Author: Lisa Mungovan

Celebrate Frankenstein Friday, by watching the classic movie, reading the book by Mary Shelley, carving a Frankenstein pumpkin with scars and neck bolts, or practicing your best monster lurch. It’s also Bandana Day, so your monster could also be a pirate, a cowpoke, or just considerately masking up.

Today is Internet Day. It’s hard to imagine living without the internet. I wouldn’t be able to give you the Kids News! And how would you watch cat videos today, to celebrate Cat Day? Give your cat all his favorite treats, and learn a few cat phrases, like “meow-meow,” and “hiss!”

A softball team in Colorado, is probably the oldest team in the United States. Although the Colorado Peaches team was only founded in 19 91, its members range in age from their 50’s to their 90’s. They didn’t win the World Senior Games Tournament, but they believe positivity is more important than victory.

Scientists in South Korea, have made fuel cells, that are powered by pee. The cells are built using inexpensive electrodes, and urea from urine, and work a bit like a battery. The wastewater treatment plants, that filter pee from your toilet water, could become power stations, that generate electricity for your house.

Have you ever had to stack the chairs at your school? Then you know the stack starts to get a little wobbly, if you add too many chairs. Restaurant manager Jay Ehson, is a chair-stacking master. He set a world record, by building a 17-foot-tall tower of chairs! Luckily, it wasn’t a windy day.

Today is Wild Foods Day. Your backyard might be full of delicious food. Blackberries, apples, and other fruit are easy to identify. Dandelions, chickweed, clover, and wild onions taste great, as long as your lawn is pesticide-free. Black walnuts take some work, to get inside. Don’t eat anything, until checking with an adult.

Chocolate lovers, today is your lucky day. It’s Chocolate Day! People have been eating chocolate, made from the seeds of cacao trees, for 4000 years or more. Be sure to watch some cartoons while you enjoy your chocolate, because it’s also Animation Day. Create your own stop-motion video or flip-book animation!

Some villages in Sierra Leone, have gone without power for 60 years. The West African country is now installing solar microgrids, to extend electricity to reach 80,000 more people. The small solar grids, harness the Sun’s power, to provide communities with lights, refrigeration, and anything else you can plug in!

The Pfizer-Biontech COVID-19 vaccine, has finally been recommended for kids 5 and up. The US Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, found the vaccine was safe and effective, with no serious side effects. The next step, will be to authorize the vaccine. Then the Centers for Disease Control, or CDC, will give final approval.

Antarctica is the coldest place on Earth, but it wasn’t always that way. During the Cretaceous period, starting 100,000,000 years ago, it was filled with flowers, ferns, trees, and dinosaurs. Scientists are studying charcoal remnants, from a fire that raged through Antarctic forests 75,000,000 years ago. Volcanic activity may have started common wildfires.