Welcome to the Weekly Mashup! We had more kid-submitted stuff than ever before, and I can’t wait to share it with you. Ok, I have to wait at least a few minutes, so I will, but I wish that you were here with me right now so that I could show you this very second!
On Saturday, we asked you “If you had to catch an ostrich, how would you do it?” You all had some very clever ideas!
Alice and Mom:
Mom: If you had to catch an ostrich, how would you do it?
Alice: I would do it like this [jumps/gallops across the floor].
Mom: Would you need a tool to catch the ostrich?
Alice: I would use this tool [picks up cat dancer toy]. You do it like this [puts wand of cat dancer between her legs, gallops across the floor with the fleece “tail” of the cat dancer dragging behind her], and then it plays.
Alice: Kudos for thinking outside the box, so to speak. I mean, using a cat toy on an ostrich?! It’s like putting peanut butter on your jelly. Which is, of course, as delicious as it is improbable. You are an innovator. This is exactly the kind of cross-disciplinary thinking that is going to endear you to college admissions officers some day.
Valerie: I would get 5 kiwis,hang them all on a fishing pole,and then swing it til the ostrich eats it.
Valerie, I had no idea that ostriches liked kiwis, but this makes perfect sense. Thank you. Question: do they prefer them peeled?
Melody: I can open up a Ostrich Wonderland that has all-you-can-eat shrub salad and bug dressing. (that’s what I think ostriches love eating) Ostrich Wonderland also will have a Feather Salon, an Ostrich Runway, and contests for the longest neck. There can also be lots of rides for ostriches! One can be called High Flying Ostrich, where the ostrich gets to fly in a flying simulation. Then, my Wonderland will be so popular to ostriches that they will all come to it! There, I will capture my ostrich! Or maybe 10!
Melody: Ostrich Wonderland is, of course, a brilliant idea. Are you looking for investors? I have no money but lots of ideas. Also: can people join the “longest neck” contest, because I want to enter. It’s unlikely I could beat an ostrich in this regard, but if they gave a price for “trying hardest,” I think I’d have it in the bag.
Sydney: I would catch it with a net and I want it to be my pet. I would name it Plakisus. I will feed him grass.
Syd: Could you please swing by later and help me with the pronunciation of “Plakisus”? And maybe fold some laundry while you’re here?
Bailey: I would catch mine with a net and name it Thomas Goose. I would give it a sweater to wear.
Bailey: Great idea. I’ll provide the sweater. Robbi has this purple one with a big neck that I can’t convince her to stop wearing.
Harry: I would catch an ostrich with a special race car with a robotic arm and a bucket at the end. After I catch it, I will take him home and I will take care of him. I will feed him pasta, and chicken nuggets.
Harry: Pasta and nuggets?! Man, I want to be your ostrich.
Harvey: I would make a robot that offers all kinds of food to attract the ostrich (e.g., vegetables, bugs w/ sauce, and chips). And then a portal will be open. After the ostrich jumps into the portal, he will be locked up in the robot’s tummy and never come out. But don’t worry, there are lots of food in the robot’s tummy that the ostrich will never get hungry.
Harvey: Excellent scheme! But if your robot is not attracted by the vegetables and bugs, might I suggest pasta and nuggets?
On Monday, we asked you for stories about ostriches. Here is what you wrote:
Here is “The Ostrich” from Kato:
He runs really fast. He has two toes. His name is Kato. He likes to run really fast and beat people. He always beats them in the races. He likes to read books. He likes to poop on the potty. He pees in his diapers. He likes to go in the clock and get hit by the time tunnels. And he likes to burp and toot. The story is over.
Kato: Your story started out with a bang. The first big twist was the ostrich’s name. Because YOUR name is Kato, too! I mean, what are the odds? You lost me a bit with the time tunnels, but you brought me back with the burping and tooting. Thanks for daring your readers to stretch a bit while keeping them grounded in the fundamentals.
Anna wrote a story with a picture:
My ostrich’s name is Mary. She walked along the path and ate flowers. Then she drank some water and then sat in the sun because it was SO CHILLY!
(Note: Inspired by Matthew Draws, I (Anna’s dad) sat down to do some drawing with Anna. Here is our joint picture that accompanies Anna’s story. Or vice versa.)
Anna and Anna’s dad: We LOVE the idea of a father/daughter collaboration. Thanks for sharing your story and drawing. Now, Anna’s dad, in the spirit of Matthew Draws, I suppose it’s my job to guess which celebrity ostrich named Mary this is? I must say, you’ve given us little to work with. But I’ll go out on a limb and say that it’s celebrity ostrich Mary Davenport. Am I right? When will you post the answers?
Here is a story from Valerie called “Billy and the Animals”:
Billy was an ostrich that always wanted to fly. One day, Billy saw some birds flying in the air. He tried to catch one with his mouth and swallowed one. 10 minutes later, Billy the ostrich noticed that he had tiny wings! He tried to fly but couldn’t because he had tiny wings. Later he saw a group of butterflies and ate 6 of them. Billy kept on finding flying animals and digesting them until he could fly. As Billy went flying into the blue sky, he saw 3 flying ostriches, 5 flying toads, and 2 flying giraffes. As they all played together, lots of animals kept on joining them. Billy flew down and tried to make a potion that made you fly instead of eating animals. He finally perfected the potion. Soon, all the animals were flying up in the sky. Soon humans wanted to fly so Billy invented another potion for humans, and it worked. So everybody lived happily ever after in the cloudy and blue sky!
Valerie: I love your story. It’s fun and imaginative, and contains an important lesson: Even though eating things that fly can make you fly, eventually, this course of action had better be replaced by a more sustainable approach to flight acquisition. I think the Roman empire could have benefitted from your wisdom. Also: could you invent a potion that rubs my feet?
On Tuesday, we asked for pictures of Ostriches. Here’s what you sent us!
Here is a picture of an ostrich by Alden:
Alden: What an ostrich! What long, proud legs! What a fluffy body? What a tiny, tiny brain! What a terrifying, spider-like sun! I am guessing that your mother is an illustrator and your father is an underachieving children’s art critic.
Here is a story and picture from Harvey called “The Ostrich Triplet”
Harvey: Another week, another fantastic illustrated story. I hope that you are collecting all your work for an anthology. Some thoughts on the ostrich triplets: I think it’s great that they had fun in spite of all the mishap. I also admire them for not bowing at the end. Humility is an all-too-rare attribute in the world of ostriches, so many of which are so braggy. Also: Oblivea might be the best name that has ever been invented.
Here is a picture by Anna:
Anna: Thanks for sharing! You should give your dad some drawing tips. I’m assuming that this one was also inspired by Matthew Draws. Is it Haley Joel Ostrich?
Sydney and Bailey made ostriches from coffee filters and pipe cleaners (with googly eyes!)
Here they showing what they made…
Here is what one looks like up close…
Sydney and Baily: WHOA! I had no idea that ostriches could be MADE. This should do wonders to help avert the ostrich shortage. We need more ostriches in Chestertown. I think it would be great if they could wander around the streets and tell jokes and help scoop the snow off the sidewalks, and keep things lively with their googly eyes. Also: Did you leave enough coffee filters for your mom and dad, because, wow, you’re playing with fire if you didn’t. Thanks for sharing, you guys!
And now for the single hardest moment of my week, considering all of the amazing stories and drawings googly-eyed coffee filter ostriches kids send us and having to pick JUST ONE as the expert of the week. This week’s submissions were so wonderful that it’s impossible for me to do it. And so I’ll pick TWO.
Yes, that’s right…
…this week’s winners and Ostrich Experts are SYDNEY and BAILEY…
…for their fun craft project. [Though you can rest assured, I have just hidden the coffee filters from my children.]
Thanks to everyone for sharing your great work with us. We can’t tell you how happy it makes us to see what comes out of your amazing minds.
Check back tomorrow for the new theme. It’s downright Medieval.
Ostriches are weird aren’t they? Here’s this week’s quiz. Let’s see how you do!
[WpProQuiz 10]
Did you learn some new stuff about ostriches along the way? We have one more question. Enter your answers or pictures below or post them to Instagram using #bobbledyostrich. If you haven’t responded yet to this week’s theme question, here it is:
If you had to catch an ostrich, how would you do it?
Hello Everyone! Yes, it’s Tuesday again! Now that we’re doing these weekly prompts, I feel like the days are just flying by! Wasn’t it just yesterday I was trying to draw a hot air balloon?
Well, no longer. This week’s challenge was the ostrich. I found out so many fun things about ostriches for the Theme of the Week announcement page, I wasn’t sure which one to pick. I first thought I’d draw one running, super fast. Then maybe I thought I could draw him running in tennis shoes, because that would make him seem like he’s running even FASTER. But then I thought, what the heck! You can see ostriches running fast in real life – why don’t I draw something that you’d NEVER be able to see?
And so, here you go – the first flying ostrich:
I regret, now, that I didn’t think to draw the ostrich giving us a two-toed peace sign as he flies by. But that’s okay. He looks like he’s very focused on his flying (as all pilots should be!).
Alright – so now it’s your turn: post your drawing of an ostrich in the comments below, or use #bobbledyostrich on instagram to share it with us! Also, I’d love to hear your stories about this ostrich – where is he going? How did he learn to fly an airplane? Is he a good pilot or a bad pilot? Remember that any entries we get could be named this week’s winner – of your own coloring page trophy and a fine art print of my ostrich drawing! Go to it!
Also, if you’d like to bid on my original ostrich drawing, you can do so HERE on eBay!
If you haven’t yet read Robbi’s kickoff post about Ostriches, go do it now, if only to see the awesome photographs of ostriches’ weird toes.
If you’ve already learned all about our large, fast, bird friends and are ready for a story about ostriches, read on.
The Ostrich that Wanted to Fly
by Matthew Swanson
Edith was an ostrich. She had a long neck, a large fluffy body, and two scaly toes on each foot. She was smart and funny and had a nice smile, which made all the other ostriches like her quite a lot, but still she wasn’t happy.
Edith could lay enormous eggs. She could make creepy sounds when agitated. And she could run 60 miles an hour.
But all Edith wanted to do was fly.
She watched as the sparrows flew by. She watched as the hummingbirds floated in the air and fed from flowers. And she watched as the clouds drifted lazily across the sky. Everyone could fly, it seemed. Everyone but she.
And so Edith decided to do something about it.
First, she went to the carnival and bought a bunch of balloons from a clown named Dustin. But the balloons didn’t lift her off the ground. Not even a little. And so she let the balloons go, and when she did, they floated off to Istanbul.
Next, Edith went to the airport and tried to borrow an airplane. But there was a big sign on the wall that said, “No loaning airplanes to ostriches. No exceptions.” The man who ran the airport apologized politely but said he didn’t feel comfortable breaking the rules.
Finally, Edith found the biggest rubber band she could find and tied it between two trees to make an enormous slingshot. She pulled the rubber band way, way, way, way, way, way back and shot herself high into the air.
Suddenly, she was flying. She looked down and saw the ground below. It seemed very far away. She flapped her tiny wings. She was flying. She was flying! She looked up and saw the clouds above her, just a little bit closer than they had ever before.
But then something horrible happened. Edith started to come back down. And as she did, she started to worry. She hadn’t thought through this part of the plan, and wondered what would happen.
What happened is that Edith landed on an enormous trampoline in the middle of a carnival, which caused her to bounce high into the air and fly once again, not quite as high this time, but still pretty high. It was still very exciting.
The next time she came down, she landed on another trampoline in the middle of another carnival in the next town.
“That was really lucky,” said Edith, who was flying for a third time. A bit lower this time, but still high enough to feel like she was living her dream.
This continued, over and over again, as Edith flew from trampoline to trampoline, from carnival to carnival, from town to town.
Eventually, after landing on at least eleven trampolines, she came to rest on a soft mount of grass in a field full of ostriches. They cheered and took photographs and handed out cotton candy. Everyone wanted to give Edith a high five, but since ostriches don’t have hands, they settled for enthusiastic comments like, “Wow!” and “Way to go!” and “I had no idea that ostriches can fly.”
Edith was finally happy. It felt really good.
She never flew again, because she didn’t need to.
All right, guys, that’s my story about ostriches, but what do you have up your sleeve? Remember that your story can be about anything you want. Anything at all. Ostriches are just a suggestion. Just a place to start. Once your imagination takes over, who knows where you’ll end up?
Post your stories in the comments below. I can’t wait to read them!
Hello everyone! We’re all done with hot air balloons (wasn’t it fun?!) and now we’re on to a new theme of the week. Get ready…
This week’s Theme of the Week is OSTRICHES!!! #bobbledyostrich
Ostriches are weird weird creatures. I mean, just LOOK at them!
Long skinny necks, big bulgy eyeballs, fluffy fluffy feathers and knobbly knees.
AND… TWO TOES!!!
Yes! Ostriches only have two toes. Well, two toes per foot, anyway. A two-toed creature is called a “didactyl” (pronounced DIE-dack-tul) – and ostriches are the ONLY birds that are didactyls. But only one toeNAIL per foot! That creepy little toe doesn’t even get a toenail! Scientists think that ostriches only have two toes because it makes it easier for them to run fast.
And ostriches have to run fast because they can’t fly. If someone comes chasing them to pluck out their lush feathers (ostriches were almost hunted to extinction two hundred years ago because ostrich feathers were used as decorations in fancy clothes and hats), they just have to run as fast as they can to get away. And they run pretty fast – up to 45 miles per hour – which makes them the fastest bird in the world! (Actually, that’s a misleading “fact” because there are lots of other birds which can fly much faster – ostriches are the fastest at RUNNING).
Here’s a video of a man trying to run faster than an ostrich. Not just any man, either. Dennis Northcutt, former wide-receiver for the Browns.
It turns out, 45 miles per hour is about twice as fast as the fastest human can run, so unless that ostrich happened to break its leg during the race, he was pretty much guaranteed to win.
Another reason ostriches have to run fast is because they aren’t especially smart. Believe it or not, their brains are smaller than their eyeballs!
In their defense, though, their eyes ARE as big as billiard balls.
Ostriches also make totally weird sounds. When they’re in danger, the male will warn the flock by making this crazy whooping sound:
And, you might have noticed from the videos that ostriches are pretty big – male ostriches can grow to be up to NINE FEET TALL. Between the giant eyeballs, the crazy tall-ness, the weird two-toes, the toenail-less nubbin of a toe and the crazy sounds they make, they probably don’t have to run away from anything after all. I’m pretty sure if I ran into a 9 foot tall ostrich somewhere going BOOOOBOOOOOOBOOOOOOO, I’D probably be the one running.
One last cool thing about this oversized crazy bird is that it also lays the largest eggs of any bird in the world. I mean, LOOK!
One ostrich egg is equal to about 24 chicken eggs! I bet that made quite an omelette! But still not quite worth chasing a 9-foot tall ostrich for – I think it would be much easier to chase down 24 chickens. Though, now that I think of it, it’s debatable. Maybe the next episode of Sports Science should have Dennis Northcutt trying to catch 24 chickens. We’ll see how he does on THAT one.
Okay, one last thing: if you don’t find ostriches totally weird after learning all this, then you’ll definitely find the ostrich dance totally weird. YES. All you need is a sweatshirt and some jammin’ trax, and you can do your own ostrich dance! Watch and learn:
Alrighty then – so that’s what I’ve learned about ostriches this week. If you find anything else interesting to share, please post it in the comments below!
And here’s a question for you: if you had to catch an ostrich, how would you do it? I’m sure you have some clever ideas. Enter them in the comments for a chance to be the expert of ostrich week!
