Golden Rules for Living

by Marlene

Will you be making any resolutions? As we ring in the New Year, I thought I'd share the Golden Rules for Living by Miriam Hamilton Keare. These simple rules are useful for all, but especially easy for children to understand and practice.

1. If you open it, close it.


2. If you turn it on, turn it off.


3. If you unlock it, lock it up.


4. If you break it, admit it.


5. If you can't fix it, call in someone who can.


6. If you borrow it, return it.


7. If you value it, take care of it.


8. If you make a mess, clean it up.


9. If you move it, put it back.


10. If it belongs to someone else, get permission to use it.


11. If you don't know how to operate it, leave it alone.


12. If it's none of your business, don't ask questions.

It only takes 3 weeks to instill a good habit. Have a safe New Year's Eve!

Winter Sports Observation

M and E's snowman

By E

Have you ever noticed that winter activities start with S?

You:

• ski
• sled
• skate
• snowboard
• snowshoe
• and build snowmen

The last three start with snow, so that's understandable. Here I am with M and Snow Kitty. What's your favorite winter sport?

Let it Snow!

Science experiments are fun! Here's a great weather experiment making snow with hot water.

What you'll need:

• a cold, dry day near or below 0° Fahrenheit
• a cup, preferably with a handle
• boiling tap water

Procedure:

• Heat some water to boiling. A microwave is good for this as you can heat the water in the cup.
• Go outside on a cold, dry day with temperatures near 0° Fahrenheit.
• Hold the cup tightly. With a large motion, toss the water at an angle away from you high into the air. Be careful not to toss the water straight up.
• Watch carefully as the water turns to snow and falls to the ground.

Explanation:

• The colder the air, the faster the freezing.
• The dryer the air, the faster water evaporates.
• Hot water evaporates more quickly than cold water.
• Evaporation causes a cooling effect which makes water freeze more quickly.
• Snow forms when tiny droplets of water freeze in the air.

Tips for best results:

• Make sure it's a very cold, dry day. The catch is, when its cold enough to do this experiment, your pipes might be frozen!
• Use hot water! Hot water evaporates more quickly, so the cold air can freeze it faster.
• Throw the water up as far as you can, so the water has time to freeze on the way down.
• Use tap water, because it has the correct impurities to make it freeze, while distilled water is too pure. Ice crystals form around impurities. Tap water has more impurities, thus more crystals form.
  
  Have Fun!

Congratulations RMKK!

By M&E

We thank all of our devoted viewers for their great support of our website. And thanks to their wonderful dedication, Rocky Mountain Kids Korner is now the 7,461,116th most popular website on the internet. Thanks for viewing and keep it up!

The Berries of the Mountain Ash

By Marlene

The Mountain Ash tree is not an Ash but actually part of the rose family or Rosaceae. The leaves resemble Ash, hence the name. The berries are red-orange to red and have the appearance of very tiny apples. They are quite a treat for fruit loving birds. It is believed that the berries and bark have medicinal qualities and that the berries make a delicious jelly, although somewhat bitter.

For me, I just like the way they liven up the landscape and give a showy splash of autumn color on mountain trails. But the most exciting thing is when each winter, numbers of Bohemian Waxwing swoop down out of the sky to visit our yard for their delectable berries.

Berries of the Mountain Ash

It's Ice Fishing Time!

By Marlene

Grandpa Davey ice fishing on Smith Lake

After a mild fall with pray for snow parties and delayed openings of ski resorts, winter blew in like a lion with snow and sub-zero temperatures. Old growth forest saw damage as violent winds uprooted trees from dry ground and others broke in half as water froze inside their trunks . The Arctic Express didn't stop Grandpa Davey, though, from his new hobby of ice fishing. After a summer of lazy river bank fishing he's taking to the ice.

I must admit the thought of drilling a hole into a frozen lake and waiting to catch a bunch of little perch didn't appeal to me until he started coming home with some nice sized Northern Pike. Unlike perch which I think aren't worth cleaning, the pike are large enough to fillet and make a decent meal.

M ice fishing

Frigid temperatures didn't stop us yesterday, as the girls and I got our first taste of ice fishing. It was a simply beautiful winter day with sunny, blue skies shining on a blanket of white. We were all bundled up for the cold, so when a little chill set in, a brisk walk to get the blood moving usually did the trick for warming up. Drilling those holes are tougher than it looks but the thrill of the catch makes it worth it. We stayed out for a little over an hour and caught 2 fish which are still outside frozen and waiting to be cleaned.

Ever been ice fishing? We're newbies, and we'd love to hear about some of your tips and tricks.

Red Sky at Night, Sailors Delight

Red sky at night, sailors delight.

By M

My mom has always been a fan of the natural wonders we are blessed to see. Back when we lived in Louisiana, often she would say, "I want to move out west to see the sunsets." And so she did. Although I usually roll my eyes or tease when she gushes over sunsets, some are exceptional. At around 4:00, my sister and I convinced our mom to let us go for a walk on 4th Ave. Cell phone in purse, we trooped off on our adventure. This was the first time we had gone this far on 4th Ave., and it was exciting. One of my favorite things to do is to look at houses and decide if I could imagine it as my own. Humble cottages and stately homes were to be found, but most of the houses we decided we could live in were about the same size and condition as our own. On the way back from our evening walk, we noticed a spectacular scene. The mottled clouds were set afire with the color pink, and the sky behind a gentle blue. Words nor pictures can describe the beauty of the sunset that night. After a long jog home, I called Mom on the cell phone to tell her to come outside and see the sunset. Astonished, Mom grabbed the camera. Here is a photo I took around 4:30 p.m. of the December 4 sunset. Have you ever seen a sunset so beautiful?

The Wind - Scenic Point Trail

This is a 30 second video taken on August 25, 2005 on the Scenic Point Trail as referred to in my This and That article, The Otters Return to Glacier. M was 8 years old, and E was 7. The wind was blowing from the Plains so hard that it was kind of scary thinking they would be caught off balance too near the edge of the cliff.

I now have a better understanding of why people east of the Rocky Mountain Front put tires on their roofs to hold them down. What do you think? Please leave a reaction below.

Did RMKK Make a Difference?

M gets refreshed under the waterfall on the Grinnell Glacier Trail

By M

Before Rocky Mountain Kids Korner went online, Glacier National Park was essentially a retired baby boomer paradise. It was unlikely to see people under 45, and even more unlikely to see a child. On the trails, we saw numerous 50+ patrons of the park, but we seldom saw young adults and kids! We pondered the reason for this, and although I would rather solve a page of long division problems than hike, it seems odd that no kids were at the park. Wouldn't parents bring their kids to the park? Why did child-bearing age people not come to the park? Years passed and this oddity remained each summer as we hiked the spectacular trails of Glacier. During this summer, we observed a significant increase of kids and teens on the trails. This was especially noticable on the Grinell Glacier trail-almost everyone we passed was with a kid or several kids! As we approached the drenching waterfall along the trail, we heard kids yelling as they enjoyed a refreshing shower. It was a reassuring thing to know I was not the only kid who hiked. What was different about the summer of '07 and the summer of '08? We're hoping it's because people read our website and it has provoked parents to bring their young ones hiking with them.

What do you think? We'd love to hear from you!

Where Have All the Families Gone!

I read an article in the Sunday paper titled "Visits to National Forests Drop, No One Knows Why". It recounted that in the years after World War II, American families would pack up and head to national forests to hunt, fish, and hike. Heading into the woods to recreate and camp was considered part of being an American. Today, however, it is speculated that rising gas prices, the popularity of video games, and the Internet have kept families from seeking out the recreational opportunities in the nation's national forest.

As someone who believes that kids of all ages can benefit from communing with nature, it's sad to imagine that young families no longer have the desire to play outdoors.

What's your families favorite way to enjoy the outdoors? Hiking, skiing, boating, fishing, hunting.....whatever? We'd love to hear your stories. And if that's not your cup of tea, let us hear from you too!