♪ >> 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. >> the health ri

lung cancer, or brain damage, or usually you have a hard time breathing. >> 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

as well. >> 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 muscle breakdown. >> 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. >> also it costs a lot of money, 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," >> how tall are you? i hope you answer this question in the

night. 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" will be right back!

>> 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." welcome. >> 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 making balloons? >> you know, wherever you have balloons you're going to attract the attention of kids, 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 make some money. >> 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, little skinny balloons, they're called 160s. and the reason they're called 160s is because, when they're fully inflated, they're approximately one

and 60 inches long. 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 260s. it's the most common twisting 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, you know, the side with the hole. [ inhales ] grab it. take a deep breath and -- [ blowing ] like that. >> oh, yeah, definitely. [ laughs ] >> all right, actually, it can be rea

>> kind of difficult, yeah. >> so i have a pump here. >> okay. >> it will make it a lot easier. and if you're going 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 using the pump you need to put 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? >> yep, just pull it up and pull it down, there you go. >> hah! >> yep, perfect. >> look at that! >> so, actually, let me put these on you here. there you go, good. 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!

[ laughs ] >> a little bit more. yep, you see how tight it's getting? >> oh, yeah. >> yeah. so, this is what i want you to feel is -- look, i mean, you can see that it's just -- [ pop ] >> oh! >> all right! that's how much it can take. you can take off the glasses now. >> whoo! >> so, that's the first thing 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 any helium. 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?

let me -- i'm going to make you a hat. how about that? 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 that. it's a little bit 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! >> well, i've been doing it for 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 faster you're going to get, the more skills you'll get. >> yeah. >> squeak, squeak, squeak, squeak, and then to top it off, let's see, i've got a little round here with some polka dots. >> adorable. >> and, you see, i'm just wrapping this around, just 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 "teen kids news" returns.

♪ >> we're back with sandi masori. she's a cba, or a certified balloon artist. so, how did you get into balloons? >> you know, totally by accident. it started off that i was a first 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 -- it was, like, the summer, you 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 artist," i would have been like, "i'm going to be a what?" but it's, you know, i bring people 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 a sword. you know what? that's really the first thing that you need to know is how to make a sword. and no matter where you go, if you make balloons, that's what kids are going to ask for. so, let's see here. let's give you a balloon. >> okay. >> all right, now this is something really important. now, you feel it's a little bit squishy? >> 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!" you know? and then tied it. and the reason that we do that is so that when we put some tw

to pop. and now you can feel that you've 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 side here where it's tied, this 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, if you let go, it's not going to stay. so it needs to be locked to another part of the balloon. so, what we're going to do is we're 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 easier if you twist from 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 itro

it kind of looks like a golf club. okay, and you're just kind 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!

and eventually you get to the point where you see 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 get there. >> can you show us anything else to make? >> 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 kind of hold it while you make a small loop. okay, you're going to squeeze 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. >> oh. >> yeah, maybe you don't 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 legs. so, you can feel it's getting a 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 much can a teen make doing 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 going to get about a dollar a balloon. that's -- that's about normal,

that if you make a balloon somebody's probably going to tip you a dollar. they -- you know, they may or may not, but most likely they will. 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 couple of hours. so, you're going to set your own prices. i mean, this is the thing about being an entrepreneur. you're in control of when and where you work and how much you make. >> 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.

well, thank you so much for being with us today. >> this was so much fun. thank you so much. now, go forth and balloonify. >> i will. so, if you want to... expayour 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." we'll be back in a minute.

>> there's an entire history lesson in a state flag. you just need to know what to 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."

and she proudly stands at 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 meant to represent the new world and new york's important place as a port city in the development of the new world. >> finally, the rd

encourages new yorkers to reach ever higher to achieve their goals. maybe that's why new york city has so many skyscrapers. 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. the last time 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 world seri

>> 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 like real candy, i guess. >> this important message is brought to you by the national road safety foundation. ♪ [ car horn honks ] [ camera shutter clicks ]

>> 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" returns.

>> "teen kids news" got a chance to visit the culinary institute of america. here's a "taste" of what we learned. >> peanut butter lovers, this 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. and you're just going to combine everything all together 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 friends after school. 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," i'm nicole. >> i'll have to give that recipe a try. well, that wraps it up for now. for everyone here at "teen kids news," thanks for watching.

it's time to put winter behind us and focus on spring sports... meet a soccer star who could be the future face of the u.s. women's national team... and we'll look at a baseball player who could be a first round pick later this summer... plus, we'll check in on a track and field phenom as well... that's all coming up next on sports stars of tomorrow... (show open) thanks for joining us, everyone, i'm charles davis... it's time to get away from winter and warm up with some spring sports... we'll get started with some soccer... 2015 was an unforgettable year for u.s. women's soccer... the team captured its third world cup