An elegant weapon from a more civilized time, the pool noodle was the tool the choice by the Jedi Knights of the Old Republic. Learn how to make yours with just duct tape by following Muddy Boots's instructions at the link.
Link -via Geek Crafts
Liam
lost his stuffed toy, a little blue monkey named Ah-Ah, on a family trip
three years ago. He was, understandably devastated - but his mom never
gave up looking and one day ...
The Daily What has the video clip of the reunion: Link - Thanks Kirsten! The story over at Hypervocal
"Rock-a-bye baby on the piranha plant, when the wind blows the koopa will rock" -let's face it, with a nursery like this, you'd have to change the lyrics to your favorite lullabies so they fit in as well as all the accessories.
Ouch! This school girl couldn't take her teacher's berating any longer and decided to take matters into her own hand. Or specifically, her foot. Let this be a warning to teachers everywhere: Hit play or go to Link [YouTube]
Tan Chaoyun is the mother of identical quadruplet boys. The six-year-olds are starting school, and teachers at the local primary school in China are concerned over how to tell the four boys apart. So, Tan ordered them all different haircuts. The barber shaved their heads, leaving a small patch on each boy's head in the shape of the numbers one, two, three, and four! The numbers will help at home, too, because even the quads' father has a hard time telling which son is which. Link -via Arbroath
How
much should the tooth fairy pay per tooth? There's an app for that! See
if you're paying below market rate for your children's teeth:
Kids found an average $3 per tooth under their pillows this year, up 15% from last year, according to a survey from Visa out Tuesday. Some received as much as $20 per tooth. "It's a good time to be a kid with a loose tooth," says Jason Alderman, Visa's senior director of global financial education. [...]
Unfortunately, teachers say, tooth inflation is all too common in elementary schools. Nobody wants to be the parent whose child is "the talk at recess," because of a frugal Tooth Fairy, says Amy Moncarz, a second-grade teacher at Lucy V. Barnsley Elementary School in Rockville, Md. Discrepancies in tooth price can lead to a conversation parents might want to avoid: the existence of the Tooth Fairy itself.
To help parents calculate the going rate for teeth, Visa on Tuesday is launching an app for iPhone and iPad and a calculator on its Facebook page. The app uses the survey's data to determine the average payoff a child can expect based on a parent's gender, education, location, age and income.
Link (Photo: Shutterstock)
Estonia is among the most economically successful survivors of the Soviet Union. So it's no surprise that the spunky nation is leading the way when it comes to educating children in computer science:
We’re reading today that Estonia is implementing a new education program that will have 100 percent of publicly educated students learning to write code.
ProgreTiiger education will start with students in the first grade, which starts around the age of 7 or 8 for Estonians. The compsci education will continue through a student’s final years of public school, around age 16. Teachers are being trained on the new skills, and private sector IT companies are also getting involved, which makes sense, given that these entities will likely end up being the long-term beneficiaries of a technologically literate populace.
The ProgreTiiger program is launching at a few pilot schools and will soon be rolling out to all general education schools in Estonia.
Link -via Smart News | Photo: hoyasmeg
When
is the right time to potty train your toddler? Well, according to this
unnamed Utah woman, any time is the right time, including having
lunch at a restaurant.
Another patron at the restaurant snapped a photo of the incident, which has since gone viral:
"I noticed that this lady was having her two — she had two twins, two little girls about 2-and-a-half years old, sitting on what I thought were booster seats," Decker said.
But after doing a double take, she realized they weren't booster seats, they were child port-a-potties.
"She had to undo the jumpsuits, and take them all the way down so they were completely nude, with the jumpsuits down to their ankles just eating their chicken nuggets, sitting on little toddler potties," Decker said.
Decker snapped a picture on her cell phone, while she and her friend stared in awe.
Jennifer Stagg of KSL has the story: Link - Thanks KC!
The first day back to school can be quite dramatic or comedic, especially if it's on a TV series! Flavorwire compiled this supercut to help you celebrate the beginning of the school year. There's a list of the shows that gave us the clips at the website. Link -via Laughing Squid
Redditor gigantomachy writes, "Brilliant and thoughtful parents handed these out to everyone on my flight." Bravo, bravo! Even if the babies had a terrible time, many passengers would have been too charmed to complain.
Link -via Nag on the Lake
Excuse me, sir, but that toddler is in prime condition--a real bargain. And she'll look supremely adorable in this dress that Etsy seller Seamingly Prudence made for the recent Star Wars Celebration Convention.
Link -via Fashionably Geek
Yup. I got Elmo back in '05 on the second day of Muppet season. A single .30-30 round from about 80 yards.
Well, no. I can't claim credit. The wife of redditor Wizzer2801 has been making macabre crafts with classic cartoon creations, including a Kermit dissection kit and an Abominable Snow Man rug.
We all know that the superheroes in the Marvel Universe are tough, but illustrator Skottie Young insists that they were born kicking butt!
His adorable series finds Marvel superfolks crushing villains before naptime, and even with their claws out and laser beams shooting out of their hands I just wanna hug 'em and squeeze 'em and play with 'em like bouncy little babies!
Link --via Nerd Approved
Something Awful has a wonderful forum thread led by member Assassin Princess, who is a children's party princess for hire. She describes her job, tells funny stories about the people who enlist her services, and encourages others to go into the party entertainment business.
The very poorest children, the ones whose parents are renting a princess because they could never afford to go to Disney World, those children are wonderful. They will sit and listen to you politely through the whole spiel. They know this is a special treat that their parents worked for and they don't intend to take a minute of it for granted. They're the kids I work extra hard for and remember. The middle and upper class children always have a party full of little girls in those 80 dollar Disney store dresses, with all the accessories. The less well-to-do children's parties are always in normal clothes, though a lot of the children wear their church dresses for the occasion. It just breaks your heart to do a party for them, which means so MUCH to them, then turn around and do a party for little Sienna-Jayden-Madison, who is completely jaded by the age of four and can't even focus on a five minute story before she becomes bored and distracted. The parents of less well-off children tell us that their little girl will spend months talking about the time Cinderella came to her house. The very upper-class kids forget about the princess while she's still IN their house.
Many of her stories are funny, and others will make you go all verklempt. Assassin Princess is also a costume maker, cosplayer, comic book writer, and an artist. Her illustrations appear throughout the forum discussion, and yes, we get to see her in various costumes, too. Link -via Metafilter
