From the category archives:

Energy and Change

Quiz – The Toy Edition

April 10, 2012 Babies

Getting back to the roots of this blog, looking at the things little ones love. What is the best sort of mobile for newborns? How do spinning tops work? Ancient toys have been found in India and Rome, what types of toys are they? Have you ever successfully got one of those cars on race [...]

Kid Question: Why do we all have different voices?

March 26, 2012 Energy and Change

Our voices work the same as an instrument like a saxophone. Air comes from our lungs then through our voicebox, or larynx, in our neck like the reed on the saxophone mouthpiece. Next it goes out through our mouth like the pipe of the saxophone. The sound depends on the shape of the instrument that [...]

Wordless Wednesday – Light

March 21, 2012 Energy and Change

A torch and a glass of water. The rays actually come from the LEDs of the torch. If you hold it just right, you get little rainbows. Or shine it straight down for glowing water. What pictures can you make?

Quiz – The Movie Edition

March 20, 2012 Earth and Beyond

Some of these are old, because I haven’t watched a new movie in about 6 years. Having kids in a remote town will do that to you. And you may just find some other reasons I don’t do well with movies. If the Millennium Falcon made the Kessel Run in less that 12 parsecs, what [...]

Spinning Eggs

March 15, 2012 Activities

This is something that has been on my list of possible activities literally for years. But I’ve never got to it because it feels so contrived. I mean when would you have a reason to do this? No, it’s just a fun trick, not something you’d ever actually do. Except, first watch the movie. Now, [...]

Road Runner is funny because he breaks the laws (of physics)

March 5, 2012 Energy and Change

While researching this post (watching cartoons on YouTube) I discovered that Road Runner cartoons are from the 60s – a lot older than I thought. Which shows that some things are timeless, especially what makes us laugh. Road Runner is funny because it breaks the rules. When people watch something like Road Runner they always [...]

Singing in the Rain

March 2, 2012 Activities

It’s raining again here. And raining, and raining. So I’m updating a post from over two years ago when I was starting out – it’s still fun today. Firstly – get out there! Before you go, get some towels and nice warm clothes ready and some soup or hot chocolate that can be easily heated. [...]

Sound Answers

February 22, 2012 Energy and Change

Somehow I had a scheduling glitch and the answers to the Sound quiz were never posted. Here they are, better late than never. 1. The loudest animal in the world is the Sperm whale, whose sonar clicks are about 230 decibels. Unfortunately sound works differently in the water and on land, so we can’t [...]

Wordless Wednesday – Whirlpools

February 22, 2012 Babies

I can’t say how happy it makes me that the girls love watching the whirlpool when you pull the plug out. I love seeing the two waves on top of the water – the huge influence of such a tiny flaw. A shining, silvery hole twisting and turning in the water. Excuse the scum.

Cloud Answers

February 17, 2012 Earth and Beyond

After you’ve checked out this post, I strongly recommend a visit to the Cloud Appreciation Society, they have fantastic guides for cloud viewing and a beautiful gallery you can spend hours browsing through 1. Noctilucent clouds are the highest type of cloud and one of the most beautiful. It literally means ‘night shining’ and usually they [...]