Tag Archives: Travel

The Cliff-Top Meteora Monasteries

The Awe-Inspiring Monasteries of Meteora  

Meteora means “suspended in the air,” and the monasteries of Meteora seem to reach halfway to the sky. These buildings have perched on the top of steep, narrow sandstone cliffs in Thessaly in central Greece since the Middle Ages. With their red roofs and gray stone walls that match the cliffs, the monasteries are an awesome sight.

These magnificent monasteries are often the inspiration for many movies because they seem so otherworldly. 

The cliffs rise as high as 1,800 feet. The views from the monasteries are spectacular, with the Plain of Thessaly spread out far below as far as the eye can see.

Who Built the Monasteries of Meteora?

Throughout history, people believed the rock formations of Meteora were special. Long before the monks arrived in the early Middle Ages, Meteora attracted hermits and worshippers who were drawn to the site they believed was between heaven and earth.

In the 14th century, the monk Athanasios Koinovitis brought his followers to Meteora, seeking a secluded and quiet place for contemplation and worship. From 1356 to 1372, they built the first and largest of the Meteora monasteries, known as the Great Meteoron Monastery.

Monks continued to build monasteries on the cliffs through the 16th century. Eventually, there were 24 monasteries. Six of them remain today. The rest are mostly in ruins.

Challenges in Building the Meteora Monasteries

As you can imagine, it wasn’t easy to get building materials up the cliffs! The monks used a system of ladders, pulleys, nets, and baskets attached to ropes to haul themselves and the materials up the rock formations.

The difficulties in getting up the cliffs turned into a benefit when, in later years, monks needed to escape war and persecution. For hundreds of years, they found safety at Meteora. After they ascended to the monasteries, they would pull up the ladders, baskets, and ropes behind them. No one could follow them up the cliffs.

Do People Still Live in the Monasteries of Meteora?

A small number of monks and nuns still live and worship in the Meteora Monasteries. Most of the people there now are visitors. Thousands of tourists and pilgrims visit every year.

Tourism disrupts some of the peaceful isolation that the monasteries used to enjoy, but the monks and nuns need the money that tourists bring to keep the monasteries maintained. The monks and nuns protect their privacy. Visitors are not allowed to go into the living quarters or attend religious services.

How Do You Get to the Meteora Monasteries?

In the 1920s, stairs were cut into the rocks, and bridges were built. This made it much easier for the monks to get to the monasteries. They no longer had to climb ladders or get pulled up in buckets.

In the 1960s, paved roads were built, which made it easier for visitors to access the monasteries.

If you visit the monasteries, you can drive up to the monasteries, or you can hike up. The hike is beautiful, but steep, and includes stairs. To reach the Great Meteoron Monastery, you will need to climb more than 300 stairs. Several of the other monasteries have fewer stairs, averaging around 140 each.

Learn All About Salt

The Interesting World of Salt

“Please, pass the salt.” You heard it a hundred times, but did you ever wonder what was really in the salt shaker? Do you know where we get salt or if we can ever run out of it?

Salt is necessary for our bodies. However, if we eat too much of it, it’s bad for our health. People need salt for more than just eating. In fact, it is so valuable that, a long time ago, people gave workers salt instead of money!

Read on to find out more interesting facts about salt.

What Is Salt?

Scientists have many different names for salt. They call the type of salt we eat sodium chloride or NaCl.

If you sprinkle a little salt on the table and look at it with a magnifying glass, you can see it looks like little grains of sand. That is because salt is a mineral.

The salt you put on your French fries is called table salt, and it is just one type of salt. There are many others.

Different Types of Salt

Did you know that not all salt is white? White salt is the most common color, but there are many more. You can find gray, black, pink, red, and even blue salt. The different colors of salt come from other minerals that are mixed in with the sodium chloride. 

Color is not the only difference. Salt comes in many sizes and shapes, too. Table salt is the smallest type of salt, and it looks like small cubes. Kosher salt is larger, and the grains have irregular shapes. Flake salt is bigger than Kosher salt, but the grains are flat like a plate. Rock salt is even larger and is often the size of pebbles!

You can’t eat all types of salt. The majority of the salt in the world is not safe to eat because it contains other bad minerals for your body. People use these salts for many things, including melting ice on the roads and making other chemicals that we need.

What salt looks like and how we can use it depends a lot on where we find it.

Where Does Salt Come From?

Have you ever gone into the ocean with a scrape or cut? It doesn’t feel good. That’s because the ocean has salt in it. But ocean water is not the only place where you can find salt. It is all over the planet and even under it.

Hundreds of millions of years ago, the oceans covered most of the Earth. When the water disappeared, it left behind salt. Today we get most of our salt from deep underground in salt mines. But in some places in the world, the salt is still on the surface. We call these places “salt flats.”

Salt flats formed millions of years ago when saltwater lakes dried out. Some of the largest salt flats in the world are in the United States. Two of the most famous salt flats are the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah and the Badwater Basin salt flats in Death Valley National Park.

How Is Salt Produced?

We get our salt in a variety of ways.

Today, most of the salt we eat comes from dissolving rock salt in water and then evaporating the water using machines. Harvesting salt this way is clean and safe. But it wasn’t always so easy to produce salt.

Hundreds of years ago, most salt people ate came from salt mines or salt flats. Collecting salt from these places was a hard and dangerous job. That is one reason why salt was so valuable in ancient times.

Another process for gathering salt is by collecting ocean water and letting the sun evaporate the water. People have been using this method since ancient times, and they continue to do it today. Salt made from ocean water is called “sea salt” and is a popular choice of salt to use for food.

Can We Run Out of Salt?

One natural resource you should not worry about running out of is salt. Besides having millions of billions of tons of salt undiscovered, all of the salt we use returns to the Earth. That’s because after we eat salt, our bodies release it. While we may run out of some sources of salt, there will always be more.

The next time you sprinkle a little salt on your food, take the time to think about where the salt came from and all the people who worked hard to make it possible for you to do so.

The World’s Most Unusual Bridges

6 Most Unusual Bridges in the World  

For as long as humans have been around, we’ve been using creative ideas and innovative building techniques to explore our surroundings. Often, that means creating ways to get across rivers, valleys, and canyons.

Bridges come in all shapes and sizes. Some have stood for centuries, like Greece’s Arkadiko bridge, crafted from stone in 1300 B.C. and still used today. Some of today’s bridges use amazing engineering techniques, while others look like beautiful works of art.

Here are 6 of the world’s most unusual bridges.

1. Helix Bridge

Singapore’s Helix Bridge looks like a massive double helix rolling across the water’s surface. That’s because the bridge’s creators had the shape of human DNA in mind when they designed it.

With a span of 920 feet, this gorgeous bridge allows people to walk easily from one side of the river to the other. Viewing platforms are perfectly positioned along the walkway. It’s an ideal place to stop and take a few photos of the surrounding city.

At night, strips of LED lights turn the Helix Bridge into a giant, glittering jewel. The bridge is so beautiful that it’s become a popular destination for tourists and Singapore residents alike.

2. Royal Gorge Bridge

Would you be brave enough to walk across 1,260 feet of wooden planks hanging 950 feet above a river below? That’s exactly what visitors to the Royal Gorge Bridge ask themselves!

Built-in 1929, this suspension bridge is the highest in the Western hemisphere. The bridge has two steel towers, more than 2,100 strands of wire cables, and spans a deep canyon 956 feet below. It’s been standing since 1929.

The walkway itself is made of more than 1,250 wooden planks. Each year, 26 million people visit the Royal Gorge Bridge… but we’re not sure how many of them are brave enough to walk across it.

3. Millau Viaduct

Spanning 8,071 feet across France’s Tarn River valley, the Millau Viaduct is a marvel of modern engineering. It’s the highest cable-stayed road bridge (a bridge held up by cables that cars can drive across) on the planet.

Its towers soar more than 1,100 feet into the air, making this bridge taller than the Eiffel Tower and almost as high as the Empire State Building! The bridge is so tall that, on a foggy day, it’s impossible to see the valley below. Drivers on the bridge say it feels as though they’re cruising above the clouds.

It only took three years to build this incredible bridge. The designers of the Millau Viaduct had to come up with an entirely new technique to make it work. Unlike other cable-stay bridges, the towers were constructed first, before the roadway was laid in place.

4. Chenyang Wind and Rain Bridge

For centuries, the Dong people of China’s Guangxi Province have constructed strong, sturdy bridges… without using any nails! These gorgeous covered bridges are topped by towers, porches, kiosks, and pavilions that are meant to offer shelter from the weather. That’s why they’re known as “wind and rain” bridges.

Among the most famous is the Chenyang Wind and Rain Bridge. Just over 213 feet long, the bridge spans the Linxi River. It’s made completely from wood and stone, without any nails or rivets.

The soaring pavilions — up to four stories high — sit on sturdy stone towers in the river. The Dong craftsmen were so good at making the wooden pieces fit together perfectly, that the bridge has been standing for more than 100 years.

5. The Twist

Is it a bridge? A building? A sculpture? The Twist is all three and more. Spanning the Randselva River in Jevnaker, Norway, this unique bridge is truly a work of art; part of the Twist’s interior space even houses an art gallery. 

The bridge is located in the middle of a forest, and designers had to overcome several challenges, including different heights at each end of the bridge. Architects came up with a clever solution: Twist the entire bridge by 90 degrees.

That means when you walk through the bridge, the ceiling and floor switch places. At the twist, the ceiling flows down the wall to become the floor, while the floor stretches up the other wall to form the ceiling.

6. Golden Bridge

Just north of Da Nang, Vietnam lies one of the world’s most unique-looking bridges. The Golden Bridge stretches for 500 (golden) feet across a beautiful forest. But the most amazing part about this bridge is that it’s held up by two giant hands.

Walking across this shimmering bridge is like entering your favorite fantasy novel. Though it’s just a few years old, the hands are crafted to look like ancient stone, carefully holding up a glittering golden thread. Adding to the fun, visitors take a cable car ride to climb slowly up the mountain to reach this magical bridge.

Places And Cathedrals Of Russia

 

 


Russia is known for its vast size, extreme cold, great novelists, and amazing architecture that will truly knock your socks off. 

  • The Peter and Paul Fortress is the original citadel (a core fortified area of a city) of St. Petersburg. Founded by Peter the Great in 1703, it is known for its unique design by Swiss architect Domenico Trezzini in the Petrine Baroque style. It is also known as the birthplace of St. Petersburg and shares a picturesque view of the Neva River. Once used as a prison, it is now part of the St. Petersburg Museum of History, where visitors can enjoy festivals and concerts. 

“At the center of all that is Russia – of its culture, its psychology, and, perhaps, its destiny – stands the Kremlin, a walled fortress a thousand years old and four hundred miles from the sea. Physically speaking, its walls are no longer high enough to fend off attack, and yet, they still cast a shadow across the entire country.”

― Amor Towles, A Gentleman in Moscow

 

  • The Moscow Kremlin is a fortified complex and the heart of Moscow. Built between the 14th and 17th centuries, it is one of the most impressive examples of architecture anywhere in the whole world. Complete with twenty towers (nineteen of which have spires). It is a symbol of Russian power and pride. The word “Kremlin” (meaning “fortress inside a city”) is forever linked to the most pivotal political moments in Russia since the 13th century and is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

 

 

  • St. Basil’s Cathedral “is officially called Cathedral of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos on the Moat. It is located in Moscow’s famous Red Square. The cathedral has a unique shape, almost like a bonfire rising into the sky. That makes it one of Russia’s most unique buildings. Part of the building is now a museum, but special services are still held there occasionally.”

 

(Russiau.com)

  • St. Isaac’s Cathedral, built in honor of Saint Isaac of Dalmatia, is located in St. Petersburg and is known for filling the skyline with its magnificent golden dome. The cathedral is so vast that it can accommodate up to 14,000 people! Although it is now only rarely used as a place of worship, it is mainly a museum and boasts a fantastic monument to Nicholas I.

 

For more information on the sites discussed in this blog, visit the links below. To collect your explorer pins, and to read about adventure and exploration, visit Spartan and the Green Egg at the website.

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Learn MORE About the Rock of Gibraltar

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The Rock of Gibraltar has been an important piece of land for centuries. It’s first claim to fame was that it was where two huge, skyscraper-sized rocks stood, almost like giant pillars. These were called by the ancient people, the Pillars of Hercules. One of the pillars has long since washed away, but the other remained. It is after this pillar and the body of water around it (called Gibraltar) that the area is named. This area has been held by many different countries including, Arabia, Spain, France, and England.

Fun Facts about the Rock of Gibraltar

If you are lost and wandering in the Mediterranean Sea, you can see the Rock of Gibraltar even if you are several miles away from it. Why? It is because the Rock of Gibraltar is as high as 426 meters. It protrudes out of the Mediterranean Sea the way candles stand upon a birthday cake. The Rock of Gibraltar is made of limestone which is the material that companies use to make cement, so it is very strong.

The Rock of Gibraltar Preserves Past History

Bones and the remains of animals that lived more than 100 million years ago have been found preserved right there on the Rock of Gibraltar. Even though fossils were preserved in the Rock of Gibraltar, they are not in good shape because they have decayed so much that only scientists can study them and know what they really were millions of years ago. Also found in the area are some of the oldest manmade artwork the world has ever known. They are still discovering new artifacts each year.

 

The Caves of Gibraltar

Did you know that there are more than 100 caves that can be found under the Gibraltar rock alone? There is also a network of tunnels and underground passages that were dug by warlords during times of war in Gibraltar. These passages are known as galleries and are currently being used as archives for tourists who visit the rock. In fact, if you are in these passages or halls you might see the Spanish coast which is not too far off in the distance. It is in some of these caves where some of the most ancient discoveries have been made. Artwork, pottery, even bones have been found, which are very old and tell scientists what life was like for the people who used to live there.

Monkeys and the Rock of Gibraltar

There are many ideas as to how the monkeys first found their way to Gibraltar, but the most widely accepted idea is that the monkeys used one of the tunnels under the rock that leads 15 miles to Africa. Regardless of how the monkeys first arrived there, it is said that as long as the monkeys live on the Rock, it will always be under British rule. The monkeys have no tails and are a type of Barbary Ape. The park maintains their populations and makes sure that they are given their immunizations and are kept healthy.

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Learn MORE About the Roman Coliseum

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The Coliseum was what ancient Romans called a skyscraper because there was no other structure as big as a coliseum back then. That does not mean there were no other amphitheaters in ancient Rome. In fact, there were more than 250 amphitheatres but none was as big as the Colosseum. It is located in Piazza del Colosseo on the eastside of the Roman Forum. While it is a beautiful place to visit, this beauty came at a price, and there is much tragedy that surrounds this structure.

Fun Facts about the Roman Colosseum
The Emperor Vespasian started construction on the Roman Coliseum after a victory in battle. The money to build the Colosseum came from selling the treasure that the soldiers had taken from the defeated foes in Jerusalem. Vesparian came up with the idea and started to build in AD 72. To be more specific, the construction began more than 1900 years ago. However, Vespasian did not complete the construction and his son, named Titus, took over the building project and completed it in AD 80. After the completion of the amphitheater, it was 188 meters long and 156 meters wide, which is as high as a 12 -story building. That means that it so large that it could hold more than 50,000 visitors. It was so huge that it was held upright by 240 masts.

Gladiators, Swords, and Lions, Oh My!

When Vespasian constructed the Coliseum, he had in mind that he wanted to stage dangerous sports which would entertain the people in the city. So he made the Coliseum a ground for gladiators to fight and kill each other using weapons such as swords and daggers. Sometimes, the fight was between humans and dangerous animals like lions. If the ground became too stained, crews would simply pour more sand over the soiled areas and the fighting would continue.

Why Can’t We Be Friends?

Entertainment at the Colosseum was free for spectators and those who were invited. This is because all of the free food and drinks were paid for by the wealthy politicians in the city in order to remain popular with those who had voted for them. Sometimes the games would run for 100 days straight, with different people coming each day. That means that the city of Rome was very large with a lot of people. Though the ruins of the Colosseum are beautiful if you visit you should also not forget that many lives were lost within its walls.

Secret Passages and Special Effects

The Colosseum was cleverly constructed with secret passageways underneath the main staging area. This was where the gladiators waited for their time to go into the ring, and it was also where the animals were kept. In later years there were 36 trap doors added, and a water pump so that the fighting area could be flooded with water to make a water fight for the people to watch. Today, there are no shows going on, but tourists in the thousands flock to see this historic area in Rome, Italy. The Colosseum is considered one of the new 7 Wonders of the World.

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What is Valentine’s Day Anyway???

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Valentine’s Day is a day in February when people give each other nice gifts to show their love for someone. This can be a mom or a dad, a brother or sister, or for grown-ups, it can be a gift that they give to their partner, boyfriend/girlfriend, wife or husband. Did you know that over one billion Valentine’s Day cards are given and received each year? But how did it start and where did this flower, card and candy-crazy holiday come from? The answer might surprise you.

The holiday is named after a holy man, named Saint Valentine, who lived in England many centuries ago when the Romans ruled the land. The Emperor decided that he needed more soldiers and that single men made better fighters. He outlawed marriage for men under a certain age. St. Valentine did not listen to this order and secretly married young couples. The Emperor found out and St. Valentine was sentenced to death. It was reported that he sent a letter to someone from his jail cell before his death. He signed it, “From your Valentine.” To this day the notion of honoring someone you care about by giving them a Valentine card comes from this first action.

Today, Valentine’s Day is officially celebrated in Canada, England, the U.S., Mexico, Australia, and France. In America, a woman named Esther Howland was the first to make Valentine’s Day cards to sell and she is considered the mother of the Valentine’s Day card. Her cards were all handmade with lace and knitted decorations. Making a Valentine’s Day card for someone is a great way to let them know that you care!

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Learn About Airplanes

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Ever wanted to fly? Boarding an airplane is an easy way to fly today. It wasn’t an easy journey to get there. For years, flying seemed too hard. That didn’t stop people from trying out many ways to fly. After going through trial and error, humans finally flew the early airplanes. Today, we still enjoy many ways to fly high in the sky, going to many amazing places on airplanes with our families.

How Airplanes Came to Be

The history of airplanes started earlier than you think!

In 400 A.D., the Chinese first experimented with flight by inventing the kite. The invention of the kite made many Chinese scientists look into how kites and wind currents worked together. By 1485, Leonardo Da Vinci, the artist, famously drew many pictures of flying machines. Although people began experimenting with building an airplane that worked, the first successful motor-powered aircraft flew in 1903. The Wright brothers famously invented the first aircraft that ran on motor power.

Orville Wright rode in the first aircraft after it came to life. He flew as far as 120 feet (36 meters) in about 12 seconds. The Wright brothers’ achievement showed that true flight in an aircraft was now possible in the western world.

How Airplanes Work

An airplane can defy gravity!

Gravity is an invisible force that holds down everything on Earth. Gravity also affects everything on and around the planet. Getting an airplane into the air involves defying this very strong force. The length and shape of airplane wings make this happen.

Airplane wings help make the device lift in the air. The airplane body is thin and long, which helps the airplane defy gravity. The engine helps give the airplane enough power to thrust forward and travel through the air. When each part of the airplane works together, the entire airplane can move past the drag caused by air currents and the heavy pull of gravity to fly freely.

Types of Airplanes

From gliders to fighter jets, airplanes come in many different forms. It’s because the design of airplanes changed over time!

The glider used to be motorless. It worked by being pushed forward by a sharp gust of air when a rider jumped off a high place. Gliders today have a small motor engine that helps them stay off the ground and boost their flying time.

Passenger airplanes are what people first think about when they imagine airplanes. These large aircraft hold dozens of people at a time. They travel all over the world during every hour of the day.

Helicopters are also common types of planes. They are known for their large propeller blades that sit on top of the body. The blades create motion and help lift the aircraft when they work. A helicopter is usually built to carry a few people at a time.

Like helicopters, fighter jets and planes are also designed for a few passengers. They are used in special industries like the military. They are known for their incredible speeds. Many jets can reach speeds as fast as 2,574 kilometers (1,600 miles per hour)!

Sources:

http://www.scienceforkidsclub.com/airplanes.html

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Airplane

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Caring About Climate Change

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Caring About Climate Change

 

 

 

 

If the weather in your area seems unusual or extreme at times, you can blame it on climate change. While our planet’s climate goes through natural changes over long periods of time, people are making things worse by burning fossil fuels. These changes are making the Earth warmer overall, which is causing quite a few problems. Climate change is an issue that affects everyone on the planet, so doing your part to help stop it is important.

How Are People Causing Climate Change?

People burn oil, gas and other fossil fuels for many reasons, such as producing electricity, driving cars around and heating homes. When we do this, the fossil fuels we use give off gases that trap heat in our atmosphere. This makes Earth’s temperatures warmer, which leads to climate change.

What Kinds of Changes Happen?

Higher temperatures overall doesn’t mean that every place on the planet becomes hotter. Instead, we experience a wide range of changes, including:

  • Colder winters in some areas
  • More droughts
  • More tornadoes
  • Stronger hurricanes and other storms

The rising temperatures are also causing glaciers to melt and sea ice to shrink, making it hard for animals who live in the Arctic region to find food and shelter. The oceans’ temperatures are becoming warmer, too, which affects many marine creatures. Sea levels are rising as well, leading to higher risks of flooding in areas that are close to shorelines.

How Can We Stop Climate Change?

There are many steps you can take to help stop climate change, including:

  • Using less energy: Shut lights off, replace regular lights with CFL bulbs and turn electronics off when they’re not in use.
  • Using less water: Keep your showers short, and don’t let the water run when you brush your teeth or do the dishes.
  • Recycling: Recycle as much as possible to reduce the amount of waste that ends up going to landfills.
  • Planting trees: Trees are our environmental allies. They absorb carbon dioxide, one of the gases given off by fossil fuels, which helps slow climate change.
  • Eating locally grown food: Food that’s grown in or near your area doesn’t have to go far to get to your home, which lowers a number of gases given off by the trucks that transport it.

While these steps might seem small or easy, they add up to big changes when more and more people start doing them. Talk to your family and friends about how they can join you in stopping climate change and making the planet healthier for all of us.

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Keeping Our Oceans Safe

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Saving Our Oceans

 

 

 

 

 

You might have heard that a large amount of our planet is covered in water. In fact, 71 percent of it is! Most of that water is found in the earth’s oceans. The bad news is that our oceans are in trouble for a few reasons. The good news is that you can do something about it.

What’s Hurting Our Oceans?

Litter from land sometimes ends up in the water, and some people toss garbage right into the water. Litter can hurt the animals that live in the ocean. Some animals eat these items and become sick, while others become trapped in rope or rings from plastic bottles.

Coral reefs are also in danger. These colorful reefs play an important role in the ocean’s environment. When they become damaged, many other marine creatures are affected as well. The main threats to coral reefs come from harmful substances that are washed into the ocean, such as pesticides, fertilizers, chemicals and sewage pollution.

Some areas of our oceans have very little oxygen or none at all. These are called dead zones, and no marine plants or animals can live in them. These areas are growing larger, which means that more and more marine creatures are being forced to find other places to live. Dead zones develop when fertilizer applied to crops makes its way into rivers, then oceans.

What Can We Do to Help?

There are several ways that you can help protect our oceans and all of the wonderful creatures that live in them. These include:

  • Eating seafood that is sustainably caught. That means eating fish that comes from areas where there are plenty of them around and where safe fishing methods that don’t hurt other marine animals are used.
  • Choose paper instead of plastic. By using less plastic, you’ll be helping to reduce the amount of litter that ends up in the ocean. If you do use plastic, recycle it.
  • Buy organic foods. Farmers don’t use harmful chemicals or fertilizers on organic foods, so you’ll be doing your part to protect coral reefs and stop dead zones from spreading.
  • Switch to organic sunscreen. Chemicals from regular sunscreen products wash into the water and hurt coral reefs.
  • Support marine sanctuaries and protected areas. These provide safe places for marine animals and plants to live. Learn more about these areas, and look for ways that you can help support them.

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Grand Bazaar, Istanbul, Turkey

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Grand Bazaar- Istanbul, Turkey

How old is your local mall? Chances are it can’t come close to the age of Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar. Bazaar is a word that means ‘market’, and the Grand Bazaar earns its name. This market is over 550 years old! It is so big that it has five mosques (a Muslim place of worship), a school, seven fountains, and forty hotels. Get your shoes on, because you will do some walking at this Istanbul landmark.
Fun Facts About the Grand Bazaar
The Grand Bazaar, also called the Kapali Cars, has almost 60 streets running through it. The combined area covered by all of the different retail stores in the Grand Bazaar is about 31,000 square meters. How many stores? Try 4000! That’s a lot of shopping!! More than 300,000 people visit this area of Istanbul each day. This miniature city within a city has also had a mysterious function, acting as a rendezvous point for spies from all sorts of countries who could meet at the Bazaar, and if necessary, could get away by using the maze-like streets to make their escape.
Exactly How Old is the Grand Bazaar?
The Bazaar was specifically opened in 1461and has never stopped selling its wares since then. However, the Bazaar did have its fair share of tragedies. In 1894, an earthquake occurred in Turkey and destroyed a good part of the market structures. There have also been fires that have ravaged buildings in 1515 and 1548. Finally, the city officials passed a rule banning fires in the marketplaces, and this stopped the widespread devastation caused by fires getting out of control each year. The good news is that the destroyed parts have been restored over the years and currently the market is in better shape than ever.
It’s A-Maze-ing!
If you go to the Grand Bazaar you’d better enjoy mazes. There are so many streets which look the same that you may take hours to find your way out if you are lost. This happens mostly to first-time visitors. Most don’t mind being lost, though, because there is just so much to see along the way. But, if you should ever visit, just remember that the streets are named according to the items sold there and there are two main streets as well as four entry gates to the Bazaar. This was originally done so that shoppers could find what they were looking for all in one section. Early visitors to the Bazaar were amazed that there were no advertisements or signs up over the shops to say what was inside.
Get a Good Deal at the Grand Bazaar
While walking through the Bazaar, it is common to hear people bargaining to get better prices. Should you visit the market, take time and bargain your way through anything. There is nothing to be embarrassed about bargaining because the seller wants you to do it anyway. Your little money goes a long way at the end of the day. What can you buy at the Bazaar? You can get anything from clothes, school bags, or belly-dancing costumes!

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Learn About Big Ben In England

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Ask anyone who has walked the streets of London and most likely they heard the “ding-dong” chimes of the Great Bell nicked named Big Ben. That is if they happened to have crossed anywhere in the area of Westminster, London. Big Ben lives on the 320-foot (97.53M) Clock Tower, renamed recently as The Elizabeth Tower and is more than 150 years old. If you thought Big Ben was a person you thought wrong. It is a four-faced chiming clock and a bell placed at Westminster Palace and has been recognized as a beloved landmark in England for years. He’s been around for so long, it makes you wonder what he would say if he could talk!


Fun Facts about Big Ben

Big Ben was created at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry on the 10th April 1858 and took two weeks to cool down once it was poured into the mold. It was transported to Westminster on a horse drawn carriage and a mammoth crowd lined the streets to cheer as Big Ben passed by. Ben’s bell weighs a massive 13.8 tons, as heavy as two large elephants. The Bell is 2.2 meters (7 feet 2 inches) high and also has a diameter of 2.7 meters (8 feet 10 inches). The Big Ben clock is the largest four-faced chiming clock in the world. 31st May 1859 was when Big Ben started ticking and its four faces stand 55 meters above the ground. Each face of the clock is 7 meters (23 feet), the hour hand 2.7 meters (9 feet), and the minute hand 4.3 meters (14 feet) long.

The Immortal Big Ben

Yes, Big Ben seems to be immortal (living forever). He has had a couple of injuries, though. Just after his birth, Big Ben cracked during testing and had to be made all over again. The Bell has lived over 150 years and is still chiming in the streets of Westminster. Big Ben has three birthdays; that’s on 10th April 1858, 31st May 1859, and finally 11th July 1859 when it first chimed. None of the wars which have raged in Europe have ever destroyed him.

Musically Speaking, Ben is a Genius

The Big Ben Bell chimes the musical note of A, and the quarter bells at the tower chime G sharp, F sharp, B, and E. The sequence of pitches produced by Big Ben when chiming is named the Cambridge Chimes. The chimes are also programmed to sound like they are actual words from Psalm 37. Anyone who stands in the belfry as Big Ben chimes will experience musical vibrations running from their head, through their bodies, into their toes.

Big Ben is Celebrated all over the World

Big Ben is the pride of Londoners and has been honored for hundreds of years. Did you know that New Year’s celebrations in the United Kingdom are conducted at Big Ben’s he Elizabeth Tower? TV and Radio stations in London tune to the chimes of Big Ben during the New Year and audiences far into the country listen to the Musical Ben. England voted Big Ben the number one British landmark during a 2008 survey. Is there anyone who wants to try something magical? Well, stand with a portable radio at the bottom of Big Ben’s tower and try to hear the chimes from either the radio or the tower. The chimes will be heard on the radio first even before the ones from the tower are heard! Big Ben’s sound is as fast as light!

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Learn about the Acropolis of Athens, Greece

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Standing on a very high outcrop in the city of Athens, Greece, is the Acropolis of Athens. An acropolis is a “high city on the edge”. The Acropolis is a city so high that visitors always feel as if they are living with the stars. What makes the Acropolis of Athens even more breath-taking are the sequence of temples and monumental buildings constructed by a statesman of the 5th Century called Pericles. So what really makes the Acropolis of Athens worth exploring? Let’s find out!

Fun Facts about the Acropolis of Athens Greece

The hill of the Acropolis is 490 ft (150m) above the sea basin and covers a surface area of 7.4 acres. It is so rare to find someone who climbs to the top of the Acropolis without stopping to catch a breath. This “city on the edge” harbors a number of ancient monumental buildings constructed around 5 BC. The buildings on the Acropolis are the Parthenon, the Propylaea, the Erechtheion, and the temple of Athena Nike. It is amazing how the buildings have survived that long and still stand strong. Another name for Acropolis is Cecropia. Cecrops was the first Athenian King mythically believed to be part serpent and part man.

All Were Welcome

Buildings at the Acropolis were used for spiritual roles by more than one religion. The Parthenon was constructed to honor the goddess known as Athena, whom the city was also named after. It is believed that the site where the Parthenon was constructed had been a temple before it was brought down to pave the way for the Parthenon. The Acropolis has been attacked several times and served as sacred grounds for religions. For example, in 1456 it served as a mosque for the Ottomans.

A Perfect Location to Hunt for Treasure

Persians destroyed the Parthenon in 480 BCE and buried a big chunk of the monuments under the rubble. During special ceremonies, precious items were buried under the surrounding caves to complete certain rituals. Sacred objects lie beneath the mound ready to be discovered, although archeologists have done a good job of uncovering the treasures and sending many of them to museums for display. One thing that stands out about the Acropolis is that all of the treasures at the site were carried out by the best artisans, sculptors, and architects of the ancient times.

A Safe Zone: Acropolis

Originally, the acropolis acted as a fortress to protect Athens from invasion by its enemies. Defending territories from higher ground was a strategy used by various governments including the Greeks and Romans. Ancient people of Athens saw the monumental beauty of the Acropolis and decided to use it as a beautiful symbol of Athens instead of its intended purpose. Millions of tourists still come to the site today. Standing at the Acropolis is a magnificent sight to behold because it provides a beautiful view of the city of Athens, and the sea far away.

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What You Didn’t Know About The Eiffel Tower

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Located in the heart of Paris, France, the Eiffel Tower is one of the most famous monuments in history. But why was it built? Do you know how high it is? What does it weigh? Learn the answers to these questions, and more below. Begin your adventure with the Eiffel Tower NOW!

Fun Facts About the Eiffel Tower

Did you know that almost 7 million people visit the Eiffel Tower each year? That’s a lot of people. So, what makes the Eiffel Tower such an amazing place to visit? The tower was first built because there was a World’s Fair that was coming to Paris. It took more than two years to build. At first, most people who saw it didn’t like it because it was so different from all other buildings in the country. In fact, after the fair they almost tore it down! Today, people think differently and it is one of the world’s most amazing structures ever to be built. It takes over 500 people to keep it working and running properly.

The Eiffel Tower is 324 meters tall (that’s 1063 feet), and it weighs 10 tons. That’s as much as 5 cars stacked up, or two elephants. There are elevators in the tower to take you to the top for an amazing view of the city of Paris, but if you are adventurous, you can climb the 1,665 steps to the top. You WILL be out of breath.

The Amazing Shrinking Eiffel Tower

Did you know that the Eiffel Tower doesn’t stay the same size the year ‘round? When the weather gets cold in Paris, France, the Eiffel Tower, made of nearly 7000 tons of iron, can shrink almost six inches! The tower is a beautiful sight to see in the daytime, but at night nearly 20,000 light bulbs make the structure light up the night sky so much that it can be seen from space.

Painting the Eiffel Tower

With so much surface, guess how much paint is needed to paint the Eiffel Tower every seven years. 60 tons of paint are needed to keep the structure from rusting. That’s enough paint to fill almost two swimming pools that are four feet deep. Most don’t know this, but the Eiffel Tower is actually painted in three different shades of paint. The paint is lighter at the top, medium color in the middle, and the darkest at its base. This is to make it easier to see against the sky in Paris.

The Eiffel Tower Talks

If the Eiffel Tower could talk, the ‘Iron Lady’ would tell you about all of the history that she’s seen. It wasn’t all fun and games, either. In World War I she operated as a radiograph tower overhearing enemy radio messages. After serving an important role in many wars, the Eiffel Tower had a hand in the discovery of cosmic rays as scientist, Theodor Wulf experimented from the top of the tower. Later, the Eiffel Tower became a movie star when she was featured in the film, Slumbering Paris in 1923. Today, the Eiffel Tower has been featured in millions of movies, television shows, paintings, photographs, and sketches. Last, but not least, thousands have proposed marriage to someone at the top of this famous landmark in the city of lights.

Learn more about the Eiffel Tower and other important monuments around the world with the Spartan And The Green Egg Explorer Sticker Starter Kit!

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Learn MORE about the Statue of Liberty

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Located on Liberty Island in New York, this American Statue has stood for liberty and freedom for the United States for many years. Millions of tourists come to visit the statue and to go to the top to view New York City. For many people who first come to the United States to live the Statue of Liberty stands as a symbol of welcome. But there’s much more to know about this lady made of steel.

Fun Facts About the Statue of Liberty

Did you know that the Statue of Liberty (called Lady Liberty) has an actual birthday? She does! October 28, 1886 was when she was built. She weighs 450,000 pounds (204, 100kg) and has 354 stairs which people can climb in order to have a bird’s eye view of New York Harbor, or New York City in the distance. Your parents can take the elevator to the top, too. If you climb to the top, you will be 151 feet (46m) up in the air. Once you are up there, you’ll have 25 windows to look out of.

Lady Liberty Has Big Feet!

The Statue of Liberty has big feet! She wears a size 879 sandal, and each foot is about 25 feet long. Most people think that this Lady standing on an island in the water is painted green, but she isn’t painted at all. Lady Liberty is made out of copper, a type of metal that turns green over time.

What’s With Lady Liberty’s Clothes?

The Statue of Liberty was created by an artist by the name of Auguste Bartholdi, who was from France. The statue was a gift to the United States from France in honor of the Declaration of Independence. Auguste created Lady Liberty from a picture he saw of a Roman goddess of liberty called, Libertas. Her crown has seven spikes on it to represent all of the continents of the world. She holds a torch over her head and a tablet in her other arm. The torch stands for being the light unto the world, and offering freedom and safety to everyone who decides to live in America. Last, but not least, there is a broken chain under her foot, which reminds people that they are to live freely.

Lady Liberty Was NOT Easy to Build

Auguste had many men who worked with him to build the Statue of Liberty. They worked seven days a week, for more than ten hours a day, for almost nine years in order to complete the work. Then, Lady Liberty was so big that they realized they couldn’t ship her unless they took her apart again. She was fit into dozens of crates and then put back together again when she came to the United States. If you want to go and see her, you have to take a ferry, a type of boat, to get to the island.

Learn more about important and FUN monuments and landmarks around the world with the Spartan And The Green Egg Explorer Sticker Set! Very special offer available, so CLICK HERE to see this incredible sticker kit!

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What In The World Is The Taj Mahal?

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Ever wonder what the Taj Mahal is, or why it’s so important to India? Well, there’s a deeper, more powerful story behind it than you may realize, especially if you’re around Spartan’s age! So let’s look at how we can travel there together through this amazing story of love…

So let’s look at how we can travel there together through this amazing story of love…

The Taj Mahal is located in Agra, in India, and is considered worldwide to be one of the seven wonders of the world. Made of white marble, this large castle-like structure on the Yamuna river. For all its beauty, however, it was built out of sorrow and grief by the Shaah Jahan after the death of his wife. Find out why this grand building is called the ‘crown of palaces’.

Fun Facts about the Taj Mahal
The all white structure took more than 20 years to finish and is said to change colors throughout the day, depending on how the light strikes it. More than 20,000 people helped to build it in 1632 and included over 1,000 elephants. The center dome is very high, nearly 240 feet (73 m), and has four smaller domes that surround it. The building is called a mausoleum, which is a building that is dedicated to the dead and often houses the remains of those who have died.

Walls Worth A Million
So beloved was the Shah’s wife that he took precious gemstones and had them built into the walls around the building. The builders of the Taj Mahal thought about the future of the structure and built the smaller domes that surround the larger one so that in the event of an earthquake that they would fall away from the main dome, thus protecting it from damage.

The Taj Mahal’s Reflecting Pool and Secret Garden
The Taj Mahal is more than just a building. There are vast acres of gardens and pools surrounding it. One of these pools is called the reflecting pool, which is very shallow and reflects the image of the Taj Mahal. The Shah’s wife, Mumtaz Maha, is not actually buried in the structure at all, but was buried in the lush gardens, which he was sure she would have loved. This building was built so that all of those who would visit over the centuries would be reminded of his love for his wife.

The Building that Love Built
Shah Jahan first met Mumtaz when they were only 14 and 15 years old. Because they were so young they were made to wait five years before they were allowed to be married. Once they were married they had many children. Mumtaz Mahal died giving birth to their 14th child and Shah Jahan was so sad that he ordered his court to be sad with him for two more years. Twelve years after the building was completed, Shah Jahan died, too. He was buried next to his wife. Now, everyone who visits can see the beauty of the buildings, walk through the lovely gardens and see the building that was built with love.

Want to learn more about other places in the world with powerful stories? Check out the Spartan And The Gren Egg Explorer Pin Set to find more places you can travel to!

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Easy receipe your children can get

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Mother and child in summer cafe

While making sure your children are getting a great education as they grow up is crucial, learning the basics of math, reading, and science- it is also important to make sure your children are also getting a chance to use their imagination! As a child gets a chance to be creative and use their imagination, they are growing their brain in powerful ways that will help them in all aspects of their life. Here are 3 at home projects that will get your child in touch with their imagination.
The first project involves getting in touch with nature- and who doesn’t love that? Each season during the year presents nature in a very different way. At some point during each season, take your children outside and let them pick out things that they think represent the season the best (for example, a wildflower for summer, or a pinecone for fall). Let them pick what they want and have them explain to you why they chose it. Take all the items home and have your kids display them somehow. They may choose to press any flowers they pick, or make a display of pinecones they found. This gets your kids outside, in touch with nature, and having something to look forward to all year long!
This next project is great for a rainy or cold day when you are stuck inside- making homemade snowflakes! This is a great at home project that you probably did growing up, but is one that never gets old! What is so great about this project is that it allows your child to use their imagination to create any snowflake they want. After creating as many as you like, use any other craft supplies (like crayons, markers, or glitter) to decorate the snowflakes. Display them around your house afterwards and you have great holiday decorations for years to come! Click here for a great tutorial on how to make paper snowflakes in case you have forgotten.
This final project involves every child’s favorite thing- playdough! Take this favorite play item to the next level by using it in a learning environment. For this, ask your child what their favorite subject is in school. From there, have them select one or two of their favorite concepts, and then bring them to life! Using the playdough, have your children try to create representations of their selected items (for example, if they love outer space, have them create their own playdough solar system!) This activity will allow your kids to get creative with an art project, while also incorporating elements of knowledge they have learned in school.
If you are looking for a great at home activity that is pre-made, try out the Spartan and the Green Egg Egg Puzzle!

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Book 2 Has Arrived: The Reefs Of Mindoro Island (and a special offer for you!)

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Extra! Extra! It has arrived, and the gang is going on a new adventure that will really knock your socks off!

Spartan And The Green Egg: The Reefs Of Mindoro Island is here, taking Spartan and his friends on an entirely new adventure of education, discovery and a world deep below the sea.

Share with us your desire to read the book and why in our comment section below. The first 10 people to share with us will receive a free book!

Just in time for Easter, this book is sure to keep your kids reading and in deep discovery through another great adventure to a far-off place in the world.

Again, leave a comment with why you want to read the book and receive one as a gift from us, now!

#traveltheworld #kids #seethesights #teachyourkids #fullcyclepublications #spartanandthegreenegg  #books #nabilakhashoggi #OnTheBlog

Tracking Your Child’s Exercise Routine Builds Self-Esteem, and Math Skills Too!

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Spartan and his friends take an amazing trip to the Rainforest with their friend Egg, the friendly alien who guides them on their second adventure in Book 2 of the series. This time around, the group is more practiced, less frightened and more open to the adventure that awaits them in this far area of the world.

They say practice makes perfect. But, the truth is, practice makes permanent. This holds really true most especially in the character, attitude, and aptitude that we will develop in our kids while they are at that age when they are impressionable. A good execution of this practice-makes-permanent mantra is exercise. To complement this mantra, it’s a great idea to keep track of our kids’ progress in the exercises and challenges we will give them. At first, as moms we will be the ones to set the target or goal. Then, little by little we can pass on to them the task to challenge themselves to accomplish more than what they have achieved in the previous days.

We definitely still have to be there to show them support not to back down from the challenge and run fewer miles today, bike shorter distances, swim fewer laps, or do fewer summersaults. In the end, this makes our children more confident and builds their self-esteem. While all this emotional and psychological progress is happening, we are also teaching them basic skills in math.

By continuously challenging our kids to do better every day, we are making them realize that each day is a chance for them to be a faster runner, a more dedicated swimmer, or a more capable gymnast. They learn to value their abilities and build a healthier sense of self.

Was this article helpful for you and your child? Let us know by telling us what you see in the comments section below this post!

#traveltheworld #kids #seethesights #teachyourkids #fullcyclepublications #spartanandthegreenegg  #books #nabilakhashoggi #OnTheBlog

#traveltheworld #kids #seethesights #teachyourkids #fullcyclepublications #spartanandthegreenegg  #books #nabilakhashoggi #OnTheBlog

3 Adventurous Exercises For Children That Challenge While Nurturing

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In this age when our children are intensely devoted to checking their Facebook page or tweeting just about anything that happens in every minute of their lives, exercise comes in drizzles. As moms, it is important that we make them realize that it is not only their thumbs and other fingers that should get exercise. We also have to show our kids that the world outside is so much better than what they see in their smart devices.

What better way to accomplish these two than to give them challenges that will get them exploring the natural environment and at the same time feed their sense of adventure? Use weekends, if not after school time, to go to the park or to your community clubhouse and create a scavenger hunt-type of activity for your kids. Let them look for a treasure by running, swimming, or hopping from one spot to another. Not only will you let them get those muscles developed, you will also be able to tickle that inner adventurer and explorer in your kids.

You can also give them a pretty vague task or goal to accomplish. In this way, you will be stimulating your kid’s creativity and innovativeness. You might be surprised what they can do.

The possibilities of adventures are limitless. These little adventures we will give our kids will test not only their physical strength but they can also build a positive character and attitude towards life.

#traveltheworld #kids #seethesights #teachyourkids #fullcyclepublications #spartanandthegreenegg  #books #nabilakhashoggi #OnTheBlog

MOMS: The Perfect Easter Egg (For Your Adventurous Child!)

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Easter egg 3d puzzle

MOMS: Order now, for a year-round Easter egg, with benefits! Our unique Egg Puzzle from the Spartan And The Green Egg book series offers your child a unique perspective on the world while giving them a chance to exercise their minds and imaginations.  Let them have candy in their baskets, and keep their Spartan And The Green Egg Puzzle for their own fun!

Easter egg usb flash drive

 

And while you’re ordering for your child, you can gift yourself with our unique Egg USB Flash Drive with Book 1 on the series on it.  Perfect for when you’re on the go and you need an educational and entertaining outlet for your child to indulge in.  Carry it in your purse, and use on any computer.

What are your thoughts on puzzles for your adventurous child?  Let us know in the comments section below!

 

#traveltheworld #kids #seethesights #teachyourkids #fullcyclepublications #spartanandthegreenegg  #books #nabilakhashoggi #OnTheBlog

Book 2 Has Arrived: The Reefs Of Mindoro Island (and a special offer for you!)

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Extra! Extra! It has arrived, and the gang is going on a new adventure that will really knock your socks off!

Spartan And The Green Egg: The Reefs Of Mindoro Island is here, taking Spartan and his friends on an entirely new adventure of education, discovery and a world deep below the sea.

Share with us your desire to read the book and why in our comment section below. The first 10 people to share with us will receive a special offer of a free book!

Just in time for Easter, this book is sure to keep your kids reading and in deep discovery through another great adventure to a far-off place in the world.

Again, leave a comment with why you want to read the book and receive one as a gift from us, now!

#traveltheworld #kids #seethesights #teachyourkids #fullcyclepublications #spartanandthegreenegg  #books #nabilakhashoggi #OnTheBlog

MOMS: A New Way Of Embracing The Moment (And One Essential Action You Will Love To Hear!)

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mom embracing the moment

Moms, now that  you have been practicing the art of breathing, meditation, and taking loving action without disrupting your daily routine, it’s now time for the final step in your new approach to your life and your child’s: Embracing The Moment.

As you move forward into the rest of the year, you have the chance to continue this practice in all you do. But when you get caught up in life’s unexpected challenges or feel you haven’t been able to practice enough, this week’s lesson will help nip those negative feelings in the bud. It goes like this:

The moment you begin to feel like you may not make it past this moment, stop right there, and embrace the moment with all you have.  The idea that there is something outside of this moment, right now, is an illusion, and one that tends to overcome us when we are rushed into having the handle too many things at one time. Stop in this moment, do exactly what you need to do, and then take your first deep breath and carry on again with your practice.

Your child will respond to this as well, and we think you will be surprised at how many loving hands step in to help you that you could have never imagined.

Wondering if it’s true?  Let us know by practicing for this week and telling us what you see in the comments section below this post!

 

 

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MOMS: Finding Time For A Break (And How This Will Help Your Child Respect You More!)

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In Week 6 of our 7-Week New Year’s Challenge, we are looking at ways in which you can take all the work you have done to stop, pause, breathe, listen and take loving action to let it manifest in your daily routines until it becomes a habit.  The best way to do this is to now find time within your day to take a deliberate break from everything, and make absolutely no apologies for doing so.

When you take action in ways that is truly good for you and serves your highest self, regardless of what that may be, everyone around you will be unable to do anything else than respect you for it, even and most especially your children.  Children sense power, regardless of where it is coming from.  When they see that power coming from a place of strength and authenticity within you, they will grow in respect and honor for you and your decisions.

When Spartan makes the choice to go with Egg to a far away land he has never visited before, he makes his decision based on his instincts, and his friends choose to follow because they know he is making a choice based on genuine faith and trust.  His story offers such an important lesson for children to model, and when they are able to see that kind of choice coming from you as well they will automatically gain a deeper self-trust for listening to their instincts.

So for this week, we ask  you to practice the following:

Choose a time in your day when you know you will most likely want and need a break, but don’t normally take one.  Figure out a way to take one, pencil that time slot into your calendar along with what exactly you will do during that time (sit quietly, visit your favorite store, buy yourself a wonderful drink from your favorite coffee shop).  When the time arises, let your child know that you are now taking a break, and if they are with you that you’d like them to help you honor that time by practicing this time out with you.  Perhaps give them a Spartan book and let them take their time reading through the story once again.

Watch what happens, and let us know in the comments section below! We are confident you will find great insights, great release and a renewed sense of self!

#traveltheworld #kids #seethesights #teachyourkids #fullcyclepublications #spartanandthegreenegg  #books #nabilakhashoggi #OnTheBlog

MOMS: How To Persuade Your Child To Love Taking Action

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We know that you are really in a flow now if you have been following the first 4 weeks of our 7 week New Year challenge.  But in case you are just joining us now, and for those who are already on board, here is a brief refresher of what we’ve covered these last 4 weeks:

Week 1: Breathing (the simple, rewarding way)

Week 2: Meditation (the seriously enjoyable way!)

Week 3: Listening (while conserving energy!)

Week 4: Contemplating (let your child show you how!)

And now in week 5 we have the climactic step of the program that will not only help you feel at ease with yourself and your power as a parent, but will put your child at ease as well.  How, you ask?  One simple, yet incredibly powerful way: leading by example.

There is no doubt that when you are breathing, calm, in the flow of your own life and the world around you and, most of all, present in the moment, that your child has started to model this behavior, even if on a very subtle level.  If you don’t believe this to be true, because perhaps you haven’t actually seen evidence of this yet, now is the time to test the waters by putting them to the test and watching what happens.

Egg has an excellent way of putting the kids at ease in the Spartan series by showing them that he is calm because he is confident he knows what he is doing in a foreign land, with foreign situations.  The same is true for you, moms, with your child, whether you realize it or not. Your child is subconsciously relying on you every step of the way to guide him or her through new situations on a daily basis.  When resistance comes up it is because they are challenging something small to you that feels way outside of the norm for them. Now is your time to understand that on a deeper level and use it to your, and their, advantage.

Try this and let us know what happens:

The next time you want your child to do something you think they may have a resistance to, such as cleaning up their toys, try this:

1. Take three deep breaths

2. Put yourself in the meditative state you have been practicing daily (described in this post)

3. Switch your energy entirely onto your child, so you are in deep listening mode

4. Begin a conversation with him or her from your state of complete contemplation, genuinely curious about what they have to say

5. Tell them in the midst of that conversation that you would like them to continue telling you more about their feelings about this topic, but that you will be better able to listen once they clean up their toys (or whatever activity you want them to do)

6. Lead them to the activity and while they do it, stay with them consciously, even if you are in the other room

7. When they are done, thank them from the bottom of your heart, making sure they know how much this means to you, and ask them if you can continue your conversation, still actively listening from before.

Does this approach make a difference for you?  Please tell us your story. Let us know by leaving a comment below this post!

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MOMS: A New Action Step For You To Chew On (And Let Your Child Teach You How!)

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So now that you have your daily meditations down and have been practicing them within your daily routines, along with taking those deep breaths and letting yourself listen to the pauses when your child talks, we want to give you one more incredible tool that will give your mind a new way to chew on all that information it is taking in and wanting to process.

We know you don’t ever want to go back to the old way of feeling like you’re in a state of overwhelm, so we want you to take this next step as seriously as the others.  This will likely come as a welcome surprise so we are excited to share it with you:

We want you to practice contemplating your thoughts (and let your child teach you how!!).

Have you ever watched your child stop to contemplate something?  They are learning at such a rapid speed on a daily basis and sometimes they have to stop for a moment and go into deep thought to take in and process something.  This may be something they’ve just realized from a moment ago or two weeks ago that they are just now understanding.

Our very own Max has this practice down better than any of the others, and if your child can relate to him then you have the perfect teacher to observe and learn from.

The beauty of contemplation is that it is a tool for how we all learn, we just tend to forget that as adults and expect way too much of ourselves without giving ourselves a chance to process new information.  But once we start to practice that kind of interruption within our daily routines, we can break that pattern in a heartbeat, just like your child does.

So for the next week, we want you to listen to your instincts and each time you get the urge to chew on something you hear that is new, take a moment to contemplate that to yourself, regardless of where you are or who you’re around.  Take this private moment seriously, and if you’re with your child you can let them know that you need a moment to take in what they’ve just said to you.  We promise this kind of mental time-out will not only give you moment to rejuvenate your mind but will allow your nervous system to relax and energize you to carry on with whatever activity you’re in the middle of.

Wondering if it’s true?  Let us know by practicing for this week and telling us what you see in the comments section below this post!

#traveltheworld #kids #seethesights #teachyourkids #fullcyclepublications #spartanandthegreenegg  #books #nabilakhashoggi #OnTheBlog

MOMS: A New Way To Communicate With Your Active Child (And Make Them Take A Pause!)

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Communicate With Your Active Child

Moms, we know that you have been practicing your daily meditations, working on how to slow down a bit and take a moment or two for yourself during the day.  But what about your beloved child, who is action-oriented and ready for adventure at every moment of the day?  We have the PERFECT recipe to communicate with your active child in a new way that will have them feeling loved, empowered, and make them take that pause you have been hoping they would take!

Your child has something to do, say and show every moment of the day because he or she is active, smart and learning at the speed of light.  Now is the perfect opportunity to take the mediation skills you’ve been practicing daily with your own activities and put them to use with your child.

Here is what we want  you to do: take the same meditation practice you’re using when washing the dishes or driving in your car and apply them to your child in the form of listening.  Try to NOT respond when your child is talking and practice listening only to the spaces between each word he or she is saying.  Focus on this, and watch what happens.  We guarantee you will hear every word they say while remaining in a much more calm and meditative state, and that your child will notice you tuning in to him or her in a completely new way. He or she will feel heard, loved and even take a pause in response to your holding such a sacred space for him or her to express his or her thoughts.

Wondering if it’s true?  Let us know by practicing for this week and telling us what you see in the comments section below this post!

#traveltheworld #kids #seethesights #teachyourkids #fullcyclepublications #spartanandthegreenegg  #books #nabilakhashoggi #OnTheBlog

MOMS: A New Way To Communicate With Your Active Child (And Make Them Take A Pause!)

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Moms, we know that you have been practicing your daily meditations, working on how to slow down a bit and take a moment or two for yourself during the day.  But what about your beloved child, who is action-oriented and ready for adventure at every moment of the day?  We have the PERFECT recipe for communicating with your child in a new way that will have them feeling loved, empowered, and make them take that pause you have been hoping they would take!

Your child has something to do, say and show every moment of the day because he or she is active, smart and learning at the speed of light.  Now is the perfect opportunity to take the mediation skills you’ve been practicing daily with your own activities and put them to use with your child.

Here is what we want  you to do: take the same meditation practice you’re using when washing the dishes or driving in your car and apply them to your child in the form of listening.  Try to NOT respond when your child is talking and practice listening only to the spaces between each word he or she is saying.  Focus on this, and watch what happens.  We guarantee you will hear every word they say while remaining in a much more calm and meditative state, and that your child will notice you tuning in to him or her in a completely new way. He or she will feel heard, loved and even take a pause in response to your holding such a sacred space for him or her to express his or her thoughts.

Wondering if it’s true?  Let us know by practicing for this week and telling us what you see in the comments section below this post!

#traveltheworld #kids #seethesights #teachyourkids #fullcyclepublications #spartanandthegreenegg  #books #nabilakhashoggi #OnTheBlog

MOMS: The Perfect Valentine’s Day Present For Your Adventurous Child! (And A FREE Gift To Go Along With It)

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Moms, we know that Valentine’s Day at school can be exciting and filled with love notes, chocolate and those special Valentine’s Day boxes your child spends time crafting to reflect his or her unique and special personality.  We also know that as a day that symbolizes love, there is no better way to express your love through the act of gifting, especially when that gift shows you put extra thought into it for your child’s one-of-a-kind persona.

So to help you with that, we have our VERY SPECIAL Spartan And The Green Egg egg-shaped puzzle with beautiful and fun illustrations from the series.  We know this is the kind of token your adventurous child will take to heart, and be able to share with you for years to come. That’s why we have it on sale for you to order now, just in time for Valentine’s Day.

For the first 14 people who order before February 14 we will include our E-book Collector’s Egg USB Flash Drive free of charge, so you and your child can enjoy the first book of the series wherever you go!

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So order now, so your shipment will arrive right on time to surprise your child with a gift straight from the heart of the Spartan Explorer Series!

When your gift arrives, let us know how your child likes it by leaving a comment and/or a picture in the comments section below!

 

 

#traveltheworld #kids #seethesights #teachyourkids #fullcyclepublications #spartanandthegreenegg  #books #nabilakhashoggi #OnTheBlog

MOMS: A Secret Recipe For Meditation (And The Trick To Fitting It Into Your Daily Routine!)

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katie

We know as a parent your days are adventures in and of themselves!  There are days when you wonder how you will ever find the time to breathe, let alone take time out to meditate or allow yourself the space you need to come back to a state of balance.

For this week, we are taking a moment to look at the simplest and most powerful tool of meditation that will not only let you breathe but empower you right back into a place of blissful control.

When you implement this simple tool into your daily routine, you will most likely be blown away at how expert you already are at it.  In fact, the secret is that we meditate all the time naturally throughout our days. The trick is to learn how to bring your self into those moments fully to experience the incredible benefits waiting to appear.

We get a great taste of this when Spartan and his friends go with Egg on their first journey.  The level of trust they give over includes the secret tool for which you can change your life for the better.  Katie in particular demonstrates her ability to come back to the present moment, which is part of this uncanny action step that many people don’t realize they are already doing.

Meditation Recipe For Busy Moms:

Did you know that taking action around something we are familiar with puts us into an automatic state of meditation?  Many people don’t realize this. Whenever you are in the middle of a routine task in your day- ironing, washing dishes, driving your car, picking up your child from school, shopping- you are meditating.  The only difference is that you are not aware of it so you find yourself zoning out.  This actually creates extra space for your brain to go into overdrive, and takes away your precious energy.  The trick is to simple bring yourself to the moment and allow your thoughts to pass in and out, hence become fully present in your meditation.

The next time you find yourself in this kind of routine, say these two words to yourself:

“I’m back!”

And see what happens.  We predict unexpected bursts of energy, joyful self-discoveries and deeper self-awareness will begin to surface into your conscious life.  But you will have to let us know for yourself!  Try this for the next day and let us know what you discover in the comments section below!

#traveltheworld #kids #seethesights #teachyourkids #fullcyclepublications #spartanandthegreenegg  #books #nabilakhashoggi #OnTheBlog

Moms: How To Avoid Overwhelm In The New Year With One Essential Secret Recipe

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1GB USB flash drive with book 1 (epub & mobi) preloaded.

1GB USB flash drive with book 1 (epub & mobi) preloaded.

For all the moms out there who are settling down from the holidays and feeling a sense of overwhelm when it comes to gathering up the remnants of a busy holiday, the year ahead can seem completely daunting and overwhelming for what you want to accomplish for your children, your family and yourself.  Well, take a deep breath and say “Thank you world!” because we have the one essential secret recipe that will alleviate your sense of overwhelm right in the moment.

The secret ingredient is one you know, deep down, to be the answer, but our minds tend to block it out with the everyday stresses of life.  That ingredient is this simple truth: you are enough.  Sound too simple?  Think about this: there is essentially nothing outside of this very moment we are in right now.  The skill the most successful people in the world know and use on a daily basis is they know how to plan something, then trust the plan and move through it, moment to moment.  If something goes awry along the way they move through it as best and as quickly as they can and reflect later upon how they can plan differently next time.  This is ironically the exact lesson The Egg teaches the kids in the Spartan And The Green Egg series, and one your kids can practice along with you through each book.

In working with that sense of deep self-confidence and self-trust, successful people know in each moment that what they are doing for the time being is enough.  This is the same for every single mom who is committed to making her family life the best it can possibly be.  So take the below recipe with you and let us know what happens when you implement it into your life daily:

How To Avoid Overwhelm:

1. Three Deep Breaths

2. One minute of eyes closed, letting your mind pause

3. Repeat these words to yourself 10 times in a row: I Am Enough.

Studies show it takes seven weeks to form a new habit.  We challenge you to make this a habit for the next seven weeks, and let us know what happens as a result.  We have a feeling you will feel more in control, more at ease and begin making fantastic choices as a result.  But let’s see if we’re right by leaving your results in the comment section below!

Sign up for free giveaways and get info about the SGE Explorer’s Club here!

 

#traveltheworld #kids #seethesights #teachyourkids #fullcyclepublications #spartanandthegreenegg  #books #nabilakhashoggi #OnTheBlog

Imaginative, Kid-Friendly Holiday DIY Projects

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 banner (1)

Spartan and his friends are great at using their imagination in different ways. Katie is especially good at art. She is able to use her imagination to create the images that she thinks of. We see this when she draws the rocket for the team to envision in order to contact Egg. Arts and crafts projects are great ways to allow your kids to use their imagination in creative and productive ways. The holiday season seems to lend itself to fun and creative projects that you and your children can do together. With the New Year on its way in, here are some fun, simple ways to spend quality and engaging time with your children.

Holiday Cards:

Holiday cards are always fun for children to make. Whether you celebrate a specific holiday or celebrate the season as a whole, greeting cards a great way to get your kids to use their imagination and be creative. All you need are a few pieces of construction paper (pick up a full pad of colored construction paper and let you child select their favorite colors to use), and crayons/markers/colored pencils/water colors etc. If you want you can add to the creative process by supplying your child with other elements like stencils, stickers, glitter, and glue. Let them decorate the card however they like and encourage them to put a seasonal greeting on the inside. You can choose to send this out to select relatives or friends or use the cards as decorations around your home.

Sugar Cookies:

No matter what holiday you celebrate, sugar cookies are a great treat that you can make with your children. You can always go with the prepackaged mix, which will save time, or use this simple recipe:

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup golden brown sugar (packed)

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until fluffy. Mix in the egg and vanilla. Next, sift in the flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg; blend well. Take the dough out of the bowl and knead gently for about one minute. Shape the dough into a ½ inch thick rectangle. Cut the dough into four equal pieces and wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least three hours. When you take the dough out, allow it to soften before rolling it out. Next, with the rack positioned in the center of your oven, preheat it at 350 degrees. Prepare a large cookie sheet by buttering it lightly. Next, roll out each piece of dough individually until they are about 1/8 inch thick. Next, take your favorite holiday cookie cutters and begin cutting out shapes and trimming the dough around the cutter. Your child will have fun doing this. Tip: lightly flour the cutters so the dough doesn’t stick to them. Remember to reroll the dough scraps to make more cookies. Transfer the cookies onto your baking sheet and bake them for about 11 minutes (until golden brown). Let them cool for five minutes. At this point you can choose to leave them as they are or frost them.

By choosing to frost them, you can allow your children to design them anyway they want. This can be made less messy and easier by using pastry bags or store bought tubes of frosting. Let their imagination guide them as they help you create these yummy holiday treats.

These are just a couple of ideas to both get your child involved in this festive season and use their imagination in creative ways. No matter what you choose to do, the most important thing is to have fun with your child as they explore the capabilities of their mind.

#traveltheworld #kids #seethesights #teachyourkids #fullcyclepublications #spartanandthegreenegg  #books #nabilakhashoggi #OnTheBlog

Imaginative, Kid-Friendly Holiday DIY Projects

Leave a reply

 banner (1)

Spartan and his friends are great at using their imagination in different ways. Katie is especially good at art. She is able to use her imagination to create the images that she thinks of. We see this when she draws the rocket for the team to envision in order to contact Egg. Arts and crafts projects are great ways to allow your kids to use their imagination in creative and productive ways. The holiday season seems to lend itself to fun and creative projects that you and your children can do together. With the New Year on its way in, here are some fun, simple ways to spend quality and engaging time with your children.

Holiday Cards:

Holiday cards are always fun for children to make. Whether you celebrate a specific holiday or celebrate the season as a whole, greeting cards a great way to get your kids to use their imagination and be creative. All you need are a few pieces of construction paper (pick up a full pad of colored construction paper and let you child select their favorite colors to use), and crayons/markers/colored pencils/water colors etc. If you want you can add to the creative process by supplying your child with other elements like stencils, stickers, glitter, and glue. Let them decorate the card however they like and encourage them to put a seasonal greeting on the inside. You can choose to send this out to select relatives or friends or use the cards as decorations around your home.

Sugar Cookies:

No matter what holiday you celebrate, sugar cookies are a great treat that you can make with your children. You can always go with the prepackaged mix, which will save time, or use this simple recipe:

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup golden brown sugar (packed)

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until fluffy. Mix in the egg and vanilla. Next, sift in the flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg; blend well. Take the dough out of the bowl and knead gently for about one minute. Shape the dough into a ½ inch thick rectangle. Cut the dough into four equal pieces and wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least three hours. When you take the dough out, allow it to soften before rolling it out. Next, with the rack positioned in the center of your oven, preheat it at 350 degrees. Prepare a large cookie sheet by buttering it lightly. Next, roll out each piece of dough individually until they are about 1/8 inch thick. Next, take your favorite holiday cookie cutters and begin cutting out shapes and trimming the dough around the cutter. Your child will have fun doing this. Tip: lightly flour the cutters so the dough doesn’t stick to them. Remember to reroll the dough scraps to make more cookies. Transfer the cookies onto your baking sheet and bake them for about 11 minutes (until golden brown). Let them cool for five minutes. At this point you can choose to leave them as they are or frost them.

By choosing to frost them, you can allow your children to design them anyway they want. This can be made less messy and easier by using pastry bags or store bought tubes of frosting. Let their imagination guide them as they help you create these yummy holiday treats.

These are just a couple of ideas to both get your child involved in this festive season and use their imagination in creative ways. No matter what you choose to do, the most important thing is to have fun with your child as they explore the capabilities of their mind.

#traveltheworld #kids #seethesights #teachyourkids #fullcyclepublications #spartanandthegreenegg  #books #nabilakhashoggi #OnTheBlog

Imaginative, Kid-Friendly Holiday DIY Projects

Leave a reply

 banner (1)

Spartan and his friends are great at using their imagination in different ways. Katie is especially good at art. She is able to use her imagination to create the images that she thinks of. We see this when she draws the rocket for the team to envision in order to contact Egg. Arts and crafts projects are great ways to allow your kids to use their imagination in creative and productive ways. The holiday season seems to lend itself to fun and creative projects that you and your children can do together. With the New Year on its way in, here are some fun, simple ways to spend quality and engaging time with your children.

Holiday Cards:

Holiday cards are always fun for children to make. Whether you celebrate a specific holiday or celebrate the season as a whole, greeting cards a great way to get your kids to use their imagination and be creative. All you need are a few pieces of construction paper (pick up a full pad of colored construction paper and let you child select their favorite colors to use), and crayons/markers/colored pencils/water colors etc. If you want you can add to the creative process by supplying your child with other elements like stencils, stickers, glitter, and glue. Let them decorate the card however they like and encourage them to put a seasonal greeting on the inside. You can choose to send this out to select relatives or friends or use the cards as decorations around your home.

Sugar Cookies:

No matter what holiday you celebrate, sugar cookies are a great treat that you can make with your children. You can always go with the prepackaged mix, which will save time, or use this simple recipe:

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup golden brown sugar (packed)

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until fluffy. Mix in the egg and vanilla. Next, sift in the flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg; blend well. Take the dough out of the bowl and knead gently for about one minute. Shape the dough into a ½ inch thick rectangle. Cut the dough into four equal pieces and wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least three hours. When you take the dough out, allow it to soften before rolling it out. Next, with the rack positioned in the center of your oven, preheat it at 350 degrees. Prepare a large cookie sheet by buttering it lightly. Next, roll out each piece of dough individually until they are about 1/8 inch thick. Next, take your favorite holiday cookie cutters and begin cutting out shapes and trimming the dough around the cutter. Your child will have fun doing this. Tip: lightly flour the cutters so the dough doesn’t stick to them. Remember to reroll the dough scraps to make more cookies. Transfer the cookies onto your baking sheet and bake them for about 11 minutes (until golden brown). Let them cool for five minutes. At this point you can choose to leave them as they are or frost them.

By choosing to frost them, you can allow your children to design them anyway they want. This can be made less messy and easier by using pastry bags or store bought tubes of frosting. Let their imagination guide them as they help you create these yummy holiday treats.

These are just a couple of ideas to both get your child involved in this festive season and use their imagination in creative ways. No matter what you choose to do, the most important thing is to have fun with your child as they explore the capabilities of their mind.

#traveltheworld #kids #seethesights #teachyourkids #fullcyclepublications #spartanandthegreenegg  #books #nabilakhashoggi #OnTheBlog

Are You Raising Spartan, Katie, Tor, or Max? 5 Essential Keys to Cultivate Your Child’s Unique Imagination

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home

You’re already aware that children are born with unique personalities that develop very early on, but you may not know exactly how to support them since they are often completely the opposite of our own. In the Spartan And The Green Egg series, each character has a different personality that almost every child can identify with. Your child may be adventurous by nature, like Spartan, or they may be artistic and curious like Katie. Maybe your child is intellectual like Max or mechanically inclined like Tor. Or, they could be wildly imaginative enough to identify with Egg.

No matter what type of personality your child has, finding a way to anchor them in their own inclinations can help them build confidence in their own unique strengths. Here are five ways to do just that.

ADVENTURER: THE SPARTAN TYPE

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Spartan is a leader on a constant quest for knowledge. If your child is similar you may want to engage them in activities that will satisfy that quest while allowing them to use their imagination. Pretend play is a great way to do this. Let your child share something new with you that they may be learning in school, like what an archeologist does. Let them read Spartan’s adventures and have them create their own adventure fantasy that corresponds to what they are currently being taught in school. Have them join a virtual world with like-minded children, like the Explorer’s Club, where they can share their creation with other like-minded adventurous children. You will be satisfying your child’s thirst for knowledge while helping them expand their imagination.

CREATIVE: THE KATIE TYPE

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Katie loves a challenge. Her strong sense of imagination coupled with her artistic ability allows her to physically create what her mind thinks up. If this sounds like your child, try letting their artistic talents drive their imagination. You can help by taking your child to art museums where they can see the imaginations of other artists come to life through the framed canvases. Let them read the Spartan series and learn how Katie uses her creativity to solve unforeseen problems. If your child sees what others have done they may be more willing to do the same. When they join the Explorer’s Club they will be able to share their creative ideas with other children doing the same. By doing this, you will not only help your child use their imagination, you will help support their artistic talents, too.

MECHANICAL: THE TOR TYPE

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Tor is lazy and messy but also loveable and good with machinery. If your child is constantly taking his or her toys apart just to put (or attempt to put) them back together you may be raising your own Tor. Blocks are a great way to help your child use their imagination along with their love of engineering. If your child is older try more technical sets like K’Nex sets. These allow your child to create what they want using more technical elements like brackets and metal beams. By introducing your child to these toys you’ll allow their mechanical abilities to shine as you encourage them to create what is in their mind. If you don’t want your entire house to become a grounds for re-building, have them join the Explorer’s Club where they can rebuild and talk shop with kids all over the world in a virtual setting.

INTELLECTUAL: THE MAX TYPE

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Intellectual and analytical, Max uses his natural intelligence to research and analyze different facts as he and his friends explore the world. If you believe that your child is analytical and enjoys more intellectual endeavors, like computer games, you may want to use more intellectual methods to cultivate their imagination. Reading is obviously a great place to start. Your child can pick out a book to read and imagine that they are the main character in the story. Maybe they will pretend that they are the detective in a mystery book that follows clues to solve a crime. By encouraging this behavior, your child can use their intelligence and their imagination at the same time.

IMAGINATIVE: THE EGG TYPE

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If your child’s imagination is in constant motion, coming up with ideas you never thought possible as his or her age, you may find it a challenge to put them in touch with an equal counterpart to ground their thoughts. Finding Egg in the Spartan And The Green Egg series is the best catalyst for all the characters, and can be an excellent grounding source for your child as well. Egg takes the children on adventures they never knew possible while providing them with love and guidance to carry them safely forward. Joining the Explorer’s Club and befriending Egg is a great challenge for your child to focus their imagination in ways that gives them a sense of community, strength and confidence.

No matter what type of personality your child has, there are ways to utilize their natural instincts and abilities to enhance their imagination and sense of exploration. Try one of these methods or let us know what other ideas have worked for you!

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Help Your Children Respect the Environment And Your Home! Three Simple, Yet Crucial Habit-Forming Steps To Take!

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Children-running-outdoors-CMYK-canstockphoto4657804 

Let’s face it: teaching your kids to go green is great, but getting them to clean up after themselves and not to forget their underwear before walking out the door may come first on your secret priority list.  Yet there is a huge opportunity to teach our children how to become more conscious of the environment in the everyday actions they take by developing habits that will stay with them for a lifetime. Here are three dynamic yet simple action steps that will have them respecting their own home and personal development while forming lasting habits toward a safer environment!

1. Leave Something, Plant Something

If your child forgets to make her bed or pick up his toys that you’ve tripped over one too many times, your list of subtle, yet effective ways to drive that habit home once and for all may have become quite long by now.  However, there is one habit that when done together can work to heal both the environment and a forgetful mind.  Have your child plant a seed each time he or she forgets a crucial household chore.  Planting a seed in your own yard teaches them to hone the skill of patience, understanding and consciousness.  Watching that seed grow is a healing act that they will forever associate with being more mindful of the world, and home they live in. 

Take Them Out in Nature

When Spartan and his friends arrive in the rainforest they see many different animals that live there. These animals depend on the plants and trees around them for survival. This may be a difficult notion for children to grasp. By taking them out to local parks or forests you can help them get a firsthand look at these animals in their natural habitats. Admiring these animals in their natural habitats can show your child how careful they are with how they treat their surroundings.  Watching a bird carefully construct and then live in its own nest can be a powerful analogy to how your child treats his or her own room at home.

Teach Them That Everyday Items Come from Nature

Not into picking up after themselves? Spartan and his friends learn that the trees that are being cut down may be used for things like making paper. If you teach your child that paper comes from trees or that cotton clothes come from cotton plants you can help them realize that nature is their biggest resource. If they see the environment as a necessity instead of as an arbitrary setting, they will treat it better to ensure that it remains useful, while thinking twice about how they treat the possessions they already have.

Was this post helpful?  Leave us a comment and tell us what you think!

 

#traveltheworld #kids #seethesights #teachyourkids #fullcyclepublications #spartanandthegreenegg  #books #nabilakhashoggi #OnTheBlog

Is Your Adventurous Child More Than A Handful? Three Essential Steps Every Mom Can Take To Hone Their Passion!

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Every child has a natural sense of adventure. As soon as your child learns how to walk they begin to explore the world around them in many ways, using all of their senses and depths of imagination.  Yet there are some children whose natural sense of adventure supersedes even your wildest imagination, creating games, imaginary friends and foreign lands within the terrain of their 100 square foot bedroom!  This special and active yearning for adventure may have you wondering how in the world you will be able to keep up with their adventurous needs!

Fear not: there are three specific actions you can take right now in order to feed your child’s incredibly strong imagination while making life at home the serene haven you intend it to be!

1. Encourage Your Child To Focus Their Imagination On A Specific Project

Allowing your child to use their own mind to create exciting adventures for a specific purpose can allow them to go wild without needing to pull attention away from anyone else. This can be done while you are both out and about or in your own home.  In Spartan & The Green Egg, Spartan and his friends use the power of their minds to meet The Egg and go on an adventure to the Amazon. Using this story as the focal point let your child imagine that they are an explorer looking for specific items wherever you go (the ones on your grocery list, for example!). If you’re stuck in the house on a rainy day make a blanket fort with your child and let their imagination come up with their own adventure. The overall idea of showing your child the power of imagination is what matters most.

2. Anchor Your Child With New Information

As Spartan and his friends go on their adventures Max brings up important educational facts, like the tidbit about plants being used to make medicine. If you help your child gain knowledge during every day activities you can make every adventure a learning experience. For instance, while out at the park or beach have your child look for different kinds of leaves or shells. Once you collect a few different ones you can help your child learn why they are different and what purpose they serve. You can also do this by examining different bugs or flowers in a garden. Doing this acts as an anchor so they can channel their energy into focused topics that make them excited about new facts rather than searching for something to clear their impending boredom.

3. Help Your Child Keep an Open Mind

Even though Spartan and his friends go on a fun adventure to the Amazon, Tor remains skeptical about the whole process. He questions the general existence of aliens based on the sole fact that he’s never seen one. He only agrees to try out Spartan’s experiment when he is convinced by Katie and Spartan to stay open to the idea of aliens’ existence. Tor questioning information isn’t the issue here; it is the fact that he initially dismisses the notion of aliens’ existence altogether before listening to any information. As moms, you can teach your children to stay open to new ideas. This will help their sense of adventure by showing them that there are ideas other than the ones in their own mind. This is also essential when your child is playing with other children as they will all have different thoughts on their shared adventure.

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How To Stretch Your Child’s Imagination With Egg!

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Egg from Spartan & The Green Egg

Egg, a friendly alien with a keen sense of a child’s need for learning and adventure, is one of the main characters in the Spartan And The Green Egg book series and the catalyst for taking the kids on the adventure of a lifetime.

The beauty of Egg for the children reading the books is his intention: to excite and motivate the children to look outside their current state of knowledge and dare to consider a world outside their perception. In short, to stretch their imaginations in ways that allows them to dream about what the world can hold for them, and then show them how possible it really is.

On their first adventure together, Egg takes Spartan and his group of friends on a trip to the Rainforest be transporting them through space and time. When they arrive, Egg guides the children to through their adventure in getting to know the people of the Rainforest and learning of the challenges they face for their environment. With Egg’s guidance, they learn how to trust themselves, and their positive instincts to do good in the world.

When your child gets to know Egg, they can go on the same adventure of stretching their imagination and giving them reason to think outside the box to build lifelong confidence and self-assurance.

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Getting Your Child Excited About Charity: Children For Peace

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Children for Peace logo

In the spirit of Spartan And The Green Egg, The Children For Peace is a non-governmental organization that helps young people living in challenging circumstances obtain essential needs such as food, medical help and educational opportunities.

Their projects are 100% donation-based, and can be tracked by members of the Spartan And The Green Egg Community here. The Children For Peace provides an excellent opportunity for children to learn more about impoverished areas of the world and play an active role in watching groups make steady improvements, while supporting their causes virtually.

All donations they receive go directly to the projects they help fund. The Children For Peace pays no salaries and no overhead except for annual fee paid to their accounting firm that files all documents required for the government in Italy.

 

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Who Is Spartan? Three Reasons Your Child Needs To Become His Friend!

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Photo of Spartan

Spartan, the main character in the Spartan And The Green Egg book series, has some skills that your child who loves adventure can benefit from. His uncanny ability to lead his group of friends in a generous, loving way makes him the perfect example for your child to hone their own leadership skills after.

Here are Spartan’s three main leadership attributes your child can hook onto and establish for life within the books and by joining the Explorer’s Club:

1. Conservatively Curious

Spartan has a love for adventure, and dreams about creating new places to explore with his friends. But when an alien appears on his kitchen table in the form of an egg, he doesn’t let his excitement override his sense of curiosity. He pauses long enough to ask a series of questions about Egg’s intentions, and lets his curiosity fuel his caution. When he is finally satisfied the Egg will lead them in a safe way, he agrees to go on the journey.

2. Quietly Observant

Spartan, although fully immersed in his adventure with Egg and his friends, remains quietly observant, always sizing up the situation to make sure he feels good about their choices in a foreign land. This attribute is one that teaches children to learn to listen to and trust their instincts, a practice that can serve them as positive and effective leaders for the rest of their lives.

3. Decisively Emotional

Spartan never strays from his sense of responsibility to himself and his friends while on their journey with Egg, but he also allows himself to stay in touch with what he is feeling, which allows him to make decisions based on his own internal compass rather than what is going on around him. This skill exemplifies to children that their feelings are their greatest guide, and when combined with a sharp sense of leadership skills, they can begin a most effective practice of becoming compassionate leaders.

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Increase Your Child’s Sense Of Community Through Books: Three Action Steps To Take Now!

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home

If your child has a natural passion for adventure and community, there are several ways to hone that spark to fuel their sense of community and leadership through the books they read. Exposing them to stories that both ignite their imaginations and teach them about practical world issues around them are incredible ways to instill a new found confidence and creative energy that can stay with them for a lifetime.

In order to further their experience and give them the space to explore the ideas and skills they learn from the books they’re reading, there are three helpful tips to help extend their learning into experiential habits.

1. Engage With The Characters Online

There are many children’s books that have websites that allow your kids to learn more about the characters in the book and interact with them in different ways. When they are able to identify with a particular character, and then engage with that character outside of the book they can continue to learn more about the educational message and stay connected through a healthy connection and fun activities.

Spartan And The Green Egg allows children to meet each of the characters and learn more about what areas of the world those characters are interested in. They are able to write in to each character to ask questions and form a relationship with them, giving them more information about how to help areas of the world that are most in need.

2. Engage With Other Children Around The World

Some children’s books offer online communities that are completely safe for your child to become a part of and engage with other children who love to book as much as they do. This kind of interaction, when supported with a site that helps foster healthy conversations and interactions, gives your child the space to explore the information they love from the book in real-time, in a healthy environment.

Spartan And The Green Egg has an Explorer’s Club that will soon allow children from all over the world to interact with each other and have healthy discussions about the books.

3. Talk With Your Kids

When your child has finished a book they love, the best way you can help to keep their imaginations going and build their confidence in the new information they just absorbed is to let them tell you what they loved about it, and listen to what they have to say. Let them ask you questions and guide them to the answers they are seeking. Remember to let your intuition be your guide, and let them know you support their minds and hearts 100%.

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Three Ways To Ignite Your Child’s Sense Of Adventure Without Leaving Your Home

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Hard Case Cover Flat HZ

If your children have a natural sense of adventure that you want to nurture, but you can’t find enough time in the day to satisfy their need to travel the neighborhood in pursuit of long-lost treasures those pirates left thousands of years ago, we have just the remedy to keep their minds moving in the right direction.

Here are three simple steps for satisfying their urges without having to leave your home, the Spartan way!

1. Give them the challenge of learning what it takes to visit an area of the world they have never heard of

The Spartan And The Green Egg series was developed as a way for children to understand more than just where places exist geographically. Each Spartan story hones in specifically on issues surrounding these areas and the challenges visitors may face when they arrive. Your child is invited through the stories to take actionable steps with the explorers to overcome their challenges while helping to preserve the land and its inhabitants. Taking your child on such a trip gives them a chance to fully engage their mind while helping the explorers find their destination.

2. Join the actual explorers through the Spartan And The Green Egg Website

When your child becomes a member of the Spartan And The Green Egg website he or she has a chance to meet the explorers personally and see other areas of the world they each want to visit. Once they choose the explorer they can most jive with, they have the chance to look deeper into places of exploration that encourage them to come up with potential adventures of their own into these new and exciting places.

3. Join the SGE Explorer’s Club

We have found that children who like adventure like to take their reading to the next level of challenging interactions. That is why we created the SGE Explorer’s Club, which gives your children the chance to interact with the Spartan characters they love and learn from them about various areas of the world that appeal to them most in the books. When they become more fluent in the areas they love, the can then share their newfound information with other explorers from around the world, creating new virtual adventures together. This level of engagement gives them a chance to take control of their own journey while learning how collaborate as a leader on their chosen paths.

Can you think of other ways your child can benefit from joining the Explorer Team? If so, leave your comments below!

#traveltheworld #kids #seethesights #teachyourkids #fullcyclepublications #spartanandthegreenegg  #books #nabilakhashoggi #OnTheBlog

Three Ways To Ignite Your Child’s Sense Of Adventure Without Leaving Your Home

Leave a reply

Hard Case Cover Flat HZ

If your children have a natural sense of adventure that you want to nurture, but you can’t find enough time in the day to satisfy their need to travel the neighborhood in pursuit of long-lost treasures those pirates left thousands of years ago, we have just the remedy to keep their minds moving in the right direction.

Here are three simple steps for satisfying their urges without having to leave your home, the Spartan way!

1. Give them the challenge of learning what it takes to visit an area of the world they have never heard of

The Spartan And The Green Egg series was developed as a way for children to understand more than just where places exist geographically. Each Spartan story hones in specifically on issues surrounding these areas and the challenges visitors may face when they arrive. Your child is invited through the stories to take actionable steps with the explorers to overcome their challenges while helping to preserve the land and its inhabitants. Taking your child on such a trip gives them a chance to fully engage their mind while helping the explorers find their destination.

2. Join the actual explorers through the Spartan And The Green Egg Website

When your child becomes a member of the Spartan And The Green Egg website he or she has a chance to meet the explorers personally and see other areas of the world they each want to visit. Once they choose the explorer they can most jive with, they have the chance to look deeper into places of exploration that encourage them to come up with potential adventures of their own into these new and exciting places.

3. Join the SGE Explorer’s Club

We have found that children who like adventure like to take their reading to the next level of challenging interactions. That is why we created the SGE Explorer’s Club, which gives your children the chance to interact with the Spartan characters they love and learn from them about various areas of the world that appeal to them most in the books. When they become more fluent in the areas they love, the can then share their newfound information with other explorers from around the world, creating new virtual adventures together. This level of engagement gives them a chance to take control of their own journey while learning how collaborate as a leader on their chosen paths.

Can you think of other ways your child can benefit from joining the Explorer Team? If so, leave your comments below!

#traveltheworld #kids #seethesights #teachyourkids #fullcyclepublications #spartanandthegreenegg  #books #nabilakhashoggi #OnTheBlog

Imaginative, Kid-Friendly Holiday DIY Projects

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 Spartan & The Green Egg logo

Spartan and his friends are great at using their imagination in different ways. Katie is especially good at art. She is able to use her imagination to create the images that she thinks of. We see this when she draws the rocket for the team to envision in order to contact Egg. Arts and crafts projects are great ways to allow your kids to use their imagination in creative and productive ways. The holiday season seems to lend itself to fun and creative projects that you and your children can do together. With the New Year on its way in, here are some fun, simple ways to spend quality and engaging time with your children.

Holiday Cards:

Holiday cards are always fun for children to make. Whether you celebrate a specific holiday or celebrate the season as a whole, greeting cards a great way to get your kids to use their imagination and be creative. All you need are a few pieces of construction paper (pick up a full pad of colored construction paper and let you child select their favorite colors to use), and crayons/markers/colored pencils/water colors etc. If you want you can add to the creative process by supplying your child with other elements like stencils, stickers, glitter, and glue. Let them decorate the card however they like and encourage them to put a seasonal greeting on the inside. You can choose to send this out to select relatives or friends or use the cards as decorations around your home.

Sugar Cookies:

No matter what holiday you celebrate, sugar cookies are a great treat that you can make with your children. You can always go with the prepackaged mix, which will save time, or use this simple recipe:

1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup golden brown sugar (packed)

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

Beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer until fluffy. Mix in the egg and vanilla. Next, sift in the flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg; blend well. Take the dough out of the bowl and knead gently for about one minute. Shape the dough into a ½ inch thick rectangle. Cut the dough into four equal pieces and wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least three hours. When you take the dough out, allow it to soften before rolling it out. Next, with the rack positioned in the center of your oven, preheat it at 350 degrees. Prepare a large cookie sheet by buttering it lightly. Next, roll out each piece of dough individually until they are about 1/8 inch thick. Next, take your favorite holiday cookie cutters and begin cutting out shapes and trimming the dough around the cutter. Your child will have fun doing this. Tip: lightly flour the cutters so the dough doesn’t stick to them. Remember to reroll the dough scraps to make more cookies. Transfer the cookies onto your baking sheet and bake them for about 11 minutes (until golden brown). Let them cool for five minutes. At this point you can choose to leave them as they are or frost them.

By choosing to frost them, you can allow your children to design them anyway they want. This can be made less messy and easier by using pastry bags or store bought tubes of frosting. Let their imagination guide them as they help you create these yummy holiday treats.

These are just a couple of ideas to both get your child involved in this festive season and use their imagination in creative ways. No matter what you choose to do, the most important thing is to have fun with your child as they explore the capabilities of their mind.

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