Just for Kids

Just for Kids
(Updated 12/26/2007)

Activities for kids--puzzles, pages from a mineral magazine,
and URLs for interesting Web sites

Difficult Puzzles: New puzzles are available, and they are made with different software than the earlier puzzles. They can be played on the Web site, and you can save the partially completed puzzle on your hard drive by clicking on the button (one of those on the upper left side at the top) that is for saving the puzzle. The next time, click on the puzzle button on this page, then select the button that restores the puzzle (next to the button that saved it). Just be sure you remember the name you gave it and where you stored it on your computer.

These puzzles were made from photos taken at the 2007 show. The new software does not have the capability of putting a different puzzle on the back side as was done with the earlier (easy and medium) puzzles.

Easy and Medium Puzzles: Puzzles 1 and 2 are at the easy level, and puzzles 3, 4, and 5 are at the medium level. Scroll down to see the buttons for the puzzles, and be sure to read the instructions. More difficult puzzles of photos taken at the show are available on the Annual Show page--click on the green Annual Show button on the home page, then click on the button under the dinosaur head picture in the upper left corner.

Mini Miners Monthly magazine: This magazine is expressly created just for KIDS. It discusses many different minerals and contains drawings of many minerals. Just added--September and October pages. Click on the button to go to the magazine pages.

URLs: At the bottom of this page are URLs that take you to interesting Web sites.

The puzzles are interactive, and the pieces can be moved with the computer mouse. There is a front and a back to the puzzle pieces as there are different pictures on the front and the back. The control panel is in the upper left corner of the puzzle page. It consists of the three icons shown below.

3-key panel

Click on the question mark to bring up Help. Click on the eye to display a ghost image of the picture on the front of the puzzle. Click on the double-arrow key to flip a piece over. Your mouse arrow will show an outline flipping over when it is in piece-flipping mode, and each piece you click on will turn over. Click on the double-arrow again to shut it off.

When you have flipped most of the pieces to be the picture on the back, clicking on the eye will display a ghost picture of the back photo.

When you wish to return to this page after completing a puzzle, click on the Back icon of your browser.

Five puzzles are now available. Puzzles 1 and 2 have under 50 pieces. Puzzles 3, 4, and 5 have 100 pieces.

Puzzle 1 has conch shells on the front and an aerial view of the Grand Canyon on the back.
Puzzle 2 has an opal on the front and a spray of minerals on the back. The shells and minerals are on display at the Houston Museum of Natural Science.
Puzzle 3 has a photo that can be imagined to be a dinosaur head with a bloodshot eye. The other side of Puzzle 3 is of dinosaur bone.
Puzzle 4 is of two eggs--crazylace agate on one side and moss agate on the other.
Puzzle 5 has an agate with a big eye on one side, and an agate geode with sagenite needles in it on the other.
All the photos in puzzles 3, 4, and 5 are by Matt Dillon. Click here to see more of Matt Dillon's agate photos.

Puzzles can be made with as many as 100 pieces or as few as four, and the pieces can be made to rotate. None of the current puzzles have rotatable pieces. Let the webmaster know of the difficulty level you would like to see and the pictures you would like as puzzles. If you have earth science-related photos that you would like to see made into a puzzle, e-mail them to the webmaster. If there is enough interest, puzzle categories of Easy, Medium, and Difficult can be generated. Please e-mail the webmaster with your suggestions and photos at webmaster@hgms.org.

Minerals & Fossils--Web Sites for Kids!

The San Diego Natural History Museum presents a double-header for kids.... First up is "Mineral Matters" at http://www.sdnhm.org/kids/minerals/index.html, where you will find How to Identify Minerals, Build a Collection, Mineral FAQs, Grow your Own Crystals, and Mine Games. There are True-False and 10-question quizzes, and a word search.

Second up is "Dinosaur Dig" at http://sdnhm.org/kids/dinosaur/index.html, which has Finding Fossils, Dinosaur Bytes, Mystery of the Ankylosaur, Jurassic Jumbler, and Explore Fossil Mysteries. Educational as well as fun, it has games, a slide show, and a word search.

Interactive Fossilization Web Site

Walking with Beasts - Games: http://www.abc.net.au/beasts/fossilfun/

Race against the clock to build a skeleton that fleshes out and walks off the game board. Can you get past the super challenge level? Bury dead animals in different locations and see what happens to their bodies. Can they ever become a fossil? Study fossil footprints to learn about an animal's behavior. Can you beat the predators in a footrace?