Author: Lisa Mungovan

You might know about Groundhog Day, but what about Marmot Day? Marmots are large ground squirrels. There are 15 species of marmot, and groundhogs are one of them! It’s also Hedgehog Day! They look like spiky balls, with quills that feel like toothpicks. Don’t forget Sled Dog Day! Take your dog sledding, and yell “Mush!”

Today is World Play Your Ukulele Day. Ukuleles look like small guitars, but the Hawaiian instrument has unique tuning. Pop some little potato balls in your mouth between songs, because it’s Tater Tot Day too! It’s also Crepe Day. They’re like skinny pancakes, that you can fold around any filling you like!

Snowy owls are common in the Arctic, where their white feathers keep them camouflaged in the snow. They travel further south in the winter, in search of food, but are rarely seen in big cities. Last week however, a snowy owl delighted bird watchers, by showing up in New York City’s Central Park!

Last month in Wales, 4-year-old Lily Wilder found a fantastic footprint on the beach. It looked like it was scratched into the rock, but it was actually a dinosaur track. The fossil footprint is 4 inches long, and possibly left by an 8-foot-long Grallator. It walked on 2 feet during the Triassic period, 215,000,000 years ago.

Today is World Read Aloud Day. Reading books to kids who haven’t learned to read yet is great, but it shouldn’t stop there. Whether someone reads a book to you, you read a book to someone else, or you listen to an audio book, make reading aloud a fun part of your day!

Today is Serpent Day, which celebrates snakes. Out of 3000 species of snakes, only 1/8th are venomous. The longest species, the reticulated python, can grow to over 30 feet long, while the tiny Barbados threadsnake, is like a 4-inch long spaghetti noodle. Snakes smell the air with their flickering tongues. Can you do that?

Today is going to be yummy. It’s Ice Cream For Breakfast Day! Don’t eat all the ice cream. You’ll need some later, for Baked Alaska Day. The dessert is a layer of cake, topped with ice cream and meringue, and then baked. Since it’s also Decorating With Candy Day, you know what to do.

Even though vaccines are being distributed, COVID-19 isn’t going away anytime soon. Engineers are developing masks, that have a built-in test strip to detect COVID. The strip would change color if it detected COVID in the environment, alerting people in the area to get tested. The masks might not be available for another year.

In December 2019, 10-year-old Jayden Carr’s mom gave him a Kwanzaa present, to help teach him about the stock market. She bought him 10 shares of stock in his favorite video game store, GameStop. At the time, they were worth about $6 a share. Recently, the price of GameStop stock skyrocketed, and Jayden sold his shares for $3200!

You’ve probably seen a Graphics Interchange Format image before. The short video loop is called a gif. Or is it a jif? People have debated over the pronunciation for years. Both ways are acceptable. A peanut butter brand called Jif, is demonstrating its opinion, by temporarily changing their labels from J-I-F, to G-I-F.