Apps For Kids

Did you know it’s Map Reading Week? It’s easy to rely on your phone or GPS to find your way around, but paper maps give you a chance to explore. Get a paper map of your city, and find your house and school. Hang a world map on your wall, and plan future adventures!

Break out your cape and plastic fangs, because today is Dracula Day! The famous vampire drank blood, but you can celebrate with fruit punch instead. It’s also Paper Airplane Day. Make a whole fleet of folded aircraft, and see which designs fly straightest, farthest, or loopiest. Find directions for different planes at Foldnfly.com!

We know plastic bottles are bad for the planet. Bottles that don’t get recycled end up in landfills, or worse yet, in the ocean, and take 450 years to decompose. New bottles made from plant sugars, can biodegrade in 1 to 3 years. The plant plastics can still be recycled. Look for them in a few years!

If you live in West Virginia, they need your help as a citizen scientist. The West Virginia Department of Natural Resources, wants to survey the declining population of fireflies, also known as lightning bugs. You can help, by letting them know whenever you spot a firefly, lighting up the night. Report sightings at wvdnr.gov/fireflies.

Today is Tap Dance Day, but don’t worry if you don’t have tap shoes. You can make your own, using hot glue, and 20 pennies! Glue 6 pennies to the bottom of each shoe on the toe area, and another 4 to the heel. Let them dry for an hour, and you’ll be ready to tap!

A towel is the most important thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have, according to “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.” Today is Towel Day! Don’t panic, just carry a towel. It’s also Geek Pride Day. For example, be proud of being a Star Wars geek who knows the name of every single character!

Today is Memorial Day in the United States. Previously known as Decoration Day, it honors those who have died while serving in the military. The holiday also marks the unofficial beginning of summer, when pools and amusement parks usually open. The pandemic has changed that, but at least school is nearly over!

A man in North Carolina bought a lottery ticket, and asked his family to help choose the numbers. His grandparents, father, sister, and uncle all chose winning numbers. He picked the last number, and that’s the only one that didn’t come up. The 5 matches were still enough to win $1,000,000! He’d better share that jackpot!

Cows pass a lot of gas. The methane produced by one cow is equal to 3 tons of carbon dioxide a year! A Swiss company called Mootral, is producing a garlic supplement that will make cows fart less. They will help reduce harmful gasses in our atmosphere, by feeding cows better food!

The Detroit Mower Gang volunteers to mow and repair, the Michigan city’s abandoned sports fields, parks, and playgrounds. They also run the Enemies of Debris, a trash fishing event in the Detroit River. During the Motown Mowdown, they competed to mow the most grass in 12 hours. Hannah VanEckoute is the new World Champion.