Inventions

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3 Check It Out! 4 Everyday Gadgets and Gizmos 6 Benny’s Invention 10 Women Inventors 12 Puzzles 14 What’s Candy Floss?

15 The Cozy Invention 16 Accidental Invention 19 Skiing with Determination 20 10 Cool Things to Invent 22 Sticky Business 23 The Chocolate Chip Mistake 24 Max & Gracie 25 Who Invented the Line?

26 Color My World 27 The Invention of LEGO® 28 Pizza Fit for a Queen 29 Kids Corner 30 Puzzle Solutions

If you think of one invention that changed the world, you might think of the light bulb. Before electric lights, people used candles and oil lamps to light their homes.

Today, all you do is flip a switch.

All inventions begin with an idea. Thomas Edison used ideas that came from many inventors before him. It took Edison a year of experimenting before he came up with an amazing, long-lasting light bulb.

Do you have an idea for a way to do something better? Maybe your idea is for something brand new. If you want to be an inventor, it won’t always be easy, but don’t give up! There are people who can help you.

Some inventions are accidental. Others take a long time to create. They can be practical or just plain fun. You’ll discover all kinds of inventions in this issue. What’s your invention idea? Let us know! Email us at: kidscorner@funforkidz.com or write to: Kids Corner, PO Box 227, Bluffton, OH 45817-0227.

wavebreakmedia/Shutterstock.com

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by Emma Lee Fairchilde Some of the most-used things in our world didn’t start out perfect. When a new gadget doesn’t work right, inventors try to fix it. Then we get even newer gizmos.

Getting It Together Long, long ago, people used bone pins to fasten their fur-skin wraps. But the pins became loose and let in those Ice Age drafts. Brrr!

Romans used fancy pins to hold together cloaks and togas.

Romans invented a kind of safety pin 2500 years ago. It was used to hold together the cloaks and togas they wore. Nothing held the point of the pin in except the weight of the fabric itself. If the fabric slipped, ouch!

In 1849, an inventor came up with the modern self-sprung safety pin. People no longer had to worry about getting pricked by pins.

Write On To make it easier to write with graphite, people wrapped it in sheepskin.

Before pencils and pens, a fine-pointed brush made of animal hairs was used for writing and drawing. It wrote dark, but wet. It also smeared. People also used a small pointed tool to scratch letters onto wax tablets. But the lines it made were faint and hard to read.

In the 1500s, some shepherds discovered a form of coal within the roots of a blown-over tree. People called it “wadd.” Today we call it graphite.

Graphite made a line on paper that was wonderfully dark and dry. People couldn’t get enough of this stuff. By the late 1600s, cabinet makers were encasing strips of flat graphite in wood. These were the first modern-day pencils!

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See how forks have changed throughout the years?

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Let s Eat Until table forks were invented, eating meals with two knives or with your fingers was thought to be good manners. Then along came the fork.

When it was invented in the Middle East, forks had two tines.

They were used only in the kitchen to hold meat for carving.

A smaller version appeared on Italian tables in about 1100 A.D. Table forks made their way to England in the 1600s, but it was considered wimpy to use one. And they were tricky to use because food fell between the two tines and diners’ laps! By the late 1800s, most forks had four tines.

If you lived in 1901, you might use a finger toothbrush to clean your teeth. ’

Don t Forget to Brush Without toothbrushes, you might be using cloth to clean your teeth. Or maybe you’d chew up the end of a thin stick, and rub the frayed edge across your pearly whites. People used whatever they could find. Modern-style toothbrushes were used in the 1700s, but inventors kept trying to improve them. One clever inventor thought a finger brush would get teeth cleaner!

More Gadgets and Gizmos Before electric toasters (1909), bread was toasted by holding it over an open fire with a stick or fork. The first toasters could brown only one slice of bread at a time, and you had to flip the bread by hand to toast the other side!

When the flashlight was invented (1898), people thought of it as a toy. The first batteries weren’t very strong, so flashlights gave off short “flashes” of weak light. That’s how these hand-held lamps got their name.

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by Georgia K. Hammack

American women have been inventors, just like Thomas Edison and Eli Whitney. Some historians say a woman named Catherine Greene gave Whitney the idea for a workable cotton gin. But women of that time were not allowed to file for patents.

It was a woman who invented the squarebottom paper bag that conveniently stands open to be filled with groceries. As early as 1886, a woman invented the first practical dishwashing machine and, in 1896, a child-carrying strap.

Many women’s inventions were designed to make women’s live easier. In the days when most women stayed at home, they welcomed improvements in feather dusters (1876); a pail, mop, and wringer (1891); and a combined egg beater and potato masher (1917). All were invented by women. And what about better bloomers, a woman’s undergarment (1897)?

Maybe this girl is working on an invention that will help people and make her famous!

But women of earlier generations weren’t concerned only with their homes. They used their ingenuity to invent: • a submarine telescope (1845) • improvements in locomotive chimneys (1879) • the fire escape (1887) • the first windshield wipers (1903) American women inventors have also been interested in fun. In the last decades of the nineteenth century, they invented bicycle skirts and bicycle seats. Now they could easily hop onto those new-fangled, two-wheeled contraptions!

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Women have made many important scientific discoveries.

A rag doll with eyes that open and close and the Barbie doll were invented by women. One woman in the mid-1880s invented a motion-activated fan attached to a rocking chair. In 1928, a woman invented a permanent wave machine to style hair.

The names of many women inventors have been forgotten over the years, but we really should remember Betsey Metcalf. In 1798, she devised a new method of braiding straw. This led to a flourishing bonnet industry that employed thousands of women.

Another name to remember is Gertrude Elion.

In 1988, Elion was a Nobel Prize co-winner in medicine for her work on anti-cancer drugs. In 1991, she was the first woman to be elected to the National Inventors’ Hall of Fame.

Women invented new ways of making clothing, like this poke bonnet.

Inventions by women show that women have important roles both at home and outside the home. For instance, a lightweight canister vacuum for cleaning house as well as the first user-friendly computer software were both invented by women. A woman invented Scotchgard™, which keeps stains and dirt from clinging to sofa and chair fabrics. Kevlar is a strong material used in space vehicles and to make bullet-proof vests. It was invented by a woman.

Female inventors have been all ages. In 1996, a 70-year-old woman amazed scientists and firefighters with a new fireproof building material.

She called it GeoBond. In 1974, a 12-year-old girl received a US patent for a device she’d invented two years before. It’s called Glo-Sheet. Doctors, nurses, and police officers use it for writing in the dark.

Girls were frequent winners in annual national invention contests for kids. One winning idea was elastic shoelaces that don’t have to be tied.

Another was a spoon-shaped cracker that a pet can eat after the cracker has been used to put food in a pet’s dish. No spoon to wash!

There’s no telling what women and girls will invent next!

A woman inventor helped locomotives blow their steam straight up, instead of inside the train!

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by Janis Waldrop

ACROSS

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1. Robert Dennard invented RAM, which help these machines remember.

5. Chester Carlson’s invention helped the Xerox company make this famous.

7. Creating new ways to do tasks is as American as apple _______.

8. The Wright Brothers had their hearts set on flight. Now, we can fly like a bumble _______.

9. Rudolf Diesel invented one of these. His last name is a good clue!

10. When Igor Sikorsky developed the helicopter, people could fly without using a ______way.

11. Thomas Edison’s electric _________ made it easier for people to work at night.

13. Benjamin ___________ was many things, including an inventor.

DOWN

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1. After Johannes Gutenberg invented the ___________ press, all the world began to read.

3. Charles Goodyear invented vulcanized rubber. His name was given to tires for our car, round and hard and black as ______.

4. Cyrus McCormick saw what farmers needed for their grain. He invented a mechanical__________, which harvests fast without pain.

5. George Eastman invented dry-rolled film and a small hand-held ___________.

6. George Washington Carver convinced farmers to plant ______________. He invented products that could be made from them.

8. Alexander Graham ______ is credited with the invention of the first telephone.

12. Eli Whitney invented the cotton _____, a machine used to pick out all the seeds from cotton.

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by Lynn Katulka illustrations by Rebecca Spohn

by Julie Truesdell

Each of the four students in this puzzle is writing a report on a different invention. What invention is each writing about, and when was it invented?

In the grid, put an “x” in the boxes you know doesn’t go with the student. Put an “o” in the boxes that do go with the student.

Hints: 1. Devon is writing a report about crayons, but they were not invented in 1824.

2. London is writing about an invention from 1767, but it isn’t the balloon.

3. The flashlight was invented in 1898, but Harley is not writing about it.

Devon Harley London Parker

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1903

1898

1824

YEAR INVENTED 1767

JIGSAW PUZZLES

FLASHLIGHT

CRAYONS

BALLOONS

INVENTION

Naming a wonderful new product is a very important part of inventing. As an invention becomes popular, sometimes the original name just doesn’t seem to fit, and it changes.

See if you can match the original name of the inventions below with what we call them today at the bottom.

1. ____ ELECTRIC FLOWERPOT 2. ____ WATER CLOSET 3. ____ STYLUS 4. ____ SLIDE FASTENER 5. ____ ICE BOX 6. ____ FLYIN’ SAUCER 7. ____ BLIBBER-BLUBBER 8. ____ FROZEN ICE ON A STICK 9. ____ HOISTS 10. ____ MOTION PICTURE MACHINE 11. ____ PENNY LICKS 12. ____ BABY CARRIAGE 13. ____ BONE SHAKERS 14. ____ CARPET SWEEPER 15. ____ NICKEL-IN-THE-SLOT MACHINE . TOILET A B. BUBBLE GUM C. JUKEBOX D. VACUUM E. ELEVATOR

F. ZIPPER G. REFRIGERATOR H. ICE CREAM IN A CUP I. POPSICLE

J. FRISBEE K. MOVIE CAMERA L. BICYCLE M. STROLLER N. FLASHLIGHT O. PENCIL

by Evelyn B. Christensen

by S. Allyn Kelley illustrations by Rebecca Spohn

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ACROSS

1. Thomas Edison invented a way to light up a glass bulb using this.

2. Benjamin Franklin invented this. It reduced the number of house fires and saved many lives.

3. There was a short king in this country in the sixteenth century. A cobbler made him high-heeled shoes so that he was taller than his subjects.

4. This game involving small round balls was invented in Egypt more than 5000 years ago.

5. While drinking from a glass, Silvano Armato realized that his vision improved. His invention is still used to help people see better.

6. In 1762, the Earl of Sandwich ordered that his meal be brought to him between two pieces of bread. This way, he could continue playing a game and eat with just one hand. This invention was named after him.

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1. Thousands of years ago, the Chinese invented this to carry goods from one place to another.

2. The Chinese also invented this yummy cold treat.

3. The first stick of this was sold for just one penny in 1871.

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Thomas A. Edison was one of America’s most creative inventors.

Fill in the squares so that each row, column, and 2x3 rectangle has the letters E-D-I-S-O-N.

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Choose from the following words: SANDWICH, ROLLER SKATES, FRANCE, MARBLES, ICE CREAM, EYEGLASSES, PIGGY BANK, GUM, LIGHTNING ROD, WHEELBARROW, ELECTRICITY

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by Francis Wheeler

H W H A T S S

WHAT DO YOU CALL A FOUR- HUNDRED POUND MAN ON WATER

SKIES?

U U D B M K E C R N N G I U A E U D A S O L F O U R M Y L D P N O E O A W A T E R D

____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ ____ Find the words above, and circle them in the puzzle. Look up, down, forward, backward, and diagonally. The remaining letters spell out the answer to the question.

4. In the Middle Ages, pygg was an orange-colored clay used to make pots and other objects. Some people stored loose change in these pots.

Somewhere in England, a clever potter decided to mold a pot into the shape of a pig, and this bank was invented.

5. In Belgium in 1759, Joseph Merlin decided to add wheels to the bottom of his shoes to attend a party. His invention was a real hit!

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by Marcy L. Collier

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n France, it’s called papa’s beard. In Germany, it’s known as sugar wool. People in Great Britain know it as candy floss. What is it?

Here’s a hint. You’ll find this sweet treat at amusement parks, fairs, or carnivals.

If you’ve guessed cotton candy, you’re right!

In 1897, two Nashville, Tennessee, candy makers invented an electric machine to create spun sugar. Their names were William Morrison and John C. Wharton.

The machine was a heating device with a cylinder that ran down the center of a large spinning bowl.

Sugar was added to a quarter-sized hole in the base of the machine. The sugar melted to a liquid. As the big bowl spun around, the liquid sugar was forced up through tiny slits in the cylinder. Once it hit air, the melted sugar cooled and turned into sugar threads! The two inventors called the spun sugar “fairy floss.” The name cotton candy didn’t become popular until 1920.

This new candy was introduced at the 1904 Louisiana World’s Fair. Vendors sold a whopping 68,655 servings. Nearly 50 years later, the Gold Medal company of Cincinnati, Ohio, improved the cotton candy machine. Now there are even small machines that let you make this sweet treat at home. The fluffy stuff even has its own holiday! December 7 is known as National Cotton Candy Day. Would you believe cotton candy is made from only one to two tablespoons of sugar?

Cotton candy has less sugar and fewer calories than a can of soda. Most vendors add flavor and color for variety.

So now when you eat cotton candy, papa’s beard, or sugar wool, you’ll know how it came about. You’ll also know why you can eat so much of it and still have room for a funnel cake.

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by S. Allyn Kelley “Yikes!” Chester shouted as the door closed behind him. It was far too cold for his liking.

Unfortunately, 15-year-old Chester Greenwood had no way to escape the cold. He was one of six children living on his family’s farm in Farmington, Maine, in 1873. He had his share of outdoor chores to do, rain or shine, sleet or snow.

One of his daily chores was to collect eggs. From the henhouse, he started his eight-mile route around town, selling eggs door to door. Chester’s ears were freezing. He had gloves and a coat, but nothing to keep his head warm. He couldn’t wrap his head in a wool scarf because the wool itched his ears to no end.

When his route was done, there was still a bit of daylight left. Chester decided to try out some new skates on the ice at Abbot Pond. Ready for fun, he was suddenly disappointed. It was simply too cold. His ears couldn’t take the frosty temperature.

Chester headed home. He was determined not to miss out on winter fun because of his ears.

Chester’s grandmother was sewing away when he reached home. He grabbed some farm wire, shaped it, and asked his grandmother to sew a cozy round flap with beaver fur and velvet to each end of the wire.

With his grandmother’s help, Chester invented earmuffs. Off to the pond he went, ears warm and skates ready.

At first, his friends teased him about what he wore. Soon they all wanted some. It took a couple of years to master the design. The earmuffs needed to be comfortable and snug enough to stay in place. When he was 18 years old, Chester patented his invention. He opened a factory in town that employed many people.

Thanks to Chester Greenwood, we can enjoy ourselves outside on a cold day without getting cold ears!

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George Crum was the son of an African-American father and a Native American mother.

Time to check on the roast duck!

Let’s see. . . the clam chowder is done.

In 1853, he was working as a chef at an elegant resort in upstate New York. It was here that he unintentionally created a new dish.

George, we have an order for French fried potatoes!

Coming right up!

written and illustrated by Andrew Wales Here’s your order, sir.

Harrumph!

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These fries are too thick and soggy!!!

I’m sorry, sir.

Let me get you a different serving.

George, one of the diners sent these back.

He’d like thinner potato slices.

Fine! I’ll cut him some thinner potatoes!

I’ve got nothing better to do with my time!

Bah! Those potatoes were fine!

Here you go, sir. I hope you like these better.

Blech!!!

Still too thick!

Take them back!

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Hee-hee-hee! I’ll cut the thinnest potatoes ever fried!

He what?!!

Why is he so picky?

And they’ll be so crispy, he’ll never get a fork in them!

Here you are, sir.

Then I’ll coat them with so much salt, no one could eat them!

I LOVE THEM! So delicious!

Hmm?

Hey! What’s he having?

I’d like some!

The dish became a hit – first at the restaurant and then all over the country.

Even though he never patented his invention, George Crum is remembered the world over for inventing potato chips!

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by Joyce Styron Madsen Ralph Samuelson grew up in Lake City, Minnesota, amid the rolling hills surrounding the Mississippi River. The long, snowy winters lasted for months. Young Ralph and his friends spent much of their free time skiing along the river bluffs. But even long winters didn’t provide enough skiing time for an enthusiast like Ralph. Why do you need snow to ski? he thought to himself. Why couldn’t you ski on water too?

To Ralph’s friends and the townspeople, the notion of water skiing was good for a laugh. Still, the thought of Ralph wearing his crazy “water skis” and sinking into Lake Pepin was enough to bring a crowd to the lake shore one June morning in 1922. “Sink” is exactly what Ralph did. The snow skis he was wearing were too heavy.

Ralph tried again and again. One time, he wore barrel slats strapped to his feet. He kept sinking. More determined than ever to succeed, he sat back to analyze what was wrong. The water skis should work! What Water skis have changed could he do differently?

Finally, Ralph decided the skis needed to be wider. He bought two pine boards, each eight feet long and nine inches wide. He softened the tips in boiling water and bent them upward. They were held in place with vise clamps so they would dry with curved tips.

a lot since they were first invented.

After more tries, Ralph realized the best way to begin his water-ski ride would be with the tips sticking up out of the water. Putting all his ideas together, Ralph tried again on July 2. It was the day before his 19th birthday. Ralph’s brother started the engine of the family boat. Ralph grasped the rubber-wrapped metal ring attached to the tow ropes. The skis rose up, up, up to the water’s surface, carrying Ralph with them. Ralph Samuelson was water skiing!

The jeers of the by-standers turned to cheers. Thanks to his determination, it was Ralph’s turn to smile.

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by Lynn Katulka illustrations by Andrew Wales

Inventor George de Mestral carefully stepped over branches and leaves, trying not to make a sound. He was trying to capture a big fat damsel fly for his collection.

SWISH went the net over the leaf the damsel fly was resting on. SPLASH went George’s foot into the brook, and . . . nothing. Once again, the damsel fly got away.

George didn’t catch any damsel flies, but his trousers had much better luck catching hundreds of sticky, prickly burrs. George tried, but the burrs wouldn’t let go of his trousers. When he got home, George decided to look at the stubborn burrs under his microscope to see what made them stick.

He found that each burr was covered with hooks that looked like a monster’s mouthful of spiked fangs.

These hooks grabbed onto anything with a loop, such as clothing fiber, animal fur, or even human hair. This gave George the idea of making two different kinds of fabrics.

One fabric would have hundreds of tiny grabbing hooks.

The other fabric would have hundreds of tiny catching loops. Press these two fabrics together, and you have instant sticky business.

George tried for several years to master the sticky fabric. Sometimes the loops were too big for the hooks.

Sometimes the hooks were too big for the loops. He kept trying, and success finally came. Soon he was weaving together 300 tiny hooks and loops in one single inch of fabric. George de Mestral had invented VELCRO®!

VELCRO is seen almost everywhere today. Look around. Do your sneakers have it? How about your backpack? The brace on your sprained ankle probably has VELCRO straps. It’s used in places you wouldn’t expect, like by the military and even by NASA!

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The ball in this toy has hundreds of tiny loops.

The catcher has hundreds of tiny hooks.

by Marcy L. Collier Did you know the first batch of the most popular American cookie was made by mistake?

In 1930, Ruth Graves Wakefield, who owned the Toll House Inn with her husband, was whipping up a batch of butter drop do cookies for her guests. She realized she had run out of baking chocolate.

She needed a substitute to make her chocolate cookies, so she used a semi-sweet candy bar that was given to her by chocolate maker Andrew Nestlé. She cut the candy into pieces and mixed it with the dough. She expected the candy to melt when the cookies were baking.

Instead, the chocolate didn’t melt, it only softened. This was the first batch of chocolate chip cookies! Ruth named her creation the Toll House cookie, after her inn.

As you might imagine, her guests loved the new dessert. People flocked from all around the New England area just to sample Ruth’s cooking.

The recipe was soon printed in local newspapers. Eventually, Ruth struck a deal with Mr. Nestlé to sell the rights to her recipe and the Toll House name. The company printed her recipe on each wrapper of their semi-sweet chocolate bar and supplied her with all the chocolate she could use in her lifetime.

In 1939, Nestlé began offering Nestlé Toll House Real Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels. To this day, Ruth’s recipe is still printed on the back label.

That goes to show that sometimes our mistakes can bring the sweetest rewards.

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Lincoln, Nebraska 3:01 PM

A blizzard is on the way!

Max and Gracie and their owners, Linda, Craig, and their seven-year-old son, Ed, are driving the back roads of America. Perhaps you have seen Max and Gracie with their heads out the window. If not, here is a letter describing their most recent adventure.

the street from our hotel.

Gracie and me to a park across took Ed , ved arri zard bliz the Before Wind whipped back my ears. ce at the end of g stick with a hollowed-out spa -lon foot a is t ck-I Chu A t. ck-I k Ed pulled out a Chu n tennis ball flying across the par a flick of his wrist, Ed sent a gree she , cold so it for a ball to be placed. With for Gracie. She’s to get it, he launches another one for me to fetch. As I’m running know that by running, she’ll she close to Ed. Doesn’t dles hud she , ead Inst it. r afte run won’t even warm right up? s. I look out the window and da decided to trim Gracie’s nail When we return to the hotel, Lin watch the snow fall. ter, getting warm?” Gracie asks.

“Why aren’t you over by the hea ays need to be right up against e next, and I know you. You alw “Because I’m getting my nails don you’ll jump on me until you get and comfortable, when I know nice all elf mys get y Wh ter. hea the your way?” heater.” ggers’ greatest invention is the “True,” Gracie chuckled. “Two-le big dinner, I lie down next to clipped and my tummy full of a Two hours later, with my nails n a chainsaw. I think of how heater and is snoring louder tha the inst aga k bac her has She Gracie. ping us warm. t throws balls and this heater kee lucky we are to have a stick tha me, I get up and lick her ear, but her sleep. As her nails dig into life Then, Gracie starts running in cie to stop running in her sleep, eone could invent a way for Gra som if Now up. e wak sn’t doe she at least grateful that the other side of the room, I’m would be perfect. As I move to !

Linda cut Gracie’s nails tonight

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Max

by Barbara Vecqueray illustrated by Ba Rea

I’m mad at the person Who invented the line, ‘Cause now we overuse it In school all the time.

We walk in a line to move down the halls, Line up for our milk, and put back the balls.

We stand in a line to use the white sink, We stand in a line for a long cool-down drink.

I just don’t get it, as much as I whine.

What’s the big deal about being in line?

Why can’t we line up In another shape?

Like a squiggle, Or a square, To keep us shipshape?

I’m mad at the person Who invented the line ‘Cause now we overuse it In school all the time.

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by Lynn Katulka Chances are very good you are part of an extremely popular, world-wide group that uses a certain product. Can you guess what it is?

1. You spend almost half an hour a day using it.

2. By the time you’re 10 years old, you’ve used up 730 of them.

3. Your favorite colors of this are red or blue.

4. You’re really using something called “oily chalk.”

Did you guess? This very popular group is using Crayola crayons.

The first box of Crayola crayons had eight colors: black, brown, blue, red, purple, orange, yellow, and green in 1903. School children across America could finally color the sun yellow in their pictures. They could make the ocean a mix of green and blue.

The crayon company Binney & Smith didn’t plan on tinting the world with color. It happened by accident. The company made black and brown ink and marking pens, chalk, and pencils. One day, Edwin Binney and Harold Smith were showing teachers a new kind of chalk to use on blackboards. They noticed that the kids were using pieces of their black and brown marking pens to color and draw.

Thinking that wasn’t the best way to color the world, the two men experimented with colored tinted wax until the formula was just right.

They came up with eight basic colors, made large batches, cut them into small sticks for little hands to use, and added paper wrappers. Soon every kid in America, and then across the world, was using a Crayola crayon to make skies blue, grass green, and dogs brown with black spots.

Edwin’s wife, Alice, came up with the Crayola name. She used a combination of the French words for oily chalk. Wisely, she shortened the name from Craieoleaginous, a very big mouthful, to Crayola. Thank you, Alice!

As you color your world with midnight blue, burnt sienna, or plain old orange, try to imagine what a black and white world we would have without the crayon.

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Today there are 120 Crayola crayon colors!

When it’s time to bring out building bricks, chances are you dig into your collection of LEGO toys. Kids of all ages play with these bright, colorful building blocks every day. And no wonder! You can build almost anything you can imagine just by using the interlocking studded bricks.

You might be surprised to learn that a master carpenter invented LEGO bricks.

In 1932, Ole Kirk Christiansen opened a little shop in the country of Denmark. His young son, Godtfred Kirk, worked alongside him. Ole Kirk made wooden ironing boards, stepladders, and stools. But his amazing wooden toys became his best-sellers.

Before long, Ole Kirk had a small factory. As the years passed, the woodworker made more and more wooden toys and games. He also began experimenting with plastic toys. In 1949, Ole Kirk’s company introduced its first plastic building pieces.

He called them “Automatic Binding Bricks.” By 1958, the blocks looked like the LEGO brick we all know today. Now, besides bricks, LEGO sets include wheels, gears, figurines, and lots of other pieces.

LEGO bricks are popular the world over. In fact, you could circle Earth five times using all the bricks sold in one year! If you only have a few bricks to play with, don’t worry. You can combine two 8-stud LEGO bricks of the same color 24 different ways.

Three 8-stud bricks can be combined 1060 ways. If you have six 8-stud bricks, there are more than 915 million combinations! Wow!

It took thousands and thousands of LEGO bricks to build this New York scene!

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by Kirsten Birkhard

Who invented pizza? It wasn’t Papa John or Little Caesar. It wasn’t made in a Hut, either.

People have been eating flatbread baked with toppings for thousands of years.

In eighteenth-century Naples, Italy, pizza was peasant food. Peasants experimented by topping the bread with different ingredients, such as herbs, olive oil, and cheese before baking it. When they took their invention from the brick oven, the golden-brown masterpiece bubbled with flavor. The peasants decided their scrumptious creation needed a name. They came up with the word picea, a Latin word their ancestors called bread when it turned black from the oven.

The popularity of pizza spread throughout Naples. It was cheap, easy to make, and most of all, delicious. It was sold all around Naples by “pizza deliverers” (typically young boys) who carried it in mini tin stoves on their heads and called out to customers. After a while, pizza sellers became tired of carrying their stoves. They began opening restaurants called pizzerias.

One afternoon, King Umberto I and his wife, Queen Margherita, came though Naples for a town inspection. The queen noticed people eating pizza and became curious. She summoned her guards to bring her a piece and was instantly hooked.

Raffaele Esposito was considered the best pizza maker in Naples.

Queen Margherita got word. “I am requesting that Raffaele bake me a selection of his famous pizza. I simply must have it!”

In honor of the queen, Raffaele created a special pizza with tomato, mozzarella cheese, and basil. With its red, white, and green colors, the pizza looked just like the Italian flag. The queen loved it! Raffaele’s pizza became her personal favorite. Soon people everywhere heard the news, and the pizza we know today as “pizza Margherita” became a hit.

To this day, Raffaele’s pizzeria, called Pizzeria Brandi, proudly displays a royal thank-you note dated June 1889.

The rest is pizza history!

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Dear Readers, k, poetry, an d other Send us yo ur artwor r, tion! Write us a lette creations for publica z.

Kid r Fo ink about Fun an d tell what yo u th m yo u!

We love hearing fro om,

Attention Readers!

funforkidz.c Email to: kidscorner@ r, PO Box 227, rne or mail to: Kids Co 227.

Bluffton, OH 45817-0

Good news! The Pet Story Contest deadline has been extended to January 30, 2018!

Pet Story Contest

Write a story about a pet and send it to us. It can be fiction (something you make up) or nonficti on (something that really happened). Follow the contest rule s, and have fun!

1.

Dear Editor, I have some pets. I have four goldfish and a guinea pig named Piglet. He is very chubby and cute. His favorite food is watermelon. My favorite animal is a cat, but I don’t have one. I want to be a vet. I’m glad you made the Pets issue! (Nov./Dec. 2017) Your fan, Ashley Springer Nashville, TN

Dear Editor, My name is Joseph. I like your magazine a lot. My brother, Josh, and I do all the science experiments, and we read every article. We both like the cartoons. The 10 Things cartoons are always great.

From, Joseph (age 11) and Josh (age 9) Brownsville, TX

Dear Editor, I love the It’s a Mystery issue!! (Sept./Oct. 2017) I plan on sending you a mystery story for the contest. I can’t decide if it should be scary or funny.

Maybe it will be both. I think Fun For Kidz is the best. Thank you for making such a good magazine.

Your friend, Erin Mikala Salisbury, NY

Your entry must be your own original story of 300 words or fewer.

2. You may not be older than 14 to enter the contest.

3. Include your name, age, and full address on each entr 4. Your entry must be signed by your parent, guardia y.

5.

n, teacher, or librarian, saying it is you r own original story and that you received no help.

Your entry will not be considered if it is missing the information requested in rules #3 and #4.

6. If you want your story returned, enclose a self-add ressed, stamped envelope for each entry.

7. Stories must be received by January 30, 2018. The first-place winner will have his or her name and story published in a future issue and rece ive a certificate and gift. All second-place, third-place, and honorable mention winners will have their names pub lished in a future issue and receive a certificate.

8. Send entries to: Pet Story Contest, PO Box 227, Bluffton, OH 45817-0227 or kidscorn er@funforkidz.com.

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E L S Z N Z O U I P LUT SO Word Find on page 13

Creative Crossword on page 13

H W H A T S S

U U D B M K E C R N N G I U

1

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What’s It Called on page 12

1-N, 2-A, 3-O, 4-F, 5-G, 6-J, 7-B, 8-I,

Inventors Crossword on page 12

Edison Sudoku on page 13

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Fun with Inventions Logic Puzzle on page 12

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Photo Credits: Wikimedia Commons: Min-graphite by Daniel Schwen (Own work) [CC BY-SA 2.5] 4 (bottom); Indexo finger toothbrush. Science Museum, London. [CC BY 4.0] 5 (bottom); Cookies and milk by Carsten Schertzer from Santa Cruz, CA, United states [CC BY 2.0] 23 (top); Semi-sweet chocolate chips by Editor at Large (Own work) [CC BY-SA 2.5] 23 (bottom-right). 123rf.com: ©[Brooke Becker/123RF.com] 15 (top-left); ©[Marlene Johansen/123RF.com] 22 (bottom-right).

Gift Giving for Friends & Family Don’t forget to let us know where to send your magazine!

Give the kids on your gift list

Fun For Kidz magazine and they’ll run to the mailbox all year long!

Contact us:

Kids love mail!

by email customerservice@funforkidz.com call 419-358-4610 (9 AM - 5 PM E.T.) US Post PO Box 227, Bluffton, OH 45817

Include the following: your name old address new address date to make the switch how to reach you if questions occur

Please allow at least six weeks.

Get a NEW subscription for only $16.48 when you buy one subscription at the regular price of $32.95.

(Additional postage cost outside US)

Request a gift card and FREE puzzle poster delivered with the first issue of each subscription.

Order on our website, www.funforkidz.com, using coupon code GIFT, or call us at: 419-358-4610 (9 AM - 5 PM E.T.).

V i s i t U s O n l i n e ! F a c e b o o k . c o m / F u n F o r K i d z • w w w. F u n F o r K i d z . c o m Vol. 17 No. 1 • JAN/FEB 2018 Publisher: Thomas M. Edwards Editor: Marilyn Edwards Associate Editor: Diane Winebar Graphic Design: Gaurakisora Tucker Marketing Director: Jonathan Edwards

FUN FOR KIDZ (ISSN 1536-898X) is published bi-monthly by the Bluffton News Publishing and Printing Company, P.O. Box 227, 101 N. Main St., Bluffton, OH 45817-0227.

Telephone: 419-358-4610. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Fun For Kidz, P.O. Box 227, Bluffton, OH 45817-0227. Periodical postage is paid at Bluffton, OH and Preston, ID.

Subscriptions: All subscription inquiries and changes of address should be addressed to FUN FOR KIDZ at P.O. Box 227, Bluffton, OH 45817. Telephone: 419-358-4610.

Subscription rates are six issues (1 year) $32.95; twelve issues (2 years) $55.90; eighteen issues (3 years) $68.85. Canadian postage - first class - $18 per year, all other foreign countries first class airmail - $37.50 per year.

FUN FOR KIDZ, INC. accepts no responsibility whatsoever for Article, Photo & Artwork Submissions: We accept and any injuries arising out of the use or misuse of ideas, materials, encourage article, photo and artwork submissions. Unsolicited and activities featured in its publications or products. materials will be considered for publication and will be returned Science Editor: Larry White Copyright © 2017 by the Bluffton News Publishing and Printing if accompanied by sufficient first-class postage. Guidelines are Co. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be available with a SASE. The publisher accepts no responsibility Science Illustrator: Alan Wassilak reproduced without the written permission of the publisher.

Riding ... with Max & Gracie Editor: Lisa Rehfuss FUN FOR KIDZ™, and the FUN FOR KIDZ logo™, are trademarks for unsolicited material. of FUN FOR KIDZ, The Bluffton News Publishing and Printing Co. Submissions should be sent to FUN FOR KIDZ, INC. Cover Artist: Chris Sabatino P.O. Box 227, Bluffton, OH 45817-0227.

Circulation Manager: Mark Studer

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