Getting Involved In Your Children's Pop Culture 

The world in which parents live is far different to the world our children live in. It's completely unavoidable because reality will come for your perception of it as you grow older. As an adult, your main focus is on paying the bills, taking care of the grocery shopping, improving at your profession and hopefully getting a promotion, etc. However for children, none of this exists, and you can go as far as saying to them it doesn’t matter. They see the world in a very different, inspiring and playful way. They’re just living life and trying to see where they fit in, what kind of things they like, finding new hobbies and interests to just grow one day at a time. You may not want to admit it because it hurts, but being disinterested in your child’s life is the same as being uninterested. They will only be little for so long, and before you know it, one day you’ll turn around, and they’ll be a totally different and much more mature person. Wouldn’t you like to be a part of their transition into adulthood from childhood? If it's a resounding yes, you have to come to terms with the fact that it cannot be done on the sidelines, you must play an active and exciting role in their upbringing.

Source PIXNIO

Generational music swap

The music of our time and era will never be what it was for us to our children. It's the way of the world as it's human nature to change, alter, progress and create new things. But music plays a powerful role in all of our lives as its ability to touch us deep down almost cannot be rivaled with any other art form. Clearly, the music of previous decades was a lot different to the music that is popularly played on radio stations and online mediums nowadays. Put simply, in the 60s, 70s, 80s and even 90s the majority of music was very instrument focussed. It was about Rock n’ Roll, Jazz, Metal and Blues. Now kids listen to songs that are usually mixed up with techno beats and a lot of electronic melodies.

Technology can help us bridge this gap by accessing all kinds of music from one pool source. The best service for this is Spotify. Head and shoulders above the rest, it's the best medium for all the music that’s ever existed. By getting your child subscriptions they can make their own account and thus have the ability to listen to any kind of music they want, when and wherever they are. On the website and the app, they can find all their favorite artists, download their albums, create their own personal playlists, favorite tracks they like to get more songs that are similarly advertised to them and so much more. Both you and your children can listen to the songs of your respective eras and enjoy a moment understanding between each other.

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Video editing fun

What a time to be alive when old media also known as traditional media is on the way out. Alternative media also known as ‘new’ media is coming into our homes one way or another. It's like a gust of wind that is battering down your front door; there’s just no way to stop it. Anyone and everyone are given a chance to share their talents, thoughts, and skills online to an audience that cannot be rivaled for sheer size. What better way to share your views than on an online platform that can be your outreach to the world. The now famous Justin Bieber was scouted from YouTube after he uploaded some of his singing videos with just him and his acoustic guitar.

It's important to allow children to experiment and get involved in this new tech revolution and be able to share their voice. Buying them a video editing software so they can make their own content could be the snowball effect for making this happen. However, there are tiers of editing software ranging from the basic, advanced to professional. The obvious choice is to introduce them to a beginner’s level of software that won’t be too difficult to understand and become comfortable with using. Lumen5 is a good balance editor great for creating cartoon animations. Corel VideoStudio is superb at making montages which is great for kids who want to get creative with mixing, splicing, timing different shots and putting after effects on their video. CyberLink PowerDirector is an a fast editing software for those who want to edit videos that involve a lot of action in HD and high frame rate clips. So if you have a game in the house, this could be a great gift to them. But audio matters too, as the sound has to be as good as the video or else a lot of the magic is lost. If they hear any music they like on YouTube, simply take the URL address and past it into this video converter website. They can then click on the link generated to download the music file and feel free to use it in their video content.




In a world of your own

For over a decade and some would say you’re trying too hard to be the cool dad or mom if you get involved with your children’s gaming. The general advice is just to let them go off and get lost in a world of imagination and experience different realities through video gaming. But parents can use gaming as a door into their children’s lives and become closer. Shared experiences are often the best because you have someone who you can relate to and engage in confirmation that you each felt the same thing. Controllers are finicky and often complicated to use because they have so many buttons with different actions.

Virtual reality gaming is the future, and finally, after many years of hesitation, companies are putting their money where their mouth is. Oculus Rift is by far perhaps the highest quality virtual reality headset you can buy. With it, you also get two joysticks that are used as your hands and arms in the games you play. There are lots of multiplayer games you can enjoy with your children that involve teamwork. Zombie shooters are perhaps the most popular form of first-person shooting games as you each must team up and watch each other’s backs to survive. Other games like platforming are great for those who want to use their navigational skills to traverse across virtual landscapes in a team. These sorts of games also have quests you can do such as finding lost treasure.



New skill sports  

Traditional sports are still played and enjoyed by people of all ages, but as with every generational shift, there’s always something new inventions. Thanks to a YouTube channel by the name of DudePerfect lots of different trickshot sports have come into the mainstream. disc golf is a very simple but very rewarding concept. You basically throw a disc into a net that is hung up on a pole. Sounds easy but there are lots of obstacles in the way. You’re also competing against other people so throwing as fewer times as possible is the way to earn the highest score. Speaking of frisbee-style sports, there’s a new and very well received sport that mixes American football with the disc throwing game. Called the MLU, there’s a competitive element to frisbee throwing with two teams squaring off against each other. You might want to see if your child would like to get involved in something like that if they enjoy disc golf.

A new take on the game of squash, 360ball mixes tennis and trampolining into a crazy new sport. Played inside a plastic see-through cage, in the center, there is the small trampoline like bouncing structure surrounded by an upwardly-curved disc. Its a two versus two sport with one player being the one who responds to the other teams hit and lays it up for his teammate. The ball must bounce once in the center and then twice to score a point. One person can play the role of defended and the other as the hitter. It's a growing sport that is being played competitively so if you are looking for something new for your children to get into that involved teamwork and quick reactions, this is something that you should definitely try.

Don’t live to regret the moment when your children turn around to you as adults and express wishes that you were more involved in their interests. You can never get back that time that you missed. Technology is their whole world so experiencing virtual reality together could make your old video games look primitive. You get to enjoy unique scenarios that would otherwise be a pure fantasy if it wasn’t for VR systems. Physical sports are never going to fade away, and in fact, you should be encouraging your children to go out and play more. New sports are being invented and supported by lots of investors so there could be a professional league your children might want to join one day.   



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