Have you ever noticed those fancy Google logos they have on special holidays? Google calls these Google Doodles, and they are having a contest for kids to create a Google Doodle! How cool would it be for one of our kids to come up with a design that would be featured on the Google website? Well, here’s their chance.

Doodle 4 Google is a national contest that asks kids to come up with a logo based on the theme “What if…”. You can read the contest details on their website. Here are some examples from past contests in the United Kingdom and Australia.

I already registered our school as a participant. If you would like to have your students participate in the contest, just let me know. I would be glad to help you develop this as a project with your students. It would be a great activity to do during those stressful MAP testing weeks, and it would definitely keep our students engaged in learning. We can only submit 6 entries in the contest from our school, so I will have a panel of teachers help select the entries to send in from all of the classes that participate.

Entries are due April 12, so start planning now for this fun learning opportunity!

Okay, I realize I’m sharing yet another online tool that really isn’t school related, but it’s too cool not to share. My son has gotten me addicted to an online radio site called Pandora. The neat thing about this site is that you select an artist that you like (for example – Sting – I know, I’m dating myself), and Pandora will play songs by Sting and create the “Sting” channel for you. In addition to songs by that particular artist, it will also play songs that are similar in style to songs by Sting. It gives you the option to give those songs the “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” as to whether you think they belong on your Sting channel.  It is so awesome! You get to listen to the songs and artists you like, and you don’t have to listen to commercials. All types of music are included, which has been great for my son who loves contemporary Christian artists like Skillet and Reliant K. Anyway, give it a try and create your own custom radio stations!

Back in October, I shared with you a time-saving blog that I use to get recipe ideas – Mommy Cooks. I have always been a menu planner, and I thought that maybe my obsessive menu planning could help others with this task. So, I decided to make my own recipe blog which I titled “What’s for Dinner?”.  I post my weekly dinner menu plan and the recipes I use, including photos (I’m a geek – what can I say?). I hope you find this blog useful, or at least maybe it will entertain you to know that I photograph my dinner each night. Either way – enjoy!

Cindy, your slightly obsessive library lady