holiday crafts 4 · pdf filesunflower seed on an outdoor ... ly clean she needs to shampoo or...

February 2006 www.holidaycrafts4kids.com Vol. 1; Issue 4

Holiday Crafts 4 KidsFalling in Love with Science

DiscoveringFractals

Teeth CleaningUncovered

Cartooning Made Easy

Alien InvasionTale Reviewed

Crafting Fun

And MuchMore ...

Table of Contents3

4

5

5

5

6

7

8

9

9

10

10

11

12

14

15

16

16

2 www.holidaycraft4kids.com - February 2006

Copyright 2005-2006 by Nancy Cavanaugh. All rights reserved.

No part of the website or other materials can be reproduced in any form without written consent. Parts ofthe site and materials include, but are not limited to, graphics, photos, copy and content, HTML, meta tags,template and web layouts or other features. If you have a technical problem with this website or accom-panying .pdf files, please e-mail the webmaster at [email protected].

Feeding Our Feathered Friends

Discover Soaring Cephalpods

“Aliens Are Coming!” Reviewed

Groundhog’s Day Word Search

Snowflake Daydreams

Finish the Story... My Most Embarrassing Day

Drawing Fun: Cartoon Person

What’s in a Teeth Cleaning?

Dental Science: Brushing Your Teeth-Does it Work?

My Little Valentine

Sweetheart Roses Bouquet

Make Lincoln’s Log Cabin

Double Heart Maze

Introducing the Fractal

White House

Heart Flower

Meet the Writers

Groundhog

3February 2006 - www.holidaycraft4kids.com

Feeding Our Feathered FriendsBy Kevin Scott Collier

Illustrated By Kevin Scott Collier

Sprinkle some black oilsunflower seed on an outdoordeck or porch or porch andwatch what shows up. Hungrybirds! You will be surprised atthe sizes and variety of feath-ered friends that will arrive.

Little birds like goldfinchesto big birds like woodpeckers.Put out cracked corn to attractducks and geese near lakeshoreareas. Suet cakes attract wood-peckers in particular. Put outcut orange halves in the month

May to attract orioles.Hummingbirds are

attracted to a sweetmixture or sugar andwater.

Confused? Visit your localfeed store or any largesupermarket thatsells bird feedersand supplies. Theycan help you. You willnot only be feedingbirds, but learningabout them, too!

In the tree branch: a Blue Jay.From left to right, on the deck:a Rose-breasted Grosbeak, aGoldfinch, and a Cardinal.


Discover Soaring CephalpodsBy Jessica Lee Anderson

Squids and octopuses—both animals are even moreinteresting than they look!These invertebrates known ascephalopods have a shell hid-den on the inside of their bod-ies.

Squids and octopuses movequickly through the ocean bysquirting a jet of water back-ward through a special funnelcalled a siphon.

The water squirts out of thesiphon and the animals movein the opposite direction.

The way the siphon worksis similar to blowing a balloonup and then releasing it. Asthe air blows out, the balloonmoves forward.

Now you can make yourown soaring cephalopod.

What you need:Balloons (12 inch or experi-

ment with a variety of differentshapes and sizes)

MarkersScissorsTissue paperYarnTransparent tape.

What to do:1. Decorate the tip of the

balloon with markers to createeyes or any designs for yoursquid or octopus.

2. Carefully, with the scis-sors, cut either yarn or tis-sue paper to create ten-tacles. Using smallpieces of tape, stick theyarn or tissue paperabout an inch fromthe mouth of the bal-loon, but make sureyou are still able toblow it up.

3. Blow up the

balloon, and hold the endclosed with your fingers.

4. Be careful so you will nothit anyone, and then let go ofthe balloon. Watch your ani-mal move like the real cephalo-pod.

5. With a friend, have acephalopod race to see whoseanimal soars faster!


“Aliens Are Coming!” ReviewedBy Nancy Cavanaugh

By Nancy Cavanaugh

By Donna Morin Miller

Title: Aliens Are Coming!Author: Meghan McCarthyIllustrator: Meghan McCarthyPublisher: Alfred A. KnopfISBN: 0-375-83518-0

In 1938 residents of NewJersey didn’t have to worryabout the aliens coming—they had already arrived andmore were landing all overthe country. At least accord-ing to a made up news reportfrom CBS Radio.

In one of the most memo-rable radio broadcast of alltime, Orson Welles terrifiedAmericans across the countryand caused a state of panicwith his theatrical production

of “The War of the Worlds” byH.G. Wells.

“Aliens Are Coming!”byMeghan McCarthy tells thetrue tale of the “The War of theWorlds” radio broadcast that

took place on October 30, 1938on CBS Radio.

The story is told withhumor and wonderful cartoonillustrations. Learning abouthistory is seen in a whole newlight with McCarthy’s unusu-al take on the subject.

McCarthy, who lives inNew York City, has writtenseveral other books. You canfind out more about her andher books on her web site atwww.meghan-mccarthy.com.

You can find more alien funat www.aliensarecoming.comwhere you can register to wina free copy of this fun book aswell as learn how to draw andalien and make alien slime.

B U R R O W E E K S G H D W PH N B E F E B R U A R Y S I XA H P A O A R O P B O D R N DY E E I R T H A R S U S I T NN E E R E H I B E R N A T E IF X K T C E D R D D D L B R SN H S C A R E D I P H I L T AN N H P S O T L C L O U D Y UY R A L T A K F T O G D Y S TO C D W I S C U A A P N U R AO I O S I C R I S E O H R D NP B W N E D K S C O T D S I RS E U H T R S W W H H R R D EH E S D H F U G R S E S N C UE N S P R I N G R C S P P S F

burrowcloudyFebruaryforecastgroundhoghibernatehidepeeksPhil

predictscaredshadowsixspringsunweatherweekswinter

Snowflakes descending from the skyDancing softly as they pass byMy bedroom window way up highTo the bustling street below.

Groundhog’s Day Word Search

Snowflake Daydreams


My Most Embarrassing DayI had a feeling I forgot something this morning. When I walked into my class at school and saw

all my friends staring at me with their mouths wide open, I realized…

Finish the Story...

By Lyn Sirota


Drawing Fun: Cartoon Person

Written andIllustratedBy Kevin

ScottCollier

Do you know how do a car-toon drawing of a kid? Followwhat Billy is drawing below.It’s easy!

1. Take a piece of paper anddraw a line in the middle divid-ing it in half. Draw a big ovalshape in the top half.

2. Divide the bottom halfwith a line, too. Then draw ashirt, arms and hands in thatspace.

3. In the remaining bottomspace, draw two legs, wearingpants or a skirt, and someshoes.

4. Complete your cartoonkid drawing with hair and aface, and bingo! You have justbecome a cartoonist!

Creating a cartoon drawingof a kid is easy! Just remem-ber, half of the young person'sbody height will be his head!


What’s in a Teeth Cleaning?By Charlotte A. Braden

You may wonder why yougo to the dentist twice a year toget your teeth cleaned. Afterall, you brush them at home,right?

Well, when you get yourteeth cleaned at the dentistoffice they get deep cleaned.Like when your mom sham-poos the carpets in your house.Most of the time she just vacu-ums them but to get them real-ly clean she needs to shampooor steam clean them. Thatis what the dentist or den-tal hygienist does. A den-tal hygienist is a personwho cleans peoples teeth.Yup, a dental hygienistcleans all day long!

The dentist or dentalhygienist uses specialtools called instrumentsthat fit into the nooks andcrannies around yourteeth. The instrumentsmay look scary but they willnot hurt you. They are clean-ing tools to remove the plaque,tarter or calculus off yourteeth. Once free of gunk andgoo your shiny teeth will gobling-bling!

Plaque is sticky goo thatclings to your teeth. What is itmade of? It’s made of leftoverfood. When you eat, food getchewed up into little tiny bitsand swallowed. Only some par-ticles of food stick around, lit-erally, to your teeth. If youdon’t brush, it will turn intotarter. Tarter is plaque that

has hardened and stuck tightto your teeth. It’s like barna-cles on a ship or whale. Theonly way to remove tarter,which can also be called calcu-lus, is with the special tools atthe dentist office.

This is why it is importantto see your dentist twice a yearfor a cleaning. The dentist canremove those bits of plaqueand tarter that are playinghide and seek in your teeth

before they start trouble. What happens if the plaque

and tarter stay on your teeth?Oh no, you don’t want that.Your teeth may weaken anddevelop a cavity. A cavitystarts out as a small hole in thetooth. This small hole lets inplaque and bacteria. Theplaque and bacteria start toeat away at the weak spot inthe tooth. Have you ever seen arust spot on a car, bike or othermetal object? A rust spot is likea cavity. It’s a weak spot in themetal and if it’s not fixed it willjust get bigger and bigger. So,

how do you fix it?A dentist will remove the

damaged part of the tooth.This is done with a tool called ahigh-speed drill. It makes avery loud noise for such a littletool. It’s like a shovel; itremoves the decay or dirt fromthe tooth. When all the decayis gone, the dentist will fill inthe hole. There are two com-mon types of fillings, Amalgamor Composite. Amalgam is a

silver filling andComposite is a white fill-ing. Silver is used for backteeth and white is for frontteeth. After all, you would-n’t want a big silver toothin the front of your mouth.

Would you like to helpkeep your teeth shiny?Following these tips willhelp.

1. Brush with fluo-ride toothpaste at least

twice a day 2. Floss once a day3. Avoid sugary drinks and

snacks like soda and gum4. Try to eat healthy

snacks like apples andbananas

5. Use the proper sizebrush—tot size for tots andchild size for children…

6. Visit your dentist twicea year for a cleaning andcheck-up

Star Tip* Don’t floss allyour teeth, just the ones youwant to keep!


Dental Science: BrushingYour Teeth—Does It Work?

By Charlotte A. Braden

Here is an easy experimentyou can try with a hard boiledegg and dark soda. Explain toyour child that the egg repre-sents a tooth and the soda rep-resents sugary snacks, candyand drinks. This experimentshows brushing really works.

Your child will gain anappreciation that brushingreally works. So break outsome spiffy new toothbrushes;this is a great time to go overproper brushing techniques.

What you need:1 hard boiled egg (white

egg)1 jar or cup

Dark soda like root beer orcola (enough to cover egg)

1 toothbrushPea size drop of toothpaste

What to do:1. Let your child examine

the egg. Be sneaky, ask aboutthe color. Oooo and Ahhh overhow pretty and white the eggis. Compare it to the whitenessof your child’s teeth.

2. Place hard boiled egg incup and cover with soda. Letegg sit in soda for 24 hours.Remove egg from soda and letyour child examine. Askhim/her if they see any differ-ence in the egg. (The egg will

be dark brown) Remind thechild the egg is pretending tobe a tooth.

3. Now, let your child brushthe egg with the toothbrushand toothpaste. The browngunk will come off and the eggwill be shiny white again.

My Little ValentineBy Brenda Reeves Sturgis

Cupid’s arrow went astray And hit me in the knee,The frosted cupcakes crumbled quickAnd none were left for me.

The petals on my crimson roseHave shriveled dropped and died.I’m going underneath my deskTo hibernate and hide.

Oh look … a teeny tiny cardIt’s absolutely mine.It’s from the boy I love the mostA pretty valentine.

It says, "I’ve liked you all alongI like your frilly dress.""Would you be my girlfriend please,Just circle no or yes."

I smiled and I giggled onceI crawled into my chairI smoothed and stroked my ruffled dressAnd fixed my messy hair.

I wrote back to that little boy"I’ll love you like no other!"I signed it with a lipstick kiss"Your Valentine, and mother."


Sweetheart Roses BouquetFrom www.holidaycrafts4kids.com

What you need:Chocolate kisses Pink plastic wrap Green tape Scotch tape Green pipe cleaners Green tissue paper

What to do:1. For the bud by taping

two foil-wrapped candies bot-tom to bottom.

2. Drape a five-inch squareof pink plastic wrap over thetop of one kiss then gather theedges and twist them into a

tail. 3. Tightly twist the top of a

green pipe cleaner around thetail for the stem then addleaves by holding a strip ofgreen tissue paper against thestem and rolling the pipecleaner around the center ofthe strip.

4. Trim the leaves so thatthey have pointy tips, andwrap green tape around thestem portion above the leavesto reinforce it.

5. Make several of these tocreate a bouquet of roses.

Make Lincoln’s Log CabinFrom www.holidaycrafts4kids.com

What you need:Empty 1/2 pint paper milk

carton, rinsed and dried 8"x10" board covered with

wax paper 16 ounce container of vanil-

la or chocolate frosting 1/2 cup shredded coconut,

tinted green Decorations: cheese fla-

vored snack sticks, grahamcrackers, pretzel sticks, squarecheese crackers, and greenspearmint candy leaves.

Aluminum foil

What to do:1. Cover the milk carton

with aluminum foil. 2. Spread one side of the

carton with frosting then deco-rate with cheese sticks so thatit looks like a log cabin. Useone section of graham crackerfor a door.

3. Frost the top of themilk carton and topwith pretzel sticks.

4. Spread frostingonto preparedboard thensprinkle withcoconut. Arrangecheese crackersfor a walkwayand make a logpile out of cheesesticks.

5. Construct a smallfence from cheese sticks and

pretzel sticks, using dabs offrosting to hold them together.Place spearmint leaves in thefrosting for trees.


By Nancy Cavanaugh


Introducing the FractalBy Nancy Cavanaugh

Have you ever seen a frac-tal? Fractals are irregularlyshaped objects where the partsof it look like the whole. Youcan find them all around you innature and you can createbeautiful fractals on your com-puter with specially designedprograms.

Fractals were first discov-ered in 1872 by KarlWeirerstrass. It was impossi-ble to calculate them by handso no one knew what theylooked like until 1975 whenBenoit Mandelbrot used a com-puter to create one. He calledthem fractals, which is fromthe Latin fractus or “broken”.

When you look at the com-puter screen you should thinkof it as a plane, or flat surface,that is made up of many, manypoints. Each point has its owncoordinate that determineswhere it is located on theplane. No two points can havethe same coordinates, like on agrid when two lines cross and anew point is created.

In order to make a fractalyou need to have a function,which is a math equation thatcan be performed on any pairof coordinates that will giveyou two new coordinates. Inthe Koch snowflake projectbelow the function is to divide,draw and erase.

To start you need to pick apoint then perform the func-tion using those coordinates.The function is then performed

on the new point, then on thenew point that is created andso on. This is repeated overand over. It is possible to havemore than 800,000 points inone fractal.

The fractals are coloredbased on what happens whenthe function is applied to apoint. For example, points thatdo not leave the screen mightbe colored blue. Points thattook two repeats of the func-tion to leave the screen may becolored red; three repeatsmight be yellow, etc. You canuse any colors you’d like.

Fractals can be found inmany places in nature. Somefractals are trees, ferns, clouds,snowflakes, mountains andcoastlines. A tree, for example,grows from a single trunkwhich divides into branches.Those branches then divideinto more branches, and thenew branches divide into newbranches. The twigs look likethe branches that look like thetree making it a fractal.

Another example of a frac-tal is broccoli. Get a head ofbroccoli and examine it. It is afractal because each part, nomatter how small, looks thesame as the whole.

There are many differentkinds of fractals that can becreated. Two types of fractalsare the Koch snowflake and theSierpinski Triangle. You canmake simple versions of thesefractals on paper that will give

you and idea what they looklike after a few steps. If theywere done on a computer theywould be repeated endlessly.

Koch Snowflake

What you need:1 large piece of paperPencilEraserRuler

What to do:1. Draw an equilateral tri-

angle (all three sides are thesame length) on apiece of paper.You can create anequilateral trian-gle by folding thecorner of a piece of paper to theopposite side then creasing thepaper. Cut outand trace the tri-angle onto thepiece of paper.

2. Divide eachside into threeequal parts and erase the mid-dle section.

3. Replace itwith two lines thesame length asthe one youerased. Do this onall three sides to create a star.

4. Repeat this on each sideof the new trian-gles created.Continue to dothis three moretimes.

Sierpinski Triangle

What you need:1 large piece of paperPencilColored pen-

cils or crayonsRuler

What to do:1. Draw a large equilateral

triangle on a piece of paper.2. Find the midpoints of

each side and connect them toform four new triangles.

3. Color the one in the mid-dle.

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 inthe remaining three triangles.Continue to do this three moretimes.


Below and to the right are examples ofvarious types of fractals.


Donna MorinMiller is a for-mer elementaryteacher who

now has a classroom of one-her son, Max. Her writingcredits include Pockets andHighlights for Children.

Jessica Lee Anderson'snovel, Trudy (MilkweedEditions, September 2005),won the Milkweed Award forChildren’s Fiction. Her salesinclude short stories and non-fiction to Highlights forChildren, Wee Ones Magazine,and Blooming Tree Press. Formore information aboutJessica, visit her website atwww.jessicaleeanderson.com

Kevin Scott Collier is achildren's book author andillustrator. He is under con-tract for Baker Trittin Press(Tweener Press Division),Guardian Angel Publishing,and New World Publishing.Kevin also has works pub-lished by Hidden PictureBooks, Book Locker,Heliographic Press andTangerine Sky. For more infor-mation visit his website atwww.kevinscottcollier.com.

Brenda Reeves Sturgis isa member of SCBWI and anactive member of the onlinerhyming critique groupSHINE. She lives in ShapleighMaine. She has been publishedin Inspiration Station inDecember 2005, Wee OnesMay/June 2006, Wee Ones,Nov/Dec 2006, Dragonfly spiri-ty December 2006 and alsoWee Ones Jan 07. Her first pic-ture book “Anastasia's NewAngel Wings”, illustrated by

Kevin Scott Collier, will comeout later this year. You canreach her at [email protected].

Charlotte A. Braden is abook lover and believes thatjust like with cats; the morethe merrier. Great delight istaken in fat cats, dandelionsand glass beads. She is a freelance writer, a member of sev-eral on-line writing groups andhas been writing atEpinions.com since 1999. Shelives in Switzerland with herhusband, daughter and fivecats. You can contact her [email protected].

Lyn Sirota is an activemember of her local andnational Society of Children'sBook Writers and Illustrators.She writes content for theirwebsite and coordinate theNew Jersey critique groups.Her publishing credits includearticles and poetry in WeeOnes, Saplings, Boy's Quest,Hopscotch, Ladybug, Spider,Dragonfly Spirit, and NatureFriend magazines. As a gradu-ate of the Institute ofChildren's Literature, she hasalso been accepted into theiradvanced writing program.

MeettheWriters

holiday crafts 4 · pdf filesunflower seed on an outdoor ... ly clean she needs to shampoo or...

Documents