Moms Help Families Stay Connected with "Kids Off The Couch"

    /24-7PressRelease/ - LOS ANGELES, CA, May 21, 2008 - Already available in Los Angeles and nationwide, KidsOffTheCouch.com offers a free e-newsletter, brilliantly illustrated by acclaimed children's artist Laura Cornell, that provides families with a fully detailed "Popcorn Adventure" each week. Through the pairing of a great film and a cool cultural outing, co-founders Sarah Bowman and Diane Shakin have taken the work out of weekend planning by connecting the film's themes to an adventure into your city's local culture. Designed for today's busy families, Kids Off The Couch provides discussion points about the film, detailed information about the adventure, like where to park and which hours are the best for visiting, and practical tips from families who have road tested it all. The only thing left to do is pop the popcorn and snuggle up with the kids!

While the local Popcorn Adventures propose an outing specific to Los Angeles, the national version serves ups ideas that are easily customized in any city across the country. Examples include pairings of The Secret Garden and an afternoon sketching flowers in your own local garden, Apollo 13 and star gazing at a local planetarium, as well as topical ideas such as Mr. Smith Goes to Washington and a family trip to the voting booth. While applicable to any town in America, local City Editors in Boston, New York, Washington D.C., Houston, and San Francisco will localize the Popcorn Adventures for their respective cities.

Wondering how Kids Off The Couch was born? Like parents across the country, the two moms who founded this website yearned to take back the weekend from the endless crush of birthday parties and sports games and create some family time. Faced with the dreaded creep of screen-time in their kids' lives, these moms made the radical choice to get on the couch with their kids and use the media their kids loved to connect them to culture. Through the process they unearthed memorable films, from classic to campy, handpicked cool kid literature, discovered YouTube videos and worthy on-line games, and used what their kids were already watching as a way to explore the outside world while controlling their kids' media diets. These savvy moms decided to share their secret with families everywhere, and KidsOffTheCouch.com was born.

"When Sarah and I realized that we had found a way to not only spend quality time with our children, but expose them to great media, we knew we had a winning formula on our hands," said Diane Shakin, cofounder of KidsOffTheCouch.com. "Our Popcorn Adventures are fun for parents and children alike. Our kids are no more culturally tolerant than the average soccer-playing, iPod-toting pre-teen, but with a little urging we all get out of the house and into our community." "Beyond the simple fun of our family outings, we are especially excited about helping parents become more involved in their children's daily lives by guiding their consumption of media" said co-founder Sarah Bowman. "We don't need statistics - although they certainly exist - to tell us the importance of monitoring television and film content for our kids, and KidsOffTheCouch.com's Popcorn Adventures provide an enjoyable and hassle-free way to do just that."

About KidsOffTheCouch.com
KidsOffTheCouch.com offers a free, weekly e-newsletter that provides families with fresh ideas for getting kids off the couch and into their city. The secret? A bowl of popcorn and a memorable movie or media experience. Like a spoonful of sugar, the magic of a good media will lure kids to cultural outings that are more than typical kid fare. Road-tested on real kids, past adventures have helped kids ponder the universe at planetariums, explore ethnic neighborhoods, and learn how the local newspaper lands on their doorsteps each morning. A subscription includes monthly Special Editions highlighting vacation ideas, sweepstakes, giveaways and film screening invitations.

Website - http://www.kidsoffthecouch.com
Free Sign Up - http://www.kidsoffthecouch.com/signup/index.php?nLocationID=8

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