Hunkin's Experiments

How to make a camera out of a baked bean tin.

How to cook potatoes with the sun.

How to get an apple into a milk bottle.

These are just a few of the experiments you will find over at Hunkin's Experiments. Author Tim Hunkin, has this website full of fun experiments which are clearly illustrated and explained as comical cartoons.

The neat part about the experiments is that they can be accomplished by kids of all ages using everyday household items.

Some of the experiments are clear scientific experiments while others are more or less cool things to try.

I do feel that this is a very nice site for teaching your children some fun experiments. It will pique your child's interest and is guaranteed to keep children, as well as us grown-ups, busy for hours.

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AntBee's Childrens' Stories

You will find a nice selection of short stories to read at the AntBee's Childrens' Stories website. The stories are geared toward the younger child, with the text being short and the illustrations bright and colorful.

Choose from nine different titles:

Hilburt the Halibut
Frog and Dog
A Fishy Tale
Herman the Hippo
Horrible Screaming Monsters
See It & Eat It
Silly Willy
Silly Willy's Hat Trick!
Stinky the Skunk

AntBee has been rated 4 of 5 stars by Berit's Best Bets at pbs.org and rated 3 of 5 stars by the ABC's of Parenting.

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Elf Yourself and Scrooge Yourself

Here's your chance to turn your children into an elf or scrooge.

Elf Yourself - upload a photo of your child (or yourself) to see them get transform into a dancing elf, complete with music and an optional message.

You get to upload up to four photos to have all your children dance together or you can do one at a time. You can also call a phone number (which they state is free) to add a voice message to your mini video.

After you complete your choices you also have the option to send your mini elf video by e-mail and copy your elf so you can watch it over and over.

Scrooge Yourself - this one is just like Elf Yourself only with Scrooge as the video character. The only difference is that you can't add your own voice message.

My children can't stop laughing when they see themselves dancing. I'm sure it will bring a big smile to all your children's faces.

Make sure you visit all of our other Christmas and Hanukkah Pages!

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New blog - Children's NewsWatch

I would like to thank everyone for voting on our poll about adding a new children's news blog. Based on the incoming votes I decide to start a separate blog just for children's news. I will no longer post the news on Fun 4 The Children, keeping this blog...fun.

I will post updates when new information is published on the new blog, Children's NewsWatch.

Recent updates to Children's NewsWatch:

Two mothers invent organic Huggy Sluggys to help teach children how to protect the environment.

Teenagers' weight often stays stable

'Tis the season to be careful, US shoppers say

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LYSOL® Healthy Habits Activity Booklet

Teach your children healthy habits the fun way with this Healthy Habits activity booklet form Lysol.

R.B.'s Activity book

This is a cute activity book which is geared towards children 6 to 9 years of age. The book focuses on different health and safety topics that are important to children in today's society . In addition , the booklet is filled with fun activities as they learn. Inside you will find puzzles, word games, stories, pictures to color and more.

You can get your free copy of this activity booklet by visiting the Lysol website (scroll to the middle of their page where you will find the Healthy Habits booklet offer).

Lysol Healthy Habits Activity Booklet

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Silent Kimbly

Welcome to the fun and creative world of Silent Kimbly. A place where visual puns and cute wordplay literally come to life. Follow Kimbly , a spunky space girl, her pet “Binx”, and her adorably fuzzy friend “Tenderness” as they find the joy in everyday.



Silent Kimbly's creator Ryan Sia's, who I've recently had the pleasure of speaking with is best known for designing and storyboarding the characters in the animated sequence in the Oscar-winning film “Bowling for Columbine”. From there he went on to storyboard for 20th Century Fox and Bluesky Studio’s movie Robots, and worked on “Pinky Dinky Doo” for Noggin.

His cartoons have appeared in Mad Magazine, Nickelodeon Magazine, Found Magazine, and the “Flight Anthology” for Random House.

Silent Kimbly is a collection of unique, cartoony artwork that is very pleasing to the eyes. Listed under each single panel comic are funny puns that play on words. The best part is that while the children get to enjoy the amazing artwork it also helps them examine the words and learn that some words have double meanings.

The comics are family friendly and perfect for children of all ages. Your children will love this website and I'm sure you'll hear some laughs out loud, as I have from my children.



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Thanksgiving Coloring Pages - miscellaneous

The following coloring pages will be of miscellaneous items you may think of on Thanksgiving Day. Enjoy coloring Thanksgiving icons such as cornucopias, Pilgrim ships, turkey dinner, Pilgrims and Indians together and more.

Thanksgiving Turkey Dinner 1

Thanksgiving Turkey Dinner 2

Thanksgiving Turkey Dinner 3

Grandma with Turkey Dinner 1

Grandma with Turkey Dinner 2

Grandma with Turkey Dinner 3

Man with Thanksgiving Turkey

Dad cooking Turkey

Drumstick

Cornucopia 1

Cornucopia 2

Cornucopia 3

Cornucopia 4

Cornucopia 5

Man with Cornucopia

Happy Thanksgiving Cornucopia 1

Happy Thanksgiving Cornucopia 2

A Thanksgiving Cornucopia

Family Thanksgiving Dinner 1

Family Thanksgiving 2

Corn

Corn in Basket

Pilgrim and Indian 1

Pilgrim and Indian 2

Pilgrim and Indian 3

Pilgrim and Indian 4

Pilgrims and Indians Eating

Pilgrim and Indian Corn field

Pilgrim and Indian Thanksgiving Dinner 1

Pilgrim and Indian Thanksgiving Dinner 2

Female with Turkey on Head

Thanksgiving Waiter

Let Us Give Thanks

True Blue on Thanksgiving

Hope you found many enjoyable pages to color on this list. If you know of other Thanksgiving coloring pages not on this list, please let us know. If you have drawn any Thanksgiving coloring pages and would like to add them to Fun 4 The Children, just send us an e-mail.

As with all the pictures we add to this blog, all are computer printer, kid friendly pages.

May sure you visit our other fun Thanksgiving Pages!

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For Shoppers, Tainted Toys Nothing to Play With

After dozens of toy recalls, shoppers this holiday season say they're reading labels and asking questions before buying toys for little ones.



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Indians - Thanksgiving Coloring Pages

Lets add some Indians to our Thanksgiving coloring pages.

Child Indian

Indian Boy 1

Indian Boy 2

Indian Girl

Indian Boy and Girl

Indians in Canoe

Indian with pumpkin

Indian Archer

Indian Bow and Arrow

Indian Mother and Baby

Indian and Turkey

If you know of any other Indian coloring pages not on this list, or you have any Indian pictures you have drawn and would like to add to Fun 4 The Children, please let us know.

As always, all pictures are children friendly and safe to print on your computer printer. Have fun with your coloring pages.

May sure you visit our other fun Thanksgiving Pages!

Thank you http://www.easy-child-crafts.com

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Reward Charts / Responsibility Charts and more...

Parents this one is for you as well as your children.

Reward charts and responsibility charts are a great way to reinforce good behaviour and help your child make the connection between what you are telling them and what they’ve just done.

You can use these different charts to award items (stickers, check marks, happy faces, etc) for good behaviour. When your children have collected enough of these items to get them to the top of their chart, you can then reward them with a special prize. If your children are to misbehave, the opposite occurs, and an item gets removed.

Now, whether you are adding items or removing them, make sure you explain to your children why you are doing this so they understand there are consequences for their good as well as bad behaviour.

In our home, we use multiple rows on the charts, with a different prize being rewarded after each level. Ex: first row complete gets an ice cream cone, second row complete gets a new small toy or book, and so on. The choice is completely up to you and/or your children as to what the rewards will be

On the following links you will find some different charts that you can print out on your computer printer. Your children can also further decorate the charts with markers, glitter or crayons.

http://www.bubhub.com.au/rewardcharts.php - has six different reward charts for you to print

http://www.childavenue.com/pages/family_corner_pages/printables.html - here you will find a few different types of charts:

Potty charts for your little one making successful trips to the bathroom.

Chore Charts and Responsibility Charts - used to fill in your children chores on specific days.

Rewards coupons - you can use these coupons for your child doing good on their charts.

Have an opinion or idea on rewards charts? Please share it with the readers of Fun 4 The Children by sending us an e-mail or posting a comment.

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Travel Bingo

With the holiday season upon us, traveling can be a long and boring ride for your children. Providing them with a little entertainment can make all the difference.

Travel Bingo is a game you can print out and bring along that the whole family can play. It consists of eight different bingo cards that has common sights that are seen along highways and roadways.

The game is played the same way as the traditional bingo game, with the items being crossed off the card as it is spotted by the cardholder. The winner is the person who gets any three up, down, across or diagonal.

Mom and dad can think or prizes for the winners.

Ideas for printing and playing:

Print out a bunch of these games boards on regular white computer paper and just cross off the items as they are found. When finished, just throw them away.

Print the travel bingo boards on cardstock and play the game using Crayola erasable markers, this way you can save the boards.

You may want to laminate the bingo cards after you print them.

You can also print the card sheets out and then glue the page to a piece of cardboard.

To print your game cards out click: Travel Bingo Cards

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Top Ten Most Hazardous Toys

I must apologize for posting all the bad news in regards to toys and recalls. I know the name of this blog is Fun 4 The Children and that's exactly what it is suppose to be...FUN!

At the same time, we must all be kept aware of all the potential dangers of the toys we may already own and with the holidays upon us, any toy products we may be considering purchasing. I might even start a separate blog just dealing with news in regards to our children, leaving this blog for the fun stuff but keeping all the readers here by linking to the new blog. I have set up a poll on the left hand side of this page, please let me know what you think.



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Thanksgiving Coloring Pages - Pilgrims

Staying with the tradition of Thanksgiving, let's add some coloring pages of the first settlers of Plymouth Massachusetts, the Pilgrims.

Male and Female Pilgrims coloring page 1

Male and Female Pilgrim coloring page 2

"Give Thanks" Pilgrim 1

"Giving Thanks" Pilgrims 2

Pilgrims - A Harvest of Pumpkins

Pilgrim Family

Pilgrim Lady 1

Pilgrim Lady 2

Pilgrim Lady 3

Pilgrim Hat 1

Pilgrim Hat 2

Pilgrims - Wild Fowl

Searching Pilgrim

Pilgrim Man 1

Pilgrim Man 2

Pilgrim Man 3

Pilgrim Man 4

Praying Pilgrim

Pilgrims Planting Corn

Pilgrim Girl

Pilgrim Boy

Pilgrim Girl and Boy

Pilgrim Progress

Pilgrim Women

Pilgrim Village

A Pilgrim Fireplace

If you should know of any other Pilgrim coloring pages not on this list, or have any Pilgrim pictures you have drawn and would like to add to Fun 4 The Children, please let us know.

As always, all pictures are children friendly and safe to print on your computer printer. Happy Pilgrim coloring!

May sure you visit our other fun Thanksgiving Pages!

If any of the above links are not working or are expired, please do us a favor and let us know by clicking: Contact US. We may also be able to help you get some of the free coloring books, pages and E-books that may have expired.

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Dover Publications

Here's a way for you to receive some free content from Dover Publications. When you visit their website, they have a link at the top of their page and a box on the right side of their website (you can click either one) where you can sign up to receive free samples.

Each week they will send you an email with a link to free content from their books. Some examples of what you will receive include short stories, mazes, coloring pages, puzzle fun, permission-free clip art and more.

The nicest part about the whole thing is that your children will be able print any of the samples that they like on your computer printer.

To get started on receiving your free samples, click on over to the Dover Publications website.

While your at their website, you might want to browse around, as they have an incredible amount of books for the whole family, with something for each age group and very low prices.

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Curious George - website review

Some fun with that curious little monkey known as George (seems like he has been around forever). There are two different Curious George websites your children can visit that offer plenty of activities and interactive learning tools.

The first website is through the Houghton Mifflin Books website.

Url: http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/features/cgsite/gamesandfun.shtml

Website Features:

Games- Curious about counting is an interactive game in which your children help George count curious objects such as shiny balloons, beach balls and more.

Printable Activities - plenty of printable activities that will keep your children amused as the are learning different concepts.

Curious George Party Kit - Ideas to host a fun-filled Curious George event include invitations, name tags, and Curious George e-cards.

Parents, there is also a section for those of you that are teachers or librarians which list components you can use to host a fun-filled reading event.

Before leaving the website make sure you print out the recipe for Curious George banana bread, it's very simply to make and tasty!

The second Curious George Website is through PBS Kids. Much like the popular PBS Kids TV series, the website introduces young children to concepts in engineering, math and science, while keeping it fun along the way.

Url: http://pbskids.org/curiousgeorge/

Web Site Features:

Video Clips - over fifty clips from the series demonstrating science, engineering and math concepts.

Printables - many different pictures to print out on your computer to color, play games and make crafts.

Games - Thirteen interactive games featuring Curious George and the Man with the Yellow Hat. Your children will learn problem-solving, visual identification, animal sounds, job solving, memory and number concepts.

This website also includes a section for parents and teachers. Plenty of educational materials including materials for the classroom, recommended books, and a great 12-page activity booklet for parents and their children.

One last thing parents, while your kids are busy with all their activities, don't forget that banana bread.

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U.S. recalls 4M China-made Aqua Dots toys.

A new recall for the china-made toys called Aqua Dots. There seems to be no end in sight with all the recalls. Immediately take these toys away from your children and follow the directions in this article.



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Thanksgiving Coloring Pages - Turkeys

With the month of November upon us, it's time to start adding Thanksgiving Day coloring pages to Fun 4 The Children.

I want to thank everyone for the wonderful letters that have been e-mailed to us and all the great ideas for crafts and other activities to add to this blog. Please keep them coming.

As always, all of these coloring pages are safe to print on your computer printer. Let's start with one of the first two things my children mention when we talk about Thanksgiving. The Turkey!

Waving Turkey - Happy Thanksgiving 1

Waving Turkey - Happy Thanksgiving 2

Turkey coloring page 1

Turkey coloring page 2

Turkey coloring page 3

Turkey coloring page 4

Turkey coloring page 5

Turkey coloring page 6

Eat Pork Turkey

Turkey and Indian

Turkey Time - place mat

Happy Thanksgiving Turkey

Turkey Yelling

Terrified Turkey

Goobles the Turkey

We will be adding new turkey coloring pages as we find them and as they are e-mailed to me. Don't forget to add your turkey photo(s) to list, just have mom or dad e-mail it to us.

May sure you visit our other fun Thanksgiving Pages!

If any of the above links are not working or are expired, please do us a favor and let us know by clicking: Contact US. We may also be able to help you get some of the free coloring books, pages and E-books that may have expired.

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Ovie's Underground Club

Have your children explore the farm and have some fun at Ovie's Underground. Your children can learn some fun organic farm facts as well as the different parts of the farm as they stroll through Anna's Farm Tour.

You will also find four Ovie's Farm search games where your kids can search for helpers on the farm while learning what each one does.

Be sure to visit their Wiggling links page under Organic 101 as they provide other fun activity links for your children.

Parents, you should also sign your children up for Ovie's Underground Club as they will receive Ovie's e-magazine by email every other month filled with fun things for them, a special club kit with your worm tag, and membership card. Moms and dads will also receive some helpful coupons for Organic Valley Products.

Ovie's Underground Club


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China-made Elite Operations toys recalled

The toy recalls just keep coming with a recall on Chinese-made Elite Operations toys sold by Toys R US.

At the rate toys are being recalled, there will be none left by the time Christmas gets here. Not to mention that the toys that are left, many will be cautious to buy. Anyone that hears of any other recalls, please let me know so we can get the message out to all the readers of Fun 4 The Children. Thank you.



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