I recently switched from a Blackberry to an iphone and before I did, I checked the memo section of my Blackberry to see if there was anything I needed to clear out or transfer.

It was packed. Not with memos. And, not by me.

The memo section was wall to wall with songs and poems written by my 7 year old daughter. Granted, she’s a bit of a hacker in training, but it revealed to me something really interesting.

When you hear about the impact of smart phones on family time, it’s usually in the form of complaints about how these devices tether us to work and steal away treasured family time. Often to the point of near-addiction.

No doubt, these can be valid criticisms. Many people do have trouble drawing the line between work and personal time and smart phones can taunt us past that line ever more easily.

But, what I discovered, through my daughter’s Blackberry bardhood, was that they can also be tapped to inspire kids to engage in creative activities they’d normally never explore without that technology. Because adding technology or gadgets to an activity adds a fun/coolness factor that, for many, wasn’t there before.

So, while my daughter doesn’t generally write songs or poems and she doesn’t journal on paper, put a Blackberry or iPhone in front of her and she becomes a possessed Shakespeare in training. Plus, because she actually has fun trying to figure out how to use the smart phone on her own, it teaches her problem solving and troubleshooting skills, too.

All of which makes me wonder, how else might us dads be able to turn perceived technological weapons of family destruction into devices that inspire creativity and problem-solving in our kids?

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