Each TOY or GAME has a STORY to share with kids. Today, it’s SILLY PUTTY’s turn to tell its story (with a little help from Grandma Sharon)… WHAT is Silly Putty:  Silly Putty is a goo-type substance that can be molded, bounced, stretched, snapped and once could even copy newspaper print.  (Printing inks and processes are different today than they [...]

Each TOY or GAME has a STORY to share with kids. Today, it’s MR. POTATO HEAD’s turn to tell its story (with a little help from Grandma Sharon)… WHAT is Mr. Potato Head:  Mr. Potato Head is a potato-shaped toy with spaces and places to put all of his parts, mixed-up or not. WHO invented Mr. Potato Head:  George Lerner, [...]

Each TOY or GAME has a STORY to share with kids. Today, it’s the RUBIK’S CUBE’s turn to tell its story (with a little help from Grandma Sharon)… WHAT is the RUBIK’S CUBE:  The Rubik’s Cube is considered the most popular puzzle in the world. The Rubik’s Cube is a cube-shaped puzzle constructed of layers of nine cubies that can [...]

Each TOY or GAME has a STORY to share with kids. Today, it’s the Game of WIFFLE BALL’s turn to tell its story (with a little help from Grandma Sharon)…   WHAT is the Game of Wiffle Ball:  The Game of Wiffle Ball, a variation of the game of Baseball, is played with a Wiffle Ball… where a hard ball [...]

Each TOY or GAME has a STORY to share with kids. Today, it’s the Game of Jacks’ turn to tell its story (with a little help from Grandma Sharon)… WHAT is the Game of Jacks:  Jacks (also known as Knucklebones, Jackstones and Fivestones) is an ancient childhood game of fun and skill that is still played today.  The Game of [...]

Every TOY or GAME has a STORY… a WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHY & HOW to share with kids. Today, it’s the POGO STICK’s turn to tell its story (with a little help from Grandma Sharon)… WHO invented the Pogo Stick:  The first American-made Pogo Stick was designed and patented by George Hansburg, a toy maker from Illinois. WHAT makes [...]

Kids have a natural curiosity about words and ideas and things that begs to be satisfied… TOYS & GAMES are no exceptions.  This is why JULY will be TOY STORIES month on 365 Days of Literacy for Kids! On my 365 Days of Literacy for Kids – Fun, Easy & Completely Doable Project, I’ve talked about poems, letters, flowers, bugs [...]

Let’s have a little fun, a little learning and a little YIKES! today with the ASSASSIN BUG: Aggressive, accurate, ambushing and acutely toxic… the Assassin Bug doesn’t mess around.  It gets an A+ in killing. The Assassin Bug has a license to kill (other insects, that is).  It uses its beak to stab its insect victims with great speed.  Once [...]

Let’s have a little fun, a little learning and a little YIKES! today with the YELLOW MEADOW ANT: Common to Central Europe, the Yellow Meadow Ant is also found in North America, North Africa and Asia. As you may have guessed, the Yellow Meadow Ant is yellow, but its color shades vary into brown, too.  The Worker Yellow Meadow Ant [...]

Let’s have a little fun, a little learning and a little YIKES! today with the WATER MEASURER: Not many creatures on earth are able to literally walk on water… but the Water Measurer is one that can. The Water Measurer gets its name from its appearance of slowly, methodically and deliberately measuring water without breaking its surface.  The long, thin [...]