Thursday, August 26, 2010

Knowing Current Trends In..... The School Yard




When is an elephant not an elephant?  

When is a butterfly not a butterfly?

When it's a silly band...
Have you seen silly bands?  Have you bought any?  Better yet, have you traded any?  Today K and I went to a friend's house after school and traded silly bands.  :)    They had a big bowl of them...

Silly bands come in all shapes, sizes and colors.  We took zoo animals (because we just went to the zoo) and glow in the dark "things" (because we are cool like that).  S and S traded (really cool) fast food and (pretty) fruit silly bands with us. 

You might be wondering what you do with silly bands (other than trade them) ...Just sit back and watch the magic of silly bands...




We're still not sure what the red shaped silly band is.  It came with the fast food silly bands.  (Any guesses?)

The reasoning behind today's post is this...you need to know what kids are doing today.  What's hot and what's not...Find kids that are in your target age group and befriend them, learn from them, observe them...Have fun with them...We had a great time with S and S and the silly bands.  (Thanks girls! They are going to do something special for a post next month.  Cool, huh!)

BTW, I gave several of you extensions on IBKTY week....I'm expecting reports from you.  Did you remember to treat yourself the way you treat others???  I hope so....

We found one other use for silly bands...

How would you use them? 
Be creative!

35 comments:

  1. Is that red one supposed to be a McDonald's fry box?

    I only heard about silly bands about 2 weeks ago...I read something online about some schools banning them because they're such a distraction. I wonder how long until my munchkin is begging for them? I bet they're cheaper than Webkinz! hahaha and take up a lot less room!

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  2. I've seen these around, but my second grader hasn't said anything about them yet. Crazy what gets popular....

    I would use them as cookie cutters! Very inefficient cookie cutters, but still....

    Have a great weekend, Sharon!

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  3. hi miss sharon! silly bandz are soooo cool. i got some mostly i like the animal ones and i got a neat airplane. that red food one is pizza. my sister said at her school they cant have them cause the guys shoot them like rubber bands and the girls get busy trading them and it makes a problem in classes. your lamp looks cool with all those bandz on it.
    ...hugs from lenny

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  4. Vicki--I know it's not fries...The fry box was really cute! It was yellow with fries in it.

    Jackee--Good idea! I'll have to save them for Christmas cookies.

    Lenny--I hadn't thought about "shooting" them. LOL! I can see that trading them would be distracting. We put them in a window and they looked cool too, but the photo didn't work very well...

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  5. The red one looks like a slice of pizza with a bite out of it, or maybe pie?

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  6. Brooke--I thought it looked like a pizza slice, minus one bite, but none of the other silly bands were missing a bite...

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  7. The red one looks like a skirt to me, but I don't know what that would have to do with food. Could it be an apron? Or a chicken nugget?

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  8. Did that star glow in the dark? Cool! I just bought a few bags of them for the VBS kids and thought they were fantastic. What a cute, harmless and cheap phase!

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  9. Could the red one be a mountain?

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  10. I think I agree with Brooke ~ a slice of pizza with a bite out of it. They are all cute though! Hope you have a terrific weekend Sharon!
    xo Catherine

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  11. We go back to school in a bit and I'm wondering if these have arrived in our area. I've seen them online, but haven't seen them in real life - we'll see! :)

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  12. Oooh... the red one is a piece of pizza with a bite out of it. Um, maybe? This post is a great reminder for me about the changing trends among kids. I don't have children yet, so when I start working on my next YA project, I need to be extra aware of these things!

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  13. Oh. Yes. We have silly bands at my house. Everywhere. ;)

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  14. Yep...we have them here. I've even made a special trip with my son to a store across town that had a certain pack of them. Can you say FAD! :)

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  15. They're so popular the BBC had a whole news item on these Silly Bandz! LOL! They look like such fun - I think the red one is a..erm...muffin!

    Anyway, have a great Friday!!

    Take care
    x

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  16. I've never heard of these silly bands! They looks pretty cool, though. :) Have a great weekend, Sharon.

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  17. I've seen those in all the stores around here. The kids are collecting them like crazy. I know a lot of schools have banded then from coming into the schools because they are supposedly distracting.

    You could glue them to the fronts of handmade cards.

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  18. Oh, yeah, we have the bands. I find them everywhere, and then I toss them! That's what I'm doing with them. No shame.

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  19. The look like they have great whapping possibilities too!

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  20. Myrna--I hadn't thought of it being an apron...

    Leah--Yes, it glowed in the dark! S & S's Mom took that picture in the dark....cool!

    Al-- S & S called it a volcano.

    Catherine--It could be pizza....I hope you have a good one too. I'll bet you are happy....vacation time. :)

    Jemi--They might not be "allowed" in school...

    Bluestocking--S & S are my picture book resource people. They have a big brother who is mg. :) I have a high school junior across the street who is my ya resource go to guy....

    Amy--The question is...do you let your kiddo play with them though? or do you play with them???

    DL--That's what they called that little box in the living room. We now call it a wii....

    Kitty--Even the BBC! Wow! I hadn't thought about a muffin...I'll have to look at it again now.

    Talli--You're young, you're hip...you better get some!

    Susanne--Very good idea! You should pop over to Catherine's site and tell her. She makes cards. :)

    Elana--Maybe that was your duck we found in the mall?

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  21. Thx for the inspiration... it’s a good reminder to find the little things to keep our creative minds sharp.

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  22. Brian--They look like they might be a choking hazard for you...

    Jeff--It's also the little things that make life fun. :)

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  23. I didn't even know what they were. Now I totally want some. I think I would braid them all together into a chain and then wrap them around the rope of my hanging plant.

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  24. Dayana--Thanks for stopping in! Great suggestion...You could use the glow in the dark ones...

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  25. Oh my goodness, these things are everywhere, aren't they? My daughter had a silly bands phase that lasted about 2 weeks, and then she was done with it! Kids are so funny.

    I haven't a clue what that red one is! Maybe a hat of some kind?

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  26. How fun to find this post today! I just saw these on my daughter's Amazon wish list for my grandson's birthday. I'll have to see what he does with them!

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  27. There's everywhere...but so far not at my house! My kids haven't begged for them, so no need to start that trend here yet...

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  28. Lydia-No need to start unless requested...that's what I always say. :) K had so much fun finding thing to discuss on my blog.... LOL, She enjoyed trading silly bands with S & S.

    Have a good one... Remember...the little battles aren't the ones that matter.....

    Connie--I had no idea they sold them on Amazon.... :)

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  29. Looks like I'm not the only person who thinks the red one looks like a slice of pizza with a bite taken out. I'm inclined to go with Lenny's decision; he's prob'ly very close to the heart of what kids think.

    I read that a number of schools have banned Silly Bands, but enforcing it is a whoooole 'nuther animal. LOL

    ~ Yaya

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  30. I just found out about silly bands recently. Much less space and money than Webkinz! Anyway, thanks for trading. I have to say that S and S's brother didn't want to have anything to do with the initial trade when you were here but it wasn't hardly even 2 hours after you left that he was asking the girls if he could wear some! The next day he had come home from school wearing a couple of new ones that he had traded with a buddy! So funny! So B may want to be in on a future trade sometime....

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  31. I've not seen thses silly bands before. They look like they are a lot of fun for the kids.

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  32. Hi Sharon, I've just sent you an email. I don't think I entered a contest :o)

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  33. My kids have tons of silly bands. They love them! They wear them all at the same time.

    What in the world IS that red one?? A piece of pie with a bite taken out?

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  34. Funny post!

    Ah, silly bands. When my daughter isn't wearing them or forgetting about them in a box, she takes them out and plays with them like they're toys.

    I wonder how long the trend will last. Now I know I can decorate a lampshade when my daughter is over them. Thanks, Martha Stewart!

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  35. Love the silly bands on the lampshade!

    What I mostly do with silly bands is confiscate them from my students. Now I know what to do with them -- take them home to add to my living room decor!

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