I couldn’t agree that mandatory science fairs are evil, but more on that later.

After reanimating a road kill bunny, Igor decides he’s ready for a bigger project, creating a Bride of Frankenstein-type monster (Molly Shannon) called Eva. Unfortunately for him, the town’s science fair is all about making evil monsters, and Eva is a sweet girl who couldn’t hurt a fly.

Igor is a wonderfully entertaining movie for the whole family because it reinforces two lessons: “You can aspire to be anything you want – not what people expect of you,” and “Everyone has an evil bone in their body. But you choose to use it or not.”

The animation is gorgeous, a cross between The Nightmare Before Christmas and The Incredibles – gross, cute and sometimes beautiful. Like great kids’ movies, there are lots of in jokes for the adults and references to classic movies like Sunset Boulevard . Plus, the Louis Prima songs add a special swing-era dash of fun.

(Thanks to Click Communications for the review copy.)

Science fair project resources

This year, my children’s principal decided to institute a science fair and make it mandatory for all the grades to participate, except the kindergarteners. (My daughter Lucie decided she wanted to do a project, too.)

Luckily, we weren’t too much on our own. Parents were given a list of suggested topics and my kids picked recycling and growing plants under different conditions. Even so, I’m glad there are online resources available to help out like:

• All Science Fair Projects
• Science Buddies Science Fair Projects
• Discovery Education Science Fair Central
• Energy Quest (California government) science fair project resources
• Science Fair Fun: Designing Environmental Science Projects (PDF) (16 pp, 245K About PDF )
• The Ultimate Science Fair Resource
• The Internet Public Library: Science Fair Project Resource Guide
• Kids’ Science Projects
• Exploratorium Learning Studio Science Fair

Is your child doing a science fair project this year? Tell us about it below!

Fifteen young explorers and two teachers will be selected as members of the 2009 National Geographic Kids Hands-On Explorer Challenge Expedition Team and will win the field trip of a lifetime — a 12-day expedition to Peru with National Geographic and local experts as their guides.
Highlights include exploring the ancient ruins of Machu Picchu, voted one of the New Seven Wonders of the World, and visiting Tambopata Reserve deep in the Peruvian rain forest, where team members will have the opportunity to help in a research laboratory. All winners will also receive a digital camera courtesy of Nikon.

The challenge is sponsored by National Geographic Kids magazine, PromPeru, and the marketers of PURELL.

More details

• To enter, kids must write an original essay of no more than 300 words describing how they “actively explore their world” and the most interesting things they have encountered. They must also illustrate the essay with a photo they’ve taken. Subjects might include something found in a backyard, park, zoo, pond, or on a vacation with family. Each winner will bring a parent or guardian on the expedition. Contest is open to U.S. residents only.

Cole Family Christmas

Jennifer Liu Bryan, who co-authored Cole Family Christmas with her grandmother-in-law, based the book on a cherished story passed down through generations of the Cole family. Originally intended as a brief work to be distributed at the family reunion, the project evolved into a nationally praised children’s book, and involved more than 20 family members.

For more information on the book, check out the Cole Family Christmas website.

Reading helps bring the family together

A survey commissioned by the book’s publisher Next Chapter Press found that a traditional Christmas experience for 52 percent of Americans is reading aloud together as a family. Since Cole Family Christmas is a longer and harder books (for ages nine to 12), get together as a family to read it. Parents can turns reading it to younger children with help of the older kids in the family. The 74-page book should take you a few nights to read, so this would be a wonderful family activity to do in the nights leading up to Christmas.

Giving the gift of reading aloud as a family will not only deepen the bond during the holidays, but studies show it will also improve your child’s reading ability, said Bryan, who is also a  contributor to the advocacy website ReadAloud.org.  This is a great year to start reading together as a new family tradition.

I love her idea! Will you make reading together one of your New Year’s resolutions?

To start off, we have a guest post from Laura Bridgwater, an award-winning journalist and radio commentator from Colorado. Hear Laura’s latest radio spot, Thanksgiving Makeover.

Give the Gift of Reading This Holiday

Every family has its holiday traditions. Our family, being descended from the species known as bookworms, collects holiday books. Each year, on the day after Thanksgiving, we unpack a large red basket that is bulging with books, from Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins to How the Grinch Stole Christmas! to O. Henry’s The Gift of the Magi. We also bring out a Christmas quilt that is embroidered with words from The Night Before Christmas. (We really are bookworms, possibly descended from the Gutenberg branch.)

Reading the stories from our basket of books has become as much a part of our holiday activities as baking cookies or trimming the tree. In the hustle and bustle of December, it’s relaxing to curl up under the quilt with a mug of hot chocolate in one hand, a book in the other, and a child on your lap or in the crook of your arm.

Our collection started with a handful of books from my days as a classroom teacher, and over the years it has slowly grown. We purchase books at garage sales, used book sales, used book stores, and we buy new books, too. (There’s something special about being the first one to open a book.)

So find a basket, tie a big bow on the handle, add your first book, and give the gift of reading and a new tradition this year. The bookworms in your family will thank you.

Not only does the book feature food recipes, but it has directions on how to make salt dough, play clay and this one:

Giant Bubbles

What you’ll need:

1. 1 large wire coat hanger
2. Liquid measuring cup
3. Large, flat pan, big enough for the coat hanger circle to fit into (a deep tray would work, too)
4. Whisk
5. 1/2 cup dishwashing liquid
6. 4 1/2 cups cold water

What you’ll do:

1. Get an adult to bend the coat hanger into a circle for you, making sure there aren’t any rough ends that could scratch you.
2. Mix the dishwashing liquid and the water in the large flat plan. Whisk the two together.
3. When the rain stops (Paul recommends doing this on a rainy day since the damp air makes the bubbles bigger and last longer before they pop.) go outside with your supplies. Dip the coat hanger into the bubble solution and lift it straight up, then wave it through the air. Giant bubbles should appear.
4. If you have leftovers, keep them in a jar and use them again. They won’t go bad!

Have fun and check out Paula Deen’s My First Cookbook for more terrific recipes and children’s cooking activities.