We hope you all had fun learning about the circus this week! You sent us your circus stories, circus artwork, and pictures of you clowning around and we thought they were great!
Here are some of our clowns:
It appears some of you were clowning around more than others (namely, those of you who live in our house). We’d like to note here again that we have established another way to submit pictures to us, which is via Instagram using the word of the week hashtag (this week’s was #bobbledycircus). So if you are finding it particularly cumbersome to post in the comments, you can feel free to use the Instagram shortcut (as we did). And thanks to those of you who did submit via Instagram – it kept our right sidebar looking spiffy!
Onwards!
On Monday, we asked for stories about the circus and you came through! Here are a couple of your stories…
Simon’s story is about a dinosaur circus . . . He writes:
Okay, so, the story takes place in the country Bolivia. The circus is 82 million years ago in the Late Cretaceous. The title is called THE STYXOSAURUS AND TYLOSAURUS BECOME FRIENDS. So,one day,a Styxosaurus was swimming along. Suddenly a dark shadow got in his sight. Then it was at his side. He did not know what it was. But then he did! He observed the shape closely. “That must be a Tylosaurus.” he said. He was right! As he swam closer he knew more. Soon he really knew it was a Tylosaurus! And they became friends. THE END Here are the names: the Styxosaurus’ name is Squanata and the Tylosaurus’ name is Tilley.The End
We’d like to applaud Simon for thinking outside the circus box, and taking us all 82 millions years into the past. And it would appear from Simon’s story that the Late Cretaceous really was a simpler time – all it took for a couple of dinosaurs to become friends was for one of them to properly identify the other! How wonderful would it be if all we had to do to make friends was look at the person standing next to us and say, “That must be a person” ??? Ah, the good old days.
Leila shared a tale in free verse of a tired acrobat who gets taken advantage of. She writes:
Once apon a time there was an acrobat he could Do many tricks all peaple loved his
Tricks.he could Stand on his hands on a horse while it was running.he could juggle
While ridding a bicycle. after that he was tired so…he decided he would take a
Nap after he woke he nodicd that his circus gear was missing! I don’t care
he thoht …the end!
He might have been swindled during his nap, but he managed to weather it with grace. I suppose the lesson is you should get your satisfaction from your interactions with others rather than material things like circus gear. A very wise, wise parable.
Up next: Drawing.
On Tuesday, we asked to see your circus drawings. Some of you went all out and really thought outside the box. Check this out!
This circus is by Phoebe and Thalia and is made out of clay.
Phoebe and Thalia also included a story with details of the different acts in their circus. You really should go check it out if you haven’t. Particularly wonderful is the detail that all the people are missing because they’ve gone to work in the circus in Florida, because they can’t take the cold. The only ones left in the circus here are those with nice fur coats and thick skin.
Simon and Everett also thought outside of the box:
Cut-paper dinosaur circus! I’m starting to think that Simon knows a bit of something about dinosaurs… and I suspect that he’s a particular fan of the Tylosaurus, who makes another appearance here (he’s the one “jumping through a fired hoop”). I was most impressed with the dinosaur-taming (or hoop-lighting) skills involved in making an underwater dinosaur jump through a flaming hoop – either the dinosaur was made to jump out of the water through the hoop, or the hoop was made to stay alight underwater. Either way, very impressive!! Also: that striped comforter standing in for the big top is genius.
On Wednesday, you participated in the circus Kid Quiz. We asked you if you could be in the circus what would your act be and why?
Harry said:
I would like to be an acrobat because I like to get milkshakes after work. When I work, I ride on a unicycle and fly a plane at the same time.
I had no idea that milkshakes were a part of acrobating. Had I known this were true, I would have started training to be an acrobat a long time ago. I have clearly chosen the wrong profession.
Anna wrote:
If I were in the circus, I would run and run and run and never stop. I would play with the elephant and the horse, but not the tiger, because he’s scary.
Well, much in the way that milkshakes draw me to acrobating, running and running and never stopping makes me never ever ever want to be in the circus. It is a well-known fact that I do not like to run. And I agree with Anna – tigers are scary. So, maybe I did choose the right profession after all.
In summary:
We hope you had fun learning about circus this week. We had a great time reading and seeing what you all came up with.
And now for this week’s big winner (this was a very tough decision to make!! You all did SUCH A GREAT JOB):
Congratulations, Phoebe & Thalia! We loved your clay circus and the story that went with it! We’ll email you a printable version of your trophy to color in, and a frameable small print of my juggling bear (and clapping seals!).