Indholdsfortegnelse for March/April 2025 i Click Science and Discovery Magazine for Preschoolers and Young Children

Tumble and tug, wrestle and run. Do animals play because it’s fun? They do. It’s true. But scientists say, Animals learn a lot when they play. For animal babies, new skills are key. What do they learn? Turn the page to see. Hunting Lion cubs chase and pounce and gently nip one another. Their play is good practice for the real hunting they’ll need to do when they grow up. Exploring Many animals enjoy exploring. Finding new things to play with keeps an animal’s brain sharp and may help it find new ways to solve problems too. Working Together Wolves live together in groups called packs. Playing together teaches wolf pups how to get along and work together as a team. Escaping A young deer twists and turns and leaps…

Feel your muscles work. Straighten one arm with your palm up, then hold your upper arm with your other hand. What’s working every time you take a step? Or throw a ball? Or crack a smile? Muscles! Your 600 muscles move your legs, arms, mouth, and every other part of your body. Bend your elbow so your hand moves toward your shoulder. Do you feel something bulging under your skin? That’s your muscle, bunching up as it pulls your hand toward you. Test your balance. Hop on one foot or spin around. When you move, your eyes and muscles send messages to your brain that help you tilt or shift your body slightly to stay balanced. Is it harder to balance with your eyes closed? Stand on one leg. Bend…

Move like an Olympic champion! Cut out the cards along the dashed lines. If you like, you can cover the cards with clear laminating or contact paper to make them last longer. Poke a hole in the top of each card. You can play two different ways. (over) Shuffle the cards and put them medal-side up in a pile. Turn over the top card. If you can do what the card says, you earn that medal. Or tie string through the hole in each card, and hang the cards in different places in your yard or park to set up your own Olympic game. Go from card to card, and do each move to earn the medal. How many gold medals can you win?…

Different sports need different equipment. Do you play a sport? What equipment do you use? Adrienne plays baseball. John plays hockey. Pat plays football. Anna fences. Amy skis. Turn the page to see the gym. Can you find each kid’s gear? What other equipment do you see? Can you find? Baseball Football Skiing Hockey Fencing…

Many people are good athletes, but how do we compare to animals? Who’s the fastest runner? A cheetah. It can run up to 70 miles per hour—faster than a car speeding on a highway. The fastest human runners aren’t even half that fast, reaching only about 25 miles per hour, slower than a car cruising down a city side street. Who can jump the farthest? People can jump pretty far. The record is almost 30 feet. That’s farther than the length of five grown-ups. Only a few animals can beat that. Kangaroos can cover 40 feet in one leap, but the best jumpers for their size are fleas. They can jump more than 150 times their own length.…

March/April 2025 Volume 28 Number 3 cricketmedia.com $6.95…

“T-ball is harder than it looks,” says Yo. “Try again,” says Dad. “Feet apart. Elbows up and . . . SWING!” “You were close,” says Dad. “Try once more, then we’ll give Jennifer a turn.” “WOW! I did it!” exclaims Yo. “I’m going to run around all the bases.” “Let’s say you’re out if Jennifer gets the ball and beats you to a base,” calls Dad. “Made it to first,” shouts Yo. “I’m going for second.” “Lips,” says Jennifer, “give me the ball.” “Past third and heading for home,” calls Yo. “Way to go, Yo!” says Jennifer. “I bet I can hit a home run too, especially if Lips is on your team.”…

Everyone in Trina’s family had a favorite sport. Everyone except Trina. “This has to change,” Trina confided to her dog, Al. She picked up Al’s fetch toy and hurled it across the front yard. “I need a sport of my own!” Al bounded off and brought his toy back to Trina with a big doggy grin. Throw it again! his eyes begged. And Trina did—over and over and over, until Al finally decided to chew the toy instead of bring it back. “Hey, Trina!” her big sister Kris called. “Are you coming to my baseball game tonight? I’m pitching!” “Sure!” said Trina. Kris had the fastest fastball in the league. I wish I had such a strong arm, Trina thought. Trina wandered into the backyard. Maybe some blood to her…