Music to Their Ears: Chimps Love Exotic Beats!

It’s no secret that we all love music! We listen to it everywhere – in the car, at birthday parties, at concerts, and more. But did you ever consider that chimps would like listening to music too?

According to recent research from the American Psychological Assocation, chimpanzees enjoy listening to Eastern music – namely, Indian and African styles. While chimps aren’t big fans of Western music, tending to stay away from the stereos that played Western pop, classical, and blues music, they were found to tend towards the areas in which they could best hear the African and Indian music. Scientists attribute it to the difference in the types of beats: Western music tends to have more of a steady rhythm and beat, which chimps could potentially find intimidating, due to such a beat’s similarities to chimpanzee dominance. African and Indian beats, however, have a lot more variation, which chimps would find less ominous and more pleasant. The chimps reacted the same way to Japanese music, which has similar beats to Western music, backing up the scientists’ theories. Though studies in the past have focused on the specific genres of music, the conductor of the study maintains that this might have been misguided. He says that, although Western pop and Western classical may sound different to us, they have similar rhythmic and acoustic patterns, making the appeal the same to chimps. The differentiated beats in African and Indian music (which vary from extremely forceful to extremely weak in a single composition) are decidedly music to these chimps’ ears.

It seems that chimpanzees are pretty worldly animals! We can learn a lesson from these chimps by broadening our musical tastes – it’s important to learn about the world’s different art forms and how they vary from each other! Download some music from a different part of the world, and listen to it with your child on the way to school or at home during dinner. Then comment below about which style of music your family likes most!

 

Photo by: belgianchocolate

Developmental Benefits of Play Dough for Your Kids

Play-dough is an entertaining toy that lets your kids’ imaginations run wild. Home-made or store-bought, this simple but fun modeling clay can be used for arts-and-crafts, and comes in a variety of colors. Aside from being enjoyable to play with, however, what are the actual benefits your kids are getting from this toy and how does it affect their skills? We’ve compiled a few reasons why playing with Play-Dough can help your kids’ developmental growth.

Tactile coordination: By forming different shapes and objects with Play-Dough, your kids are able to better their motor skills and their overall coordination. Molding the dough requires care and accuracy, and teaches children how different motions can yield different results.

Creativity: Since the nature of Play-Dough is in its simplicity, your kids can go wild with the possibilities of what to create. Play-Dough encourages children to be artistic, and to create different shapes and models by drawing inspiration from the world around them. Using varied colors of Play-Dough add to this, because it allows children to be more detailed with their imagination. The clay can also be a good means of self-expression for your children, as it gives them the ability to create whatever they’re most intrigued with.

Geometrical ability: Playing with Play-Dough is a great way to get children to learn their shapes. By modeling their creations after the items they see, they learn how objects are composed of different geometric shapes that are of different sizes. They are able to hone the way they perceive objects, and thus learn precision.

 

Photo by: Wikendenplaydough

Kick Off Summer in BIG Ways!

The official start of summer is upon us! Kick off the start of the season with these amazing family activities that will invite the kids to enjoy some of the season’s most popular offers in outdoor activities.After all, there is no better time than now to start planning for the season ahead! Are you ready for the first day of summer?

Photo by: Deb

Sidewalk Chalk Art Show - invite your kids and their friends to throw their very own art show by using the sidewalk as their canvas. Buy a selection of washable sidewalk chart and assign them areas to decorate. You can plan a simple BBQ or neighborhood block party to celebrate their work!

Water works - Visit the beach, a local pool or even a water park to splash around and beat the heat. Remember to bring the proper tools to protect the kids skin from the summer sun. For younger kids, the start of summer is the perfect time to learn to swim. After all this skill is of immeasurable value if your family finds itself around water often.

Craft some garden ornaments - Settle into the great outdoors by grabbing the kids to decorate a space to call their own in the yard or garden. From homemade bird feeders and the like, these cute creations are ones that you are sure to cherish for seasons to come.

Park Games - Plan a sports day for the kids and their friends to compete in a few fun and festive activities under the sun. You might even plan a picnic or BBQ to make sure that everyone is fed and hydrated throughout the day’s festivities.

 

Happy Father’s Day

Fathers play a special role in a child’s life, so don’t forget to show your dad how much you appreciate him today! Plan a special day filled with surprises like hand crafted presents or home coked meals. Thoughtful acts like these are ones that dad will always treasures and most of all he’ll cherish the time spent around loved ones like family.

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At the end of the day, if you’re still looking for a fun and fantastic way to gather the family with dad, head into Math Blaster and make some memories playing games for simply good time. And finally, don’t forget to wish dad a Happy Father’s Day from Math Blaster!

Worksheet of the Week

Percentage Printable – Percentage Worksheet for Kids - Math Blaster

Cosmically Cool Crafts for Dad!

Call your Blasters back from the space station to put together an out-of-this-world Father’s Day craft! If you and the kids are not looking to break the bank, visit Math Blaster’s official Pinterest page for ideas on how to surprise dad with something special yet affordable. Best of all, crafting can be a great opportunity to practice basic educational and developmental skills with early learners like your Blasters!

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How are you celebrating dad around your home? Do you have any special traditions that you enjoy doing each year? Share some of your favorite craft and activity ideas with us now or start following us for a world of amazing online resources!

Understanding the Origin of Stars

Stars light up the night sky on a daily basis and are for both kids and adults tiny twinkling specimens that are full of mystery. After all how much do you little ones really know about where stars come from and how they illuminate the skies? Scientific study has revealed stars to be collections of atoms floating in space that form carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen. Under the right conditions stars and even small planets form as a result.

Photo by: epSos.de

To dive deeper into the study of stars and their formation, NASA has just recently sent a flight into a star nursery to properly observe the inner workings of star formations. This will give researchers and scientists the opportunity to see the step by step process of how a star comes to be. The payload sent into space is known as the Colorado High-resolution Echelle Stellar Spectrograph, or CHESS.

This all new technology is allowing us to record details such as the timeline breakdown for the forming of the clouds in space. Sending the CHESS into space also allows NASA to test for sending future satellites into space.

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