Children’s Summer Reading

A survey of the best children’s summer reading lists on the Web from NEA, a nice list from NPR and more summer reading for kids from NPR.

Watch This!

Top fifty films for children up to the age of 14, in alphabetical order. To be continued with our favorites … in the next 10 years or so

This list is based on nominations and votes from those attending the Watch This! debate at the Barbican Cinema on 13 July 2005, from a wide range of individuals, including filmmakers and teachers, and from a number of children’s film organisations across Europe.

• A Day at the Races (Sam Wood, 1937, USA)
• The Adventures of Robin Hood (Michael Curtiz/William Keighley, 1938, USA)
• Au revoir les enfants (Louis Malle, 1987, France/W.Germany)
• Back to the Future (Robert Zemeckis, 1985, USA)
• Beauty and the Beast (Gary Trousdale/Kirk Wise, 1991, USA)
• Bicycle Thieves (Vittorio De Sica, 1948, Italy)
• Billy Elliot (Stephen Daldry, 2000, UK/France)
• E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (Steven Spielberg, 1982, USA)
• Edward Scissorhands (Tim Burton, 1990, USA)
• Etre et Avoir (Nicolas Philibert, 2002, France)
• Finding Nemo (Andrew Stanton/Lee Unkrich, 2003, USA)
• It’s a Wonderful Life (Frank Capra, 1946, USA)
• Jason and the Argonauts (Don Chaffey, 1963, UK/USA)
• Kes (Ken Loach, 1969, UK)
• The Kid (Charles Chaplin, 1921, USA)
• King Kong (Merian C.Cooper/Ernest B.Schoedsack, 1933, USA)
• Kirikou et la sorcière (Michel Ocelot, 1998, France/Belgium/Luxembourg)
• La Belle et la bête (Jean Cocteau, 1946, France / Luxembourg)
• Le Voyage dans la lune (Georges Melies, 1902, France)
• Les Quatre cents coups (Francois Truffaut, 1959, France)
• Monsieur Hulot’s Holiday (Jacques Tati, 1953, France)
• My Life as a Dog (Lasse Halstrom, 1985, Sweden)
• My Neighbour Totoro (Hayao Miyazaki, 1988, Japan/USA)
• The Night of the Hunter (Charles Laughton, 1955, USA)
• Oliver Twist (David Lean, 1948, UK)
• The Outsiders (Francis Ford Coppola, 1983, USA)
• Pather Panchali (Satyajit Ray, 1955, India)
• Playtime (Jacques Tati, 1967, France/Italy)
• The Princess Bride (Rob Reiner, 1987, USA)
• Rabbit-Proof Fence (Phillip Noyce, 2002, Australia)
• Raiders of the Lost Ark (Steven Spielberg, 1981, USA)
• The Railway Children (Lionel Jeffries, 1970, UK)
• The Red Balloon (Albert Lamorisse, 1956, France)
• Romeo + Juliet (Baz Luhrman, 1996, USA)
• The Secret Garden (Agnieszka Holland, 1993, UK/USA)
• Show Me Love (Lukas Moodysson, 1998, Sweden/Denmark)
• Singin’ in the Rain (Stanley Donen/Gene Kelly, 1952, USA)
• Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Disney, 1937, USA)
• Some Like it Hot (Billy Wilder, 1959, USA)
• The Spirit of the Beehive (Victor Erice, 1973, Spain)
• Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki, 2001, Japan)
• Star Wars (George Lucas, 1977, USA)
• To Kill a Mockingbird (Robert Mulligan, 1962, USA)
• Toy Story (John Lasseter, 1995, USA)
• Walkabout (Nicholas Roeg, 1971, UK)
• Whale Rider (Niki Caro, 2002, New Zealand)
• Where is the Friend’s House? (Abbas Kiarostami, 1987, Iran)
• Whistle Down the Wind (Bryan Forbes, 1961, UK)
• The White Balloon (Jafar Panahi, 1995, Iran)

And the top 10 list:

• Bicycle Thieves (Vittorio De Sica, 1948, Italy)
• ET The Extra-Terrestrial (Steven Spielberg, 1982, USA)
• Kes (Ken Loach, 1969, UK)
• The Night of the Hunter (Charles Laughton, 1955, USA)
• Les Quatre Cents Coups (François Truffaut, 1959, France)
• Show Me Love (Lukas Moodysson, 1998, Sw/Dk)
• Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki, 2001, Japan)
• Toy Story (John Lasseter, 1995, USA)
• Where is the Friend’s House? (Abbas Kiarostami, 1987, Iran)
• The Wizard of Oz (Victor Fleming, 1939, USA)

Bugs, slugs and more at Science Festival

The Hayward University Science Festival is in our annual calendar:

A Day of Learning and Adventure, for the curious of all ages.

The Science Festival at Cal State East Bay has been a tradition since 1974. All College of Science Academic Programs participate and contribute to this biennial event. You’ll have the opportunity to experience the wonders of science and meet with our professors and students.

Free and Open to the Public!

See snakes and sea slugs, cast fossils and watch a dean perform chemistry magic at Science Festival 2009. The biennial science exploration event will be held April 25 at the California State University, East Bay, Hayward campus. The festival, offering free admission and parking, is open to the public and science lovers of all ages.

Hosted by Cal State East Bay’s College of Science, the festival will be held from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., at the Science buildings and the Valley Business and Technology Center on campus.

The 2007 Science Festival drew an estimated 5,000 attendees, and a similar size or larger crowd is expected to attend the 2009 event, said Charlene Lebastchi, festival coordinator and College of Science staff member. While people of all ages, families, and local CSUEB alums take part in the festival, the event particularly affects young students, she said.

“It’s an opportunity to get little kids interested in science,” said Lebastchi. “They get to see so many different things.”

With approximately 50 activities scheduled for the day, students are encouraged not only to watch but participate. “Most of the activities are hands on,” said Lebastchi.

Science Festival 2009 will feature many popular activities offered at previous festivals, including chemistry magic shows, scheduled at 12:30, 2 and 3:30 p.m.; a criminologist’s DNA investigation in a simulated crime scene; and science demonstrations by “The AstroWizard.”

New exhibits planned for the 2009 event include: “Visualization,” a presentation about graphics using computers; testing how zebra fish learn and store memories; and the return of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, which will combine its “Fun with Science Program” and “Science on Saturday (SOS)” lecture series. The SOS series, featuring a lab research scientist speaking on scientific issues, will be held from 10 to 11 a.m. in the VBT. It is recommended for students in middle and high school, although all ages are welcome to attend.

For the first time, the California Academy of Sciences will participate at Science Festival. Erica Wildy, associate professor of biology, will represent the Academy at the festival. Wildy, who took a professional leave of absence from the University in 2008-2009 to work for the Academy, serves as the Senior Science Educator. Her exhibit will introduce the University community to the Academy through informational brochures about what the institution offers, including memberships, programs and the docent program.

The exhibit will also feature herpetological specimens, also known as reptiles and amphibians, which will highlight the research that takes place at the Academy. Wildy said she is anxious to introduce the Academy to CSUEB, and vice versa. “I’m really excited to bring these two worlds together,” Wildy said.

Other participants will include the Chabot Space and Science Center, Sulphur Creek Nature Center and Alameda County Mosquito Abatement District.

All departments housed in the College of Science will be represented at the festival by faculty, staff and students. Demonstrations will include: “Ellen’s Famous Magic Trick,” presented by the math department assistant professors Ellen Veomett and Julia Olkin; a psychological playground, which uses perception and illusions to teach psychological principals; games of chance and a cola taste test from the statistics and biostatistics department; fun with magnets and gravity from the physics department; fossil casting and geophysical exploration from earth and environmental science; health screenings from nursing; and Brain Fingers, a program that uses brain waves and facial muscles to manipulate computers, from the engineering department.

Lebastchi said that touching the lives of families and children is what she loves about the festival. At the 2007 event, a mother of four young children stopped Lebastchi and thanked her for making a free day of science available. The mother, who was one of the last to leave the festival, said in parting: “Oh, thank you. This was the greatest experience.”

“It’s important for our community, our faculty, and students to have this tradition carry on,” Lebastchi said. “I see it as a service…People have come to expect it.”

For more information about Science Festival 2009, contact the College of Science at (510) 885-3441 or visit www.sci.csueastbay.edu/festival.

Blue Egg Hunt

This is an old story that was never ready for a post, adding it now for the wonderful blue egg hunt experience and as a memento to go visit the egret chicks too!

Audubon Canyon Ranch
Audubon CA: CALIFORNIA BIRD TRIPS & LINKS TO SITE GUIDES
Marin Audubon Society: BIRD STUDY GUIDE

More bird sightings

BBC: Make a bird feeder
BBC: Give a Bird a Home

Big Learning: Bird Watching for Kids – Feeding Birds and Learning about Birds

Family Fun: Eat Like a Bird( 18 months and up)
NWF: Wreath for the Birds!
NWF: Bird Feeders
NWF: Create a Bird-friendly Habitat

WhatBird

Animatics

Here is our rhyming 123s, more 123 rhymes at TheKittyCats, and .pdf.

1 – One cow jumping over the moon

2 – Two pigeons bright and gay
They flew from me the other day

3 – Three little kittens
They lost their mittens

4 – Four little ducks went swimming one day
Over the hills and far away

5 – Five little monkeys jumping on the bed
One fell off and bumped its head

6 – Six little mice sat down to spin
Pussy passed by and she peeped in

7 – Seven little pigs rolled in the mud
Squishy, squashy, felt so good

8 – Eight elephants went out one day
Upon a spiders web to play

9 – Nine dinosaurs stomped around
They were so big they shook the ground

10 – Ten ants go marching ten by ten
The little one stops to say “THE END”

But before that I’ll have to ask
How many animals are in the task?

123

We’ve been busy counting lately, so we’ve checked many 123 books and found just a handful of really great books.

Here’s one of the favorites: One was Johnny

Speaking of Maurice Sendak‘s work, there’s a mystery out there: Sendak on Sendak

Make your own instruments

While looking for KittyCats lyrics, I found these recipes for instruments that I think will be lot of fun to try with two singing cats

Leonardo’s Parachute

TheTech’s Leonardo came to an end yesterday, but here are some very short notes to read/try at home:

- Leonardo’s Parachute
- Make a Parachute
- Adrenaline Rush: the IMAX movie about the science of risk and … Leonardo’s parachute!

- The Sforza Horse
- The Sforza Horse Facts

- Universal Leonardo: Play with Leonardo!

- Leonardo’s Fables

- Frisco Kids Review: Leonardo Exhibit at the Tech Museum of Innovation in San Jose

Books:

Happy New Year and 250 Years!

British Museum celebrates 250 years:

On 15 January 1759, the British Museum opened its doors for the first time to the public. Set up by Parliament six years earlier it was the first national museum in the world. 250 years later it is still one of the enduring achievements of the European Enlightenment and its collection has played a major part in shaping our understanding of human history.

From the beginning the Museum was unusual in attempting to gather the whole world into one building, a universality of ambition that embraced not just its collection but also its intended public. The objects were to be available free of charge to all ‘studious and curious persons’ and were stated explicitly to be for foreigners as well as natives.

The Museum has remained open to the public for 250 years, moving from an attendance of 5,000 per year at the beginning to six million last year. It is now accessible not only to visitors to Bloomsbury but to millions worldwide online and through travelling exhibitions. Extending and deepening that access is the great challenge for the future.

Here is a beautiful photo gallery of the museum through the Times.

Since we are not in London we’ve checked the online tours and found quite a treasure for families and children, so we’ll start playing!

Play games from around the world, and make your own versions of ancient toys.

The goat one

We finally got to read and color the “goat one”, kindercat’s take on the Romanian folktale The Goat with Three Kids.

This is Capra cu trei iezi in Romanian, by Ion Creangă. A story with a big bad wolf, a goat and her three kids, one that listens to his mom and two naughty ones. Guess what happens

I’d love to hear a similar story in another language!