Fun Day: How to Make a Scarecrow

Thing you can make when you have free time with your children in decorating your garden.

(Thanks to eHow.com, http://www.ehow.com/how_3981_make-scarecrow.html#ixzz1KETQCeaM)

Materials:
* Buttons (optional)
* Straw Hat (optional)
* Gardening Gloves
* Glues
* Old Pillowcase
* Yarns, Straws, Dry Leaves or Rags (stuffing material)
* Felt-tip Pens
* Rubber Bands
* 10-foot long bamboo pole or something looks like it
* Ropes
* Old Belt (optional)
* Craft Wire, Floral Wire, Twine or Raffia (for tying)
* Old Shirt (not tees)
* Old Trousers or Overall

Steps:
1) Cut bamboo pole into two pieces, 4 feet long and the other 6 feet long.

2) Place the 4-foot section across the 6-foot piece, 1 foot down from the top.

3) Wire the two pieces together with floral wire, twine or raffia.

4) Place an old shirt on the short cross-piece of the frame and button the shirt in front.

5) Stuff the shirt loosely with straw, dry leaves or rags.

6) Place gloves at the end of the "arms" and secure them with rubber bands.

7) Pull one leg of a pair of trousers onto the long bamboo pole. The other leg will hang freely.

8) Tuck the stuffed shirt into the waist of the trousers.

9) Secure the waist of the trousers to the pole with a rope or belt, tying the belt or rope to the cross-piece if necessary to keep the pants from falling down.

10) Stuff the pants with the stuffing material of your choice.

11) Make a head for your scarecrow by stuffing straw into a pillowcase. Tie the pillowcase opening onto the top of the long stake with rope.

12) Draw a face with felt-tip pens, or glue on buttons for eyes and yarn for a mouth.

13) Stick the scarecrow in the ground or tie it securely in another location.

14) Put on a straw hat to make it look nicer.


Tips:
a) Be creative! Scarecrows can be male or female.

b) Dress up your scarecrow according to the occasion, perhaps in a tuxedo for a formal affair, or a cocktail dress if you're hosting a casual evening with friends.

c) If you decide not to make a scarecrow head, simply place a hat on the top of the long pole, stapling it to the bamboo so it stays in place.

d) Another way to avoid the pants falling off is to use overalls and secure them over the cross-piece.

e) Don't expect your scarecrow to scare off crows. They usually aren't afraid of such things.

Tell Me Why?

Got a DVD series suitable for children aged 3-12,十万个为什么？, from aPee. Will try to compile as many questions as possible not a million. And hopefully these could help you in replying your young ones.

Stay tuned for more ;)

1) Why thunder comes after lightning?
- Light moves faster than sound.

2) Why do people yawn?
- Human need to inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide to survive. When we are tired, more carbon dioxide is produced. If it doesn't get expelled fast enough, it will cause harm to the body.

Yawning is like deep breathing, it helps us inhale more oxygen and get rid of the harmful carbon dioxide. That's why yawning, in a way, protects our health.

3) Why do people have dreams?
- Our brain is made up of lots of nerve cells. These cells are very important as they deal with our sight, hearing, thinking, movement and so on. They work very hard during the day. At night, when we sleep, our brain will start to relax but not all the brain cells will stop working at the same time. It is those cells that are still active that cause us have dreams.

What we see or hear or expecting in the day may appear in our dreams.

4) Why do we have earthquakes?
- Most earthquakes are caused by the movement of the earth's crust. When this happens, the rocks on the earth's surface start to move. As the pressure becomes greater, some of the rocks will crack or collapse. This is known as an earthquake.

The force it creates is very similar to a volcano which is erupting. The collapse of the layer of line just under the ground will also cause tremors. The tremors will then spread from the center of the quake to the area around it. The tremors is greater as it is closer to the center and become weaker as it moves further away from the center.

Actually there are slight tremors happen every 2 minutes or so, but we normally don't feel it. As for strong earthquakes, they happen about 20 times every year.