Too much togetherness is rarely a good thing, so set your kids up for success with realistic expectations for the summer. Follow these steps to build a plan that works for your family.

1. Provide some structure.

Going from scheduled school-time to no schedule can be a real challenge for many children. Without a schedule, they feel no sense of control and will therefore fight for control over anything. As soon as there is some predictability for the day, the need to control everything seems to decrease. It can be as simple as reviewing when meals will happen, along with quiet time, errands that need to be run, etc.

2. Expect that your kids will need a break from each other.

Rather than waiting for a fight to break up their together-time, help them to plan when they will spend time apart. At the very least, teach them how to ask for it,

“I need some time on my own,” rather than, “I hate you! Get out of my face!”

3. Help them to figure out sharing.

If there is one toy/technology device/basketball hoop — how do they use it together? Kids (4 and up) are great at coming up with solutions to these kind of problems so make a time to problem-solve as a family and ask them to help figure it out. Some solutions:

Odd days Jack chooses the game, even days Mary chooses the game

• Taking turns
• Scheduling individual time on the device/toy

4. Set clear boundaries about what can and cannot be done, along with when and for how long.

Provide limits and consequences ahead of time so that things feel fair.

• Technology time
• Time when they need to be outside
• Time when you can play with them vs. Independent play time
• Run with scissors
• Use permanent markers (you get the picture)

Possible script: “When you show me that you can manage this, you are choosing to do it again tomorrow. When you show me that you are having trouble, we’ll take a day off and then try again the next day.”

To a beginner it’s a bit stressful, even scary, at first glance.

But while Telus Spark’s Brainasium might seem a bit intimidating, its physical challenges are building better cognitive skills through the benefits of what experts are calling “risky play.”

The one-acre outdoor adventure park, which originally opened last summer, unveiled a new expansion phase Tuesday with a number of unique playground pieces that challenge kids to climb higher, swing farther and slide faster in order to better develop their brains.

“Risky play is really important for kids’ brain development,” explained Greg Stein, daily program co-ordinator at Telus Spark.

“That moment where you’re a bit afraid to try something, then you push yourself, it releases specific chemicals in your brain that turbo charges it, that actually makes you smarter.

“It’s a stress, but a good stress, because your adrenalin is pushing you.”

Kris Kelly-Frere, exhibit developer at Telus Spark, agreed, adding that it’s critical to teach all children how to manage stress through play, not only to increase intelligence, but also to gain coping skills.

“When you push yourself, and create positive stress, you’re building on a skill that you will use in the adult world.”

Unstructured play is beneficial at all stages of brain development, Kelly-Frere added, from the early years when children work on gross motor skills, balance and co-ordination to their teens all the way up to their early 20s when the “executive function” or decision-making skills can also still be developed through play.

The entire park, he said, is based on the neuroscience that has found connections between healthy bodies and healthy brains.

New additions that were unveiled at Brainasium Tuesday included Molecule Rocks, a series of stacked molecule-shaped structures built as mini-climbing walls, some reaching as high as three metres with inverted slopes, challenge kids strength and balance. Logjam, a series of criss-crossed logs, some as high as three metres in some places, challenge kids balance and co-ordination.

Those “risky-play” pieces add to the already popular sky-high Tower introduced last summer as part of the parks first phase, allowing kids to climb roped netting up 12-metres and then sliding down a 20-metre long metal tube at high speed.

Mother of three Marcy Garcia says she loves the park and how it challenges all of her children, aged two to seven.

“I love watching them, and seeing how they are thinking, and being creative, while they play.”

BRAINASIUM EXPANSION

FIVE COOL NEW THINGS UNVEILED IN PHASE TWO

1. SWINGS — With several different new varieties, you can swing standing on a see-saw or sit on the classic plank between two ropes, with opportunities to swing higher and further as you grow.

2. MOLECULE ROCKS — Rock-climbing for any age, you can be close to the ground or as high as three metres atop molecule shaped rocks.

3. LOG JAM — Take a walk up, down or around a criss-crossed maze of elevated wooden logs, with roped netting below.

4. SPINNERS — For those who love the merry-go-round, spin, swing and twirl on a handful of unique metal spinners.

5. GRAFFITI TUNNELS — Take a breather, run and hide, or create a meeting place at these brightly-coloured tunnels painted by six different graffiti artists around Calgary.

eferguson@calgaryherald.com

Tim Gill, a prominent writer and researcher on childhood, asks a roomful of adults to raise their hands if their favourite place to play as a child was outdoors. It seems as if everyone has an arm up, eagerly sharing tales of unsupervised adventures in empty lots and wild forests.

This enthusiasm begins to die down as Gill contrasts these memories with more recent events, referencing the recent detainment of an 11-year-old boy who was shopping alone at the Lego Store in Calgary’s Chinook Centre. Gill says that children today aren’t engaging enough with uncertainty, which prevents them from learning skills they’ll need later in life.

“Recalling these memories, this is not mere nostalgia,” Gill told his audience at the Telus Spark Science Centre on Monday. “The world is different, but children’s appetite for experiences is not.”

Gill doesn’t claim to be a parenting expert. He says there are already too many people telling parents what to do these days. However, he has spent over 15 years writing, researching and speaking about what he says has been a gradual loss of confidence in children’s ability to handle uncertainty. According to Gill, adults today have lost sight of what a good childhood should be like.

“We need to be a bit calmer about minor bruises and scrapes and kids getting upset, because guess what? That’s part of childhood,” he told the Herald. “We need to remind ourselves of how much children like and want to have that sense of freedom, that taste of adventure that we’re in danger of starving.”

Gill is currently on a speaking tour of Canada, the schedule for which is on his website. He will give two more talks in Calgary on Tuesday.

Gill speaks often about how adults can improve playgrounds, and referred to modern play structures as “sterile, brightly coloured bits of plastic.”

“No child over the age of seven will find that stuff at all engaging,” he said.

After his presentation, Gill went outside to see the science centre’s Brainasium , which opened last summer. Telus Spark refers to it on its website as an “adventure space.” One of its more striking features is an 11-metre rope tower with a 19-metre slide. As Gill walked towards it through a triangular wood tunnel with sun streaming in between its beams, he stepped aside for a child to run through.

“You can see there’s some risk here. That’s good,” he said, demonstrating how easy it would be for a child to bump their head if they climbed onto a nearby boulder.

Gill says that this playground is a step in the right direction for Calgary.

“You’ll get the odd child who scrapes or bruises themselves,” he said. “That doesn’t matter, because the benefits in terms of the children’s enjoyment and their learning far outweigh the risks.”

The playground has a few grassy hills mixed in with its interactive, often science-themed activities. Gill says that’s a good thing, and playgrounds should never be flat.

“A lot of times, adults think that play equals playground, but children don’t see it like that,” he said. “Children will find fun in just a single slope or a boulder.”

Gill also thinks the tower, which parents were nervously watching from the ground, is one of the reasons the Brainasium will allow kids to grow.

“Kids love that thrill,” he said.

Elisha Assaf, 12, seems to agree. She says she was too afraid to go down the several-storey-high slide when she first came, but eventually gave it a try.

“It’s so fun,” she said with a wide smile.

Assaf’s mother, Catherine Stack, said her family was part of a group from Golden, B.C., that came to visit Telus Spark.

“I can barely get them to leave,” she said, laughing as Elisha and her younger brother Alec climbed on a web of ropes nearby.

It was late afternoon, and the science centre was beginning to close. Families began making their way out, but one girl remained on the highest level of the rope tower, despite the adults telling her it was time to go.

“But why?” the girl called back as she reluctantly started the journey down. “I’d never been so high before.”

emcintosh@calgaryherald.com

Spring break is just around the corner, but for busy parents, there may not be much of a reprieve as kids head off to day camps. Keep the mood fun with these tasty lunch ideas; they might even ask for them again once they’re headed back to school.

Our Crunchy Turkey Pitas are an easy twist on the usual turkey sandwich, combining chopped cooked turkey and celery with sweet apple and raisins. Add a touch of mustard or curry powder for some extra zing.

Our Lunchbox Mini Bagelwiches are a bite-sized lunch perfect for small hands. The carrots and walnuts add crunch, while the orange and cranberries add sweetness. For nut-free environments, swap the walnuts for sunflower seeds.

For snack time, get your kids excited about fruit with our simple Lemon Maple Dip, which goes well with apples and pears, or make them a batch of Backpack Snack Bars — swap in your favourite dried fruit, and use sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds in place of chopped nuts for nut-free environments.

With these delicious ideas, even adults won’t be able to resist brown bagging it.

Crunchy Turkey Pitas

2 cups (500 mL) chopped cooked turkey
1 cup (250 mL) diced apple
1/2 cup (125 mL) chopped celery
1/2 cup (125 mL) raisins
1/3 cup (75 mL) mayonnaise
6 lettuce leaves
3 pita bread (6 inch / 15 cm), halved

Combine turkey, apple, celery, raisins and mayonnaise. Place one lettuce leaf in each pita bread half. Fill each with turkey mixture. Serve immediately or wrap and refrigerate for up to 4 hours. Serves 4 to 6.

Lunch Box Mini Bagelwiches

8 oz (250 g) spreadable light cream cheese
1/4 cup (50 mL) shredded carrot
1/4 cup (50 mL) dried cranberries
1/4 cup (50 mL) chopped walnuts or sunflower seeds, optional
1 tbsp (15 mL) orange juice
1/2 tsp (2 mL) grated orange peel
10 mini bagels, halved

Combine all ingredients except bagels until blended. Spread cream cheese mixture on bottom halves of bagels. Cover with top halves of bagels. Serves 4 to 6.

Lemon Maple Dip

1 cup (250 mL) yogurt or fruit spread
1 tbsp (15 mL) fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp (15 mL) maple syrup
1/2 tsp (2 mL) grated lemon peel

Combine all ingredients until well blended. Dip may be refrigerated for up to 2 days. Stir before using. Makes about 1 cup (250 mL).

Backpack Snack Bars

2 cups (500 mL) flour
1 tsp (5 mL) baking soda
1 tsp (5 mL) cinnamon
1 tsp (5 mL) ground ginger
1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt
3/4 cup (175 mL) thawed frozen orange juice concentrate
1/2 cup (125 mL) chopped dried apricots
1/2 cup (125 mL) chopped nuts
1/2 cup (125 mL) quick-cooking rolled oats
1/2 cup (125 mL) chopped pitted prunes
1/2 cup (125 mL) raisins
1/4 cup (50 mL) chopped pitted dates
1/4 cup (50 mL) wheat germ
1 tbsp (15 mL) sesame seeds
1/2 cup (125 mL) butter, softened
1/2 cup (125 mL) sugar
1/2 cup (125 mL) fancy molasses
1 egg

Preheat oven to 325 F (160 C). Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt in a bowl; set aside. Combine next 9 ingredients (orange juice concentrate through sesame seeds) in a bowl; set aside.

Using medium speed of an electric mixer, beat together butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in molasses and egg until blended. Stir in flour mixture just until combined. Stir in orange juice concentrate mixture. Spoon batter into a greased 9×13 inch (23×33 cm) baking pan and spread evenly.

Bake for 35 minutes or until golden brown and a cake tester inserted in centre comes out clean. Cool in pan on a rack. Cut into bars. May be frozen. Makes 32.

ATCO Blue Flame Kitchen’s column on healthy eating for busy families runs Wednesdays in the Calgary Herald’s food section. For tips on energy safety, food or household matters, call 1-877-420-9090 toll-free, email bfkanswerline@atcogas.com or chat with us live online at atcoblueflamekitchen.com.

The long reach of wearable technology is set to reach out this year and tap into the well-being of young children, and even babies, with trackers and sensors that will assess their health and wellness.

While still in its relative infancy (no pun intended) for its ultimate potential, wearable tech has thus far been geared toward health and fitness for adults, and to a lesser degree, teenagers. The same concepts for tracking general health are now also going to be marketed toward helicopter parents who want to stay on top of their children’s vitals.

Some are designed to measure a baby’s body temperature. The TempTraq is a thin and flexible patch that stays affixed to a baby’s body as a digital thermometer, alerting parents, nannies or babysitters of a rise above a pre-set level via a smartphone app. Vivalnk’s eSkin Thermometer is another wearable patch, though it’s focused more on when infants or young children are already sick. It sticks to the forehead and sends temperature data over to a companion smartphone app.

The Pacif-i from Blue Maestro takes the same concept, yet applies it instead as a smart pacifier where the silicone teat doubly acts as a thermometer.

The Sproutling is a wearable baby monitor that not only tracks temperature, but also heart rate and sleep patterns and movement. It wraps around a baby’s ankle and funnels the information over to the accompanying app on a smartphone or tablet. Despite being $250, the product’s limited distribution has already sold out.

The Baby Glgl (as in “glug glug”) comes from the same company that first made headlines with a smart fork for tracking food intake. This time, the premise is to make a bottle smart, monitoring feeding time, quality and placement, so that infants don’t take in too much air when swallowing milk. It’s not yet available in stores or online, but could be later this year after receiving regulatory approval.

For children that are a little older, there is the iSwimband , a module that fits inside a headband or goggle strap. It pairs with a smartphone or tablet and alerts parents or guardians if a swimmer has been underwater for too long, or if a young toddler has actually entered the water. While no substitute for supervision, it’s marketed as a way to keep tabs on kids near a pool or beach.

The Cubi is a smartwatch designed exclusively for kids. It has a SIM card slot for the purpose of keeping your child connected to you without them having to use a smartphone. Not only can parents tracks their whereabouts, but kids can also communicate using voice messages. Still seeking funding on Kickstarter, it is possible to order one now for a starting price of $100 (U.S.).

Noted childrens’ electronics firms, VTech and LeapFrog have each designed smartwatches, too. The VTech Kidizoom and LeapFrog LeapBand are both meant to spur kids to be active and healthy, and are currently available for $60 and $45, respectively.

6AM Wake up! Shower (optional), get breakfast ready, get everyone up! Back-packs, notices, lunches, everyone out the door and in the car! Driving to school, daycare, activities, picking out the next class they need to take, finding the “Best School”, responding to emails from their current school, play dates, dinner, bedtime! ACK! We do it all again tomorrow.

But this is parenting right?

Well, is it? Is that what parenting is all about? It seems to be in our prevailing culture. All this stuff is really the “extra-curricular” stuff of parenting. Parenting is actually the process of supporting the overall development of a child from infancy to adulthood. Maybe we are so busy with all the day-to-day stuff that we don’t have time to create the life we want to live instead of living the life we’ve created…

It might be that all of this other stuff is just “Playing the role of Parent”.

Playing a role is where you do what society expects the role to be, rather than actually fitting it to the players involved.

Many of us do this regularly in our lives. In fact, it is not a bad strategy; the “Fake it till we make it” system. With any new undertaking, we tend to learn what is expected, start doing it to the best of our abilities and then make it our own.

Only sometimes, we forget to make it our own.

Becoming an adult

It’s very easy to play the role of adult in society. When we leave high school, we begin our adult life. We buy the grown up costumes (suit, fancy shoes), get a job (or do more schooling first), find a place to live and get on with our grand performance.

It may take years of playing the role of adult, before we actually become an adult. Eventually, we settle into our own version of the script. We choose the stuff we really want and leave other bits behind. We come into our own ways of being and belonging and begin life as a true adult – sometimes not until our mid 30s or later.

Becoming a parent

The role of parent can be like that too. We’ve been “playing” parent since we were 4 years old. When we first find out that we are going to actually be parents, we throw ourselves whole-heartedly into the role: studying books, asking questions, buying the props, doing everything we are supposed to do to fit that role.

When the children come along, there are so many amazing things to witness and experience. There are so many things that zap the life out of us too. So it is sometimes easier to just keep playing the role: naps, diapers, nursing, solid food, music class, gym class, preschool, parties, sports, lessons, homework!

Our lives can be so full of stuff to do, that we don’t leave time to actually be a parent instead of playing the role.

At Parenting Power, we’ve decided that our theme for 2013 is INTENTIONAL PARENTING .

Our goal is to set aside some time to focus attention and effort on supporting the overall development of our kids – not just the outside stuff (what they’re wearing and doing, what classes they attend), but the inside stuff as well.

It may feel that we are adding a whole bunch of work to an already full plate. What we are actually saying is CHOOSE WHAT’S ON THE PLATE.

This doesn’t mean we won’t be driving our kids or making meals. We are not going on strike.

We are:

• Creating space to determine what’s important to us when it comes to the development of our kids
• Creating space in our calendars to allow that to happen
• Creating systems to allow it to happen – with respect to modelling what we want our kids to learn.

No mean feat! We’ve got a whole year in which to set out, and learn from our mistakes. That’s the way it works. We invite you to join us. The more, the merrier.

Twitter is my favourite social network. I particularly enjoy following all the twitter chats and live tweeting around events, but the experience can be cluttered and confusing.

So I was excited to try PressMoi recently, which is a platform to run real-time Q&A events and turn “Ask Me Anything” chats into engaging and interactive experiences minus all the clutter. PressMoi takes care of all the logistics so hosting an event is super easy. The iPhone app provides an intimate environment where social influencers can connect with their fans and followers, and build their community. Based on what I experienced, their tagline of “The Mobile Press Conference” is well suited.

I had previously seen the dynamic cofounder duo, Shawn Kanungo and Zeshan Qureshi, electrify the crowd with their pitch at the launch of Plug and Play Calgary late last year. It seems like they’ve come a long way since then. Here’s more from our interview.

How did you come up with the idea for your startup? Was there an “ah-ha” moment?

We observed the massive rise and popularity in Twitter Q&A Chats and Reddit AMA events, but we found the experience on these events to be disappointing.

-On Reddit, unless you are engrained in their community, it’s tough to follow.
-On Twitter, after using a hashtag and a user’s name, you’re now left with even fewer characters to answer – so there’s no real dialogue
-There’s no way to organize the logistics of the event on either platform – the timing of the event, determine whose participating, and viewing the questions and answers.

What has been the biggest challenge so far?

The biggest challenge has been time! Like many startups, we grind during the day to pay the bills, and at night, we hustle to achieve our dreams. We are obsessed about making an awesome product, and because we have less time, we are ruthless with how we manage it.

Are there any key individuals outside of your organization that have been of great help to your startup?

In October 2012, we took part in Startup Edmonton’s Pre-Flight Accelerator, it’s a mini-accelerator that helps pre-startups get off the ground. Ken Bautista and Cam Linke, the founders of Startup Edmonton, like to be hands-on with all the startups, and they introduced us to some great mentors like Kevin Swan (iNovia Capital) and Jeff Lawrence (Granify).

What’s new with your startup that we can share?

From June 19th to 23rd, we created a project to find the 30 most interesting people in Edmonton to showcase people who have made a contribution to the city and have a truly interesting story or background. Our list included Deputy Premier of Alberta Thomas Lukaszuk, NY1 Anchor Pat Kiernan, Bioware co-founder Dr. Greg Zeschuk, TSN Broadcaster Natasha Staniszewski, and more. All the interesting people conducted live Q&A events on PressMoi and over 600 questions were answered over the five days.

Personally, do you think it is more difficult to raise capital or find the right talent?

Capital and talent both come easily with one thing: traction. As we grow PressMoi, we are definitely receiving more interest from investors and talent. Right now, we are constantly iterating on our product based on customer feedback. We are not interested in chasing capital or talent – we want to be chased.

What has contributed to your success to this point? What advice would you like to share to early stage or new entrepreneurs?

Be open and iterate quickly! We keep an open mind about what’s working and what’s not working based on customer feedback. We are not married to our idea; we are married to building something great.

Most important, we know our idea is worth nothing without execution. We’ve listened to over 800 interviews from successful entrepreneurs. We found that the ONLY common thread among all these successful people is that they weren’t afraid to just try.

What made you choose to go down the path of entrepreneurship?

We are both super ambitious and we’re always doing something to push ourselves. With a couple other friends, we started a creative film group called Nelson Spooner Productions, and we’ve won a local couple film awards over the last four years.

What are your thoughts on Calgary’s startup community?

Startup Calgary and Startup Edmonton are doing a tremendous job at cultivating and mentoring our Alberta’s startup talent. We pitched at the Plug and Play Launch last October and the energy was electric that night – we still talk about it today!

Both cities have young startup communities, and I think there is still tons of work to be done to attract top-notch talent. Personally, we would love to see both cities work together more often, and turn Alberta in the tech province of Canada. Premier conferences like AccelerateAB and The Cloud Factory are definitely helping us get there!

What’s your ask right now? What do you and your startup need?

We will be running a similar project in Calgary in the next couple months, in which we are looking for Calgary’s Most Interesting People. If you know anyone who has an interesting story or background, email shawn@pressmoi.com.

Lloyed Lobo covers Calgary’s tech startup community. He is a Partner at Boast Capital and the VP of Community Evangelism at Startup Calgary.

If you are working on something that could potentially change the world, we’d like to hear about it. Send us a tweet at @boastcapital or email us at llobo@boastcapital.com.

You can’t deny that kids today are more tech-savvy than ever, with all the gadgets and gizmos they’re exposed to before they even enter kindergarten. If you ask any kid, “What is work?” they will say “school and homework”, but if you ask them “What is play?” many will say “video games”. What happens when the familiar and engaging qualities of a gaming mentality are incorporated into an educational environment? Research shows it drives engagement and promotes a love for learning.

Capitalizing on this is Gummii , a math tutor reimagined as a mobile game. For a fraction of the cost of a tutor and with none of the hassles of ‘free’ online solutions, Gummii’s gamified adaptive learning system delivers real, measurable improvement in math ability.

Founded by Stephen Butler, Brent Davis, Michael Sikorsky and Camille Sikorsky, Gummii has amassed over 310,000 users in just a few weeks within launch! We just caught up with the Founder and CEO, Stephen Butler to learn more.

How did you come up with the idea for your startup? Was there an “ah-ha” moment?

Gummii was born out of parental frustration. My daughter needed help with math and all the good tutors in the neighborhood were booked. A friend suggested a local learning center that offered a ‘personalized’ worksheet program for $100 a month, using a back-to-basics method that had apparently stood the test of time. The price seemed a bit steep, but we were desperate and gave it a shot. Each day our daughter did the tedious worksheets, which took more and more effort to sit down to. My wife and I helped with corrections as required. Each week we drove to the center to drop off worksheets, wait for results to be tabulated, and pick up new ones. And suddenly we seemed to have a lot less time for other activities.

There had to be a better way. One evening my daughter asked to play on a free math website. It soon became clear it had little if any educational value. The site was more interested in pushing ads than teaching times tables. Yet the games were far more engaging than the worksheets.

That was the spark. What if we could combine sound learning with a fun and personalized game, which kids could play on devices they love to engage with, such as iPods or iPads.

What has been the biggest challenge so far?

Selling angel investors on our ability to turn the traditional ‘educational game’ model on its head. But we’ve had over 250 reviews averaging 4 stars, and have generated a ton of great engagement data, so that might get easier.

Are there any key individuals outside of your organization that have been of great help to your startup?

Michael Sikorsky is an outsider who became an insider. He bought into the idea 15 minutes into our first coffee, and has become an incredible partner and friend. And two investors in particular have proven repeatedly why they’re called angels: Tim Logan, a Toronto wealth manager, and Pierre Doyon, former CEO of Chariot Carriers – both true mentors.

What’s new with your startup that we can share?

We launched in the App Store on August 22 and hit #23 overall in free US apps within three days. That’s the best ranking any kids’ math app has ever achieved. The reviews have been stellar.

Coming soon is our first major upgrade, which includes a learning tool that will have math educators doing backflips and a tool codenamed “TutorMode” that parents will love.

Personally, do you think it is more difficult to raise capital or find the right talent?

We truly have a dream team. Capital has been more challenging. Too many Alberta investors have been burned in tech. However, raising capital and finding talent are both a function of hard work and luck. To paraphrase Thomas Jefferson, the harder you work, the luckier you get. Get out and meet people.

What has contributed to your success to this point?

The right idea, the perfect team, discipline, and integrity. Advice to entrepreneurs: tell the truth, don’t overpromise, and pay your investors first.

What made you choose to go down the path of entrepreneurship?

As Daniel Isenberg points out, entrepreneurs are contrarian value creators, who see value where others see nothing. As my mom will point out, I’ve always been a contrarian which has led to some great calls in my portfolio over the years, and for a long time I couldn’t figure out why I hadn’t quit the day job. What got me off the fence was close friends with conservative risk profiles telling me they would put money in. You don’t need all your friends to believe in you, but if none do, that’s a sign.

Here’s the paradox of entrepreneurship as I see it. Most success comes not from luck, but having a superior understanding of risk and reward. Too many of the best and brightest, particularly in this country, strand themselves by achieving a measure of success in their 20s and 30s and then freezing because they think they have too much to lose. But that’s exactly when they should be hitting the gas. Their risk/reward calculation is off because they don’t appreciate how much they have to offer. Look it up – the average age of founders with the biggest exits isn’t 24, it’s 42.

What are your thoughts on Calgary’s startup community?

Calgary’s big plus is that we have a lot of capital. Our minus is that we don’t have a lot of software success stories. In fact we’ve had some bad flameouts, so much of that capital tends to go to oil and gas and real estate. We need to bridge that gap with some big successes. Brett Wilson’s how-to guide should be required reading for would-be angels.

Personally, I’d like to do my part by turning Gummii into a global player we can all be proud of, and a model of the kind of business we can grow here.

What’s your ask right now? What do you and your startup need?

We’ve proven we’ve got a winning concept and can execute an amazing launch. Now we need to fulfill our promise to all the kids and parents whose imaginations we’ve excited. And for that, we need capital. Check us out on Gummii.com and let us know what you think.

If you are working on something that could potentially change the world, we’d like to hear about it. Send us a tweet at @boastcapital or email us at llobo@boastcapital.com.

Author: Lloyed Lobo

Previously, Lloyed was the Head of Sales and Marketing at TicketLeap in Philadelphia and AL Systems in New Jersey. Lloyed studied Software and Electrical Engineering at Lakehead University, Marketing at New York University, and PR Management at UCLA. You can find him on twitter @boastcapital .

I’m a big believer that providing kids with financial literacy and entrepreneurial education at a young age will enable them to better manage risk, improve decision-making and ultimately become masters of their own destiny as they grow up. However, our education system places so much emphasis on subjects such as math, science, language, and history that experiential learning, particularly in financial literacy and entrepreneurship is hugely lacking. More and more people are getting deeper in debt because they are clueless when it comes to resolving financial problems, and many are unhappy with the 9-5 but feel stuck because they can’t afford to take a risk.

While there are lots of blogs and articles on the Internet that provide parents with suggested activities to educate kids, they’re incredibly time consuming to work through. Enter TrueSmarts , a web platform that aims to change the way kids use and think about money. Kids are presented with practical but fun activities that they can complete at home such as running a lemonade stand, monitoring a mock stock portfolio, creating elevator pitches, playing monopoly, etc., and they can earn badges as they complete these activities.

We recently touched base with the founder, Rob Shaw, to learn more about TrueSmarts and his entrepreneurial journey.

How did you come up with the idea for your startup? Was there an “ah-ha” moment?

Yes there was. My daughter was about to enter grade one and the decision of what school she should go into proved to be more challenging than I ever imagined. To help make the decision, I started identifying skills that I felt were valuable for success in today’s world. It was then that I realized that none of the schools under consideration actively taught financial literacy and entrepreneurial skills. I concluded that my wife and I needed to take ownership of the task. However, that’s also when I discovered that I couldn’t find a source of practical at-home activities aggregated and organized into a curriculum for parents and kids. It was at the moment that TrueSmarts was born.

What has been the biggest challenge so far?

As expected, user adoption continues to be our biggest challenge. In the age of social networks, smart phones, and information overload, it’s tougher than ever to rise above the noise and get noticed.

Are there any key individuals outside of your organization that have been of great help to your startup?

Without a doubt, I need to thank my wife Stephanie and my two kids for their support. TrueSmarts would not exist if I didn’t have their encouragement and understanding.

Next in line would have to be my father. My dad was a serial entrepreneur, and although I don’t recall specific entrepreneurial lessons being taught to me as a child, I certainly absorbed more than I ever realized through osmosis.

Lastly, Cindy Duffin has shared my passion for the project and has been an invaluable contributor.

What’s new with your startup that we can share?

We just deployed TrueSmarts Academy where children can earn a series of badges as they complete activities. It’s like swimming badges but for financial literacy and entrepreneurship.

Parents can continue to work, hand in hand with their kids completing activities, however, with the introduction of TrueSmarts Academy, kids are now able to choose and complete activities on their own as well.

Personally, do you think it is more difficult to raise capital or find the right talent?

Both are critically important and can be a challenge, but based on my prior experiences, I believe that if you have a compelling story and engaged customers then money and talent will follow.

What has contributed to your success to this point?

I would not classify TrueSmarts as a success yet. I will consider TrueSmarts a success once we’ve been able to successfully impact the life of at least one child. Perhaps it’ll take 10 to 20 years for the CEO of a successful company to credit TrueSmarts with giving them the skills that increased their probabilities of success.

I’ve found that building a company and providing a product/service to consumers can be the most rewarding experience that you’ll ever have, but it can simultaneously be one of the most challenging experiences. You need to walk this fine line of being persistent and determined but yet be flexible enough to alter course as needed. There is never one path to the top of a mountain, but certainly some paths are easier than others.

What made you choose to go down the path of entrepreneurship?

I love building things that provide value. In exchange for a lot of hard work, entrepreneurship offers the ultimate blank canvas to craft not only a great product or service, but also a company with its own unique mission and culture.

What are your thoughts on Calgary’s startup community?

I’ve been a part of Calgary’s technology startup community in one shape or form since 1997 and through this time, I’ve seen it change and morph. I can honestly say that I’ve never seen a more supportive community than what exists today with the efforts of Startup Calgary, A100, AcceleratorYYC, Assembly Coworking Space, Boast Capital, Innovate Calgary, and others.

However, outside the technology startup community, very few Calgarians have an appreciation for the amazing technology startups that exist within the city. More media coverage and awareness at all levels is desperately required. This spotlight on Calgary’s technology startups has been sorely missing in Calgary and is exactly what we need.

What’s your ask right now? What do you and your startup need?

If you’re a parent who wants to improve your child’s money and business skills, we’d love for you give TrueSmarts.com a try and let us know how we can make improvements.

Lloyed Lobo covers Calgary’s tech startup community. He is a Partner at Boast Capital and the VP of Community Evangelism at Startup Calgary.

If you are working on something that could potentially change the world, we’d like to hear about it. Send us a tweet at @boastcapital or email us at llobo@boastcapital.com .

One of the unexpected delights of working on Project Calgary has been the spontaneous ideas that have emerged from our data .

Case in point: We have a great story planned for the weekend about the qualities that make up child-friendly neighbourhoods; you know, the kind of communities in which kids are engaged and happy, and parents feel good about letting their kids go to the park independently. While working on the story, we came up with an idea we hadn’t thought of before: What are the most child-friendly neighbourhoods in the city?

We know about the popsicle index , an initiative by an American academic to track neighbourhoods in which parents feel safe enough to let their kids walk to the nearest store alone to buy a popsicle. That kind of study, however, has never been done in Calgary, as far as we know. So we started thinking about building our own kid-friendly neighbourhood index.

Here’s how we can do it: using data compiled for Project Calgary, we can pull out the bits of data that reflect the qualities of a good neighbourhood for kids. Then we compare each factor in every neighbourhood, and crunch the numbers. Voila: Calgary’s first kid-friendly neighbourhoods index. It will not be as academically rigorous as other studies, but it will help drive a conversation about what makes a great neighbourhood for families in Calgary.

Now the big question is: what are the qualities that make a neighbourhood good for children? That’s where you come in. Tell us what you think, and we will try to include your suggestions into our index.

There’s a couple of caveats on this. Like everything we’ve done on Project Calgary, we’re limited by the available data. The data must be accessible, and it must be broken down to a neighbourhood level for a majority of the city (much of our data excludes some of the newer suburbs in the city, because the data was compiled before they were built out).

Here is a list of the data sets that could go into the initiative:

• Percentage of population under 14 (because more kids in a ‘hood make it friendlier for other children).
• Number of schools.
• Parks.
• Parks amenities, such as playgrounds.
• Walkability.
• City amenities, such as libraries and rec centres.

What do you think? Are there other measurable factors that we should look at? Don’t worry if you don’t have the data. Just make a suggestion using the comments below, and we will look into the possibility of adding it. If it doesn’t exist, we’ll let you know. If we don’t have the data, we’ll try to track it down.

Just offer up some suggestions, and we’ll see what transpires.

tbabin@calgaryherald.com . Follow me on Twitter and Facebook .

At one time, the image of a group of kids on bikes filling up a residential street on their way to school was nothing special. But in 2012, where helicopter parents and long bus rides are the norm? On a brisk -15C November morning? While it’s snowing?

But there they were one morning last week, a gang of Grade 5 and 6 students with oversized backpacks slung over their parkas, feet crammed into their Costco boots, and toques stuffed inside their helmets. Some were on nice mountain bikes with disc brakes and suspension. Others rode rickety hand-me-downs. And all of them, when asked why they didn’t just take the nice warm bus like regular kids, gave me some version of the same answer. “The bus is boring.”

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In a city where most school mornings are typified by bleary-eyed children stumbling out of idling SUVs and buses with high-rolling odometres, seeing a gaggle of kids tearing up the powder on residential street can be novel, to say the least.

I found this gang after a prompt from Calgarian Michael Gray , who was inspired when he came across a gang of prepubescent cyclists on their way to school one snowy morning. He alerted me on Twitter, and, a couple of tweets and a few days later, I found myself heading out the back door with Grade 6 student Oscar Dewing on his way to school, joining him in a wave goodbye to his mother.

Oscar, it turns out, is a kind of quiet ring-leader of this gang. He started riding his bike to school last year. He liked it. So this year, he figured he could do it every day. His parents liked the idea too, so they agreed to split the school bus rebate with him. A couple of Oscar’s friends caught on. Then a couple more. On the day I visited, 11 kids showed up at the usual meeting spot.

For the kids, there’s nothing big-picture about riding their bikes to school. They think it’s fun. Some of them like the outsider status it gives them. Others like seeing the shocked faces of school officials when they emerge through the snowfall. Oscar doesn’t think much about those things. “It’s fun, and it’s an adventure,” he says, with a look that wonders why people think it’s a big deal.

Parents of the gang members, however, see something bigger. “It gives him an identity,” said Troy Nixon of his son Ben.

Oscar’s mom Lori Beattie, herself an avid urban outdoorswoman (she operates a company called Fit Frog Adventures that guides and encourages walking and hiking), can talk for hours about the big picture. She likes the independence it provides her son, especially in an era when that is rare. She likes that it creates a little adventure for him every day, which forces him to overcome challenges, like bad weather, scraped knees and flat tires, without an adult around to bail him out. And she likes that it gets his body moving.

“I know there’s a lot of fear about this kind of thing, that people don’t want their kids to bike and they worry about traffic, but it’s not that big of a deal,” Beattie says. “There are so many benefits. And it’s three-and-a-half kilometres, for God’s sake. Yes, he might fall, but he finds things to be little adventures.”

The Elboya bicycle gang (OK, that’s just what I called them) isn’t the only group of kids that ride bikes to school in Calgary, of course. But such groups aren’t as common as they once were. A few parents said school officials, while never opposed to the idea, were a little slow to embrace it. And I blogged last year about some of the challenges Calgary teachers have faced trying to organize more formal bike-to-school events because concerns about liability tend to trump the common-sense benefits that come from having more kids on bikes. It’s a far cry from the horror stories from some U.S. districts in which children have been banned from riding their bikes over concerns that they will be injured and blame the school, but Beattie, for one, wishes walking and cycling was encouraged more. She thinks it’s good for everyone, and good for the city.

Oscar may wish that too, but he doesn’t show it, at least to me. We chatted amiably as we took the back roads from his house toward school. He instinctively took the safe routes, avoiding busy streets, and crossing roads in low-traffic areas. When I got off my bike to walk down an hill that was a little too icy for my bones, he reluctantly followed suit, to spare me the embarrassment.

When we joined up with the larger group of 11 students, the kids, warmed by the prospect of getting their names in the paper (here you go: Ty Sheppard, Ben Nixon, Nick Sherwin, John Plunkett, Tazman Abramowicz, Chloe Richardson, Owen Cleveland, Gabby Cleveland, Jonah Dahlin and Luke Sherwin), turned the ride into a bit of a party. They laughed and teased and showed off. It was a kick to see them take over a residential street, with cars keeping a wide berth, proving that old adage about strength in numbers.

And there were adventures. We had a wipeout, a dropped chain and some cold fingers (only some of that came from me). But the kids solved their own problems and made it to school safely, with time to spare. By the end, I could relate to Oscar’s nonchalance about the whole thing. And his practical advice to other kids made more sense than ever.

“Just try it. If you don’t like it, don’t do it.”

If a child is in a bicycle collision, they are more likely to be injured if that collision involves a moving car.

No-brainer? That’s the results of a new study from the University of Calgary ( read the Herald’s news story here ) that examined the causes of injuries to children admitted to hospital emergency rooms because of cycling accidents in Calgary and Edmonton between 2008 to 2010. There were 1,470 children seen in emergency rooms, the most common injuries that required hospital admission were fractures and lacerations to the upper limbs, head and torso.

Health Sciences student Jackie Williamson, who conducted the soon-to-be-published study , says the research showed that preventing injuries among kids on bikes should involve ensuring kids don’t get run over. She suggests designated bike lanes might help do that.

Sure, the study doesn’t tell us much that we don’t already understand intuitively, but in the sometimes bizarre world of childhood safety, where parental anxiety, selected statistics and academic research sometimes blend into common-sense defying conclusions, the no-brainer aspect of this study is interesting.

For one thing, Williamson wades into the never-ending helmet debate. The study found that the lack of helmets was not as great a risk factor as were collisions. While Williamson still recommends helmets (not only because lids on kids is the law in Alberta, but because she says it can sometimes save your head), she suggests that separating bikes from cars with segregated bike lanes might help. “It’s an idea worth exploring,” she said to me on Monday.

This shouldn’t be a radical notion. It’s based on the simplest of ideas: If we want to reduce cycling injuries, let’s reduce cycling collisions. But the idea has often been lost in the debate over helmets, so a study like this, although limited in its scope, is still interesting. Discussions about helmets often put responsibility for safety in the hands of cyclists, which is important, but does tend to lead to a blame-the-victim mentality when accidents occur. Putting the focus on reducing collisions puts some of the responsibility on society. We expect a certain level of safety in our motor vehicle infrastructure (we don’t build hair-pin turns and then blame drivers for crashing on them, for example), so it only makes sense that we do the same for bikes. But only, of course, if we think kids on bikes is a good idea. Are there people out there who don’t?

The study doesn’t answer some of the bigger questions around cyclist safety. Examining the safety of separated bike lanes is tough in Alberta because, well, there aren’t very many to examine, Williamson said. There’s also the question about the macro health benefits of cycling compared to the risk of injury. But this study does help reframe the debate in an interesting way.

What do do you think about the study?

Update: Some interesting feedback came in from Melissa Malejko, an instructor at Safer Cycling Calgary, who worried the importance of education for both motorists and cyclists, was being lost in this debate. She makes some good points. Here’s part of what she had to say:

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It started out so simply – you asked your child to get out of the pool. He screamed, “NO!” and an entire pool crowd is suddenly silent and staring at you. Now what? Do you go in and get him? Do you walk away and hope that he’ll come out after you? Or do you hope that tomorrow will be better?

Tomorrow will only be better if you have a new plan. Many kids have learned that if they can make a loud enough fuss when out in public, they can manipulate parents into pretty much anything. When parents give in, kids learn that the manipulation works. To stop the manipulation, you need a firm idea of what will happen at the end of pool time.

Here’s one version of how that can work.

1. I will let you know when you have a short time left in the pool (with young children this might mean 3 more times down the slide or 2 more laps of swimming.) I will count down the slides with you. Then I will say, “Please get out of the pool.”

2. You will come to the side and say, “Ok” or “I wish I could stay but Ok”. This shows me that you can be responsible and that you would like to come back tomorrow.

3. If you choose to whine or if you don’t get out of the pool. I will take you out of the pool and you are choosing not to come back to the pool tomorrow.

4. Now please, tell me what is going to happen at the end of the swim and what will happen if you don’t get out of the pool.

Your child may try to manipulate you again. You now have a clear plan – no second guessing yourself, no yelling. Just get into the pool, get her out and skip the pool the next day (her choice). She’ll be ready to try again after that. Stick to your plan and you’ll get rid of fights and manipulation.

While I tend to wax on about why travelling with kids is so worth it, there are times when I’m forced to eat my words. Since I schlep my seven- year-old around from one destination to the next, I make a point to let her decide how we spend some time each holiday. When you give kids this freedom, they not only find it fulfilling, but parents are often surprised with what the wee-ones choose.

Last summer in Montreal, we spent the majority of our time exploring the Insectarium , Biodome and La Ronde , the famed Six Flag theme park.

Naturally, these were all excursions I thought she’d enjoy. I was curious to hear how Eve would decide we spend our last morning. Perhaps we’d plunge into the hotel pool or track down a toy store? Maybe she’d feel sorry for me and want to play personal stylist, guiding me through Montreal’s many fashionable boutiques? Nope.

After breakfast, we carried our sophisticated, disposable cups of hot chocolate and trekked the hotel stairs to explore its carpet. That’s right. On Eve’s special day, the one thing she really, really wanted to do, was check out what kind of carpet was laid down on all 23 floors.

First we experienced an initial adrenaline rush upon discovery the mezzanine level had two different kinds of carpet! Like all great highs, this one crashed quickly, after disappointingly discovering the second floor had the same hallway carpet as the first. And the third floor had the same carpet as the second, and so on and so on.

We kept climbing, the stairs providing a much-needed workout after days spent snacking on pain au chocolate and bagels.

“Oh man, floor nine has just gotta be different! Please, oh please, let it be different!” pleaded my girl.

It wasn’t.

“Floor 13’s gonna be different, I just know it!” she cried.

Again came the crushing disappointment.

On the 15th floor, she wanted to give up, but I insisted we press on. This was a battle I couldn’t afford to lose, especially after giving up a morning ideally spent shopping.

“Fine!” said my now, red-faced cherub, after being told we were going to see this quest through to the bitter end.

“But now you have to open the stair doors!” she demanded.

We panted on until . . . what was this? A change in carpet pattern? Since I can tell you’re dying to know, the 18th floor at the Delta Montreal , does indeed sport different carpet than the 17 floors preceding it.

Completely satisfied, my girl and I celebrated with an elevator ride back down to our floor. Snug in our room, we packed up, and talked excitedly about getting to the airport early, just so we could check out their flooring.

Half a year later, Montreal’s museums and theme park are but a distant memory. Still fresh in her mind, is the carpet adventure she got to choose.

If you were at the Calgary Zoo around noon today, you’d have seen a group of very business-looking people tracking through the Canadian Wilds, iPhones and iPads in hand. Were they too connected to the office to let go? Not at all: they were attending the launch of a free app for iOS and Android devices that gives parents and teachers a whole new way to help kids experience the zoo.

The app, called OISEAU: Agents of Nature , has been designed by the Get to Know Program (with the support of the Imperial Oil Foundation, the Government of Alberta and the Alberta Lottery Fund) to help connect kids with the outdoors through fun and interactive games. In this case, the location is the Calgary Zoo’s Canadian Wilds area, where you’ll find bison, caribou, grizzly and black bears, and many more animals, birds and landscapes that are close to home. (Another game, for Fish Creek Park, will be out next week, and there are plans for more locations around Calgary next year.)

What does OISEAU stand for (aside, of course, for being French for “bird”)? It’s the Order of Inter-Species Explorers, Adventurers and Ubernaturalists. The app takes you into a world of secret agents investigating the natural world to find out more about its mysteries. Frankly, I think that creating a mobile app that takes kids outside and helps them to explore nature is nothing short of inspired – and, as the zoo’s head of conservation outreach, Kevin Strange, noted, it gets kids interested in the zoo and in conservation at an age when technology might be tempting them to stay inside.

“I like the idea that Robert Bateman came up with that we need to connect kids with nature,” he told the launch audience (Bateman co-founded the Get to Know Program in 1999, along with Mary Krupa-Clark, the program’s Director). “Could your kids name five backyard birds? (If not), we would like to change that.”

Here’s how the OISEAU: Agents of Nature app works: you download the app to your personal mobile device (it supports Android and iOS devices that have cameras), and then choose an avatar (I chose Prof. Red-tailed Hawk, Research Agent, who “has graduated from a school so prestigious that nobody has ever even heard of it.”) As you begin the game on your phone or tablet, you’re shown the location of various clues around the Canadian Wilds: these are posts along the trails that have QR codes mounted on them. When you scan the code with your phone or tablet, it provides a clue to a nearby animal or plant – find the answer to the clue, take a photo of it, and then move on to the next clue.

At the end of the six-clue route, you’re “debriefed” – questions test your memory of what you’ve found along the way, and your avatar earns “skill points” accordingly. And as you go, the “Boss” will call you with special missions that you’re free to take on, or not, for extra skill points.

With four versions of the game within the app, kids can play a different version of the game on multiple zoo visits.

Today’s launch of the app proved that it’s enough to bring out the kid in all of us – and I can certainly say that I learned a thing or two (like the difference between a great grey owl, a barred owl and a snowy owl). If you think your kids have “done” the zoo, download the app and go for a stroll (I’d suggest downloading the app via WiFi before you hit the zoo, to save on your plan costs; once it’s on your mobile device, you can play it without being connected to the Internet).

You can find the app here . Have fun!

With the Tories getting a workout on the campaign trail, Tory Leader Alison Redford pledged support for amateur sports and active kids Saturday as she looks to come from behind in the provincial election.

Redford announced Saturday morning in Calgary that a re-elected Progressive Conservative government would introduce a $500 tax credit for children’s physical activity at a cost of $36 million and double the current funding for amateur sport from $10 million to $20 million.

“We’re investing in the families and the organizations and the staff that are running sports teams and running athletic organizations, whether it’s baseball or soccer, whether it might be skiing or hockey,” she told reporters at the Talisman Centre.

The tax credit matches a promise made by the front-running Wildrose Party, which last week announced its own $500 Culture, Arts, and Sports Tax Credit for children at an estimated cost of $30 million. The party has also pledged a $2,000 children’s tax credit at a cost of $130 million.

Under the Tory tax credit plan, parents would receive up to $50 back for each of their children under 16 years of age. It will be non-refundable, meaning low-income parents will be able to claim the credit.

In 2006 the federal Conservative government announced a $500 children fitness tax credit.

Alberta’s political parties have been duelling on the tax credit front.

The Tories have also promised this week $500 tax credits for active seniors and for teachers’ out-of-pocket expenses to support education, with a total cost of $23 million between them. The teacher tax credit matched a program already promised by Alberta Liberal Leader Raj Sherman.

Twit, twit, twoo.

Oops, wrong gender.

While Brownies have their midnight owl ceremony, Beavers have a lodge ceremony each fall where they get their tail.

It’s a wonderful, magical world that youngsters inhabit when they join the guides and scouting movement.

It seems like a lifetime (and I guess it is) that boys have been learning about campfires and badges and doing good in their community. Beavers is turning 40 today.

A Calgary man, Gord Hanna, was one of the early organizers of the Beaver movement and he helped it grow from 13 boys at the first colony meeting in a Winnipeg church on Sept. 23, 1974, to more than 22,000 nationally.

It came under the auspices of the Boy Scouts of Canada in 1989.

The uniform has evolved over the years but the guiding principles remain the same: have fun, work hard and help family and friends.

Hats off to those early volunteers such as Hanna who ensured that Canadian youth have an opportunity to be part of something grand.

Here’s an old brochure detailing the start of the Beavers.