Since I like to talk about things that are interesting and that I know a lot about I have chosen Neopets as this weeks blog post topic. Neopets is a virtual pet website with many different things to entertain you, like games, worlds to explore, message boards, taking care of your pets, and even something sort of like youtube called neovision!

Games - There are a lot of games to play on neopets, in fact they just recently released their thousandth game! Most of the games are easy to play and very fun to play also. But they do vary from math type games to action games! And a plus with these games you get neopoints (virtual money on neopets) for playing!

Worlds To Explore - There are currently eighteen worlds to explore on neopets full of fun things to do, like go on trips, coloring sheets, themed games, and even a concert hall in a prehistoric looking place called Tyrannia! There is also an underwater world called Maraqua. A piratey world called Krawk Island. A greek world called Altador. An Asian world called Shenkuu, and even two medieval worlds called Meridell and Brightvale!

The Pets - There are fifty-four pets that you can choose from on neopets, and you can even choose what color they are they are by saving up your neopoints and buying a paintbrush. You can also play with your pets, feed them, and even groom them. Best of all…you can have four!

In addition to those things there are also neoboards where you can talk to people, neovision which is like youtube, except all the videos are neopets related and all are made by users. Or my personal favorite, you can practice your HTML/CSS on petpages and userlookups.

This week I want to talk about something that I know a lot about, and that is animal crackers. But not the kind of animals crackers that are tasty and made of short bread that you eat…it’s a class of pre schoolers! 

Animal crackers is a class that I help out with at the zoo near where I live, it is made up of about twelve preschoolers and their parents, and of course the teacher and I. It meets every month for about an hour long class. The classes always have the same basic schedule. The teacher will read a book, the the helper (my job) will bring out an animal for all of the kids to touch and see. After the animal showing the kids will work on a craft and eat…animal crackers! The craft, book, and animal will all be connected somehow also.

I don’t have much of a job during the class time, but before the class I set out the craft supplies, carpet squares and prepare the snacks. Then afterwards I clean up all the mess that is left behind.

I really enjoy helping out with this class even though I have to get up early to help with it because sometimes I get to play with animals that I otherwise wouldn’t get to work with at the zoo. Some of those animals that i’ve worked with are chameleons and dogs!

Find out more about Animal Crackers.

This week I have decided to write my post about a sport that I enjoy doing, This sport is called Shotokan Karate. It is one of the 5 traditional karate types and it was formed in 1936.

This type of karate focuses on strength, and stability and has 3 main characteristics, and I will talk about those.

The first thing that you might do in Shotokan Karate is kihon, This is basic training involving kicks, punches and different types of blocks if you go to a class, this is the type of stuff you will be doing. It helps strengthen you up for when you begin doing the kata.

The kata is the next thing you would be working on if you were in a shotokan karate class. Katas consist of different moves in a certain pattern, like a punch, a block and then a kick to another side of you, this helps practice if you were in a fight with multiple people.  There are many different types of katas that you will have to practice and test on in order to rank up. A kata can be very short with just a few different moves, or it can be very long and ornate as you get to a higher rank. 

The very last thing you will probably do in a class is sparring, this is human interaction using the training you have, and practicing it on another person. normally you are too far apart to do real damage. One person will be the blocker, and the other person would be kicking or punching, this is also good practice if you ever actually get into a fight.