Apps For Kids

One of the hardest things during the coronavirus lockdown, is not being able to see all your relatives. Luckily, there are lots of other ways to connect with them. Since today is Visit Your Relatives Day, have a video chat using Facetime or Zoom. You can also just call them on the phone!

Today is No Dirty Dishes Day. First things first: clean all the dishes in the sink! Then don’t use any dishes, utensils, or cookware all day. Try cooking things on a stick, over a fire. It’s also Museum Day, so take a virtual tour online, of an art gallery or natural history museum.

Museums are still closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, but the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, in Missouri, arranged for a private tour. Several Humboldt penguins from the Kansas City Zoo, took a field trip to the gallery, to check out the fine art. The penguins liked the Italian Baroque paintings by Caravaggio best.

Matthew Scott Hunter loves Star Wars, and clean floors. He created the ultimate combo, by turning his robotic Roomba vacuum cleaner, into an Artoo unit. He used an old trashcan and cardboard, to create his custom-painted R9-D9. A speaker plays droid sounds, and a fan moves the head, while the droid mops and vacuums.

Last Tuesday, a 326-pound baby was born in Texas. His mom’s name is Shanti, and she’s an Asian elephant living at the Houston Zoo. The calf’s name is Nelson, and he’s already walking. He’s a little uncoordinated with his trunk, but he’ll get the hang of it!

Today is Pack Rat Day! Do you pick up shiny objects and cool trinkets to save forever in your house? You’re just like a packrat! They collect treasures for their nests, or middens. Packrat middens are valuable to paleobiologists because they can preserve plants, pollen, and artifacts for 50,000 years. Will they study your midden someday?

Today is World Baking Day. Since it’s also Cherry Cobbler Day, and Walnut Day, start by baking a cherry cobbler and some walnut bread. Then call your friends, to celebrate World Telecommunications Day. You can tell them about your delicious baked goods, and make their mouths water. Better yet, have a video chat picnic!

Mr. Trash Wheel is a solar and hydro powered contraption, that removes trash from the Jones Falls River, in Baltimore Maryland. As the googly-eyed waterwheel spins around, it gathers trash and deposits it into dumpsters. It earned a world record, by collecting 63.3 tons of garbage, in one month! Thanks Mr. Trash Wheel!

700 homes in Scotland lost power recently, due to a bull with an itchy bum. The bull, named Ron, was trying to scratch his behind, by rubbing against a utility pole. He bumped it so hard, that he knocked the transformer box off! Ron was not hurt, and electricity was restored a few hours later.

Today is Sea Monkey Day! Sea monkeys are actually brine shrimp. Scientists have shown that swarms of brine shrimp in the ocean can create powerful underwater currents! They migrate vertically to the surface every night to feed, churning the ocean and causing turbulence. Trillions of organisms moving together make a huge impact!