It’s Raining Bongs: Our Water Cycle

bong in the cloudsNow it’s time to explore our own planet’s water cycle. As we’ve learned through Bong’s adventure on the Tiny Planet of Nature, the water cycle involves evaporation, condensation and, last but not least, rain.

On Earth, water evaporates from all kinds of bodies of water including lakes, rivers, seas, oceans, puddles and anyplace else that water collects.  When the sun heats the water up it turns into vapor and floats invisibly towards the sky.

Up in the sky, the temperature cools down and so does the water vapor. When this happens the water vapor turns back into a liquid and sticks together. This is called  condensation.  This condensed water forms clouds. Continue reading

4 Tips for Creating a Storytelling Tradition

Yunlin Story House 24Let me tell you a story about … stories!  In this age of high tech gadgetry, we sometimes lose sight on the basics. Learning to be a good storyteller is an excellent way to boost your child’s auditory skills, memory and creativity that they’ll need throughout their lifetime.

We all have stories to tell, we just need to take the time to relay them to others. Here are a four ways you can get started and create a storytelling tradition within your own family.

1. Consider family stories

Talk to your relatives and, if you have the means, do some genealogical research. Nearly everyone has at least one interesting character or story in their family tree. As you find these fascinating personalities, you can create stories about them or tell their true stories. Continue reading