It’s always amusing when a kid is good at an activity usually reserved for grown-ups, such as shooting pool or trading stocks.

Well, maybe not always. Last month, air traffic controllers at JFK airport allowed a child to make transmissions to pilots. But what started as fun-and-games has quickly turned into a serious investigation. Click here for the AP story via Yahoo.

Allison Louie-Garcia posted a video titled “The decade according to 9-year olds.” For these kids, born in the year 2000, Selena Gomez and the Jonas Brothers are bigger celebs than Britney Spears, and dial-up internet is a long-lost relic. Since Speakaboos is a children’s website, we’re definitely looking out for interesting insights about technology from these kids:

The decade according to 9-year-olds from allison louie-garcia on Vimeo.

This story is great not only because a mystery was solved by a teen-aged CSI-fan, but also because there is a very CSI-like twist at the end:

Tiana Rapp, 17, and her friend had lost over $200 from repeated thefts from her locker, while the school pretty much said there was nothing they could do about it–despite employing an adult hall monitor. So Tiana and her friend took matters into their own hands, and set up a secret video camera that revealed the criminal was none other than the hall monitor herself, who had been using a master key to get into students’ lockers. It all makes so much sense in the end!

For the full story, see the article at Newsday.

So what’s the deal with the ridiculously low expectations on kid dancing videos? Every kid can dance, but this little guy shows the rest how it’s really done:

Miles also tore it up on the Ellen DeGeneres Show earlier this week, and is fast on his way to becoming an internet sensation. Glad to see a kid and parent taking serious pride in his talent, putting some real work into the production of this video, and raising the bar for home videotapers everywhere.

Seven-year-old Lucas Murray is blind, but has learned to sense his surroundings by making a clicking noise with his tongue and observing how it sounds. Based on what he hears, Lucas can determine the distance, shape, and even movement of surrounding objects. This technique, known as “echolation,” is similar to sonar used by bats and dolphins.

Echolation is not a new story, but Lucas, who was taught the technique by Californian Daniel Kish, founder of the World Access for the Blind charity, is believed to be the first person in Britain to learn it. For a video of Lucas using echolation to shoot a basketball and navigate his surroundings, visit The Sun’s website.

This story sounds a little like a big Lego marketing ploy, but it is too good to not share: 7-year old Quaid Guarino of Maine has a “new way of playing with Legos” that is so interesting, Quaid’s parents helped him contact Lego headquarters–and Lego wants to buy it.

So what’s the idea?

Well, nobody knows yet. Quaid has signed a release form that keeps him from telling anybody else about it. I’ll let you guys know more as soon as I do. This idea better be good, kid!

For the full story in the Portland Press Herald, click here.

Photo credit:  Doug Jones, Portland Press Herald

Check out this video of parent-proclaimed “pool prodigy” Keith Jr. showing off his skills:

Call me a cynic, but that’s not a regulation-size pool table… also minus points for some shady editing and poor choice of music. But plus points for being very good at pool and very cute!

I don’t know too much about the stock market, but this is either a beacon of hope for investors or further evidence of the irrationality of our economy:  a group of four 5th graders from Neenah, Wisconsin won a statewide economics contest by turning $100,000 of imaginary money into $203,000 over ten weeks.

The group of four girls, who say that if they actually had that much money they would “probably buy a lot of toys,” competed against teams all over Wisconsin, and won the grand prize:  a trip to the New York Stock Exchange.

For the full story, click here

As dubious as it is to say that a test can measure “intelligence,” nobody can argue with the fact that six-year old Pranav Veera of Ohio is one smart kid. He has a photographic memory and an IQ of 176, 16 points higher than Albert Einstein. Watch as he demonstrates how he can determine the day of the week of any date in his head, and his ability to recite tons of information from memory.

From Cincinnati.com: