A mishmash of family fun and news

Picture this

Budding photographers will find many fascinating underwater subjects to capture through their lenses at the Living Art Marine Center’s Keiki Pix workshop, a beginner’s photography course offered at 1 p.m. Feb. 23.

Students ages 7 and older will learn basic photography skills and snap pictures of underwater creatures in the center’s aquariums.

Course topics include: how to make a better photo by controlling exposure, focus and composition of the camera; and how to get great shots quickly and effectively.

Cost is $20; digital SLR cameras are not provided. For more information, visit livingartmarinecenter.com or call 841-8080. Reservations required. 

Student’s doodle could become Google logo for a day

Students can sketch a doodle for the Google homepage for the chance to win a $30,000 scholarship and have their artwork used as the search engine’s logo for a day.

The Doodle 4 Google contest invites students in grades kindergarten to 12 to create a Google logo that embodies this year’s theme, "My Best Day Ever …"

State winners, chosen on May 1, will have their work posted on the google.com/doodle4google website for public voting, which will be factored into the national judging process. The 50 state winners will be flown to New York City to see their work displayed in an exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History and to attend the national awards ceremony on May 22.

Submissions will be judged by Google employees and celebrity judges on artistic merit, creativity, theme communication and appropriateness of the supporting statement. Celebrity judges include Katie Couric; Ahmir Thompson of The Roots; Chris Sanders, writer and director of "Lilo & Stitch" and "How to Train Your Dragon"; and Pendleton Ward, creator of "Adventure Time."

In addition to having his or her doodle displayed on Google’s homepage May 23, the national winner will receive a $30,000 college scholarship, a Google Chromebook, a Wacom digital design tablet and a $50,000 technology grant for their school. Four other national finalists will win a $5,000 educational grant for their school and a Wacom digital design tablet.

Last year, 114,000 submissions were received.

Contest rules and entry forms are available at google.com/doodle4google. The deadline is March 22.

Kaiser offers help for parents

Are you an extroverted parent with an introverted kid, or vice versa?

Learn how your personality affects your parenting skills at a workshop Feb. 23 at Kaiser Permanente’s Honolulu clinic.

Instructor Linda Shiraishi will analyze a series of common problems that confront parents and children with different attributes, and offer effective strategies for the situations.

The class, held from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., is available through the Kaiser Lifestyle Department and includes a personality survey, workbook and certificate of completion.

Cost is $106 for Kaiser members; $116 for nonmembers. Couples rates also are available. Preregistration is required by calling 432-2260.

Enjoy jam-packed day of sport, fun

Families can take part in ancient Hawaiian makahiki games while they watch the water-sports competition at the Duke Kahanamoku Challenge on the beach fronting the Hilton Hawaiian Village from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Feb. 24.

Staff from Kamehameha Schools will teach participants games such as ‘ulu maika (bowling a round stone through pegs) and moa pahe‘e (dart sliding).

And there will be new games this year, said Jeff Apaka, director of community relations at the Waikiki Community Center, which benefits from the event. "There will be konane, or Hawaiian checkers, and the haka moa, a ‘fighting chicken’ kind of game where two people face off against each other, lift one of their own legs by the ankle, place the other arm on their opponent’s shoulder, and try to make the other fall out of a circle first," he said.

Apaka said there will be about 30 teams competing in both an open-ocean, quarter-mile outrigger canoe race and a stand-up paddle race that will be held in the hotel’s lagoon.

Arts-and-crafts booths will be featured on the Hilton’s Great Lawn, with musical entertainment by the Royal Hawaiian Band, Melveen Leed, Manoa Madness, Waipuna, Halau Hula ‘O Nawahine, Darren Benitez, Te Vai Ura Nui, Shining Star and Natalie Ai Kamau‘u.

The Waikiki Community Center is a nonprofit group that provides health, educational and social services.