At the museum, kids can touch, play and interact with educational exhibits, learning that “doing what it takes to be healthy can be fun!” says Dana Jirauch, executive director.

During a two-hour tour through the museum, Girl Scouts learn about the functions of the heart, how to take care of it, how to recognize warning signs of a heart attack and how to make healthy eating choices. “Lub Dub’s Journey to the Heart” is an experience with eight major exhibits through which a “heart guide” takes the trootps.

Sisters Meghan and Ashley Hufford pose as they experience Lub Dub's Journey to the Heart. Photo courtesy of Halle Heart Center Children's Museum.

In the Marketplace, kids get to shop for foods in a “grocery store” and ring up items with a scanner, tallying the total grams of fat. This helps kids learn about good and bad fats;  the challenge is to reach 20 grams of fat per meal. This allows kids to see how quickly fats can add up with poor eating decisions, Jirauch says.

“We’re not telling you not to eat foods, just to watch what you eat,” she says.

The kids also get to put a lunch together in the kitchen as they learn about healthy portions and eat a healthy snack. “We want to empower kids,” Jirauch said. “The power is in each one to choose to live healthy.”

“The Beat Goes On” gets kids actively learning about the importance of getting their heart rates up. They calculate their resting heart rate and then exercise to a video featuring the Phoenix Suns gorilla. They then calculate their new heart rate in order to see the change and realize the importance of everyday physical activity.

Other exhibits include a giant heart that teaches the circulatory system, giant animals with life-size hearts and realistic heart rates to compare the human heart with other animals and a mini golf zone in the “Stay on Course” exhibit focusing on the effects of smoking with the challenge of putting a golf ball through a giant artery.

Several badge options are available at Halle. Try-Its badge opportunities for Brownies include Healthy Habits, My Body and Eat Right, and Stay Healthy; some Junior badge opportunities include Food Power, First Aid and Fun, Fun and Fit and High on Life. The museum has been focused mostly on Brownies and Junior Girl Scouts, but is branching out to include Boy Scouts as well.

Tours are available on Saturdays for troops of 15 or more girls, or on weekdays after school for smaller groups. There are free, self-guided tours with maps, but Jirauch suggests that those tours be limited to 15 girls. To have the full experience, Jirauch recommends the guided tour.

The guided tour costs $10 for each girl, but chaperones are free. The tour includes a heart guide, a healthy snack and a Fun Patch featuring the museum’s mascot, Lub Dub. To sign up a troop or get more information visit the Halle Heart Children’s Museum website or call 602-414-2800. — Amy Vogelsang

The Toy Closet at Cardon Children's Medical Center.

Cardon Children’s Medical Center and Banner Thunderbird Children’s Center will be featured on Groupon.com Tuesday through Thursday Jan. 24-26 to raise money for the Toy Closet program.

The Toy Closet program provides toys to patients who are undergoing medical treatment, providing distraction and comfort during what can be a stressful time in their lives. A trip to the toy closet may follow a painful procedure or scary treatment, or may occur when a child just needs a bit of encouragement. Children are allowed to keep the toys they select.

In order to minimize the risk of infection, all donated toys must be brand new.

Items most needed are age-appropriate toys that would appeal to the largest group possible. Some examples:

Infants
Teething toys
Musical toys
Teddy bears

Toddlers
Pop-up books
Light-up toys
Jumbo crayons with coloring book

School-age children
Matchbox cars
Board games
Arts and Crafts

Teens
Video games
Journals
Disposable cameras

Groupon features daily deals. To see the deal to benefit the Toy Closet program, you must subscribe to Groupon.

photo: Ken & Sharon Lotts, Flickr.com

Through the Gift of Caring program, Girl Scout cookies can be purchased to help others and still support the Girl Scouts. Cookie sales start Jan. 19.

You can also send cookies directly to troops overseas. Local organization Packages From Home will box up just about any item the troops can use and enjoy. Vicki Balint created a podcast of her interview with Packages from Home founder Kathleen Lewis.

The contest is “in response to a serious deficiency in responsible fathers” according to the National Center for Fathering, which is sponsoring the contest. A press release says the contest gives dads an opportunity to win tickets to the Super Bowl by showcasing characteristics of a good father. To win the “Super Dad” contest, fathers must demonstrate the center’s three foundational fathering attributes: loving, coaching and modeling. The winner, along with his son or daughter, will win tickets to Super Bowl XLVI.

The Super Bowl contest is part of the nonprofit’s mission to stop the nation’s trend toward fatherlessness.

“We want to see a culture filled with heroic dads,” says National Center for Fathering CEO Carey Casey. “Instead, we have a serious deficiency in championship fathers and role models. This shortage has proven to be responsible for an increase in teenage pregnancy rates, physical and mental health problems, alcohol and drug abuse, suicide and poverty. Giving away Super Bowl tickets represents an opportunity for us to raise awareness about our mission and reward championship fathers.”

To enter the Super Bowl contest, a father must create and post a 60-second video to YouTube explaining why his child is the ultimate football fanatic, how he is a championship father figure and why he deserves to take his child to Super Bowl XLVI. Fathers then name the video using this formula: “[Your First Name and Last Initial] – Fathers.com Super Bowl Contest” and upload the video link to the National Center for Fathering’s Facebook page. Entries must be posted by Jan. 15.

Books that need recorded include those that commonly used as part of the curriculum as well as high-interest books that are frequently requested by students. Audio formats allow students to listen and follow along.

The district has a specific list of books that need to be converted and only a short amount of training is required so volunteers know how to record the books, edit the recordings and tag the files using free software. Individuals interested in volunteering should contact Mike Albert at malbert@peoriaud.k12.az.us.

Once the books have been recorded, Albert converts them to MP3 files and makes them available for students with special needs.

The Individuals with Disabilities Act (IDEA) requires school districts to provide access to printed materials in alternate formats for students who have been documented to have print disabilities including visual impairments, physical disabilities and learning disabilities in reading.

Centennial NHS students (from left): Will Pederson, Spencer O’Gara, Shelley Goldberg, Kimberly Avila and Natalie Aguirre.

Students in the National Honors Society (NHS) at Centennial High School this week delivered more than 60 handmade blankets for babies in the neonatal intensive care unit at Phoenix Children’s Hospital’s McDowell campus.

The NICU is located inside Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center. Patients include babies of high-risk pregnancies, babies born prematurely, multiple births and congenital anomalies.

Avila and Aguirre hold up one of the handmade blankets. Photos courtesy of Peoria Unified School District.

NHS students make blankets for babies every semester as a service project that has become a favorite for students each year. Each student brings in a yard of fleece to make the blankets and materials are donated by parents or members of the community. The students make the blankets using the cut-and-tie method, which does not require sewing.

Centennial High students have delivered more than 600 blankets to Valley hospitals within the last five years.

The Peoria Unified School District serves more than 36,000 students in 32 elementary schools, seven high schools and one alternative school. The district boasts a 94 percent high school graduation rate, award-winning teachers, high AIMS test scores, specialized signature programs and championship sports programs. For more information, visit peoriaud.k12.az.us.

Through Dec. 18, new and gently used sports equipment can be dropped off at the Life Time Fitness Scottsdale location, 6850 E Chauncey Lane. Everyone who donates will receive a complimentary gift from Toyota and can enter to win a one-year Life Time Fitness membership or $500 gift card.

The Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Scottsdale have provided more than 100,000 Northeast Valley youth with a positive, supervised environment to explore the power of their potential. Today 16,000 children and teens are served through the organization’s nine branches located in Scottsdale and other Northeast Valley neighborhoods. The Club offers more than 100 youth development programs emphasizing five core areas: the arts; character & leadership development; education & career development; health & life skills; and sports, fitness & recreation.

Nathaniel Ross delivers toys his family donated to patients at Cardon Children's.

Nathaniel Ross of Mesa turned 11 years old on Wednesday. To celebrate, he brought more than $600 worth of toys to donate to Cardon Children’s Medical Center.

Nathaniel has been a patient at Cardon Children’s. We first ran into him in when staff multimedia journalist Vicki Balint did a series of video stories about eosinophilic esophagitis (EE), a disorder that causes severe allergies to food, in April 2010.

Nathaniel decided that for his birthday this year he wanted to raise money to bring a little joy to others. He was especially interested in buying toys for older kids like himself.

He and his family got great deals at Black Friday and other sales and were able to bring four carts worth of toys to be placed in the toy closet in the oncology area on the seventh floor.

Here’s more about EE, picky eaters, problem eaters, feeding issues and feeding therapy:

Eighth graders at Shepherd of the Desert Lutheran School in Scottsdale collected 11,732 diapers during last year's drive.

The 13th Annual Baby Diaper Drive kicked off last week with the goal of providing 100,000 diapers and $75,000 in emergency baby funds for Homeward Bound families across the Valley.

Students at one Valley school sold lemonade to raise emergency funds for the families at Homeward Bound.

The Diaper Drive supplies baby essentials such as diapers, wipes, and baby formula — which are not covered by food stamps — to moms and children who are victims of homelessness or domestic violence.

Homeward Bound’s mission is to help these moms achieve “economic independence; secure long-term, safe, decent, affordable housing and break multi-generational cycles of homelessness and domestic violence,” according to the nonprofit organization’s website.

Find out how to host a diaper drive.

Donate emergency funds here. Do it by Dec. 31 and Bank of Arizona will double your pledge.

Photos courtesy of the Baby Diaper Drive

Cocopah Middle School in Scottsdale collected 4,104 diapers and 6,171 wipes for the families at Homeward Bound.

A Christmas Angel tree. Photo courtesy of 3TV.

Twenty-five years after it first began, the need for Arizona’s Family Christmas Angel Program is greater than ever.

About 50,000 local children qualify for the program because their families have incomes below the federal poverty level. Many have special hardships.

These children look forward to opening presents on Christmas morning, just like other children. But for many, that will only happen with our help.

Participating is rewarding and fun. Just visit one of the Salvation Army Christmas Angel trees at a participating mall.

Select an angel of your choice, register with one of the volunteers and then go shopping. Return your gifts by the date listed on the tag so they can be delivered to the child on time. You’ll receive a receipt when you return the gifts.

Leave gifts unwrapped so the child’s family has the pleasure of wrapping gifts for the children. (Donations of wrapping paper are also welcome!)

The program continues through Dec. 23. Your package may be the only new item your angel receives this Christmas!

Participating malls:

Arizona Mills, Food Court
Arrowhead Towne Center, Sears Court, Lower Level
Camelback Colonnade, Near Last Chance, Upper Level
Chandler Fashion Center, Sears Court, Lower Level
Desert Sky Mall, Center Court
Fiesta Mall, Macy’s Court, Lower Level
Metrocenter, Macy’s Court, Upper Level
Paradise Valley Mall, Center Court
Prescott Gateway Mall, Barnes & Noble
Promenade at Casa Grande, Village near Harkins Theater
SanTan Village, Santa’s Lane, next to Harkins Theatres
Scottsdale Fashion Square, Macy’s, Lower Level
Superstition Springs, Macy’s Court, Lower Level
Desert Ridge Marketplace, Dave & Buster’s
Tempe Marketplace, Dave & Buster’s

For more information on the Christmas Angel program, or other ways you can help the Salvation Army, call 602-267-4100 or visit salvationarmycares.org.