Hands On Crafts for Kids

Show 704

Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana

704-1 Gator Bulletin Board – Alligators were almost hunted to extinction, but today they have made a comeback. Alligators have a short blunt round snout. They are only found in the Southeast United States, especially Florida, and in China! Believe it or not they are afraid of humans when found in the wild – but I wouldn’t get too close.

704-2 Gator Message Center –Alligators are all over Florida in fact they are in every fresh body of water from lakes to swamps and marshes. In fact another one turned up on todays show!

704-3 Fruit Slice Votive – Citrus fruits are a major part of the South’s economy, especially Florida. The Spanish explorers brought the first plants. Today citrus plants such as oranges and grapefruits are the most important group of all tropical and sub tropical plants.

704-4 Mardi Gras Mask – Mardi Gras is a traditional holiday celebrated in many of the southern states of the USA. The most famous celebration takes place in New Orleans, Louisiana. The people there enjoy this celebration by going to parades where they catch "beads, doubloons, cups, and trinkets" that are all thrown from floats. Mardi Gras means Fat Tuesday. This is the day before Ash Wednesday, leading to the days of fasting before Easter Sunday in the Catholic religion. Mardi Gras came to New Orleans through its French settlers.

704-5 Sea Shell Frame – What’s a visit to the shores of the Atlantic Ocean without collecting shells. Did you know you’re not really hearing the ocean when you put a shell up to your ear – what your hearing is the constant noise around you that you tend to ignore? When you put anything against your ear even a glass, it strengthens a certain group of frequencies of sound – so you’re just hearing outside noise.

704-6 Textured Shells – Continue learning about shells: the size and shape of the shell determines the sounds you hear. Make sure the previous inhabitant of that shell is gone before you try to hear anything! The shell is the hard outer cover secreted by the animal to protect itself.