Whew! I have been all over the world in the last few days and it was really fun. But I’ve finished looking for the most incredible structures made by man. Now I’m about to drink my herbal berry tea and eat my very chocolate chip cookie while telling you all about what I found on the internet.

I was putting together photos and information for the class I do with second graders after school at our local Boys and Girls Club. The class is called “Our Amazing World,” and I cover all kinds of things. My mission is to open up the world to these kids in our small city of Santa Fe, New Mexico, to all the world out there that most of them have never seen.

Some of these kids have never even been fifty miles away to Albuquerque. One has been to New York City. One grew up in Alaska. One went to Disneyland in California. That’s about it. And in case you are not familiar with the architecture of Santa Fe, we do not have a single skyscraper and most all of our buildings, including homes, are in some shade of brown. In this case, the lack of bright colors makes the city beautiful.

I’m not new to traveling around on the internet because I’ve been teaching kids reading after school at the Club for sixteen years, but this is the first year I have done this geography/travel/social studies class. In looking for the material I need, I have spent hours of enlightenment and fun checking out websites and blogs.

I’ll be covering all the usual things–The Pyramids of Giza, The Eiffel Tower, The Great Wall of China, Mount Rushmore, etc. I don’t do the many ruins of antiquity because it takes too much explanation for eight and nine year old kids in the hour I have. But, I found some other things that they will really enjoy, such as the Ice Hotel near the Arctic Circle, and Burj Khalifa in Dubai as well as the Aquaventure Park and Wonderland Theme Park in Dubai.

The Marina Bay Sands Hotel in Singapore will excite the kids because of the park and swimming pool (the length of three Olympic pools) on the top of the building and with no roof.

Of course, there is the Space Station and, at the last minute, I found the Basket Building in Newark, Ohio, advertised as the world’s largest basket. It is really unique and quite beautiful. 

I have no idea how anyone with the internet available could possibly be bored. Since you are reading this blog, you are probably just like I am and web surfing all over the place. If you just stumbled on to this blog, I hope you will at least look up the amazing buildings in Dubai, The Ice Hotel, and The Basket Building.

SAD NEWS: A day after writing this blog, I had to cancel the program. The problem was that the parents would have to take the one day, that I do this program, to help their kids at home with the homework they have just begun to receive at school. The kids otherwise get their homework help from the staff at the Club. (I am a volunteer.) The parents say they don’t have time to help their kids even one day a week. That was sad news to me. Parent participation in school work is so very important and I think my program was, too.

COMING NEXT: I promised you something about the Ice Follies next but I wanted to tell you about what I just told you right away. So, the Ice Follies will come next. Stay tuned!