I Am The Lorax!

Just in case you missed this, The Lorax is coming to a theatre near you!




"I am the Lorax.  I speak for the trees!  I speak for the trees for the trees have no tongues...."  Ever since I was a young girl, I have adored this tale of the glorious Truffula trees.

The Once-ler, enamored by these gorgeous trees, decides to use their beautiful foliage to knit a "Thneed."  You see, a thneed is a thing that all people need!  The thneed is such a success that the Once-ler calls upon his relatives to come help manufacture more thneeds.  The Lorax pleads for him to stop, but he is ignored.

Unfortunately, the Once-ler learns too late what his greed has done to the land, and as the last Truffula tree gets chopped down, the Thneed factories close down and the Once-ler's family departs, leaving the Once-ler alone with the Lorax.

As the Lorax sadly departs through a hole in the smog, he leaves behind a small pile of rocks with the word "UNLESS" inscribed into them.  Unless someone lilke you cares a whole awful lot...

This message has stuck with me throughout the years, making me more conscious of the environment and my impact on it.  It's a message that I hope to pass along to my own son, and I can't think of a better tale than The Lorax.  Thanks you Theo Geisel for such a wonderful story.

The movie is aiming for a March 2, 2012 release to coincide with what would have been the 108th birthday of Seuss.  I hope you join me in celebrating this fantastically fun story written by an amazing storyteller.

Role-play: Through the eyes of the child

Why do educators love games?

Games provide authentic experiences that reinforce learning. 

Oh, and they are a heck of a lot of FUN!

Meet Holly Booth, a Girl Guide from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and a gamer. I first met Holly at the Lesson Plans and Ideas seminar during Gen Con's Trade Day. Trade Day is a day set aside for retailers and educators to get together to share their experiences with games and to learn new and exciting ways of using them. After the first few minutes talking with Holly it became crystal clear that she had a passion for teaching kids to play games. Her most recent experience was with her brownie troop running, of all things, a D&D campaign. While the others played hide-and-seek, they were playing Dungeons and Dragons.

Camp is all about getting creative and learning new skills. Heroes of Hesoid, a D&D adventure for kids 6 years and older, was a new form of creativity. From the start, the kids were hooked and she found herself amazed at the results. “The quiet ones always picked the rogues.” she explained with a wide smile. She was astonished at how the girls seemed to blossom and take charge of their roles. “I was thinking to myself, you haven't said a word all week, but you just fried that entire hoard of pixies!” In fact, Ella, a very shy 7 year old in the group, got so into her role that she proclaimed “Can I do my sneak attack now?” 

It is plain to see that games allow us to break out of our shells and experience the world in new and wonderful ways. Role-playing, in particular, give us the opportunity to step into someone else's shoes and try things we might not normally attempt. Cooperation, leadership skills, creative thinking, and problem-solving are just a few of the wonderful skills kids can gain through role-play. Make believe is a natural part of childhood, and dungeons and dragons as well as other role-playing experiences are the perfect vehicle to foster that type of play.