call now. >> welcome to "teen kids news." i'm brandon. let's begin with our top story. this report is brought to you by a grant from the connecticut tobacco and health trust fund. since long before we were born, movies, tv, and magazine ads have been making smoking look cool. unfortunately, they're not showing the truth. katie tells us more.

lung cancer, or brain damage, or usually you have a hard timeg. breathin >> sure, we've all heard how smoking can cause cancer and other serious illnesses, but smoking can hurt us in many other ways. >> kids need to know, even if the cancer, the lung disease, the heart disease, might be decades away, there are health consequences that are much more immediate. >> for example, there's what's called "smoker's face"... >> so, smoking damages your skin. it affects the way your collagen is produced and it makes your skin look significantly older than it should. you sometimes see a 20- or 30-year-old person who has been smoking since they were a teenager, they have the skin of a 50- or 60-year-old person. and, uh, that's not pretty. >> some other health risks of smoking include gum disease, cavities, which may lead to bad breath. >> it rots your teeth. >> and your teeth can turn, like, yellow. >> you can get yellowing or discoloration of the skin,

>> smoking can or might also affect the density and strength of your bones. >> so, you have weaker, thinner, more fragile bones that are more susceptible to fracture. smoking also decreases blood flow and oxygen delivery to the tissues and to the limbs. and so, if you sustain a sports injury or a wound, it'll take much longer to heal. it also leads to muscle fatigue . >> and when it comes to the senses, smoking makes no sense. >> it can decrease hearing, decrease eyesight, decrease sense of smell and sense of taste, as well.o it costs a lot of money, >> als which is not, of course, a health benefit, but, i mean, that's really difficult because you're spending lots of money on cigarettes when you should be spending on, like, other items. >> let's put it this way, if you spend a lot of money now on smoking, no doubt you'll end up spending a lot more money later on for doctor bills and hospital stays. for "teen kids news," i'm katie. >> how tall are you? i hope you answer this question

scientists have proven that you are about 1% taller in the morning. that's because of the effect of gravity. as the day goes on, the weight of the world is literally pushing you down -- making you shorter. so if you want to know your true height, measure yourself as soon as you get out of bed. >> coming up, i'll show you how these can actually help you pay for college. "teen kids news"

>> 15 years ago, almost half of all teens were able to find jobs. today, only about a quarter of teens are able to find work. which makes it almost impossible to earn money for things like clothes, or a car, or college. if you're deflated by that dismal news, emily reports on a clever way to "pump up" your spending money. >> you might not believe it, but this is actually a money making machine. to explain how is sandi masori, america's top balloon expert and author of "the diy balloon hat bible."

>> i am so excited to be here. thank you for having me. >> yeah, thanks for coming in. so, how can teens make money using balloons and mang balloons?ki >> you know, wherever you have balloons you're going to attract the attentioof kids,n and wherever you have kids, you've got parents with money. so you can go to a park and make balloons in a park, you can go to a restaurant, you can do birthday parties. there are so many ways to do it. pretty much anywhere that you might find children, you can some money. make >> so, what can you make out of balloons? >> well, tell you what, let me show you. >> all right. wow! these are amazing. did you make all of them? >> yeah, you know, just a little something i whipped up. [ laughs ] >> really, really, really cool. all right, so i'm ready to learn -- how do we get started? >> all right, well, the first thing that you need to know is that we have different sizes of balloons. so this first one over here, these really teeny, tiny, littleskinny b alloons, they're called 160s. and the reason they're called 160s is because, when they're fully inflated, they're approximately one inch wide

so this next group we have here, these are called 260s, guess why? >> because when you inflate them, they're two inches wide -- >> and 60 inches long, that's right. and these here we call 350s, because when these are fully inflated, these big guys, they're about 3 inches wide and 50 inches long. these ones you don't use as often. actually you can get by with just using 260s and nothing else, especially when you're starting. >> okay, so, these over here are the 260s? >> that's exactly right. those are made out of 260s. we make all kinds of things out of the it's the most common twistin 2g60s. balloon. >> right, yeah. i recognize those. all right, so, is there a correct way to blow up a balloon? >> yeah -- so, you wanna use your diaphragm if you're going to blow up by mouth. you just put it to your mouth, [ inhales ] grab it. take a deep breath and -- [ blowing ] like that. >> oh, yeah, definitely. [ laughs ] lly hard. >> kind of dbe reaifficult, yeah.

>> okay. >> it will make it a lot easier.ou're goin and if yg to use a pump, you want to get a pump that has -- that takes in air from both sides. so, this pump is a two-way pump, it's a dual action pump, it pumps both on the up stroke and the down stroke. now, when you're the pump you need to put using the balloon on the pump and hold it while you're inflating it, otherwise it's going to fly off. >> let me just slide it on. >> mm-hmm, yep. >> just open -- like this? >>ep, just pull it up and pull y it down, there you go. >> h >> yep, perfect. ah>>! look at that! >> so, actually, let me put these on you here. there good.you go, and... okay. so, when we get started, the first time that you're blowing up a balloon i really recommend that you inflate it until it pops. so just keep on going. >> oh, my gosh. >> yep, keep on going, i want you to feel how tight it gets. >> is it gonna hurt? >> keep going, keep going, keep going. you got this, yep. all right, getting there. keep on going. >> the fact that i'm wearing glasses really scares me!

>> a little bit more. yep, you see how tight it's getting? >> oh, yeah. >> yeah. so, this is what i want you ton, you can feel is -- look, i mea see that it's just -- [ pop ] >> oh! >> all right! that's how much it can take. you can take off the glasses now. >> whoo!first thing >> so, that's the that you need to know, is how much pressure it can take before it's going to pop. because once you've done that, now you're going to be a lot more comfortable to make things out of them. >> of course. all right, that was really loud! so, i notice that you're not using anhelium.y why is that? >> well, you know, these balloons, they won't float, so there's no point in using helium in them when they're not going to float anyway. the weight of the balloon is more than the lift ability of the gas that could be inside. and as for these, we don't need helium, you know. we don't need helium to have a good time. we can do so much without it, with just plain, old, regular air, which is free. >> yeah. all right, so, can you show me how to make something out of a balloon? >> yeah!to make you let me -- i'm going a hat.

all right, let's see. let's pick out some colors here. hold that for me if you don't mind -- and hold that one there, too. and, yeah, i like purple. all right. so, i'm going to make you a basic crown here. so, the first thing, i'm going to just measure your head. and then i'm going to bring this over here like thtle at. it's a litbit squeaky, kinda like, little "eeh-eeh-eeh," squeaky serenade, yeah -- all right, and you see i'm gonna make a bend there. okay, and now i'm just gonna give this a little stretch. and you see i -- to save time, i have all the balloons pre-inflated for you. okay, and we're going to bend -- do the same thing here, bend it in the center. and now i'm going to make an x. >> oh, my gosh. >> i'm just going to put it straight through. just like that. >> you can do this really quickly, wow! for >> well, i've been doing it a few years. but you know what? it doesn't take much to get fast at it. it really doesn't. it's just like anything, it's practice. the more you put into it,

the more skills you'll get. >> yeah. squeak, squeak, squeak, >> squeak, and thff,en to top it o let's see, i've got a little round here with some polka dots. wrap pi ng t>>hi as ndar, ouyondu , sejue, i'm just st like that. and there is your crown. >> oh, thank you! >> oh, it looks great on you. perfect! very regal. >> i feel like a princess. i look very nice. we'll learn more about making money by making balloons when

>> we're back with sandi masori. she's a cba, or a certified balloon artist. so, how did you get into balloons? accident. it started off that i a wasfirst grade teacher, and i started making things in my classroom. i found out that i could get the kids to behave by making them a balloon on friday. and then the next thing i knew, my school went out for the --

know, the big break, and i was invited to go perform in japan. and i went all over the world making balloons. and, you know, one thing just kind of led to the other. and i've been doing it for just over 20 years, and if you would have told me, you know, 22 years ago, "hey, you're going to be a professional balloon art"ist, i would have been "i'm going to be alike, what?" but it's, yo i bring peopleu know, joy. my job is to make people happy, and what could be better? >> yeah, that's great. >> yeah, it's a lot of fun. >> okay, let's bring some joy. can you show me how to make something? >> yeah! tell you what, how about tha sword. you know what?at's really the first thing that you need to know is how to make sword. and no mat ater where you go, if you make balloons, that's what kids are going to a for. so, let's sksee here. let's give you a balloon. >> okay. >> all right, now this is something really important. now, you feel it's a little bit >> mm-hmm. >> even though this one is fully inflated, we've left it -- we've given it a good burp. so that means that after we inflated it, we kinda just let some air out like, "pbht!" yo and then tied it.u know? and the reason that we do that is so that when we put some to pop.

got some room to play with this, right? having popped that other balloon, now you get that. right, yeah, that's why i say you wanna do. okay, so the next thing that you need to know is that this si here where it's tied, thdeis is called the nozzle. we always want to start twisting on the nozzle side. >> okay. >> now, the next thing that you need to know is that -- just watch me for a second. if you take a single bubble and you twist it, no matter who you are, no matter what you do, let go, it's not goin if youg to stay. so it needs to be locked t to another part of the balloon. so, what we're going tweo 'rdo ise going to take it, squeeze and twist a little bubble off. yep. perfect. okay, and now we're going to fold it and make a loop like this, about the size of your hand, or about, you know, maybe a little bit bigger than your palm. and then squeeze it like that, good. yeah. and grab it from the top and just twist. it's easieif you twist fromr the top. yeah, good, perfect. right here, like, just swivel that around. there you go, good. >> there we go. >> yeah. all right, and now what you're going to do is flip it around so it kind of looks like a golf

of gonna open up the circle, the loop, with your hand. and you're going to feed the rest of the balloon into it. almost all they way but not quite. just like that. yeah, you did it. now, straighten it out a little bit. there you go, you've made your first sword! en garde! congratulations! [ both laugh ] very good! >> that is really cool. wow. >> you know what, i think that you can have this now. i -- i think that you are -- have become an official ballooner. >> i'm ready for this. >> you are ready. >> this is an honor. all right, so, can anyone really learn how to be a balloon artist? >> well, the first thing that you have to t over is beingge afraid of the balloons popping. sometimes they pop -- as you've seen. so, once you can get past that, yes, anybody cane a balloon b artist as long as they enjoy doing it. that's the most important thing. if you don't like it, yoknow,u you're not going to be very good at it. right? so a learning curve., practice, practice, practice. and the more you practice, the better you're going to be. and eventually you get to

the world in balloons, and you can look at something and say, okay, if i want to make that, here's the shapes that i need to >> can you show us any get there.thing >> sure! let's see, what can we make real quick? um, you wanna make a quick dog? >> sure! >> all right, take this one. >> i love dogs. >> and let me get, uh... let's get a yellow one here. all right. so, we just did a bubble and a loop on the sword. the dog is basically a repetition of that, that we're going to do another bubble and loop series. only this time we're going to do three sets of bubble-loop, bubble-loop, bubble-loop. so, we're going to start by taking about a handful of balloon, just like that. always on the side where it's tied, on the nozzle side, right. okay, now this time you want to a all loop. okay, you're gng to squeezeoi and twist from the top of the loop. yep. like that. yep, good. yeah. okay, and now we're going to go down, grab about a handful, squeeze and twist, and you're going to make a little bit -- a little bit bigger of a loop.

a three-twist dog. maybe you don't >> oh. >> yeah, want it quite that big. that's okay, how about right there? and then you make your loop. okay, and like i said, it's always easier if you squeeze and twist from the loop. yep, right there. twist the loop. >> oh! >> yeah, all right, i'm going to give it to you, you're going to do the next one. all right, and then one more time. and that's going to make those back l so, you can feel it's getting egas. little bit tight. >> so, we twist, hold -- >> and then make a loop, like that. and then twist the loop. yep, yeah, you got it. there you go. actually, i think yours is an aardvark. yeah, it works. [ laughing ] [ barks ] >> very cute, i like this. i'm going to keep this. so we're talking a lot about -- we mentioned the money making aspect of it. how muchoing can a teen make d ballooning? >> you know, it depends on how much you do it. if you're going to, for instance, go to the park and do it, most likely you're ing to get about a dollargo a balloon. that's -- that's about normal, that if you make a balloon somebody's probably going to tip you a dollar.

may not, but most likely ty will.he if you're doing birthdays, you could be making anywhere -- you know, when you get good, you could be making anywhere from, you know, $25 or $50 an hour, to $500 for a couplofe hours. so, you're going to set your own prices. i mean, this is the thing about being an entrepreneur. you're in controof when andl where you work and how much yo make.u >> so, if a teen wants to learn how to become a balloon artist, how would they go about learning how to do it? >> uh, you know there's books,. like my book there's youtube videos -- i have a ton of videos on youtube. >> oh, really? >> um, and then once you get, you know, a little bit better, there's conventions, there's seminars, there's workshops, and there's also just hanging out with other balloon artists , other balloon twisters -- we call it balloon jams -- showing different ideas. >> jams? >> yeah, we took it from the music industry. so there's a ton of ways to learn. the main thing is that when you start, you really want to, you know, do everything at least three to five times in a row, and that way you'll start to own that pattern. yeah. >> get it in you, yeah. well, thank you so much for

>> this was so much fun. thank you so much. now, go forth and balloonify. >> i will. so, if you want to... expand your earning capacity, consider becoming a balloon artist. for "teen kids news," i'm emily. >> we've got lots more to tell you about on "teen kids news."

>> there's an entire history lesson in a state flag. you just need to know what t o look for. >> in 1886, france gave the u.s. a gift to symbolize friendship and independence. officially named "liberty enlightening the world," we call it "the statue of liberty."

the entrance to new york harbor. the concept of "liberty" is an important symbol for new york. >> the flag of new york comes from the state seal, and it features both liberty and justice. >> the roman goddess liberty holds a staff with a cap on it. known as a liberty cap, it symbolizes freedom from slavery. a discarded crown at liberty's feet represents another type of freedom -- america's independence from england. the goddess justice is blindfolded to show that justice is blind to race, religion, and income. scales represent equality for all, while the raised sword points out the willingness to fight for it. >> in the middle of the flag, you see the hudson river, and on the hudson river are two boats meant to represent commerce. atop the state seal is an eagle sitting on the globe. the globe shows the western hemisphere -- and that was meantnt the new world and to represe new york's important place as a port city in the the new world. development of >> finally, the word "excelsior"

ever higher to achieve their goals. maybe that's why new york city has many skyscrapers.so just about everyone knows manhattan, new york, is called "the big apple." but did you know that manhattan, kansas, has a similar nickname? it's called "the little apple." with "flag facts," i'm veronique. >> only two teams have never made the world series in all of baseball -- the seattle mariners and the washington nationals. however, they have both made the league championship series, but they just haven't gotten past there. the seattle mariners last made the american league championship series in 2001 when they won 116 games during the regular season, but they lost the series to the eventual american league pennant winning yankees. t the lastime the nationals made it to the national league championship series was in 1981, when they were known as the montreal expos, but they lost that series to the eventual

m matt for "teen kids news." >> one of the most successful mobile games ever developed is -- wait for it -- yes, "candy crush." released only 5 years ago, it has already generated billions of dollars in profits. so, why is it so addicting? researchers say that the secret behind its success is that "candy crush" is easy to learn but hard to beat. therefore, it leaves players wanting more -- kind of likeguess. real candy, i >> this important message is brought to you by the national road safety foundation. [ car horn honks ]

>> if you love peanut butter, then i have a great new way for you to eat fruit! stick around, and i'll show you, when "teen kids news"

>> "teen kids news" got a chance to visit the culinary institute of america. here's a "taste" of what we learned. one's for you. this quick and easy recipe takes fruit snacking to a whole 'nother level. let's get started. first thing we're going to do is take half a cup of whipped cream -- i made it myself. you can get any kind of pre-made whipped cream at the store. put it in a bowl like that. and you're going to take a quarter of a cup of peanut butter. right in the bowl. and then six ounces of low-fat or non-fat vanilla yogurt, it's your preference. just like that.

combine ll togethereverything a until it forms a nice fruit dip. and you can take this on the go with you, you can go -- take it to a study group or with your ter school.frie nds af it's really good to eat all the time. just like that. okay, perfect. you can use any of your favorite fruits -- strawberries, blueberries, apples, bananas. it makes a great snack. let's give it a try. mmm, that's really good. at the culinary institute of america, for "teen kids news," m nicole. i'>> i'll have to give that recipe a try. well, that wraps it up for now. for everyone here at "teen kids news,"

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