Posted: 11:29 AM - Dec 24, 2001
(Here is a transcribe of an email I received from the webmaster of the Electric Scotland website about games people can play over the Holidays.)
Hi Folks.. please forgive this extra communication but I know a lot of you
have young kids and grand kids over the Christmas festivities and just
wanted to tell you that we've just posted some new simple games for the
young ones called "Murray's Games" at
http://www.electricscotland.com/kids/murrays_games.htm
These are mostly games that you print out and then play off-line.
Chief's Hoose Cut Out
Print out the page then cut out and build the Chief's Hoose. Essentially
you would colour in the house and characters and then fold and cut out to
create a wee house and then sit the characters in front. Suggest you print
on thin card or stick the paper to a card. There is a wee picture to show
you what it could look like... mind you I had to scan it in so wasn't able
to show the wee characters
Line Drawings by numbers.
Again you just print this out and then draw in the lines by numbers to
create the picture. You can then colour this in.
Maze
Again print this out and then figure out which of the four entrances to go
in from to rescue the rare spotted haggis. Again you can colour this in.
Dress the Chief
This is of course the online game but playing it will give you some ideas on
how to colour the Chief's Hoose Cut Out
So.. hope you enjoy these wee simple games and the wee ones have some fun
and finally... here is a wee article that Jeanette sent me which I thought
you might enjoy
Subject: Gift Wrapping
Nothing says "festive" like yard bags under the tree. This is the time of
year when we think back to the very first Christmas, when the Three Wise
Men -- Gaspar, Balthasar and Herb -- went to see the baby Jesus, and,
according to the Book of Matthew, ``presented unto Him gifts; gold,
frankincense, and myrrh.''
These are simple words, but if we analyze them carefully, we discover an
important, yet often-overlooked, theological fact: There is no mention of
wrapping paper.
If there had been wrapping paper, Matthew would have said so:
``And lo, the gifts WERE inside 600 square cubits of paper.
``And the paper WAS festooned with pictures of Frosty the Snowman.
``And Joseph WAS going to throweth it away, but Mary saideth unto him, she
saideth, `Holdeth it! That is nice paper! Saveth it for next year!'
``And Joseph DID rolleth his eyeballs.
``And the baby Jesus WAS more interested in the paper than, for example, the
frankincense.''
But these words do not appear in the Bible, which means that the Very first
Christmas gifts were NOT wrapped. This is because the people giving those
gifts had two important characteristics:
1. They were wise.
2. They were men.
Men are not big gift wrappers. Men do not understand the point of putting
paper on a gift just so somebody else can tear it off. This is not just my
opinion: This is a scientific fact based on a statistical survey from two
guys I know. One is my son, Rob, who said the only time he ever wraps a gift
is, quote, ``if it's such a poor gift that I don't want to be there when the
person opens it.''
The other is my friend Gene Weingarten, who told me he does wrap gifts, but
as a matter of principle never takes more than 15 seconds per gift.
``No one ever had to wonder which presents daddy wrapped at Christmas,''
Gene said. ``They were the ones that looked like enormous spitballs.''
I also wrap gifts, but because of some defect in my motor skills, I can
never COMPLETELY wrap them. I can take a gift the size of a deck of cards
and put it the exact center of a piece of wrapping paper the size of a
regulation volleyball court, but when I am done folding and taping, you can
still see a sector of the gift peeking out. (Sometimes I camouflage this
sector with a marking pen.)
If I had been an ancient Egyptian in the field of mummies, the lower half of
the Pharaoh's body would be covered only by Scotch tape.
On the other hand, if you give my wife a 12-inch square of wrapping paper,
she can wrap a C-130 cargo plane. My wife, like many women, actually LIKES
wrapping things. If she gives you a gift that requires batteries, she wraps
the batteries separately, which to me is very close to being a symptom of
mental illness. If it were possible, my wife would wrap each individual
volt.
My point is that gift-wrapping is one of those skills -- like having
babies -- that come more naturally to women than to men. That is why today I
am presenting:
GIFT-WRAPPING TIPS FOR MEN
Whenever possible, buy gifts that are already wrapped. If, when the
recipient opens the gift, neither one of you recognizes it, you can claim
that it's myrrh.
The editors of Woman's Day magazine recently ran an item on how to make your
own wrapping paper by printing a design on it with an apple sliced in half
horizontally and dipped in a mixture of food coloring and liquid starch.
They must be smoking crack.
If you're giving a hard-to-wrap gift, skip the wrapping paper! Just put it
inside a bag and stick one of those little adhesive bows on it. This
creates a festive visual effect that is sure to delight the lucky recipient
on Christmas morning:
YOUR WIFE: Why is there a Hefty trash bag under the tree?
YOU: It's a gift! See? It has a bow!
YOUR WIFE (peering into the trash bag): It's a leaf blower.
YOU: Gas-powered! Five horsepower!
YOUR WIFE: I want a divorce.
YOU: I also got you some myrrh.
In conclusion, remember that the important thing is not what you give, or
how you wrap it. The important thing, during this very special time of year
is:
....you save the receipt.
Have a great Christmas everyone....
Alastair
http://www.electricscotland.com
Hi Folks.. please forgive this extra communication but I know a lot of you
have young kids and grand kids over the Christmas festivities and just
wanted to tell you that we've just posted some new simple games for the
young ones called "Murray's Games" at
http://www.electricscotland.com/kids/murrays_games.htm
These are mostly games that you print out and then play off-line.
Chief's Hoose Cut Out
Print out the page then cut out and build the Chief's Hoose. Essentially
you would colour in the house and characters and then fold and cut out to
create a wee house and then sit the characters in front. Suggest you print
on thin card or stick the paper to a card. There is a wee picture to show
you what it could look like... mind you I had to scan it in so wasn't able
to show the wee characters
Line Drawings by numbers.
Again you just print this out and then draw in the lines by numbers to
create the picture. You can then colour this in.
Maze
Again print this out and then figure out which of the four entrances to go
in from to rescue the rare spotted haggis. Again you can colour this in.
Dress the Chief
This is of course the online game but playing it will give you some ideas on
how to colour the Chief's Hoose Cut Out
So.. hope you enjoy these wee simple games and the wee ones have some fun
and finally... here is a wee article that Jeanette sent me which I thought
you might enjoy
Subject: Gift Wrapping
Nothing says "festive" like yard bags under the tree. This is the time of
year when we think back to the very first Christmas, when the Three Wise
Men -- Gaspar, Balthasar and Herb -- went to see the baby Jesus, and,
according to the Book of Matthew, ``presented unto Him gifts; gold,
frankincense, and myrrh.''
These are simple words, but if we analyze them carefully, we discover an
important, yet often-overlooked, theological fact: There is no mention of
wrapping paper.
If there had been wrapping paper, Matthew would have said so:
``And lo, the gifts WERE inside 600 square cubits of paper.
``And the paper WAS festooned with pictures of Frosty the Snowman.
``And Joseph WAS going to throweth it away, but Mary saideth unto him, she
saideth, `Holdeth it! That is nice paper! Saveth it for next year!'
``And Joseph DID rolleth his eyeballs.
``And the baby Jesus WAS more interested in the paper than, for example, the
frankincense.''
But these words do not appear in the Bible, which means that the Very first
Christmas gifts were NOT wrapped. This is because the people giving those
gifts had two important characteristics:
1. They were wise.
2. They were men.
Men are not big gift wrappers. Men do not understand the point of putting
paper on a gift just so somebody else can tear it off. This is not just my
opinion: This is a scientific fact based on a statistical survey from two
guys I know. One is my son, Rob, who said the only time he ever wraps a gift
is, quote, ``if it's such a poor gift that I don't want to be there when the
person opens it.''
The other is my friend Gene Weingarten, who told me he does wrap gifts, but
as a matter of principle never takes more than 15 seconds per gift.
``No one ever had to wonder which presents daddy wrapped at Christmas,''
Gene said. ``They were the ones that looked like enormous spitballs.''
I also wrap gifts, but because of some defect in my motor skills, I can
never COMPLETELY wrap them. I can take a gift the size of a deck of cards
and put it the exact center of a piece of wrapping paper the size of a
regulation volleyball court, but when I am done folding and taping, you can
still see a sector of the gift peeking out. (Sometimes I camouflage this
sector with a marking pen.)
If I had been an ancient Egyptian in the field of mummies, the lower half of
the Pharaoh's body would be covered only by Scotch tape.
On the other hand, if you give my wife a 12-inch square of wrapping paper,
she can wrap a C-130 cargo plane. My wife, like many women, actually LIKES
wrapping things. If she gives you a gift that requires batteries, she wraps
the batteries separately, which to me is very close to being a symptom of
mental illness. If it were possible, my wife would wrap each individual
volt.
My point is that gift-wrapping is one of those skills -- like having
babies -- that come more naturally to women than to men. That is why today I
am presenting:
GIFT-WRAPPING TIPS FOR MEN
Whenever possible, buy gifts that are already wrapped. If, when the
recipient opens the gift, neither one of you recognizes it, you can claim
that it's myrrh.
The editors of Woman's Day magazine recently ran an item on how to make your
own wrapping paper by printing a design on it with an apple sliced in half
horizontally and dipped in a mixture of food coloring and liquid starch.
They must be smoking crack.
If you're giving a hard-to-wrap gift, skip the wrapping paper! Just put it
inside a bag and stick one of those little adhesive bows on it. This
creates a festive visual effect that is sure to delight the lucky recipient
on Christmas morning:
YOUR WIFE: Why is there a Hefty trash bag under the tree?
YOU: It's a gift! See? It has a bow!
YOUR WIFE (peering into the trash bag): It's a leaf blower.
YOU: Gas-powered! Five horsepower!
YOUR WIFE: I want a divorce.
YOU: I also got you some myrrh.
In conclusion, remember that the important thing is not what you give, or
how you wrap it. The important thing, during this very special time of year
is:
....you save the receipt.
Have a great Christmas everyone....
Alastair
http://www.electricscotland.com