How many of you love cats? I do. I have two, a black one and a striped one, and they are so much fun to play with and watch. Many of the behaviors they engage in are exactly the same as our planet’s BIG cats, such as lions and tigers. Unfortunately, unlike domestic cats that we keep as pets, wild cat numbers are decreasing.

Let’s take a look at the four big cats.

Lions

Wild lions currently exist in sub-Saharan Africa and in Asia. …read more of Kids Connect! Wild Meows here

Where I live in the USA, the season of Summer is fading away. This makes me incredibly sad because Summer is my favorite time of the year. The grass is green, the trees are full, the smell of ripe peaches scents the air in my backyard, and shorts and a T-shirt are the official uniform.

Meals are eaten outside, sports are enjoyed outside, and my bare feet find their way onto the patio when I finally sit to read or write. …read more of Kids Connect! Get Out There here

Rhino conservation efforts in Nepal received a big boost in awareness, thanks to the formation of “Eco-Clubs” in schools located in the Chitwan National Park Buffer Zone.

It was the grassroots efforts of Partnership for Rhino Conservation (PARC/Nepal) and the Chitwan National Park Buffer Zone Lothar User Committee that helped create Eco-Clubs at three different schools.

The goal of the Eco-Clubs is two-fold: 1) Creating conservation awareness at the local level, and 2) Taking a stand against illegal activities. …read more of Students in Nepal Take Rhino Conservation Awareness by the Horns! here

Scientists make new discoveries every day all over the world. Isn’t that amazing? Imagine, for example, being Galileo Galilei who first discovered some of Jupiter’s moons. Or think about being Benjamin Franklin who realized lightning was electricity. Or what about Albert Einstein who came up with the theory of relativity, E = mc²? Or Jane Goodall who was the first to observe that chimps used tools.

All of these people made discoveries that have changed our world.

That last box could be YOU! …read more of Kids Connect! You’re a scientist too! here

Do you have any favorite words? Some of my favorite words are fun to say, like pandemonium or curmudgeon. Others are poetic, like serenity or eternally. Then there are the silly words, like zigzag and heliotrope.

My most favorite words, however, are science words, particularly bioluminescence. Not sure how to say this word? Get some help here. Now you try. Go ahead. Doesn’t it just make you feel smarter to say such a beautiful word?

The prefix “bio” refers to living organisms, and “luminescence” refers to light. So, bioluminescence is the emission of light by …read more of Kids Connect! Light Show here

You probably have a BFF, right? A best friend forever. Someone you talk to every day whether it be in person, on the phone, or online.

Someone you hang out with and go to for advice, for laughs, for his or her stash of Double Stuf Oreos. Someone you can celebrate the good times with and trust not to tell your deepest, darkest secrets. A BFF makes life a little more interesting.

Especially when you’re an orangutan and a dog… …read more of Kids Connect! Unusual Animal BFFs here

When I was three I had an obsession with worms. I simply couldn’t keep myself from digging and sifting through dirt to uncover my prized little friends. I would spend hours upon hours in the hot summer sun with a dirt-covered face, just to obtain a single smile possessed by attaining a beautiful worm.

To me there was nothing better, until the day a painter came over. I was told the he didn’t like children and to leave him alone, but naturally being an impatient child, I disobeyed my mothers harsh orders and waltzed up to him. I bluntly asked if he would relocate himself somewhere other than my favored dig site.

At first he stared at me in confusion and after three or four blank moments he chuckled. He replied yes and walked around the house. Before I could set up camp he had returned with an overflowing bucket of precious worms. …read more of A Blooming Passion: From Worms to Frogs here

 
(Fred The Mighty Fish)

Ever since the day I first saw a frog they have fascinated me. The glossy silhouette fluidly leaping across leaves and branches captivates me as much now as it did thirteen years ago. The summers I spent “frogging” which was my term for catching frogs.

I was so spellbound by frogs that at age four would Internet research information about them. One day I had finally gathered enough data to give an educated speech to my mom about a certain Whites leaf frog from Australia and why I should have one. After completing my fifteen-minute report, my plea was brutally shot down by the depressing no that so boldly banged away at my ear.

However she did partially make up for her wicked sin by offering to get me a Siamese fighting fish. I agreed to the deal and got the fish. He was a dark red and royal blue fish about the size of a rose head. …read more of A Blooming Passion: My First Pet here

In 2005, author Richard Louv wrote a book entitled, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature Deficit Disorder. The book was so popular that it was updated, expanded and reprinted in 2008.

Louv’s book sheds light on a situation that won’t come as a surprise to most parents: Modern society has created a drastic disconnect between young people and nature.

Its obvious why this disconnect has occurred. Today’s kids have too much homework, too many after school activities and too many electronic playthings keeping them inside. Too much negative news has instilled sometimes-unrealistic fears in both parents and children: fear of traffic, fear of crime, fear of strangers and even of nature itself. And rapid development is quickly eating up many of the parks and other really fun places to play.

For whatever reason, kids just aren’t playing outside much anymore – not even in their own backyards. …read more of Saving our PLANET from Nature Deficit Disorder here