How The World Celebrates Children

I used to ask my mother on Mother's Day, "why isn't there a day to celebrate the children as well as the parents"?  Her response would always be "everyday is children's day" punctuated with a wink.  After all those years with "no REAL children's day", I discovered many countries around the world celebrate a children's day. 

For example, in Japan and Korea, May 5th is nationally known as Children's day. It is the day when families celebrate the happiness and growth of their children. Although it has been celebrated for hundreds of years, Children's Day became an official national holiday in 1948. On this day it is tradition for families with boys to hang large carpe-shaped streamers outside their home to symbolize strength and success. 

Other celebrations including bathing with iris leaves and root sprinkles and eating kashiwamochi, rice cakes wrapped in oak leaves and filled with bean paste. These activities are to ward off evil and encourage good health. Activities involving arts and theater are widely celebrated on this day. 

Kids Olympics is nationally celebrated and is participated in by both children and their parents. Even though not everywhere has a nationally acknowledged Children's day, hug your children today and tell you love them. Others celebrate Cinque de mayo; just think of how many people were celebrating last week! Were you?

Fujimini's Bunny Battle!

ONCEKids, creators of the critically-acclaimed children's books Fujimini Adventure Series, celebrates the Year of the Rabbit with a Bunny inspired family friendly contest.

Fujimini Island character The Taekwondo Bunny wants to reward her friends with books, i-books and game apps.   To enter the contest is easy, just simply "Fan" ONCEKids on Facebook.  The prizes are great fun for the whole family delivering colorful imagery, encouraging peaceful, global messages and modern education.  Winners will be announced next week, just as you're Easter egg hunting.

It is the Year of the Rabbit so come celebrate with The Taekwondo Bunny! And, it is no coincidence there is another POWER bunny coming onto the scene in just a few short days. Yes, that's right, the Easter Bunny is her friend BUT she will quietly compete to be the top bunny.
ONCEKids encourages your family to enjoy technology so our ibooks and game plays great on an iPad.  However you can still travel to Fujimini Island and have fun with the animals even without a computer, by reading the print books.

So jump into the contest and decide which reading experience you want to take!

Japan Catastrophe: Saving your Furry Family

Most families have pets: dogs, cats, fish, hamsters, maybe more?  As soon as your family adopts the pet, they become a part of your family.  As a kid, your job is to love and take care of your family's pets. Play with them, walk them, feed them, clean up after them.  But what happens when there's an emergency?  What happens when your furry (or gilled) family member goes missing during a catastrophe?  Here's the rescue story of one.  Video is below.


When the Japanese Tsunami and earthquake occurred, millions of homes were destroyed.  Families were pulled apart and family went missing.  This week, amazingly, a Japanese family's pet dog was found.  He somehow stayed alive on a floating pile of rubble with a roof on top for three weeks before the Japanese Coast Guard rescued him.  Floating in the ocean off the coast of Japan, the dog was surrounded by salt water -- which like humans in the same situation, if he drank it, it would only hurt him -- luckily there was so much drinkable rain water caused by the storm, that the pup was able to stay hydrated and survive long enough to be found and rescued.

Fun April Fools Day Ideas

April Fools' Day is a great holiday to be funny and silly with your friends and family.  You get the chance to play fun pranks and outrageous jokes on people in your life - and you don't get in trouble for it! Here are some safe but fun April Fools' pranks you can pull on your friends and family.

Got Milk?

If your milk comes in a cardboard container, ask Mom or Dad to help you add a few drops of food coloring. It's harmless April Fool's joke but the results are pretty colorful.

What's That in Your Apple?

For a fruity April Fool's practical joke, get a few gummy worms and carefully poke them into fresh fruit, particularly apples. Give mom or dad a wormy apple for lunch and leave a few apples on the table for friends and family members to snack on

Kids, What's Your Favorite App?

Kids worldwide on smart phones, iPods and iPads.  Do your parents let you borrow their iPad?  OMG, or do you have your own?  That would be very cool.  Well, here are some fun games you can play on your iPad.

1  "Dora The Explorer: Coloring Adventures"   Take a break from Dora the Explorer on TV and sit down and color with the whole gang including Boots, Backpack and Swiper. Learn Spanish while you’re choosing scenes, adding characters to your setting and then touching colors to sections on the iPad to fill it in as you would on a coloring book. If you're addicted to all things Dora, you won’t want to miss out on this accessory either.

2  Super Why: Fans of the hit PBS Kids TV show will love this app. Kids play by finding missing words and rhyming words and also by spelling words and tracing letters.

3 Fuji Scene   Children's game that has user select one of six backgrounds to create a customized scene. The scenes will contain characters which can be dragged and dropped into the creation. The animal characters are colored pandas, bunnies, penguins, hamsters, and other sea animals. The user can then add favorite foods and toys and props to the scene. All the items are Asian inspired. The user can than use dialogue boxes to give the characters some text. The creation can have a banner heading and be e-mail, sent to photos or sent to the ONCEKids site to be highlighted in a gallery. The user can restart at any point.

If you'd like to read more about Fuji Scene, click here

How Kids can Help during a Tsunami

Did you know that a ten year old girl, Tilly Smith, was able to save her family and other people from a tsunami in Thailand because she learned the signs of a tsunami in geography class?

It's true.

The Fujimini Island Adventure Series is dedicated to education, entertaining and empowering kids.  CEO and author Eileen Wacker, herself a parent reacts to the Japanese devastation and how it can affect children, "An event such as this will be remembered by the children forever. Knowing the Japanese people, they will raise their children never forgetting this incident and using it as motivation to build a better future. Our thoughts and prayers are with all, but a special blessing for the children." 

When bad things happen, like a tsunami, adults tend to take charge for the overall family's safety.  But kids can help too.  It is important to know what a tsunami is and what it can do so that you can protect yourself and your family and friends. Here are some important things to know about tsunamis:

Waves in a tsunami travel very quickly; much faster than your family's car can! They can travel up to 800 km / 500 miles an hour from the depths of the ocean.

If you live next to the sea, how will you know when a tsunami might happen? Nature gives us some very clear warning signs:

1.  The sea suddenly pulls back and leaves bare sand, making the beach seem a lot larger.

2.  Your pets may behave strangely - they may suddenly leave, gather in groups, or try to hide, getting into places they normally would not go.

Whether you are at home, school or playing on the beach, if you see or hear these warning signs, immediately leave and go to higher ground. 

If you live in an area that is at risk for a tsunami, it is important to be prepared. Your school should already have a tsunami emergency plan. You can also ask to make it as a class project. Your school or home emergency plan should cover:

1.  Where it is safe to go - somewhere that is no more than 15 minutes on foot.

2.  Making a safety pack with supplies to help you survive.

3.  Practicing a tsunami evacuation regularly (a practice drill).

4.  Learning the warning signals and systems that your emergency services use.

5.  Learning basic First Aid and knowing who in your community is a doctor, nurse or health care professional.

Fun St. Patrick's Day Ideas

St. Patrick's Day is a fun chance to dress in green and play with your friends and family.  But it's also about Irish Culture and Heritage.

Here are some quick questions you can answer to learn more.  Each correct answer is worth one point.  (Answers are below)

1.  How many leaves are on a lucky clover?  3, 4, or 7 ?

2.  According to Irish culture, what are you supposed to do to your friend who forget to wear green on St. Patrick's Day?

Pinch them gently?  Pull their hair?  Make them say the alphabet backwards?

3.  Where does the largest St. Patrick's Day parade take place?

Dublin?  London?  New York City?

Out of 3, how many points did you score?

Answers: 4, pinch them gently, New York City 

As a reward, here's a fun St. Patrick's Day activity:

Celebrate St. Patrick's Day by creating a green Shamrock collage.

Go on a scavenger hunt around the house for small green objects to use in your collage. 

What You Need:

• Several small green objects in various textures and shapes
• Poster board or construction paper
• Glue
• Hole punch
• String

What You Do:

1. Start by figuring out how to lay out the collage. Ask your child if she wants to lay out the objects in random fashion or assemble them within a pattern, such as a shamrock. 
2. Help your child arrange and glue the items onto the poster board or construction paper, encouraging her to explore the way things look and feel.
3. To maximize this experience, you can add a sorting element by dividing the collage into different visual sections. One section could be dedicated to tactile objects of various textures such as smooth and rough; a second area could be used to identify shapes such as circles, lines, and stars; and a third could be used to differentiate colors such as light vs. dark green.
4. Let the glue dry.
5. Once the glue is dry, it's time to hang up your collage for everyone to admire! Simply punch two holes at the top of the collage, thread string through the holes, tie a knot and hang it in a prominent place in the house.