Kids 8 - 13
Required: paper, pen or word processor and printer.

Are your kids experts on TV shows? Then put their familiarity with sitcoms and soaps to good use. This activity is a media literacy exercise in disguise; it entails creating a weekly alternative television magazine. Your children can take notes about the shows and videos they watch during the week, rating each one for various elements: entertainment or educational value, production values, appropriateness for younger kids, worthiness of the theme, how people in different walks of life are portrayed, and so on. Your kids can also track commercials and decode them. Will that candy bar or pair of high top shoes really bring true happiness?

At the end of the week, your kids can use a notebook or loose leaf binder, and transcribe their notes to create a media magazine, or they can use a computer and printer to publish their articles. They can highlight their columns with original drawings, and add editorials. Who knows -- perhaps this exercise will convince family members that the little screen just isn't worth all that time after all!