Tag: children

Kids Sports

The Shediac Capitals Play Hockey – And Read

The kids on the Shediac Capitals hockey team do all the usual stuff everyone else does: they gear up, put on skates and helmets, then they hit the ice.

During practices they do drills, learn new moves, shoot pucks, and field goals.

After practice, they go into the dressing room, unlace their skates and take off their gear, just like any other team.

But then the Shediac Capitals do something very different. They get out their books.

After every hockey practice, the grade-school aged kids who make up the Shediac Capitals in Moncton, NB have a reading circle.

Health Kids

Death Of The Whopper

They will no longer be serving Whoppers at Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto, after the fast-food restaurant closed down in the food court there recently.

Canada’s largest hospital for children made the choice to close down the Burger King because of its unhealthy options such cheeseburgers and French fries, which are high in fat and salt.

The hospital is meant to offer healthy food choices for the visitors and staff. A doctor at Sick Kids named Vishal Avinashi started a Facebook group called, “Burger King should NOT be allowed to operate at Sick Kids Hospital.” There are 269 members in the group, and more are joining each day.

Avinashi tried to raise awareness of the messages that the hospital is sending by offering unhealthy options. He says the hospital is, “setting the wrong example” by allowing fast-food restaurants to sell unhealthy food there.

Kids News

Bilaal Rajan: Underage Overachiever

Bilaal Rajan is an “Underage Overachiever,” just as the title of his book suggests. The 14-year-old teenager from Toronto has devoted much of his life to helping people. He gave a speech at Ryerson University last Thursday to spread his message of “giving” to students. He hopes that by talking about what he’s done, he can inspire other kids to make a difference in their community.

Bilaal started his life of giving when he was only four years old. After feeling personally affected by earthquake victims in India, he started selling Clementine oranges door-to-door in his neighbourhood.

Breaking News News

What Is Happening In Japan Now?

Recently, Japan suffered the fifth largest earthquake in history. Although Japan is extremely well prepared for earthquakes, nothing could have prepared the country for something this big. And that’s not even counting the tsunami (giant wave) that was created by the quake.

You may be hearing news reports about “radiation” and “nuclear reactors.”

Normally, nuclear reactors are very safe. They supply clean energy and can create a lot of electricity. For a country like Japan, that is relatively small but uses a lot of electricity, nuclear energy has been important.

However, the buildings that house the reactors have been damaged by the earthquake and the tsunami.

The earthquake damaged four enormous buildings that supply power to Japan. They are called “nuclear reactors” and they supply nuclear power that creates electricity for the country.

Kids

Great Things To Do In Quebec

In grade four, students in Ontario, PEI and Nova Scotia start to learn French in school. To show our son Anton just how wonderful French culture is, I suggested our family visit Quebec City over March Break.

Then I put Anton in charge of planning the trip.

Anton started his research sites like www.TripAdvisor.com and www.bonjourquebec.com, Quebec’s tourism site. He also talked with Micheline Lachance from Tourisme Quebec.

Anton: I’m dying to see the Ice Hotel. It seems impossible. What’s it like?

Micheline: The tour shows you what each type of room is like and how you can sleep on an ice bed and drink in ice glasses. Each room has ice sculptures with different scenes of nature.

Anton: I read Quebec produces about 80 per cent of the world’s maple syrup. Is March a good time to visit a sugar shack?

Health Kids Lighter

New Kinds Of Playgrounds In Toronto

Playgrounds in Toronto are changing. Old, boring playgrounds made of wood are on the way out and new, more creative playgrounds are taking their place.

To build a new playground, many safety rules have to be followed. Sometimes, these rules can make the equipment boring and too simple.

Most old playgrounds have a slide, monkey bars and a climber. They are good for exercising the body but they don’t challenge the brain, so kids get bored and stop using them. If kids stop using them, they stop exercising their bodies and then they aren’t as healthy.

Science

Write Your Worries Away

Students who are anxious about a test can improve their scores just by writing about their fears, according to a new study.

Researchers took 47 university students who were nervous about an upcoming exam and divided them into three groups. The first group was told to write about their fears 10 minutes before they took a math test. The second group was told to write about what they did the day before. And the third group relaxed for 10 minutes before the test.

Arts Entertainment

Young African Pianist Achieves His Dreams

As a boy, Mehdi Ghazi had a dream. He wanted to be a classical pianist.

But he lived in Algeria, a northern African nation torn apart by a long-standing civil war between government forces and Islamic rebels. The war had shut down the music conservatory. And western classical music was nearly unheard of there—in fact, some called it “the devil’s music.”

Ghazi had no piano. He practiced on a keyboard drawn on a sheet of paper. And he had no teacher, so he taught himself to play.

Lighter

Little Boy Ties Up 911 Line

Did you know that old cell phones, even if they’re no longer connected to a network, can often still dial 911? Alex’s parents know it… now. That’s because Alex used his “play” cell phone to dial 911. Four hundred times. […]