Have you crossed words with your child lately?
Each month, NFI brings you "Kids Across Parents Down™ -- The Original Crossword Puzzle For Kids And Their Favorite Adults". Spend time with your kids by doing this fun (and not-so-hard) puzzle and remember these times forever.
About Kids Across/Parents Down™
Kids Across
Parents Down™ is a series of puzzles that weave
together clues for both children and adults – the across
clues are especially for children while the down clues prompt answers
from the parent. Ideal as a weekly ritual and fast becoming treasured
tradition nationwide, KAPD is a unique vehicle for uniting children
and parents in an activity that offers amusement, intellectual
stimulation, and an interactive bonding opportunity for dads and
their kids. What makes Kids Across Parents Down puzzles so much
fun for kids and adults? First, they are kid-driven – the
puzzles allow the child to dominate the activity, offering veteran
solvers or puzzle newcomers a fun challenge and making the son
or daughter feel like a winner every time. Designed for kids ages
8 to 13 and their parents, the clues are more amusing than difficult,
full of puns, word play and other giggles – not the typical,
sometimes intimidating crossword experience so many fear. The puzzle’s
unique advantage is that if the child (or adult) is momentarily
stumped, as the other solver completes the intersecting words,
the answers begin to emerge. Both adult and child clues focus on
contemporary content, including a lot of popular culture familiar
to each solver. Always safe and appropriate for kids, Kids Across
Parents Down never includes violent, sexually explicit, or offensive
stereotypical content. Our puzzles also strive for diversity in
subject matter, exposing parents and children to information about
various cultures, races, religions, and backgrounds.
Now syndicated
through Tribune Media Services, Kids Across Parents Down delivers
entertainment each week to kids and parents throughout
the country, running in the The Washington Post’s Kids Post,
the Boston Herald and many other newspapers. In addition to the
core puzzle, families also enjoy Kids Across Parents Down Junior,
a puzzle for younger solvers ages 5 to 8 and their parents. Newspaper
editors nationwide continue to receive requests to feature Kids
Across Parents Down in their Sunday comics sections and kids’ pages.
Kids Across
Parents Down has only begun to deliver fun and entertainment
to families. The creator is also anticipating a series of Kids
Across Parents Down books for children and parents and exploring
the use of the concept in board games, television, greeting cards
and other opportunities to provide its unique content to children
worldwide.
About Jan Buckner Walker
Jan
Buckner Walker has always enjoyed writing for children, tutoring
and playing with words. A journalist by education and an attorney
by training, she was startled when a unique concept popped into
her mind one day a few years ago as she sat in her office. Wouldn’t
it be great, she thought, if there were an activity that brought
children and parents together in a fun and educational family
experience? She scribbled some ideas about a crossword puzzle
-- perhaps in a newspaper -- that would be jointly solved by
families, but put the notes in her desk drawer and continued
her work practicing law in the corporate environment. It was
definitely a good idea.
Later, in
the wake of the September 11th tragedy, Jan felt strongly that
the country could benefit from an activity that would promote
family togetherness and quality time. Deciding that the concept
was now an important idea, she pulled out her notes
and began focusing on creation of a collaborative crossword puzzle
in which across clues were just for kids while the down words
are solved by adults. And so it was that Kids Across Parents
Down was born. Combining her love of words and passion for children,
she began tirelessly developing puzzles, studying the business
of crosswords and honing her efforts to launch the unique concept.
Converting a wonderful idea into a family tradition was marked
by many late nights creating grids and writing clues and the
inevitable ups and downs of creating any new organization. She
developed close working relationships with a core of expert crossword
constructors and spent hours editing each puzzle to create the
clever and amusing clues that give the KAPD activity its entertaining
flavor. Since developing Kids Across Parents Down, Jan has recognized
that she was born to do these puzzles, constantly mining popular
culture for new themes and developing unique content enhancements.
Once the first
puzzles were ready, Jan approached newspaper syndicates with
the idea and soon contracted with Tribune Media Services, the
nation’s leading puzzle syndicate, to distribute the puzzles
to newspapers throughout North America. Kids Across Parents Down
launched in September 2003 and was immediately embraced by newspaper
community, running weekly in such leading newspapers as The
Washington Post and The Boston Herald, and continuing
to gain popularity in major markets. Jan looks forward delivering
more hours of enjoyment to families with a series of Kids Across
Parents Down books. She is enthusiastic about offering Kids Across
Parents Down to National Fatherhood Initiative for the enjoyment
of dads and their kids.
Raised in
Silver Spring, Maryland, where her family still resides, Jan
attended Howard University, earning her bachelor’s degree
in Journalism, with an emphasis on editing. Subsequently, she
interned at the Philadelphia Inquirer as a copy editor
and then attended the University of Pennsylvania Law School,
where she was editor of the school’s prestigious Law Review.
Later, she moved to Chicago, Illinois where she worked as corporate
counsel in industry-leading companies in the petroleum, managed
care, and technology sectors.
Jan currently
lives in suburban Chicago, where she continues her work as an
employment law consultant for a consulting firm. She spends many
exciting hours developing Kids Across Parents Down content, enjoying
the creative input of her husband, Reginald.
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PUZZLES
"The Green Scene" Puzzle
Father's Day Puzzle
Email us with comments or questions about Kids Across/Parents Down™.
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