roll old school. Continue Reading →
I’m not sure how I feel about this guy. This video is three decades old, but I know one thing for sure: he has no Adultitis whatsoever, as far as I can tell. His secret? Skipping.
“That sensation is absolutely one of the most extraordinarily joyous sensations that a person will ever experience.” –Bill Martinelli, The Skipper (now known as Skip Martin)
I gotta be honest, even though it’s been a while since I’ve been skipping, it’s probably in the top five, for sure. It IS hard not to feel joyous when you are skipping! And I love how he made a business out of skipping. But this is the quote I related to most:
“We started running, and I hated it immediately, like I always did.”
Skipping. The alternative holiday weight-melting activity for Adultitis-fighting anti-runners.
According to Wikipedia, “Vandalism is the behaviour attributed originally to the Vandals, an ancient Germanic people, by the Romans, in respect of culture: ruthless destruction or spoiling of anything beautiful or venerable.”
Most of the time vandalism is mean and perpetrated by jerk heads.
But what if an act of vandalism is done is a spirit of cheerfulness and actually adds or enhances beauty? Is it still called vandalism? Continue Reading →
I couldn’t agree more.
Imagine these being installed in airports.
Imagine these being installed in the offices of all law firms and insurance companies.
Imagine these being installed in every single government building, especially the ones in Washington, D.C.
I dare say that these could bring peace to the Middle East.
Get on it, Congress.
This is a cool story (and video) of how a dad sent his son’s favorite toy train into the stratosphere. Pretty amazing what one can accomplish with a weather balloon, an HD camera, a GPS-equipped phone, and a little imagination.
And after watching the video, it appears as though the train had the time of his life.
I think it’s funny that even as our cars get more high tech, outfitted with GPS systems, heated seats, and hands-free calling, they still come equipped with glove compartments.
Glove compartments!
Although the glove compartment in my car is jammed with a great many things — manuals, napkins, straws, ketchup packets, pens that don’t work, and the like — gloves are not among them.
I got thinking about glove compartments when I was in Houston a few weeks ago for a speaking engagement. One of the audience members talked about a friend’s dad who always carried a few spare kites in the trunk of his car. That way, whenever they were out driving during superb kite-flying weather, they could just pull over and have some fun. And oftentimes, he would hand out kites to children. Continue Reading →
If you combine television, computers and any mobile devices you may have, how much screen time do you have each day? It may not seem like a lot, but a half hour here, a few minutes there, and it really adds up. It’s probably more than you think, and the number would probably depress you.
Here’s an even more alarming fact: More people die globally from inactivity than from smoking.
Yikes.
So I recently stumbled across Project Wild Thing, and it is brilliant. They assert that children today are getting “dangerously tame.” Their mission is to re-connect 1 million kids with nature. Of course, this aim benefits adults as well. I invite you to read their manifesto and take the simple pledge to spend as much time outside every day as you do on screens. The website is filled with resources and inspiration for getting wild.
The healing Adultitis-fighting power of the great outdoors only seems like magic because we have gotten so far away from regular interaction with nature.
Technology is nice. But the screen-time pendulum has swung too far. It’s time to get wild.
One of my favorite parts of the first ever Escape Adulthood Summit was tapping into the collective knowledge and wisdom of every in attendance. We spent a few hours on Saturday afternoon sharing insights and ideas to help each other with various hot button issues. One of the things that got brought up by a camp director named Jen was the subject of pranking.
Pulling pranks and practical jokes is fun in large part because of the rush of excitement that comes from getting away with something and creating a scenario that contains the element of surprise. Unfortunately, it too often makes the person who was pranked feel bad, stupid, or even violated. So Jen shared that at camp, they only tolerate “positive pranking.” She gave an awesome example that she learned about via Amy Krouse Rosenthal.
It’s called Hostess Ding Dong Ditching. Continue Reading →
Even though kids are starting to go back to school, summer is still hanging on for a bit longer, and watermelons are still being sold at the supermarket. I love this watermelon homestead, carved up by the Dahls and featured on their site Builtbykids.com.
I especially LOVE the mission behind their site: Continue Reading →
I wonder if I’ll ever see a real lightsaber in my lifetime. Not like a prop that they used in the Star Wars movies, but the fully functioning, cuts-through-steel-doors, real deal. Do they have the technology to make such a thing? It seems like they should. They’d probably be pretty dangerous and come with all sorts of warning labels and require a license and you’d hear about some idiot on the news who used it while drunk and accidentally killed his dog and cut his car in half.
Until then, here’s a tutorial to make some homemade ones that are much, much safer.
Remember that one summer cookout back in the seventies when your inebriated uncle was impaled by one of those steel-tipped Jarts?
Talk about a buzzkill.
Jarts are safer now, but removing the element of bodily harm seems to have dampened some of the fun as well. Fortunately, here are a few backyard game ideas that will — safely — bring back a fresh spirit of fun. Continue Reading →
What’s a foolproof way to make your summer memorable?
Get a face tattoo.
Kidding.
When we get to the end of our lives, the things that seem to matter most are the scenes. The adventures we shared with our partners in crime. The inside jokes and games we played and memories we made with the people we love. Continue Reading →
This is a follow up to this post. If you want to add a little bit more whimsy to the world, and you’re looking for something fun and crafty to do, then first, gather some rocks.
Paint them bright colors. With smiley faces or hearts or four-leaf clovers or anything else you might find in a box of Lucky Charms.
Then bring them back outside for others to find.
Bam. Instant whimsy. And just like that, the world is a little bit better place to live.
Thanks to the awesome Katie for the idea (and photos.)
A creative group of folks led by Sean Martindale decided to do something about the various neglected city tree planter boxes that dotted Toronto. More than 30 “planter interventions” were created by a group of 17 Toronto based artists, designers, gardeners and urbanites within a 24-hour period in 2011. Continue Reading →
We’re often told that the secret to happiness is to take the road less traveled. Oftentimes, it certainly seems like there must be a better way to do things than our current approach. But the problem is that the “beaten” path is so well-paved, well-marked and well-lit, that frankly, it can be hard to imagine that there could even be another way, let alone a better one.
One small example is the arena of organized sports. My kids are too young to be involved in things like baseball or soccer, but I hear stories of peers who are looking down the barrel of a summer in which the majority of weeknights and weekends will be spent at the ball field. For some families, this is a cause for joy, but for most, it brings a feeling of dread. Apparently, it’s a necessary evil required to make sure our children are well-adjusted, socially competent and attractive to institutions of higher learning.
And besides, everyone’s doing it. Continue Reading →
I’ve never met anyone who didn’t want more memorable experiences with their family. No one ever said, “Nope, we bond so often and laugh so much and do so many fun things together as it is, I don’t think we need any more, thank you very much.”
Actually, it’s quite the opposite. Continue Reading →
Of course, it’s hard to beat a good old fashioned snowball fight when it comes to getting the heart rate up and burning some calories. We highly recommend at least one slingfest per year. (Just make sure you’re not using ice balls.) Here are a few more untraditional games you can play in the snow:
Build the Biggest Snowball
Break up into teams of two or three apiece. The goal of each team is to roll the BIGGEST* snowball. The end comes when the teams can no longer physically roll their snowball (or you run out of snow.) Continue Reading →
Does anyone really enjoy yard work? Typically, it’s a dreaded part of adulthood. Not everyone has the budget to hire it out, so inevitably you’re left spending Saturday afternoon with your John Deere. The major challenge of living an Adultitis-free life is to tackle your dreaded tasks head on by infusing them with a whole lotta fun. I like to ask myself, “How would a kid handle this?” I should get a bracelet… WWKD (What would kids do?). Most likely, they would find a way to laugh and enjoy the situation. Fun, after-all, is the ultimate stress reliever. So, in an effort to improve your Saturday afternoons, here are 9 easy ways to make your yard work more fun…
1. Upside Down Frown
There are countless scientific studies out there proving that the simple act of smiling will lift your spirits. Somehow your heart gets convinced by your body that yes, indeed, you are happy. So, even if you feel like Grumpy Bear, smile and you’ll soon feel better. Continue Reading →
It’s officially summer. (cue kids cheering) Life slows down a bit in the summer, at least it should, leaving you with more time to spit watermelon seeds, dip your toes in a swimming pool, and savor the sweet refreshing taste of freshly squeezed lemonade. Mmm! If I had to pick out a centerpiece of summer, though, it would have to be the campfire. They have a magical way of bringing people together, inviting them to laugh, sing, and tell secrets. The sparkling golden hues of the fire, the crackles of the wood popping, the bright constellations above, and the warmth of people gathered around a central focus… I love campfires. So much of our life is spent moving in different directions, but the summertime campfire grabs you by the hand and asks you to sit and relax… together. Enjoy these ten campfire games you have to play…
1. Telephone
2. Truth or dare
3. Chubby bunny
4. Two truths and a lie
5. Guess the jelly bean Continue Reading →
Most of us pull out the trusty video camera for the standard occasions: birthdays, weddings, Christmas, and stuff like that. It’s always nice to chronicle those big moments, but if your video camera only sees the light of day during major events and holidays, it is being sorely underutilized as a device for escaping adulthood! Here are some home movie ideas to try the next time your inner Spielberg awakens:
1) A Day in the Life Of… Again, everybody films the major events of life. But what about the everyday occurrences? Why not make some movies involving cutting the grass, making dinner, washing the car, cleaning the house, or eating breakfast. Now, this may seem like a snoozefest (and we don’t recommend shooting hours and hours of this stuff), but we remember people most in their everyday settings. In the long run, short candid clips of the everyday will have the most meaning.
2) Family Storyteller. Everybody has one or two people in their family who are particularly good story or joke tellers. At the next family gathering, record their greatest hits. What a treasure to have some of Uncle Larry’s classic jokes or Grandma Emma’s timeless yarns on tape for future generations to enjoy. Continue Reading →
