Viator.Com

San Francisco (PRWEB) July 21, 2008

Summer is in full swing and with plenty of time left, families hoping for amazing experiences need look no further than Viator.com, the leading online resource for booking more than 5,500 trip activities and experiences at the best prices. There are the traditional theme parks like Orlando’s Disney World and L.A.’s Disney Land, but beyond the rides, families can create extraordinary experiences that make things like kissing dolphins and space exploration a reality.

Viator’s catalogue of more than 50,000 traveler-submitted reviews and photos will also help families turn their dreams into memories.

To the Stars

The moon may be 240,000 miles from the Earth, but the Kennedy Space Center is just 45 minutes from Orlando’s theme parks. Two-day passes for NASA’s launch headquarters are available for the price of one at Viator.com (from $ 40.50 for adults / $ 30 for kids). Add in lunch with a NASA astronaut and the NASA Up-close guided tour for $ 85 for adults and $ 60.50 for kids. Travelers who have visited the Space Center and shared their feedback agree it’s out of this world:

“My five year old grandson and I spent a wonderful day at the Kennedy Space Center. He     was not too young to enjoy and understand the wonderful exhibits and hands on experiences. And, I was not too old to enjoy the ability to move around the grounds at our own pace. Everyone     at the site was friendly, helpful and genuine in their enthusiasm in sharing the Space Program     with young and old alike. It was a wonderful side trip from the make believe world of Disney, and even more awesome.” — Darlene H., USA

Travelers can blastoff for a once in a lifetime experience during the Kennedy Space Center Shuttle Launch Day (from $ 115 for adults / $ 99 for kids) subject to Mother Nature’s cooperation. Upcoming launches include: August 28 – Shuttle Atlantis heads to the Hubble Space Telescope; October 16 – the 27th U.S. mission to the International Space Station; and December 4 – the 28th U.S. mission to the International Space Station.

Swim with the Fishes

There’s just something about dolphins, and Viator has nearly 40 activities during which families can experience these engaging mammals in places like Mexico, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, New Zealand and the British Virgin Islands.

Encounters include:

Shallow water activities like the Dolphin Encounter at Ocean World in Puerto Plata ($ 115 adults / $ 80 kids 4-12 / free kids 3 and under) so even the tiniest tot (with adult) can participate.
Deeper water swims in a freer environment to thrill the bigger kids like the Hawaii Dolphin Royal Swim in Oahu (from $ 199 per person ages 8 and up)
Full-on training sessions that teach basic skills of caring for and training dolphins, like Be a Dolphin Trainer for a Day in Cabo San Lucas (from $ 399 per person).

Each dolphin experience has a unique set of guidelines regarding minimum ages and parental participation so travelers should review all details carefully to avoid any disappointment on site. Viator carefully pre-screens all tours and activities for quality and service, making booking ahead easy and safe:

“I was afraid to book this online, but was very pleased. It not only saved me money but was an awesome time for me and my 8 year old daughter. Will book with you in the future. Thanks for     making it so easy!” — Lisa H., USA, Swim with Dolphins Program in Ocho Rios

Explore by Land and by Sea

A real kids’ favorite sure to entertain the adults too is the tour by road and river, also known as the Duck Tour. Authentic, renovated World War II amphibious landing vehicles provide the transport for unique tours through cities like Baltimore, Boston, London, New York, Philadelphia, Saint Thomas, San Francisco, San Juan and Washington, D.C. It is a fun time for everyone, rain or shine:

“Took a 6 year old and a 14 year old who both absolutely loved it. What made it such fun was the commentator on the trip who was extremely funny. Excellent, even though it rained.” — Carol W., United Kingdom, the London Duck Tour

Kids can find more travel tips and inspiration to share with their parents at the Viator travel blog with features like visiting Rome with the Kids, Top Ten in Family Travel for 2008 and Top Things to Do in Orlando.

About Viator

Viator is the world’s leading online resource for travel experiences, providing access to more than 5,500 tours, attractions and activities in 400-plus destinations in 75 countries. Viator – the Latin world for traveler – offers travelers a one-stop shop to plan, research and book trip activities with helpful resources like customer reviews, star ratings, suggested itineraries and the Viator Travel Blog. Viator’s in-house travel experts have picked respected and trusted local operators to ensure a quality experience, value and service, all baked by Viator’s low-pricing guarantee. Founded in 1995, Viator sells its products directly to consumers at http://www.viator.com and through its global network of more than 1,000 affiliates that include major hotel and airline companies, online travel agencies, city-specific sites and more. Through its collection of company operated and affiliated sites, Viator welcomes nearly 2 million visitors per month. Viator is headquartered in San Francisco with regional offices in Sydney, London and Las Vegas.

Contact:

Kate Sullivan

pr @ viator.com

1 (973) 568-7589

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I keep hearing about Thomas Tank Engine and its appeal for children with autism, and have noticed that there are a lot of different opinions on why autistic children love Thomas Tank Engine and his friends.

Personally, I’m a little scared of Thomas Tank Engine with his eerie, frozen facial expressions. But, since I’m not a preschooler, I suppose that the creators of Thomas Tank Engine did not build their marketing strategies around my desires. Anyway, here are some of the interesting things I’ve found about why autistic children love Thomas Tank Engine:

The most obvious, well-known (maybe even a little stereotypical?) reason why children with autism love Thomas Tank—their obsession with trains.
The lining up of things. Since children with autism like to line things up, this must be why they love Thomas Tank Engine.
The trains fall, crash and get smashed—apparently very fascinating to children with autism. The crash scenes in Thomas Tank are especially appealing because the action is clear and easy to follow. They can easily re-enact the action scenes at home.
Lack of emotional display. Autistic children relate well to the emotional displays of Thomas Tank Engine characters. The characters don’t actively talk and their faces are always still. When they do show emotion, it is often exaggerated and set on their faces for a period of time.
Concrete emotions. Their emotions are not confusing. The characters are either happy, angry, surprised, tired, scared, or embarrassed. There is nothing in between.
Comprehensive role playing. The class wars that take place between the higher order passenger trains and the lower order freight trains appeal to children with autism because it helps them role play with empathy, triumph, and frustration.
No chaos. The background and scenery are always still, which allows for less distraction and more focus on the main picture.

So, it seems to me that children love Thomas the Tank because the characters remind them of themselves, which makes perfect sense to me. Any parents have any firsthand experience with this?

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What type of person do you want your child to become? This is a question which is always answered in a very positive way, some parents will say they want their children to become Doctors, Engineers, Scientists, Athletes, Rock stars, etc. There will be many answers for this question but they all concur in one point, parents want their children to succeed in life, to become helpful individuals to society and to surpass their expectations.

Children are like blank books in which parents are able to write. Don’t misunderstand this statement though, it doesn’t mean that you will control or write their stories, it simply means that a child’s biggest influence are his/her parents. The first super heroes, the first friends they meet are their mom and dad, as they grow they become capable of making their own decisions but the foundation and rational train of though has been influenced by their parent’s advice, home education and influence.

Taking this in consideration, we conclude that parents play an in important role in their child’s healthy development, this is why knowing how to put a child’s enormous potential to good use is very important. Children may not know nothing about the world which surrounds them yet, but they are extremely creative and absorb information like a sponge which has fallen in deep water. Where do all of these correlations take us? Simple, parents can help their kids become helpful individuals to society by encouraging good habits through simple educational tools such as coloring materials, Lego or any other material which triggers their creativity and helps them harness that great mental capacity they show at early ages.

Cultivating Creative Thinkers

Coloring pages stimulates a child’s creativity, they allow children to set their imagination free in order to picture different scenarios and create their own form of art.

Avoiding Mental Issues

Children who are always busy creating fantasy worlds of their own are very likely maintain their mental health and avoid problems such as childhood depression.

Improving Concentration

Coloring Pages help children improve their concentration and avoid attention deficits, hyperactivity disorders or both (ADHD).

There are so many benefits derived from objects which sets a child’s imagination free that it’s really hard to quote them all. Coloring pages are great to get children started in the right path, their reason is simple, the patterns are easy to fill compared to other designs which may be too hard to fill and may end up frustrating them. Coloring pages provide a good base for a child to develop his/her artistic talent, when the child has mastered these patterns you can move on to more complex ones which keeps them interested and helps them improve in virtually every area. Using the stories in the coloring pages can help you teach your kids about the real world and cultivate good principles in their minds.

www.thomasthetrainfansite.com – Discover how & where to download Thomas The Train coloring pages by watching this video.

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When you are looking for an excellent toy for your child you can’t go far wrong having a pedal car as the range is very wide. With such a great range all you have to do is choose which pedal car is right for your child.

Pedal cars have quite a few good advantages over other toys. Not only will they have hours of fun peddling around the garden, but they will also be obtaining plenty of physical exercise. This is really a good way to get rid of your childs energy and for your kids physical development.

Like all other toys, pedal cars are made out of different types of material and like many other things in life, you get what you pay for. That is the same with pedal cars as the more expensive ones are a lot sturdier. At the higher end of the market of toy pedal cars, is the licensed replica range which are identical sports cars like Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche and BMW, including the Mini Cooper. These nicely made toys have authentic badges and stickers, with high gloss bodywork and have alloy like wheels. With a good quality pedal car, if you have a slight mark or scratch, then this can be polished out. Kids love the replica licensed range and so do dads as they are identical to the real thing and provide hours of fun.

The range of vehicles and vehicles begin from toy and play characters, to tractors, diggers and Jeeps. Jeeps and trucks are two other popular types of pedal cars as these come with two seats usually, they also come in battery powered along with a remote control so parents can steer them out of danger.

Should you use the search engines, you’ll soon notice that you will find hundreds of pedal cars to choose from. The much more expensive vehicles are usually nicely worth the additional investment and last a lot longer.

The vast majority of pedal cars are shipped fully assembled, you basically need to clip on the steering wheel and you kid will be enjoying themselves within minutes.

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