We have LEGOS strewn all over our house on a very regular basis. My 5-year-old, Mia, claims she’s going to be a builder when she grows up. Turns out, she can be, and it could be a result of building and designing LEGO sets. In fact, anyone so inspired can create the next new lego set for sale.

Meet Thomas Poulson, a tree surgeon and gardener in Bristol, UK, whose passion for nature and love of LEGOS have collided to inspire the very first LEGO Bird Set. Poulson credits a chance encounter with a certain Robin Red Breast, who happened to land on his shovel while he was working one day, as the inspiration that began his journey.

A recently rekindled passion for LEGOS (he refers to them as the best puzzle in the world) sent him scurrying home that fated evening to work on an idea, and “Bobby the Robin” was born. The original Poulson made that first night was given to his mother as a thank-you for providing him with his first set of LEGOS. He found the creation of Bobby so enjoyable that he decided to make his favorite birds of Europe. When he finished the first seven and posted them online, he was quickly encouraged to submit his ideas directly to LEGO, where enthusiasts get a chance to see their ideas in production if they get 10,000 supporters. Poulson says the biggest challenge of designing is that he never has enough LEGOS, a sentiment with which LEGO builders like my Mia can sympathize.

Do you know Frederick? He has big ears, sleepy eyes, and a rather prominent tail.

Oh—maybe I forgot to mention—Frederick is a mouse. He’s the unlikely hero of a lovely little book by Leo Lionni called … you guessed it:

It’s a children’s book, but I really don’t like making such a rigid distinction because, hey, we’re all kids at heart, right? And this tiny gem speaks volumes to literature lovers, no matter what age.

Frederick, you see, is considered among his mischief (i.e. mouse tribe) to be a layabout loafer. In the eyes of his hardworking companions, he appears to shirk his pre-winter duties—stockpiling grain and the like—in favor of daydreaming.

“Frederick, why don’t you work?” they ask. “Are you dreaming?”

But in fact, Frederick is working, in his own way. Instead of corn and nuts, he’s gathering words.

Words? How can words possibly be as important to winter survival as food?

That’s for Frederick, in all his marvelously mousy wisdom, to tell …

Winter may be upon us, but that doesn’t mean we can’t start collecting sunbeams and colors and words right now. This season of togetherness is the perfect time to share the intangible treasures of poetry, songs, and stories. But if you don’t have a friendly Frederick around to gather goodies, the next best thing is a good story prompt. A prompt is a preliminary nugget of an idea that sparks the telling of a tale, and thanks to the Internet, prompts are easy to come by. Take a look at the sites below, collect some tidbits that tantalize the imagination, and jot them on separate scraps of paper. Then gather your loved ones (big and small) for an old-fashioned storytelling session that will brighten even the darkest of winter’s nights.

• Story Starters and Creative Writing Ideas for Fiction
• 119 Journal Prompts for Your Journal Jar
• Elementary Writing and Journal Prompts and Story Starters for Kids

During this busy, festive time of year, we think more about home cooking, but may be more likely than usual to grab a restaurant meal on the go. Thankfully, that doesn’t mean we need to sacrifice all of our healthy ideals for convenience.

How?

A new app called HealthyOut has the answer—lots of answers, in fact. Currently covering over 20,000 restaurants in over 500 cities throughout the country, this handy app allows you to search by calories as well as nutrition tags like …

low carb,

heart healthy,

salad,

or—the amusingly popular option—NOT salad!

You can further customize your search based on cuisine, delivery or dining in, and ingredients. Plus, HealthyOut integrates Yelp ratings and maps to restaurant locations. The app is free to install for both iOS and Android platforms, and once it’s on your device, you’ll sign up for an account so that you can specify your desired diet.

According to the app’s creators, “Every dish listed on the app comes in at about half the calories and half the fat of average restaurant meals.”

Find out more and download the app at HealthyOut.com.

 

You may have already heard that 2015 will be the Chinese Year of the Sheep …

But did you know that it’s also been declared by the UN as the International Year of Soils?

There would be no sheep without soil. In fact, there would be no life as we know it without the unsung substrate we so often dismiss as “just” dirt.

Okay, wait—why is soil THAT big of deal? Inquiring minds want to know …

Allow me to tickle your sense of wonder in the next two minutes by sharing this:

The clip above is an invitation to watch the moving, majestic, full-length documentary called Symphony of the Soil. Produced, written, and directed by Deborah Koons Garcia of Lily Films, known for the equally stunning The Future of Food, this film illuminates the veritable symphony of the Earth’s soil for us to experience.

Boring?

Not for a moment.

Symphony of the Soil is a riveting drama complete with joy and tragedy, passion and triumph, wisdom and hope. It’s a story we all share.

“Drawing from ancient knowledge and cutting edge science, Symphony of the Soil is an artistic exploration of the miraculous substance, soil. By understanding the elaborate relationships and mutuality between soil, water, the atmosphere, plants, and animals, we come to appreciate the complex and dynamic nature of this precious resource,” explains the film’s website. “Filmed on four continents, featuring esteemed scientists and working farmers and ranchers, Symphony of the Soil is an intriguing presentation that highlights possibilities of healthy soil creating healthy plants creating healthy humans living on a healthy planet.”

To celebrate the International Year of Soils, the Symphony of the Soil website will be streaming the full feature film for FREE through December 12, 2014. Watch Symphony of the Soil here.

Now, this is where the spirit of giving kicks in …

This is a movie everyone should see. Perhaps most importantly, school kids with fertile minds need to know what’s going on beneath their feet, behind their food. That’s why classrooms need to have access to Symphony of the Soils in the coming year. But educational funds are in perpetual drought throughout many parts of the nation, and not every school can afford the Educational Collection, which is licensed for use in schools, universities, libraries, and educational organizations.

So Lily Films has created an Educational Gift Program that allows us to purchase or contribute to the purchase of the Educational Collection (which consists of Symphony of the Soil and two DVDs of short films called Sonatas of the Soil Volume I and II) for a community that may not have the resources to purchase it.

Visit the Educational Gift Collection site to make a donation that will help sow appreciation for our vital soil in the growing generation.