Friday Zone

Friday we took a field trip. My 4 children and I, along with other home-educating families from our area, toured the radio station (WFIU) and the TV station (WTIU). We got to see where the TV sets were made, the control room, the server room, the sound booth, and the studios. The same morning, my oldest 2 children were taped in Studio 6 making crafts and answering questions for 3 different episodes of "The Friday Zone" that will be aired in March. They seemed to enjoy themselves, and I am sure the experience was memorable. (http://www.fridayzone.org/) 

sound booth- set through glass

Studio 5

Since my youngest 2 kids are too young for the target audience to relate to, they were not able to take part in the TV show. So we waited in the studio next door (Studio 5) and watched the taping on a live feed. It was a long time to keep 2 active, young children happy with only die cast cars and coloring books, sticker books, and story books (even though we really, really love books!) But we got freebies, and got to see a studio when it wasn't in action.

My youngest son, a 2 year old, was especially fascinated with a Jib camera. He took note of the locking casters on the wheels, the pulleys, the cables, the crane arm, etc. We gave it a "thorough going over," as the saying goes. Later, in the sound booth, I learned that cameras like the one that we were so close to, and which he could have easily touched had he not been obedient, are worth $250,000!  He also loved the rows of pulleys that raise and lower the backdrops of different sets, the rows of suspended stage lights, and the enclosed ladders up to the catwalks. 

Meanwhile my oldest 2 kids painted cardboard bean bag toss games and made bean bags from birdseed and balloons.  My oldest daughter, who is 8 yrs. old, painted a face on hers. And here is where the funny moment for our family in this segment came in. The hostess complimented her paint job and commented that it looked like Elvis. My daughter had no idea who Elvis was. I was all shook up. So I learned of a hole in her education that we will soon remedy :)  

In another segment, the kids all made and painted with home-made puff-paint. It was a mixture of school glue, shaving cream, and food coloring. It got messy and mildly chaotic. That only added to the fun. My oldest boy (without being asked) started helping the two hosts get the smaller children's paint trays set up. Needless to say, I was pleasantly surprised. 

During the last segment they made "campfire night lights." They used hot glue guns to attach natural objects like pine cones, sticks, rocks, and nuts onto a slab of wood in order to make a campfire scene. A battery operated tea light served as the fire. It was recessed in a pre-drilled hole so that only the "flame" stuck up above the surface of the base.

control rm- WTIU's 4 TV stations

When we were through for the day, each filmed child was given a small pack of cookies (my little ones were jealous) and their crafts to take home. So I was saddled with trying to get 4 kids (ages 2, 4, 8, and 12) into their coats and through campus to the parking garage 3 blocks away with 2 packs of cookies, 2 giant beanbag tosses covered in wet paint and glitter (and their accompanying bean bags), 2 poster boards painted with still-sticky puff paint, 2 fragile campfire night lights on which the hot glue had not yet set, 2 coloring books, 4 sticker books, 2 story books, and a fully stuffed diaper bag. It was extremely... um...  exciting.  But it was worth it!