Kids News - Articles for Grades 4-5

While holiday classics like Elf, Home Alone, and The Polar Express, can be viewed any time of the year, "The Yule Log" - a show that features a warm crackling fire - can only be seen during Christmas. It is therefore no wonder that fans look forward to it with such anticipation, year after year!...

Every New Year, millions of people make a resolution only to see it fall by the wayside within a few months, weeks, or even days. However, 26-year-old Luke Cameron is not amongst those. After losing a close family friend known for her generosity to cancer in 2013, the young man vowed to do at least one good deed a day, for 365 days - and he has not missed yet....

For the last two years, Canada's WestJet Airlines has been spreading holiday cheer by fulfilling the holiday wishes of some lucky passengers. This year, they upped the ante by delivering "Christmas miracles" to the impoverished residents of the Puerto Plata community of Nuevo Renacer in the Dominican Republic....

This holiday season, the people of Japan are dealing with an unusual food crisis - a butter shortage! Though that would not be a problem any other time of the year, it is during Christmas, because of an age-old Japanese tradition of celebrating the day with a delectable strawberry and cream sponge cake that is baked with . . . lots of butter!...

If the sun appears to set a little earlier (or later) this Sunday, it is not your imagination. That's because depending on where you live, December 21st will be the shortest or longest day of 2014. Also known as the winter (or summer) solstice, it marks the official start of winter for the residents of the Northern Hemisphere and summer for those that live in the Southern Hemisphere....

The "Field with irises near Arles" is one of Dutch artist Van Gogh's most famous paintings. Believed to have been the first of the 130 paintings the artist created while at the Saint Paul-de-Mausole asylum in Saint-Remy, France, it is amongst his most recognized and coveted masterpieces. Not surprisingly, the painting has been extremely well-preserved and looks as good as when the artist first painted it, except for one thing - the once purple irises have started to turn blue....

Most adults are too consumed with their responsibilities at work and home to even think about taking a few minutes to relive simple childhood pleasures like jumping on beds. But place one in front of them and voila, they will instantly be able to recall their inner child....

With their large flattened heads, small beady eyes and slimy skins, Japanese giant salamanders are not destined to take home the prize for "best-looking". However, according to a team of scientists they may just be eligible for the most "awesome dad" award, at least amongst amphibian males who are not known for their nurturing personalities....

The Golden Gate, a three-mile long by one-mile wide strait that connects San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean, is known for many things - its namesake bridge, beautiful views and the most importantly (at least for seamen), a notoriously heavy fog layer that often encompasses the area. Though foghorns have now been installed to guide ships to the ports of San Francisco, Oakland and Richmond, such was not the case a century ago. It is therefore not surprising to hear that hundreds of ships have veered off course and sunk, whilst trying to cross the area. Amongst the most poignant loss was that of the SS City of Rio de Janeiro, a tragedy that is often referred to as "The Golden Gate Titanic"....