When Jeannie Ecker of Cicero, Indiana, was an elementary school teacher, she discovered a foolproof way to keep her students engaged during quieter parts of classroom parties. While the kids were playing games, one of her room parents would videotape the action; when it was time to settle them down -- such as during snacktime -- she played the tape for them. Once Jeannie became a room parent herself, she continued the tradition, to the great delight of her daughter's second-grade class. "It gives them something to do while they're eating," she says. "They love watching themselves. They're totally absorbed."