Mom, how far away is California? Where is the Atlantic Ocean? Is Montana close to Ohio? Now that your children are going back to school, this might be questions that are asked in your home. Why not buy them a map so they can start to find out the answers by themselves? The USA Map Floor Puzzle is one of my favorites because of the many uses it has incorporated into one small lunch box container. First of all, the puzzle is a great activity to do as a family. It is also a great learning experience for children to figure out the geography of our country. It also makes a cute, artsy picture if framed and put up in their room, once all put together. And then you can use their lunch pail for flash cards about geography questions, states’ capitals, and landmarks. This great preparation for school can be found at www.didis.com!

Some common tricks of the Hacky Sack include stalls, bag daggers, lifts, loops, ham spalts, and milk tosses. The idea of the game resembles Asian games of kicking the shuttlecock, known as Jianzi and Chapteh.

The earliest rubber ducks were made from harder rubber coinciding with the emergence of rubber manufacturing in the 1800s.

Last weekend I was driving around with my nieces and nephews. When I got to their house, we picked up the mail; they immediately got excited and wanted to know if there was anything for them. Unfortunately for them, the stack was compiled with bills, a local newspaper, and coupons for the grocery store. I told them I would start mailing them letters. But, then I started researching online ideas and found a great offer from National Geographic Magazine. They offer a year of children’s magazines for only $15 and the best part is they have two different magazines, one for 3-6 year olds and one for 6-14 year olds. I know that my nieces and nephews will be looking forward to this magazine every month! Especially,because it is truly a fun and educational way to occupy children and get them excited to read about important issues that are written simply for their understanding. You can subscribe your children to the magazine through natgeomagazines. It is a great back to school surprise!