An unusually well-expressed email

I get emails. Wonderful, enthusiastic emails filled with questions or product ideas. I love them.

Yesterday I got one that perfectly describes an experience that many have written to me about. So I decided to post it here. Jodi wrote:


"Part of my panic with teaching my son about evolution, I've found, is because I was never taught evolution myself in a way I could really explain it to anyone - my son doesn't take simple answers! Then I realized the whole subject was glossed over in school for me. I brought this up to one of my son's teachers, he attends a Montessori school, and she said that a lot of parents have to teach evolution at home because it's "controversial." I was actually shocked to hear that. That's just not right - it's science!



Anyway, so since it looks like I can't leave it to the schools to teach this, I've been doing my homework and now know more about Darwin than I ever thought I would! I truly do appreciate having a great kid-friendly tool to be able to help explain things to my very inquisitive kid. And I combed through your book reviews and found a few of those recommended at our library so we've been reading those as well and I very much appreciate the time you put into that."

See why I love my inbox? Thanks so much, Jodi.

I had just the same experience trying to find resources on evolution for kids, which is exactly why I launched Charlie's Playhouse. Anyone have the same experience?

Our wicked awesome new project: Ask the Kids!

Ask your kid one question and get 20% off!

The 150th anniversary of Darwin's amazing book "The Origin of Species," is coming up this month. To celebrate, we're starting a conversation about evolution with kids everywhere.

We're asking parents to pose one question to their kids:

"What is evolution?"

and let us know the very first answer. As thanks, we're offering a 10%-20% coupon, and will also recommend great books and websites to help with a chat about evolution for kids.

Kids' first thoughts are wonderful -- charmingly wrong, spot-on accurate, or revealing what is really important. ("Evolution is candy," said one 3-year-old.)

We'll weave their answers into a short, fun video and release it to the world on November 24th, the 150th anniversary of "Origin of Species." Your kids will be the stars!

So go ahead. Grab a pencil or video camera, and ask the kids!

More info at the Ask the Kids home page. Deadline is November 16th.

We're on the COVER, baby!

Beyond the Blackboard, an educational supply company in Colorado, just released its new catalog and --

oh my --

what is that? --

could that be? --

is that a Giant Evolution Timeline on the cover!?

Why yes, yes it is!

Those folks at Beyond the Blackboard sure are savvy, intelligent, street-smart and probably very good-looking too.

Here's the Timeline in their web catalog. They're selling it for 5 cents less than I am on my site. Hmmm, anybody up for a price war?

When is "evolution" not evolution?

So you're looking for toys or games about evolution. You casually go online and -- whammo -- you find about a thousand kids' products that use the word "evolution." Hooray!

But look closer, friends. Zillions of fun products use the word "evolution," but they aren't talking about the history of life or science. Here's a sampling.

1. Evolution Board Game: Designed for teens, this involves trivia, charades, and drawing challenges. Nothing about the science.

2. Pokemon: These little guys and their friends "evolve" from one form to another. But it's not about the evolution of life, it's more like maturing: as each individual critter grows, its features change.

3. Star Wars: This package is called "Clone Wars Evolutions Pack - The Sith Legacy." Enough said.

4. TGS Evolution Bones Ripper Multisport Helmet: Rock on, dude, awesome skull!

5. Evolution Dude Rides #007: My personal favorite. Seems to be a green jalopy pickup truck with a high-tech rocket launcher in the back. Yee ha!

Oh no! They Might Have been Wrong!

Back in May we posted the big news about Ida, a fossil that supposed to be a long, long lost ancestor of ours. There were skeptics and now experts are saying Ida's not even close to a relative.

it turns out that Ida is more closely related to lemurs. We'll keep you posted as Ida's story unfolds.

A Giant Timeline in its natural habitat

Shhh....

Be careful not to disturb these small, cute homo sapiens as they interact with the Giant Evolution Timeline in their natural habitat: the playroom.

Behavioral anthropologists please note: the Timeline seems to inspire happiness and snuggling.

(Many thanks to Trudi for the stunning wildlife photography.)

Oh my. Two more awards.

The wonderful Tillywig program in Illinois has awarded the Creature Cards with a "Top Fun" award and the Giant Evolution Timeline with their "Brain Child" award!

Check out the winners' page here. (Scroll down for our entries.)

Hooray, we are so happy!