Issue #4   
 
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FUN Stuff for kids

 

Back to School TIPS

1. Cover your books in brown paper first, then cut out cool pictures from magazines and stick them on.  Use stickers also and then cover with plastic.  It makes your books more personalised and unique.

2. Make sure you name EVERYTHING!  It prevents things from getting lost or stolen and stops mum from getting cranky when she has to keep replacing them.

3. Start getting early nights about two days before school goes back to get used to school nights again.

4. Pack your lunch and bag the night before school goes back.  It makes the morning of the first day easier (and it also gives you more time to watch cartoons).

5. Always take a BIG bottle of water to school in Summer.  In the heat you really need to drink lots.

6. Most of all, remember that school is for learning AND fun!  Have a great 2006.


In My Garden
with Edison and Cath Manuel

I love helping my mum in the garden.  We grow some nice things and now we are growing some yummy things too.

We went to our local Garden Centre and there was so much to see.  There were some big tall trees and some little spiky plants.  I found some nice fountains with the water spurting out of the top like a whale.  We bought some vegetable seedlings which mum says are baby plants that will grow into big, yummy vegies that I can pick and eat.  I like carrots and cucumbers, so we bought those and some little tiny lettuce.  We also got a bag of dirt, that mum calls potting mix and is really good to grow plants in.  Then they get really big.

At home we found a big, old, plastic pot and I got out my gardening gloves.  We put the dirt into the pot, then planted the lettuce.  You have to be very careful with baby plants, because you don’t want to hurt them.

In our big garden bed we had to get the soil ready for the new plants.  We pulled out some weeds and then had a dig around in the dirt.  I found a really big worm and when I picked him up he wiggled all about in my hands.  That tickled me !!!

When the garden was ready we planted the carrots and cucumbers, then covered the dirt in mulch.  This is like a blanket to look after the plants and keep the water in the dirt.  When we were finished we gave everything a good drink.

The next morning, before I went to school, we went to check the babies and they looked beautiful.  They were standing up nice and straight and looked very happy.  We checked for snails and didn't find any.  Snails like to eat seedlings, so I will check them each day when I water everything.  I gave my garden another drink for the day and said “Good-bye, see you this afternoon” and left them to enjoy the sunshine and to grow.

Every day I will give them a drink and check how they are growing and very soon mum says we can pick the carrots and cucumber and I can eat them for dinner.  Yum.

It’s lots of fun growing things and there are so many different plants to grow.  When my vegetables are finished I can go back to the Garden Centre and find something else to grow (maybe some yummy strawberries).

Mum said to remind everyone to wash your hands after playing in the garden, because there are lots of germs in the dirt and also don’t forget to Slip, Slop, Slap and have lots of fun.

Bye.

 
 

 Weather Facts

  • The wavy lines on the weather map that they use to forecast the weather, are called ISOBARS.
  • The dark clouds that look like they are about to rain, are called NIMBUS.
  • CUMULUS are the big white fluffy clouds.
  • When it stops raining and the sun comes out, it dries the water on the ground and turns it into WATER VAPOUR.  The water vapour then rises up and forms clouds.

  

Ask Dorothy       
from Dmag
(Australian Geographic's 'must read' magazine for 8-12 year olds)
Dmag is all about fun, discovery and adventure and is packed full of puzzles, celebrities, competitions and stories.  Dorothy is an expert on everything kids' love, including all the totally gross stuff.
Send your GROSS questions to Dorothy and WIN 

Why are some farts really smelly and others have no smell at all?

The stink-factor of each fart mostly depends on what you’ve eaten, and what kind of bacteria you have in your intestines. See, the stink actually comes from a gas called ‘hydrogen sulfide,’ and other smelly stuff called ‘mercaptans.’ If you’ve eaten sulfur-rich food like cauliflower, eggs and meat, bacteria in your gut produces lots of these sulfides and mercaptans. As air travels through our intestines, it picks up these smelly things along the way, emerging as small, hot, stinky fart bubbles, a.k.a SBDs (Silent-But-Deadlies). If you haven’t eaten many of these foods, air will pop out your rear end quickly, in bigger bubbles, making that rude, loud sound!  Sent in by Harrison Borg

What is the smelly stuff in my mouth that makes my breath smell when I get sick?

Ever had a cold, and your mouth tastes like spew, feels like carpet and smells terrible? Well, when we’re sick and our nose is blocked up with snot, we have to breath through our mouths. This extra airflow through our mouth dries it out, and the flow of saliva is reduced. Less saliva means less oxygen, which is a perfect environment for bacteria to grow on your tongue and form a thick, white, stinky coating. Yuk! Upping the gross-o-meter is a thick snotty discharge that collects on the back of your tongue, giving that smelly bacteria a lovely blanket to hide under!  Sent in by Olivia Monaghan


Why is snot all different colours?

Snot’s colour comes from two main things: the sticky mucus it’s made from, and the gunk it traps. Mucus catches things like smoke, pollen, germs and dirt, before they reach our lungs. So snot can turn all kinds of colours, like green, yellow or brown. And if you work in a coal mine, or spend a lot of time in a big, polluted city, you’ll end up with thick black snot … eeeew! Sent in by Dave Fletcher

Send your Gross Worthy questions to Dorothy to answer and every question published will win a copy of So Gross (over 100 gross-worthy facts) and the latest Dmag.  Dmag is available now in stores for a tiny $4.95, so grab the new issue and check out what Dorothy has to say.  Send your entries (along with your name, address and phone number) to comps@singleparentbible.com.au and make sure that you put So Gross in the subject line.

     

Competition open to residents of Queensland, Australia only.
Competition Terms and Conditions


FAIRY JOKES
 
Fairy 1:  What do you call a nasty old woman who lives by the sea?
Fairy 2:  A sandwitch.
 
Fairy 1:  Do you know what to do with a blue dragon?
Fairy 2:  Yes, cheer him up.
 
Fairy 1:  How do you greet a three headed monster?
Fairy 2:  Hello, Hello, Hello.


HOW TO WRITE A SCARY STORY
 
 
1.  Find a quiet comfortable place to write with plenty of light.
 
2.  Think of a creepy place to use as the setting for your story, such as a cluttered and dusty garage.
 
3.  Use your senses to write what you see, hear, taste, smell and feel in the room.
 
4.  Try to come up with a list of ten things that can make the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end.  It could be a slithery snake or a dark shadow in the corner of a room.  Use these in different parts of your story.
 
5.  Think of some scary characters you can use.  They can be people, animals, aliens, monsters or whatever you like.
 
6.  Use lots of describing words such as frightened, angry, nervous, hollow eyed, scaly skinned, stormy and eerie.  There are thousands to choose from.
 
7.  Your story has to have a beginning, a middle and an end.  Just before it ends your story needs to climax.  This is the moment when the problem is solved and the danger is defeated.
 
8.  Think of a spooky title for your story.  ‘The Mystery of the Attic Ghost’ or ‘The Case of the Wandering Werewolf’ are a couple of ideas.  Now come up with your own.
 
With all these tips you should be able to write a story spooky enough to scare all your friends with.
 
   
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