Free Junior Crossword Puzzles

The Angry Birds Art Car on Kickstarter

The Angry Bird Mobile is coming! Liana Bandziulis, a 20-year-old student at Loyola Marymount University, is converting a golf cart into a bigger-than-life Angry Bird, complete with a slingshot from which to launch hand-crafted plush versions at unsuspecting bystanders. The electric vehicle will debut at Burning Man , an anarchistic art festival that its organizers describe as “an annual experiment in temporary community dedicated to radical self-expression and radical self-reliance.” This year’s Burning Man will be held August 29 to September 5. The Angry Bird Art Car project has been posted on Kickstarter to raise funds to pay for the materials needed for the customization.

Liana is the current leader of GuerilLA , the Los Angeles offshoot of Improv Everywhere , of which I am also a member. Knowing her, and knowing that a significant percentage of GeekDad readers and their children are avid fans of the game, I sent her an email; I asked her about the project, about Burning Man and about herself.

GeekDad : My perception (I’ve never been to it) is that Burning Man is not terribly kid-friendly; how accurate is that perception?

Liana Bandziulis : Not 100%. There’s actually a camp devoted to families with lil’uns. It’s very tame if you stay thereabouts. The open Playa is different. Your kid needs to have a high tolerance for nudity and dirt, and enough smarts to avoid Art Cars and fire.

GD : So, Art Cars are a “thing” at Burning Man? Are they usually electric? (I’m assuming that there’s a general pro-environment vibe, massive particulate-spewing bonfires notwithstanding).

LB : Yes, Art Cars are a “thing” at Burning Man. They’re my favorite “thing” at Burning Man. They’re actually quite rarely electric. Well, the small ones might be eco-friendly, but most are MUCH bigger. Think two double-decker bus big. The sun ain’t gonna run that s***.

GD : What makes a car an Art Car?

LB : At Burning Man, as it got bigger and bigger, they had to limit the cars that could drive around to minimize dust, so they only license the ones “worthy” of the title of an Art Car at the DMV: Department of Mutant Vehicles. There are certain regulations: they have to be well-lit for nighttime driving, safely built (this is important for the huuuuuuge ones especially), drive less than 5mph at any time… and they have to be deemed interesting enough. Like, you couldn’t just stick an old halloween decoration on the top of your Honda and expect to be able to drive around. One of my friends with the Giant Cock Car (yes, it was a rooster) was actually denied a license because, even though he had made a giant rooster with a top hat towering over the car, they felt that the car itself wasn’t “covered” enough. That’s why we want to make sure that we have both the slingshot for interactivity and the fur making it into an Angry Bird for looks.

Junior Scrabble Edition

What a great way for kids to play America s favorite word game Kid-sized words and colorful pictures make it fun to match letter tiles to words on the grid. Players collect scoring chips for completing words. When all of the tiles are played the one with the most chips wins The advanced side of the game board features an open grid where kids can create their own words Scrabble-style For 2 to 4 players. Game includes 2-sided game board 101 letter tiles 44 scoring chips and rules.If Theres any game out there that normally makes little kids feel left out it s Scrabble the word game that s usually played by adults and older kids. But Scrabble Junior is a great way to introduce young children to the game and get them interested in how words are formed. In the beginner game specially developed for younger kids players draw seven tiles from a pool then work to match letters to the ones printed on the board. As they work through their tiles they spell out the words one letter at a time and receive points for finishing each word. By the end of the game they ll have used over a hundred letters to work through a variety of different words. On the other side of the board there is a basic version of the classic Scrabble game with simple scoring rules. Once your children master the advanced game you might be surprised to see that they re ready to take you on in a match of the original Scrabble. Just be prepared to lose gracefully. –John Longenbaugh Introduces young children to the classic word-forming game. Players work to match letters printed on the board receiving points for finishing each word. When all of the tiles are played the one with the most chips wins. The advanced side of the game board features a basic version of Scrabble with simple scoring rules. For 2 to 4 players.

Listener Junior Crossword Puzzles

Zen and the Art of Crossword Puzzles, A Journey Down and Across

Junior Cross Word Puzzles

Super Puzzle II

Super Puzzle I