Pinball Wizard

     I just saw the coolest video.  Nirvan Mullick produced a ten minute video about Caine Monroy, a nine year old who built his own cardboard arcade.  Caine spent his summer vacation going to work with his father at the family's used auto parts business.  Besides playing on the swing strung up in a tree in front of their building, Caine, who loves arcades, decided to make some arcade games from the multitude of cardboard boxes lying around his father's store room.  Unfortunately, there wasn't much foot traffic in front of the junk yard, so Caine didn't have any customers - until Nirvan Mullick came in to buy a part for his 1996 Corolla.  Nirvan couldn't resist purchasing a fun pass which entitled him to 500 plays for just $2.00.  Five hundred plays for just two bucks!  When Nirvan learned that he was Caine's only customer, he organized a flash mob to show up at the arcade, and he incorporated this into a film about the little entrepeneur.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=faIFNkdq96U

Besides being a nice story about a creative kid who knows how to amuse himself, I saw some good parenting in this video.  Caine's dad George is not a father who disappears in the morning and shows up again at night.  By taking Caine to work, George becomes Caine's primary parent during the summer.  The psychologosts can't write enough articles about the importance of the father in a child's development.

http://www.citizenlink.com/2010/06/15/fathers-are-vital-to-healthy-child-development/

George is building Caine's confidence by supporting the arcade project.  He challenges Caine to build a claw machine instead of running out and buying one for him.  He's teaching Caine about business and possibly grooming him to take over the family enterprise.
     This film also demonstrates another of life's immutable facts.  No matter what resources kids have at their disposal, they'll have the most fun playing with the boxes.