Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2022, issue 96 i Eco Kids Planet Magazine

Allow me to introduce myself – I am Loki and, as you can see, I’m a ladybird. Because I’m a ladybird, you wouldn’t want to eat me! I taste bitter and disgusting. Or I would do if I were a ladybird. But I’m not! Sure fooled you, though! Wait, if I’m not a ladybird, what am I? Count my legs. Go on, count them! That’s right, I have eight. And how many legs do insects (such as ladybirds) have? Yup, six. Which makes me a spider! A tricksy spider, too! Only males like me have these colourful ladybird-like markings. Females are completely black and about twice our size. Which brings me to another reason we males are so delightfully red and spotty: to attract the lovely lady-ladybird spiders! We might…

TRICKSTER CROSSWORD Down: 1. A small African mammal tricked by the drongo bird. 2. The poisonous fish that a mimic octopus often pretends to be. 3. A clever bird that’s mastered how to look bigger than it really is. 5. Lunar rainbows. 7. A small wild cat that imitates the calls of tamarins. 10. This bird trickster lays its eggs in other birds’ nests. Across: 4. This smooth-moving predator appears to be motionless to its victims. 6. Plants that pretend to be pebbles. 8. A small animal tricked by the caterpillar of the large blue butterfly. 9. The orchid with a monkey’s face. 11. This little marsupial is a master at playing dead. SPOT 10 DIFFERENCES OPTICAL ILLUSIONS Which orange circle is the largest? Which of these circles is moving?…

Congratulations to our winners! “This is Curl. He was one of the caterpillars that came through the post. He became a painted lady butterfly. He had a poorly wing and couldn’t fly like his brothers and sisters but we gave him a nice life on oranges and flowers in our living room.” “I was really pleased to get the damselfly in focus because he was so tiny and I kept thinking he would move. However, he stayed still for a bit and was an excellent model.” “We took these photos in our local woods and found lots of bright purple heather!” “I grew this sunflower this summer and I took this colourful photo of it with a bee.” To see more of your summer artwork, go to ecokidsplanet.co.uk/??????????????…

You will need Fabric Stuffing (fabric scraps, cotton wool or wadding) A pipe cleaner String or yarn A needle and strong thread 1. Place your fabric face down on the table. Lay a dinner plate on top and draw around it. Cut the circle out. 2. Place a smaller plate on the circle and draw around it. This will be your guideline for sewing. 3. Using a needle and strong thread, make large stitches all around the circle, following the line. 4. Pull the thread to gather the fabric. Leave the top slightly open to make a pouch. Leave the thread long. 5. Fill the pouch with stuffing. Pull the thread tight to close the hole then tie it off. 6. Wrap yarn around the body of your pumpkin to make several…

Charlie: I’m in Africa, looking for a fork-tailed drongo. I hear that these glossy black songbirds have a very naughty way of getting food. Ah, there’s one. Hello! Mr Drongo? I’m Charlie. Drongo: Keep your voice down! You might scare that meerkat away. Charlie: Oh, yes, there’s a meerkat on the grassland over there. Why, is he a friend of yours? Drongo: We drongos are friends of all meerkats – and other animals, too. They rely on us, you know. Charlie: Why, what do you do? Drongo: We’re their lookouts. Charlie: What do you mean? Drongo: Well, if I see an eagle or a hawk coming – or a jackal, or any other predator – I warn them. Charlie: How do you do that? Drongo: I let out a loud…

And don’t forget about me – Rusty! WHOPPER WORM! Nine-year-old Barnaby Domigan from New Zealand found a GIANT worm in his backyard. He saw it bobbing in the water of a nearby riverbed, grabbed a stick, and fished it out. It was about one metre long, and he named it Dead Fred. Barnaby said, “I thought it was massive and amazing, and a little bit disgusting.” He also described it as feeling “cold and squishy”. You may think earthworms are all the same, but there are over 7,000 species around the world. New Zealand has over 200 species, including some whoppers. Still, it’s rare to find such a huge one in a garden. They usually live in less disturbed places, like forests. Barnaby said, “I tried to convince my dad…

Folklore is stories and beliefs passed on over many years, usually by word of mouth. In many stories, certain animals break the rules and prank bigger animals – and even humans. Fooled by foxes People use the phrase “sly as a fox” to mean crafty and cunning. In Europe, there are many tales of Reynard the fox who fools his fellow animals. But the idea of foxes as tricksters goes back as far as ancient Greece. In one story from that time, a hungry fox sees a crow up a tree with cheese in its beak. He tells the crow how beautiful she is – and asks if she can sing beautifully, too. The flattered crow opens her beak to “CAW!”, the cheese drops out, and the fox steals it!…

It’s time for our annual Autumn Nature Art competition. Go outside and gather autumn leaves, shiny acorns, sticks, stones, berries, gluey tree sap, moss, lichen or anything else that captures your eye. Use these natural objects to create an animal, a plant or a landscape. Get creative – snap, bend, fold and layer your pieces to see what you can make! Featured on this page are beautiful creations by Hannah Buler-Ryner. Four lucky winners will win these fun optical illusion cards from Usborne! 4 TO WIN! 50 Optical Illusions Enjoy the world’s most fascinating and brain-bending visual tricks with this set of 50 cards. Each card has a mindboggling illusion on one side and an explanation of how it works on the other. Includes a revealer card to help check…