The name of this column is "Childhood Unplugged", but that doesn't mean an Amish existence is the only way to get kids to flex their creative muscles! Advances in technology make it possible for even young children to accomplish amazing things with electronics that are much more educational (and fun!) than achieving a high score on Guitar Hero or amassing enormous bank accounts on Rune-Scape.

Back when I was a kid (before the days of Atari 2600 's Tank Pong, mind you) the most advanced technology allowed in grubby little hands was a tape recorder. Working with what we had, my siblings and I created news broadcasts, commercials complete with cheesy rhyming jingles, and found ways to make some amazing sounds effects and not-so-amazing voices to narrate recreations of our favorite fairy tales and children's books. (The Three Little Pigs was one of our best works due to my wise casting of a little brother with the inability to pronounce the letter L , in the role of the big bad wolf. The resultant, "Widdle Pig! Widdle Pig! Wet me come in!" was a definite crowd pleaser.)

Recording technology has definitely improved since back then, but finding ways to auditorially share a familiar tale, poem, or piece of music in a new and unexpected way is still a fun group activity that can easily include even young kids. (It also gives one a greater appreciation for the work of the Foley artist!)

Today, most households have a camcorder, digital camera, or cell phone with some sort of image recording function, taking kid creations to a WHOLE NEW LEVEL! Making action movies based on books (or even better, original stories!) gives children a reason to learn basic fix-it skills (to create backdrops and sets!) and rudimentary sewing skills (costuming purposes!) and to figure out how to think outside the box and make-do with what they're able to forage (Mom loves this project, but there are financial limits, Son!) which will serve them well during the lean college years and recessionary times. Dance routines, game shows, a neighborhood kid version of American Idol, parodying Jaws using a wind-up toy in the bathtub, video recording possibilities are endless!

For kids more interested in fact-finding there's always: a nightly neighborhood news reports, interviewing people of interest in the area, doing book reviews (like on Reading Rainbow!) , how-to's and creating documentaries. Meet Me at the Corner is a website with some great tips for aspiring kid filmmakers. including how to do a video book review and how to create a documentary. The site is also sponsoring a video contest for children called "Summer In My Town." The winner receives $250, but every child between the 7-13 who enters will learn from the experience and perhaps even develop a new interest or discover a natural ability.

Last but not least is the device all kids take for granted yet still amazes their parents: the digital camera. While we waited for holidays and birthdays to come around just so the last of the roll of film would FINALLY be used up so the month-long film processing would begin (No 1-hour processing joints in those days, no sir!), today's kids clamor to see the image on the display screen sometimes even before the picture has even been taken! Digital cameras are amazing not only for their speed, but that kids of all ages (with securely fastened wrist-straps and close supervision by the younger crowd, of course) can act as photographer. Kids already see the world in a unique way that is readily evident in their photography. However, if they seem stuck, challenge the child to use the camera to tell a story in photographs and see what sort of magic happens.

Technology is a great way to get kids' imaginations going. We just need to guide them to use it in way that stretches the mind, rather than putting it in a vegged-out state.