Do you have a few minutes to waste? I know, I know ... you're busy. But everyone deserves a few minutes just to relax, right?

Check out this new game on Shockwave.com. The Wonder-Juice Machine is a fun way to give your brain a little challenge. A minor mental workout like this is a great way to take your mind off of your troubles for a few minutes and relieve a little stress.

As as added perk, the game includes actual recipes for nutritious smoothies that you can try at home. And keep your eye out for the health tips about different fruits and vegetables. Who knew a game could include such handy health advice?

Enrolling your kids in sports can improve their self esteem, get them in shape and help them develop a life-long habit of being active. These are some very good reasons to get them on some sort of team, yes? But there's another good reason they should get on the playing field -- playing ball as a teen can help keep their bones healthy for up to 40 years.

According to recent studies, sports like basketball, baseball, volleyball and soccer can help keep kids' bones strong well into old age, even if they don't keep the activity up. That's not to say they should give activity up as they age, but it goes to show that what you do in your teenage years can have lasting effects on your health.

So come spring, get your teenager active -- if you can, that is.

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Remember when you were a kid? You likely spent your afternoons and weekends riding bikes with friends, building forts out in the backyard, and scurrying around the neighborhood on your skateboard. All you knew is you were having a great time.

When, exactly, did those activities that used to be fun become a workout? When we cast our adult perspective on physical, outdoor activities we somehow turn them into aerobic activity, cardio, exercise, or other similarly boring words. Let's get back to our childhood roots and call it what it really is... fun!

Shape Magazine has a great article on many different ways you can have some fun, just like you did when you were a kid. Try biking, inline skating, jumping rope, shooting hoops, or going dancing. Soon enough, you'll figure out that the first syllable in workout is really inappropriate.

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So what are your plans for Labor Day? Frankly, the holiday sneaked up on me this year. What with back-to-school and work deadlines and other things I have on my mind, I completely forgot about it. My son and I will find something fun to do, though. We'll probably visit with family and maybe go to the BMX track (my son's favorite activity).

When making your Labor Day plans, keep health in mind. Some ideas:

• When grilling for your Labor Day BBQ, choose leaner cuts of meat and grill plenty of vegetables. You can also grill some fruits (peaches, plums, pineapple) for dessert. Remember to keep grilling safety in mind, too.
  
• Skip the chips and mayo-laden salads. Instead offer more healthful choices like veggie trays, yummy mixed green salads, and fruit salad.
• Plan some active time with family and friends. You can set up a volleyball net in the backyard, hold a basketball competition, or swim. Kids would also enjoy relay races and active games like red light, green light.
  
• Go on a Labor Day outing. Hike along a nature trail, bike on a rail trail, or visit a nearby beach (and don't just lay around -- swim and be active).

The other day, I told you to how to turn fun games you played as a child into more adult-like exercise activities -- remember: if you liked four-square, try tennis or racquetball? -- and now I'm here to tell you to forget the grown-up spin on things -- just play the kid games. That's what some folks in Newport, New Hampshire are doing in an effort to get in shape while having the time of their lives.

Forget the treadmill and the gym. Old School P.E., a two-hour exercise program for adults only, is built around gym-class staples, and is anything but boring. Think Spastic Ball -- a blend of soccer and basketball -- and floor hockey with a dodgeball, or maybe some Ultmate Frisbee. Anything really, minus all the rules, and you've got the idea.

Sound like fun to you? Some say it allows you to be distracted while working out. And some women get really ripped in just six weeks -- OK, probably not a result of Duck, Duck, Goose, a game that may at least serve as a proper warm-up. Regardless, kid games are all the rage. Read more about them here.

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Before basketball there was James Naismith and a peach basket. Before volleyball, there was YMCA director William Morgan who had the idea of combining elements of some other sports. Every sport has its history and its inventor... you could be next!

The folks at Horny Toad Activewear and Instructables have paired up to create the Invent a Sport contest. You can put a new twist on an existing sport or start from scratch, but your ideas must be original. After all, Horny Toad has introduced such sports as trampoline dodgeball; they're obviously not thrilled by run-of-the-mill creations.

To enter you just need a description of how the game is played as well as a description of any necessary equipment. A video of people playing the game is helpful, but not required. Give it a shot. You'll have a great time and you may just win a $350 gift card.

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For the parents out there: do your children spend a lot of time in front of a screen most of the day? If you have teenagers (or happen to be one) then "screen time" is another term for "hobby." I played sports as a kid, but even back then I tried to absorb video games and TV like a sponge. Well according to Canadian researchers, some teenagers spend as much time in front of a screen as it takes to be employed in a full-time job.

That's in the ballpark of 40 hours per week. Over a thousand teens were studied for half a decade beginning in 1999 to assess habits related to watching TV, playing games, and using computers. Collectively, this was known as screen time.

Guys are the big offenders, over half of whom absorbed over 40 hours in total time spent in front of a screen. Only about a quarter of the girls spent that much time soaking up the technology. It's always interesting to see connections like this drawn, even if they refer to teens of a different region. Judging by activities back in the States, things are not drastically dissimilar over here.

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Men can sometimes take flack for playing too many video games, but it turns out that it's just the way we're made! According to this article, gender actually contributes to guys' ability to get "hooked" to games like Halo. They use strong words like "addicted," but clearly it's just in our genes and not a problem (at least I'm going to keep telling myself that).

Interestingly enough, Stanford researchers hadn't meant to address video game habits with this study. Originally, they were trying to figure out territorial tendencies among the two genders. Twenty-two guys and gals were monitored while playing a special video game that was meant to gauge whether or not men were more territorial than women. It was a customized game where each player tries to gain as much territory as possible.

The results showed that the men's brains reacted differently than women's. When they were playing, the area of the brain that's connected to the feeling of reward and addiction was active -- and even more so when they gained territory! This proves that we're wired differently when it comes to video games, as much as the industry would hate to admit it. Now guys can arm themselves with science next time they catch and earful for spending too much time behind a controller.

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Have you ever heard of the game Second Life? It's a virtual world experienced via the computer, much like popular video games. People immerse themselves in this world by trying to build an online persona called avatars. In fact, lifetime accounts can be purchased for $225.

But unlike other games, Second Life offers a world where people's avatars can do just about anything -- even seek therapy. CBS has a remarkable story about a woman who suffered from agoraphobia, which kept her locked inside unable to even go shopping at the grocery store. But after signing up for an SL account and building a character named "Baji," Patricia sought help.

She took virtual therapy sessions from a real life therapist, right there inside the game. Patricia was able to engage social interactions with other residents in ways she could never do outside this virtual world. By using Second Life as a testing ground for new experiences, she overcame the fear that kept her from living a fulfilling life. In case you were wondering, psychologists charge about $100 a pop for these online sessions. We live in changing times, and it's comforting to know platforms like Second Life exist that can reach people who may never have been able to seek help otherwise.

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Anyone who thought video games were a waste of time have probably been surprised about Nintendo's latest and greatest, the Wii. It gets people active by using their arms and motions to simulate sports such as tennis, baseball, even bowling. But it doesn't stop there! A new useful application is emerging: surgical training.

Resident surgeons were found to perform better on simulated operations after playing a bit of Wii than those who opted out of the fun. How much better? They scored nearly 50 percent higher on tool control and performance.

Of course, not all games are going to improve coordination. Games that require subtle movements and precision are obviously better than those that require you to swing a bat. But this approach could be a very valuable medical training tool for countries which can't afford higher-end solutions. They are developing special software for the console, which costs only $250, that could hone surgical skills even more. Imagine bringing home your own copy of "Surgery 101" in the future!

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I don' t know much about Nintendo Wii, but I hear it's quite fun -- and pretty addicting too, which might not be a bad thing for kids and adults who need a little physical activity in their lives.

Wii, Nintendo's fifth home video game consule made popular by its wireless controller is all about gaming -- Super Mario Galaxy, Jenga, and The Golden Compass are three available games. It's also all about exercising, so much so that some health clubs are offering a new form of workout for those tired of traditional fitness activities. Wii workout stations allow clients to circuit train by punching, running, and jumping, thanks to the ease of the system's movement-sensitive controller.

Watching kids sweat in their living rooms while working the Wii is what prompted one health club owner to bring video games into the fitness environment.

"We're always trying to break down paradigms and keep things fresh," says Nathan Mellalieu, owner of Canada's Studeo 55. "It's used here to break up the monotony of traditional workouts."

Mellalieu estimates one session of Wii boxing, tennis, or bowling equals a brisk walk and can burn between 75 and 125 calories.

Wii professionals may not have been planning for an appearance on the fitness scene but now that they've arrived, they plan to stick around. They are currently developing Wii Fit, a 2008 video game with an array of activities, from yoga to aerobics.

Stay tuned for more Wii wonders.

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Soon your Christmas presents will have been torn open, you'll have tried on that new sweater and swung that new golf club, you'll be out of new topics to discuss with Grandma and Grandpa, and the kids in your gang will be running wild. Then what? How about some games to entertain the little ones and keep your group moving all at the same time. Try these.

Rudolph Dash

Make some red construction paper circles and grab some Vaseline and reindeer antler headbands if you have some. Each participant wears the antlers and affixes a red circle on his or her nose with Vaseline. Then teams of three or more players are formed to race in a relay to a finish line. Simultaneously, one player from each team begins the dash to the next player who transfers the first player's red nose to their own. If a nose falls off, the player must go back and reapply more Vaseline. First team to complete the relay wins. You pick a prize.

Christmas Musical Chairs

Put chairs together in the middle of a large open room. Make sure you have one chair less than the total number of people playing. One non-player plays DJ of the holiday songs and when the music plays, every player skips around chairs. When the DJ randomly stops the music, everyone tries to sit in a chair. The person left without a chair joins the DJ, and a chair from the group is removed. The game resumes. Keep it up until only one contestant remains. This person gets a prize.

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Play enthusiast and author Bernie DeKoven is on a mission to inspire kids to play creatively. And he's got one heck of a vision for putting the fun back in athletic competition.

Junkyard sports is the name he's given to the wacky games he's dreamed up. Designed to exercise both bodies and imaginations, DeKoven's junkyard terminology refers to traditional sports played with non-traditional materials.

Traditional sports fail a lot of kids, says DeKoven. That's why so many children lead inactive lives. Looking at informal games played in backyards and streets, this author of Junkyard Sports: Make Sports Fun Again says the rules of his games are tailored to fit the players and the play space. In traditional sports, the game determines whether kids are good enough to play. In junkyard sports, kids determine if the game is good enough to play.

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After playing with a friend's Nintendo DS a few days ago, I could not help but come away impressed. You see, the friend is a middle-aged person that's not a game player.

What was he playing? Brain Age 2, a non-game for the portable game player that has its sights set on helping memory skills in anyone that wants it.

The 'game' features quite a few brain teasers that I thought were very challenging. The execution of all of them (especially the Sudoku game) was excellent, and it's another reason why more people outside the regular gaming community opt for gaming systems like the Wii and DS game systems. Nintendo continues to impress me.

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See What You're Made Of - Visit The Official Site

If you're a TV fan, you're probably excited about (or at least aware of) the new Bionic Woman series. In an effort to promote the show, NBC has created an online game that tests your memory, math skills and hand-eye coordination.

I consider myself a fairly competent person -- above average, even -- when it comes to these kinds of games. So, I figured I wouldn't have any problems as I clicked through the instructions and got started.

However, as you can see by my rather dismal results (above), I'm apparently no genius -- or, at least I'm not very "bionic." If you take the test, feel free to post your score below -- even if it will make my piddly 54% look even more embarrassing.

[via Neatorama]

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