Author: Lisa Mungovan

Today is Extraterrestrial Culture Day. Do you think there’s life on other planets? Read a book, like “The Alien Next Door,” or watch a movie, like “ET.” Then build a make-believe spaceship in your living room, or have everyone imagine a new planet, and draw their own alien species.

Pizza is awesome. You can keep it simple, a crust with tomato and cheese, or you can put 30 toppings on it! Yay! It’s Pizza Day! It’s also Read In the Bathtub Day. After you eat your favorite pizza, relax in the bath with your favorite book. Just don’t drop it in the water!

If you have temperatures colder than 25° below 0, you can create snow with an adult’s help! A pot of boiling water thrown into extremely cold air, will vaporize and fall as snow. Be sure you don’t have any exposed skin during your experiment, or you could get frostbite. Then boil more water, for hot chocolate!

Parts of North America are experiencing arctic temperatures from a polar vortex, which is the wind circulating around the North pole. Sometimes a stream of air escapes, and heads south. In the US, the Midwest and Plains will be the coldest, hitting minus 30° Fahrenheit. Factor in the wind, and it will feel like 50° below 0!

Today is Clean Out Your Computer Day. Find an online tutorial, to show you how to clean the grime off the mouse, the dust off the cooling fan, and the crumbs off the keyboard. Once it’s physically clean, start cleaning out unnecessary files. You’ll be surprised, at how much faster a clean computer runs!

Today is National Boy Scouts Day. The Boy Scouts of America was created in 19 10, inspired by the British Boy Scouts. Since then, 130,000,000 Scouts have enjoyed earning 135 different merit badges. The Pinewood Derby, where Scouts design their own miniature wooden racing cars, has been taking place since 19 53. Scouts pledge to do their best.

Grab your favorite kite and head outside. It’s Kite Flying Day! While you’re out there, sing a song in your best opera voice. You can listen to some famous opera singers like Luciano Pavarotti or Maria Callas for inspiration, since it’s Opera Day. Finally, celebrate Molasses Bar Day, with a pan of homemade treats!

Sometimes you break a world record, without even knowing it. When Bob Hutchinson was 92, he went water skiing in Ontario. That made him the world’s oldest male water skier, but it wasn’t official until recently. Bob’s family applied for the Guinness World Record, so the now 94-year-old will be listed in the record books!

Nzambi Matee is a materials engineer in Kenya. She designed machines that recycle plastic, into bricks. Nzambi uses the plastic waste that can’t be recycled into new products, and mixes it with sand. The materials are heated and compressed into bricks, which are about 5 times stronger than concrete bricks. Matee’s factory can produce 1500 bricks-per-day.

Today is Fettuccine Alfredo Day. It’s an Italian dish consisting of long, flat pasta noodles, covered in a creamy butter and cheese sauce. It’s also Yorkshire Pudding Day. The British recipe is closer to a roll or muffin, than chocolate pudding. A flour, milk and egg batter rises into a savory, puffy pudding.