Fostering curiosity in kids (and their parents) since 2011

Posts by Shala Howell

“Why is it called that?” Caterpickles consults the OED

Lately, The Four-Year-Old has become extremely interested in the origins of words. Questions like “why are grouches called grouches?”, “How did goosebumps get their name?”, “Why are hedgehogs called hedgehogs?”, and “How was the word grump made?” are piling up. So this morning I dragged out our copy of the Shorter OED to find out.

Mid-Week Science News Update: Space ballet

We interrupt our regularly scheduled afternoon radio silence with a Mars Rover Curiosity update. From our in-house space correspondent comes word that the Curiosity has successfully performed the first of two planned space ballets on its 352-million-mile journey to Mars.

Breakfast at Caterpickles II

Rainy winter mornings when The Four-Year-Old wakes up early and there are guests in the house simply scream for complicated breakfasts. This is especially fun when The Four-Year-Old is in a measuring and stirring sort of mood.

“Do old warthogs look like Vanderbilt or Mr. Gronko?”

One afternoon, after spending a pleasant half-hour solving mysteries with the various animals on Richard Scarry’s Busytown Mysteries, my four-year-old began to reflect on the realism of the show’s animation. “Mommyo, do old warthogs look like Vanderbilt or Mr. Gronko?” Turns out what she was really asking was whether warthogs have one pair of tusks or two. “Old warthogs, Mommyo.”