Saturday Scoops

Advertiser Staff

Children's boredom factor often rises with the summer heat, so here are a few suggestions to keep little ones occupied. Photos by Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser

If your youngsters are on summer break and chanting the "I'm boooored" mantra, there are ways to keep them occupied that ensure their brains don't turn to mush. A number of books are stocked with ideas that will stimulate them.

Get the kids enjoying themselves enough, and they might not even realize they're learning something in the process.

FamilyFun magazine, for one, has put 365 ideas in a book called "Boredom Busters" (Disney Enterprises, $24.95). Some ideas from the new release:

• Keep basic tools and art supplies on hand. Then kids can jump right when inspiration strikes. Suggested items include a large roll of newsprint, construction paper, pipe cleaners, craft foam, colored chalk, playing cards, wooden blocks, a magnifying glass, a butterfly net.
• Make mealtime playtime. Let the little ones help dress up sandwiches with vegetables eyes and noses, and tongues made of ham. If children get restless just as a parent is preparing dinner, try quick kitchen science experiments, such as testing the boundaries of a plastic bag with pencils.
• Do a random act of kindness. Trying to decide what to do is an activity in and of itself, and making a get-well card for a sick friend or giving old toys to charity can be as entertaining as any game and more rewarding.
• Create a "Boredom Bottle." Start with a clean, empty plastic bottle and have your children decorate it with stickers. With your kids, make a list of easy tasks ("bake chocolate chip cookies," for instance) and write each one on a small square of paper. Fold the paper and drop into the bottle. When boredom strikes, shake out an idea.

Still, don't knock yourself out feeling like you have to keep the kids entertained without pause. Even if there's some trial and error, let the kids come up with their own amusement, says Shirley Igor, president of the national PTA.

"Sometimes, we get overly committed to schedules. (And in the long run) creative play, free-time play, play that lets children be in charge of the outcome can help them do better in the academic world."

Hawai'i folks, it's often said, have an uncanny knack for talking about eating even while they're, um, eating. Here's where they have occasion to do both: Taste of Honolulu, the annual eating fest on the Civic Center grounds, continues its three-day run today. Dig into the appetizers, salads, entrées, desserts and more served up by 23 restaurants and food providers. A benefit for Easter Seals Hawaii, the food, entertainment and special events flow 11 a.m.-10 p.m. today and 11 a.m.-7 p.m. tomorrow. $3 general admission, free for children under 12 and seniors. 536-1015, www.Taste808.com.

Sink your teeth into bamboo

The hot weather tends to send bamboo clumps on the march. Get them under control by looking for emerging new stalks in and around existing stands. The soft, fleshy stems are easily cut down, using hand pruners at ground level. Remove them before their leaves unfurl and they begin to build more underground runners. Small stands can be contained with flagstone placed vertically into the ground and butted together.

Hot date: Champagne Bar

Indigo Eurasian Cuisine opens its opulent Opium Den and Champagne Bar tonight with a public, admission-free DJ event from 11 p.m. to 2 a.m. Makai of Indigo's Green Room in a now-defunct art gallery, the room was renovated for $60,000 to resemble a late 19th-century Chinatown opium parlor. The pride of co-owner Dave Stewart's den is his champagne bar, which will open with 8 to 10 varieties of bubbly by the glass, plus splits and full bottles of other varieties. Starting next week, the Opium Den will feature DJ dance music Thursdays through Saturdays, with Nani and The Boyz performing live on Wednesdays. From July 2, the den will be haunted by the seance show "Phantasma" at 6:30 and 8:30 p.m., Tuesdays through Saturdays. 521-2900.

One of the most popular items on the legendary Sunday brunch menu at the Moana Surfrider Hotel is a fruit salad that contains something that looks like pudding, has the texture of Jell-O and tastes like ripe, fresh mango. It turns out that this intriguing ingredient is an inexpensive commercial product. And the salad is a breeze to make for weekend gatherings — sophisticated enough for adults, sweetly simple enough for children. Canton Market, on North King Street, between Maunakea and Kekaulike, on the mauka side of the street, was where we scored the Jen Yi brand of Mango Dofu Delight used by the Moana chefs; other flavors and brands are more widely available, including almond, coconut and strawberry.

To make the salad: Peel and core a pineapple and cut it into bite-size chunks; dust with 1 1/2 tablespoons li hing powder. Prepare 1 package of Mango Dofu Delight and pour into large glass cake pan. Cool to room temperature, chill until solid and cut into chunks. Gently toss pineapple and mango dofu. Chill and serve.

Oscar-winners come to video stores

If you somehow missed seeing "A Beautiful Mind" and "Gosford Park" on the big screen, these Oscar-winning flicks hit rental stores this week for the first time. You'll find both DVD and VHS formats at Blockbuster Video. Other films are coming to rental stores, starting Tuesday: Look for "Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius" and "Shallow Hal," among others.

Watch hygiene when taking a dip

The neighborhood pool is starting to look mighty inviting about now. Swimming is certainly a great way to increase your fitness quotient as well as cool off. But as you take the plunge, take some precautions. Nationally, more than 15,000 swimmers became ill from swimming during the past decade, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The chief culprit: bad hygiene. Some guidelines suggested by the CDC:

• Never swallow pool water, and warn your kids against it.
• When at the pool, be sure to wash your hands after using the toilet or changing a diaper.
• Take kids on bathroom breaks often. It's probably too late if they tell you they have to go to the bathroom. And make sure children wash thoroughly with soap and water, especially on their bottoms, before entering the pool.

Correction: Canton Market is on North King Street, between Maunakea and Kekaulike, on the mauka side of the street. A previous version of this article had incomplete information.