Tag: kids

Sports

Hockey Canada Bans Bodychecking For Peewee Players

Hockey Canada – the organization that sets the rules for amateur hockey leagues in Canada – has voted to eliminate bodychecking for peewee players across the country.

The ban will start in September 2013.

One of the main reasons for the ban is safety, says Paul Carson, vice-president of hockey development for Hockey Canada.

Last year, researchers at the University of Calgary found that young players are three times more likely to be injured in leagues where bodychecking is allowed than in leagues with no bodychecking.

The study showed that peewee players in Alberta, where bodychecking was allowed, suffered 209 injuries and 73 concussions.

In Quebec, where bodychecking is not allowed, there were 70 injuries and 20 concussions.

News

Lego School Will Be A Bricks-And-Mortar Reality This August

How would you like to go to Lego school?

That’s just what some kids will get a chance to do, when the new International School of Billund opens in Denmark this August.

The school was built by the owner of Lego, Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, who lives in Billund. He is the grandson of the man who founded the company.

And, just like many kids have built Lego towns, billionaire Kristiansen and his family have used their money to build a church, an airport, a library and a theatre in the town of Billund.

The school will be start with kids aged three to seven and expand to include kids up to age 16 by 2015.

Health Kids

For Healthier Kids, Put Away The Car And Walk To School

Only a quarter of Canadian kids walk or bike to school and that’s not enough, according to a new “report card on physical activity for children and youth.”

Active Healthy Kids Canada (AHKC) is a Canadian charity that encourages children and their parents to get more exercise.

Their report found that only 24 per cent of five to 17-year-olds in Canada use “active transportation” to get to school.

“Active transportation” means not using cars, trains or buses.

On the other hand, their parents were twice as likely to walk to school when they were children.

Every year in its report card, AHKC focuses on one aspect of healthy living.

This year’s theme, “driving,” looked at how much exercise kids are getting when they travel to and from different places near their homes.

Kids Lighter Politics

Four-Year-Old Becomes Mayor Of Small Town

A four-year-old boy named Robert Tufts is the mayor of the small town of Dorset in Minnesota.

He was given the job last August – when he was only three – and will continue to be mayor until this August.

The boy was awarded the position after his name was pulled out of a hat.

Once a year, people who live in or nearby Dorset can pay $1 to have their name written on piece of paper and put into a hat.

Then a name is randomly drawn out of the hat, and the person whose name it is becomes the mayor.

Last year, Robert Tufts’ name was pulled out.

Kids

Program Provides Help To Angry Teens

A program to prevent kids from dropping out of school is now available in Canada.

Reconnecting Youth is a U.S. program that helps kids gain self-esteem and cope with their emotions.

The Canadian program adds something more. It helps kids to see how anger can rule their lives.

The Canadian program is taught by social workers, who have training to help kids deal with anger that may be holding them back.

Many teens who are angry may also skip classes, insult teachers and even drop out of school, says Ed Schild, a spokesperson for the Reconnecting Youth program.

Reconnecting Youth has been a pilot project at R.H. King Academy in Toronto for the past two years.

Kids Science

Chris Hadfield Sings With Hundreds Of Thousands Of Schoolchildren

I’m watching history happen, right in front of my eyes.

It’s 12:30 Eastern Time on Monday, May 6.

On my computer screen, I’m watching a live satellite feed from space.

An astronaut is singing and playing guitar. He’s singing a song he wrote (with Canadian songwriter Ed Robertson from the band the Barenaked Ladies) called I.S.S. (Is Somebody Singing)?

But the really exciting part is something I can’t see. Hundreds of thousands of children in Canada and throughout the world are also singing, right at this moment, singing the very same song.

It’s part of Music Monday, which is an annual event in Canada that began in 2005. Each year, a song is chosen and school children across the country learn it so they can sing it at the same time on the same day.

Kids

Artist Draws Superheroes Inspired By Girls

Artist Alex Law believes kids know best what a superhero should look like.

So, in a new online project she calls “Little Girls Are Better At Designing Superheroes Than You” she’s taken her inspiration from girls.

“I remember being a young girl myself and being unsatisfied with the female characters available to me,” she told TKN in an email.

“Most female superheroes are designed and written by adult men, and I don’t think adult men know or even care about what girls like.”

So, when she saw some little girls dressed as their favourite superheroes, she started drawing them.

And she turned them into superheroes.

Health

Toronto Kids Need More Exercise

Ninety-nine percent of children living in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) don’t get enough exercise, according to a new study.

Researchers from the University of Toronto and Dalhousie University tracked the physical activity of 856 grade five and six students in the GTA for one week.

The students wore accelerometers – tiny devices that are similar to pedometers, but which measure all types of motion – for about 16 and a half hours a day.

The information recorded by the devices showed that, on average, boys got about 35 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per day. Girls got about 24 minutes of activity per day.

Experts* recommend that children aged five to 17 should get 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity each day.

News

T-Rex Vs. T-Tops – Who Would Win?

In a clash between Tyrannosaurus rex and Triceratops, who would win?

There is scientific evidence that the two did fight and in a new exhibit at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington, you can decide for yourself who would come out on top.

Spectators can compare the dinosaurs’ eyesight, defences and natural weapons.

The show is called Battle of the Titans and it offers an exciting new perspective on the prehistoric beasts and the world they inhabited.

The exhibit is the brainchild of “paleo-artist” and self-proclaimed dinosaur geek Hall Train.

He collaborated with paleontologists, biochemical engineers, curators and museum designers to create some of the most scientifically authentic re-creations ever made.

Health

McDonald’s Answers Canadians’ Questions

Have you ever wondered exactly what’s in a McDonald’s hamburger?

Or why the food at McDonald’s doesn’t look the same in the advertising as it does in the store?

Or whether McDonald’s food is good for you?

If so, you’re not alone.

McDonald’s has a website that posts questions answered by Canadians—and answers from McDonald’s staff.

Over the years the restaurant chain has taken a lot of heat for its food which tends to be fast, cheap and not necessarily always good for you.

However, it is everywhere. There’s hardly a city in North America—or the world—in which you can’t find a McDonald’s restaurant.