Good to Know

Santa’s Hotline is open for the season. The annual holiday calling service takes you to a recorded message from Santa, then lets little ones leave him a voicemail with their Christmas wish list. When you use your mobile phone, Santa will send a text so you can listen or share your child’s message with the whole family. To give him a buzz, dial (605) 303-4000.

An online platform is making holiday giving in the COVID era a bit easier. Toys for Tots and donateatoy.org are hosting a virtual toy drive for this season. You can select a toy to donate

to one of thousands of disadvantaged kids nationwide through the contact-free system. For every toy purchased through the website, donateAtoy.org will donate a second toy.

The Boston Children’s Museum just launched in-person learning enrichment pods. Designed to support families looking for hands-on, in-person learning opportunities during this challenging school year, the pods are small groups of children ages 5-10 who learn together outside of the classroom. The Explore It Enrichment Pods, led by museum educators, run weekdays 2-5 p.m. and complement in-school learning by focusing on STEAM themes.

There's bad news for parents certain products or brands." who frequently plop their • Control communication is kids in front of the TV to when a parent exhibits total give themselves a break: control in parent-child consumer with their parents to the store – and perhaps make a fuss if told "no." All that, researchers say, may contribute to parents' overall stress levels, well beyond a single shopping trip.

The findings come from a study published in the International Journal of Advertising, that explores the potential effects of children's television watching habits on their parents' stress levels. "We know kids ask for things, we know it leads to conflict, but we wanted to ask the next question: Could this be contributing to parents' overall stress?" said lead study author Matthew Lapierre. entertainment is changing. With the rise of the DVR and streaming services, many viewers are no

It might actually end up leaving related interactions – for example, moms and dads more stressed. saying things such as, "Don't argue

Why? Because the more with me when I say no to your television that kids watch, product request." the more they're exposed to • Advertising communication is advertising messages. The when parents talk to their children more advertising they see, the about advertising messages -- for more likely they are to insist on example, saying things such as, purchasing items when they go "Commercials will say anything to

longer being exposed to the

The study suggests that it could. get you to buy something."

There are a few things parents They found that, in general, can do, perhaps the most obvious collaborative communication is of which is limiting screen time. associated with less parent stress. "Commercial content is there However, the protective effect for a reason: to elicit purchasing of collaborative communication behavior. So, if this is a problem, decreases as children's purchase maybe shut off the TV," Lapierre initiation and coercive behaviors said. — such as arguing, whining or

Of course, that can be easier throwing temper tantrums — said than done, he acknowledged. increase.

Another thing parents can When children have higher try, especially as advertising levels of television exposure, the geared toward children ramps protective effect of engaging in up around the holidays: Consider less advertising communication how they talk to their kids about decreases. consumerism. The study is based on data

The researchers looked at the from hundreds of parents of effectiveness of three types of children ages 2 to 12. The parent-child consumer-related researchers focused on younger communication: children because they have less • Collaborative communication independent purchasing power is when a parent seeks child input and spend more time shopping on family purchasing decisions – with their parents than older kids. for example, saying things such Lapierre acknowledged as, "I will listen to your advice on that the way people consume traditional advertising of network or cable TV. However, advertisers are finding creative ways around that, through tactics such as product placement and integrated branding — incorporating product or company names into a show's narrative — Lapierre said. And advertising toward children

remains a multibillion-dollar industry. "In general, more television exposure means more exposure to commercialized content. Even if I'm streaming, if I'm watching more of it, I'm likely seeing more integrated branding," Lapierre said.

Advertising aimed at children — which often features lots of bright colors, upbeat music and flashy characters — can be especially persuasive, since, developmentally, children aren't fully capable of understanding advertising's intent, Lapierre said. "Advertising for kids is generated to make them feel excited. They do a lot of things in kids' advertising to emotionally jack up the child," Lapierre said. "Children don't have the cognitive and emotional resources to pull themselves back, and that's why it's a particular issue for them."

Three new outdoor exhibits inspired by the life and work of Leonardo da Vinci allow visitors to physically interact with the inventor's ingenious designs at the Discovery Museum in Acton.

The new exhibits include:

The Lever: At over 12’ 5” tall, this giant kinetic lever lets visitors explore the principle of leverage by trying to lift a 4’ basket swing—perhaps holding friends or family members— from three different leverage points across a 20’ beam. As an inventor and engineer, Leonardo da Vinci studied simple machines such as the lever, often using them as the building blocks for his innovative machine designs.

Vitruvian Man: The 6’ tall bronze sculpture of one of da Vinci’s most famous drawings helps visitors explore the concepts of proportion and ratios through comparisons of the length of different body parts.

The Bridge: da Vinci designed an ingenious self-supporting bridge that could be built without nails, ropes, or other fasteners, relying on friction and gravity to allow users to cross safely. The Museum’s model of the bridge is 4’ long and 3’ wide, a great size for visitors to climb.

“Fueled by his own curiosity and without formal schooling, da Vinci created complex and innovative designs out of small-scale observations and long-term explorations,” said Brindha Muniappan, senior director of the visitor experience at Discovery Museum. “We have brought some of da Vinci’s ideas into three-dimensional form to enable visitors to go beyond visual enjoyment of his work to physically interacting with his designs.”

The new outdoor exhibits and “Discover da Vinci” online resource page are part of the Museum’s celebration of da Vinci’s work and impact, joining the da VinciWorkshop, created when the Museum opened its all-new building in March 2018.

The da Vinci Workshop is an open-ended workspace for using tools, tinkering, design, and inventing using recycled materials, off-the-shelf supplies, tools, and technology. It includes a working model of da Vinci’s ornithopter—a machine he designed to test human flight—and a WindTable where visitors can test their own designs of things that can fly.