Pranks (as long as they are harmless!) can be lots of fun for everyone. Today is the day to put sugar in the salt shaker, tell someone he has a big bug crawling on his head, or call and leave silly message on the answering machine. Plan your day “end to the beginning,” or try […]
In China, the New Year is a time of family reunion. Family members gather at each other’s homes for visits and shared meals, most significantly a feast on New Year’s Eve. In the United States, however, many early Chinese immigrants arrived without their families, and found a sense of community through neighborhood associations instead. Today, […]
The fifteen-day New Year’s celebration includes praying, paying respect to ancestors, and visiting family and friends. Families decorate their homes with flowers, trays of tangerines and oranges, and circular trays of dried, candied fruit. They also place new money in red envelopes, hang red banners, and buy new orange or red outfits for the children. […]
The Chinese New Year is a festival quiet with the hope of good fortune, yet booming with the spectacle of exploding firecrackers and dancing dragons. It is marked not only by number but also by animal. According to Chinese legend, Buddha invited all the creatures in his kingdom to appear before him. The 12 animals […]
To honor this wacky holiday, challenge each member of your family to wear one piece of clothing backward today. You can also reverse the day’s meals, and serve dinner for breakfast, and breakfast for dinner. Make a game of thinking up words that are the same spelled forward and backward (mom, dad, pop, tot etc.). […]
Puzzles are endlessly fascinating for kids. Every time they put one together, their problem-solving skills get better. To make your own puzzle, ask your child to draw a picture on a piece of paper. Mount the paper to light cardboard, then cut into several shapes. The more “abstract†the original drawing, the harder the puzzle […]
It’s simply impossible not to smile when you hear the funny sound of a kazoo. Not only do children love them, but kazoos are inexpensive and a cinch to play. Pick up several at a teacher’s supply store and invite your child to start his or her own marching kazoo band.
Australia is known as the “The Land Down Under,†because it sits at the bottom of the globe, in the Southern Hemisphere. Australia is home to some of the most unusual creatures in the world: kangaroos, koalas, platypuses, kookaburras, and wombats—animals that are found nowhere else in the world. Take a trip to your local […]
