by Daniel Acer

Daniel Acer’s book, aimed a slightly older reading audience than Boredom Busters, offers a number of ways in which kids can amaze and astonish themselves and their friends. How? Taking phony UFO photos, turning themselves into headless zombies (using an amazing illusion), making fake Bigfoot footprints, filming a lake monster video, and various other illusionary and magic tricks are presented with illustrated, step-by-step directions. For each hoax, a list of required materials – if any – is provided.

Sound like fun? The whole family can enjoy and participate in the activities of this book, which is based on the television series Mystery Hunters, produced by YTV and Discovery Networks International.

** Recommended for ages 9 to 12 years.
Find this book in the library catalogue.

by Helaine Becker

The sub-title of this book, Brain Bogglers, Awesome Activities, Cool Comics, Tasty Treats, and More hints at the fun to be found in this gem. Easy-to-follow recipes and instructions for games, crafts and recipes, and plenty of quizzes, jokes and brain bogglers, are provided – plus lots of wacky and astounding facts. Kids can make monster footprints, fortune cookies, bread bag tag racers or gross-out gummy worms. They can play “Fortune Bingo”, decipher secret messages, discover some cool calculator tricks, play “Star Warts”, and even learn some simple magic tricks.

As the author states, this is the book to consult if you are sick of watching the grass grow, if you have lost count of the ceiling tiles in your house, or if your thumbs are tired of twiddling! “Whether you use it on your own or with friends, Boredom Blasters will save the day. It’s a superhero, it’s a book … it’s your new best friend!”

“How did so much fun get into one book?” is what children and parents will wonder after perusing this publication!

** Recommended for ages 7 to 11 years.
Find this book in the library catalogue.

by Jeff Beneke

Summer is coming (eventually), and to make the most of the lazy hazy days of summer for your children, here's a book full of fun structures sure to keep their imaginations engaged outside. From the Creative Homeowner publisher, author Jeff Beneker has compiled a whole host of play areas. Each plan comes with a complete set of illustrative schematics, a list of tools, lumber and hardware that will be needed, and of course like any good construction book, this one starts with chapters on planning (choosing a site), specialty tools (i.e. post-holers), materials (choosing materials to create a safe play space), techniques, finishing and maintenance for each structure. Then we get to the fun stuff, the projects themselves. For the smaller backyards there are plans for simple sandboxes, swings and teeter-totters; for larger areas there are plans for monkey-bar sets, playhouses, and some pretty cool tree houses - one even looks like a boat, 'floating' through the trees. Advanced projects include a miniature Victorian playhouse - complete with gingerbread, no less, the aforementioned boat tree-house, as well as a tree-house fort, for those clubs and backyard adventures that tend to make up the more thrilling aspects of kid-hood. Each project is accompanied by photos of the finished product, and the index is accompanied by a handy Canadian-friendly Metric conversion table. Be prepared for the X-Box to accumulate a layer of dust if a set of these monkey-bars appears in your backyard! Click here to find Kids' Play Structures and Tree-Houses in the SPL on-line catalogue.