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We're glad you decided to Come On Over (COO)! We want COO to be something for the whole family - whether you're 6 years old, 36, or 76.
We want to tell you why we create the content that we do.
We want to give you ideas that you can use with the kids in your life.
We want to engage and inspire and refresh you with stuff just for Grown Ups.
Thanks for taking a look. Play for a better life! -
Come On Over! whimsically models a life of play and encourages kids (and the adults in their lives) to play with the arts, play to learn and play for a better life.
COO recognizes and reflects the growing body of research that play is critical to the healthy development of all children. It helps children explore ideas, discover new relationships, be creative and just have fun.
Whether it's clever or silly, slyly grown up or slapstick, COO humor is always positive. COO characters model creative play and healthy behaviors.
"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep." -Cartoonist Scott Adams.
It seems like everyone saw "Slumdog Millionaire" by director Danny Boyle. By contrast, everyone seems to have missed his film "Millions" about a young boy who comes upon millions of Pounds (it's set in Britain) of stolen money. It's whimsical and imaginative and the kid will steal your heart. It may also inspire you to build a fort, or to have a good talk about right and wrong with the kids in your life.
Grocery Store Date Night.
Go on a double date to the grocery store. You split up and have 30 minutes to find 10 items. Meet back at a designated spot and swap carts. No running. No splitting up. No asking for help. Honor system as far as monitoring goes. The first to return the other team's items wins. The losers need to buy the celebratory snacks.
Jane Graham is a wife and mother of three young children who keep her busy with frogs, bike ramps, dressing dolls and playing Uno. She makes a half-hearted attempt at running to keep squishiness at bay, wishes she could play the guitar like Emily Saliers and John Mayer combined, and would love to spend the day reading on a quiet beach. Jane lives with her family in West Michigan.
The Cyber World
I still laugh about a college orientation seminar I attended with my best friend, creatively titled along the lines of "An Introduction to Email." We dragged ourselves across campus and proceeded to sit through the presentation chortling and hiccupping at this ludicrous notion that anyone would send "notes" on the computer. Why not just call them? We waved it off and joked that this would "just be a passing fad."
That's right, people.
A fad.
Well, who knew? [Obviously not us!] If you haven't heard, it turns out that the cyber world is now truly galactic in size, and I find myself texting and facebooking and blogging into the wee hours—the only safe time for moms to sit down without being informed that someone's nose needs wiping, that they're hungry—again—or that the injured bird they just found needs a popsicle stick for a wing splint.
When I'm away from the computer in my non-cyber, 3D, actual living and breathing world, I am a stay-at-home mom doing what I can to raise three little people with big dreams and tender hearts. And even though they know it's against the rules, my little angels do silly things like swing bats and hit burning candles [splashing wax, albeit "mountain-fresh" wax, all over the wall], flap golf clubs at miniature trains [again—in the house], and play "wedding" with dolls and stuffed animals with the neighbors.
Play is all the rage at our house, especially in the summertime, when mud and grass can only be more fun when scissors and sprinklers are added [our kids take "cut the grass" quite literally]. My parents often joke that you can spend thousands of dollars on a pool and battery-powered toys, but all kids really need is a hose in the backyard for an instant party. I must say, I agree.
So as summer winds down and fall starts to turn, I hope you'll check back often to get to know me better, and for endless funny stories and simple ways to make "play" your new favorite four-letter-word.
Joel Schoon Tanis is a real life artist. He also plays one on TV. He always has a thing of bubbles in his glove compartment in case of a traffic jam.
Playing Dress Up in Your Own Clothes
It's odd playing "yourself" on TV…or at least a hyper, silly version of yourself. What's especially odd for me is that my real life artist overalls are now my "costume" on Come On Over! while remaining my real clothes. The paint splatters were not applied by a costumer, or art department person. They didn't need to be. All I need to do is stand close to paint and I get it on my clothes and in my hair. I have similar results when eating spaghetti.
So now I've got this split-but-not-fully-split-personality life, wearing my own clothes that I share with my stunt double (also played by me).
I had a funny moment recently when I had my overalls on in public, and a 4 year old kid walked up to me and asked, "How'd you get here?" I told him I took my hang glider. He knew I was joking about that part, but then asked me the same question: "How'd you get here?" His mom finally chimed in to let me know her kid wanted to know how I got out of the video.
I could have told the kid that I got here because I wanted to inspire kids like him to be creative. I could have told him I got here after meeting people at the Grand Rapids Children's Museum in GR, Michigan - these people who talked of "play" like revolutionaries – and we decided to form a partnership. I could have told him a lot of things. I told him: "magic."
- Show #1: TV
More coming soon...
