Bear Essential News December 2021, Phoenix Edition

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December December 2021 2021 •• Phoenix Phoenix Edition Edition •• www.bearessentialnews.com www.bearessentialnews.com

40 YEARS!

Toys, Toys & More Toys!

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FAMILIES

FEATURE

NEWS

A Tall Tale of Toys!

Monitoring Methane Time for Holiday Fun! Time Together

plus, hall of fame museum Pages 8 & 9

Spotlight on NFL logos News Highlights page 3

NEWS & more news kids can use Scoops pages 5, 11 & 14

and making memories Page 4

anta s hat and

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FUN

Contest W inners for Valley Metro Page 10

2 • Bear Essential News • December 2021

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News Highlights Image: space.com Image credit: Copernicus

Satellites Help Monitor Earth’s Methane Levels

Scientists now have a way to detect methane gas emissions from space, and the results are startling.

Satellite observations reveal that large amounts of emissions of methane, a highly warming greenhouse gas, are being released all over the world.

Methane, which is times more potent than car- Satellite images captured by the European Sentinal 2 and Senential 5P show methane gas leaking from bon dioxide, is leaking from gas pipelines, oil wells, a gas pipeline in Kazakhstan. fossil fuel processing plants and land lls around the globe. Many of these leaks are ATTRIBUTED to We measure methane across the globe every negligence and improper operations. And these emisday, and then we provide these locations to G GSat, sions are often not properly being tracked by those and they can zoom in and pinpoint the exact facility responsible as re uired. that is leaking those emissions, Aben said.

According to NASA, methane accounts for roughly Their observations have allowed the team to a uarter of global warming since the industrial revoobserve leaks often in unexpected places. Monitoring lution. Methane is the second-most abundant greengreenhouse gas emissions from space is still in its house gas after carbon dioxide, and it is the main early stages, but hopes are high that it will be a tool component of natural gas. in combatting climate change.

The nited States is the world’s largest natural At the COP conference last month in Scotland, gas producer, followed by ussia, Iran, China, Canaworld leaders signed off on a new climate change da and atar. agreement. Experts agree that some progress was Ilse Aben, senior scientist at the Netherlands Inmade as some participating countries committed to stitute for Space esearch S ON , told Space.com, ambitious cuts to heat-trapping pollution, but those that his team has seen many more large emissions countries must follow through on their promises, and than expected around the world. Aben heads a team of experts working with data collected by Tropomi, an additional cuts will be needed to produce the results the world needs. instrument on a European satellite.

You & Your Family Can Help Fight Hunger in AZ! The holidays are here, and the coronavirus pandemic is still making life dif cult for most of us.

A lot of families, some for the rst time, are having trouble making ends meet. Parents have lost jobs, and food, gas and rent prices are rapidly rising.

One of the organizations that’s been forced to uickly adapt is the St. Mary’s Food Bank, which provides food for hundreds of thousands of Arizonans including kids and families. ere’s your chance for you and your family or classroom to make difference!

We kind of changed our motto or tagline to If you need help, or if you can help, come to St. Mary’s Food Bank!’ says Lisa Notaro, chief community relations and development of cer for the food bank.

St. Mary’s was the rst food bank in the nation!

Started in , farmers, grocers and other folks could deposit excess food and people who needed it would make withdrawals for free!

With the help of about partner agencies who help get the food to where it’s needed in Maricopa County and northern counties, St. Mary’s Food Bank provides about , pounds of food each day, covering , s uare miles of Arizona!

The food bank is a huge operation relying on

volunteers each day. But the pandemic cut deeply into this volunteering effort, plus the need for food was greater than ever. So the Arizona National Guard was called in to lend a hand.

FOOD INSECURITY is a major problem across the nation. Somebody who is food insecure means that they don’t have the food in their home or they do not have the money to buy that food. It means that they struggle and worry about going to bed hungry, Notaro explains. For kids, St. Mary’s provides up to , weekend backpacks a month. Given out on Fridays, the backpacks have food to get kids through the weekend. She says kids and families can really help by collecting shelf-stable items, or you can have your parent donate to www.stmarysfoodbank.org amazingly, every dollar donated provides about seven meals !

But perhaps St. Mary’s best opportunity for kids is its unior unger eroes program. ids can join by either donating a jar of peanut butter and jelly or raising for the food bank. St. Mary’s holds special volunteering days for these heroes, where kids as young as can come help. If your family needs help, visit the website and click on Need Food at the top.

What’s On YOUR Team’s Helmet?

What do a horseshoe, a star and a pirate ag all have in common They’re all logos for NFL teams, and they can all be traced back to a guy named Fred Gehrke— the man who created the very rst logo for a professional football team back in !

Between and , Gehrke played for three NFL teams, including the Cleveland ams. elmets at the time were plain, brown leather, and aniel eeves, the ams’ owner in the s, was always looking for innovative ideas for his team.

Gehrke had studied art and realized the helmets presented a creative opportunity.

I made a pen-and-ink sketch of a ram’s horns one day in and showed it to our new coach, Bob Snyder. e said he LOGO FACTS: Year NFL rst re uired helmets: Year Gehrke created the rst logo: First NFL team with a logo: ams

couldn’t visualize it on the headgear and told me to go home and paint it on a helmet, Gehrke told The Los Angeles Times in . So I took one of those gosh-awful brown leather helmets and painted it blue, then made a free rendering of a ram’s horns in gold. eeves immediately approved, and Gehrke was tasked with painting helmets! e completed one a night, painting them freehand, over the summer at his home.

Gehrke was paid a whopping per helmet, and carried cans of blue and gold paint with him for the next two years to touch up his handywork after every game.

Other teams uickly took notice of the logo idea and, over the next decade, most other NFL teams added their own snazzy designs to their helmets.

So whatever happened to that old helmet with the hand-painted horns that sparked the logo trend A memorabilia collector and dealer claims to have found it among some other items he purchased last year in California. Though it may be impossible to con rm it’s the original helmet, the nd has certainly sparked a renewed interest in Fred Gehrke and the humble origins of the ams’ logo.

December 2021 • Bear Essential News • 3

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by Mary DeStefano

Creating Holiday Memories The world is lled with awe as the holiday season approaches. It’s a time of joy and happiness as people celebrate with friends and family. Everyone pulls out the decorations and displays that become part of their tradition. Families enjoy special activities like baking holiday cookies, going caroling or strolling through neighborhoods to enjoy dazzling light shows.

Each family’s traditions vary. Several years ago I asked students in my class to share a special tradition their family incorporated into the holidays each year. One student shared that his parents closed the hallway entrance to the living room and the awaiting Christmas tree by taping several sheets of wrapping paper across the entrance before they went to bed on the th of ecember.

The parents went to bed smiling knowing the children would follow the rule. The children were not allowed in the living room until the parents awoke so they were able to enjoy the excitement and joy that Santa’s delivery brings.

As I recalled traditions that I enjoyed as a child, I wondered what traditions my son would remember and also had he shared them with his family. id my grandchild know of her father’s holiday favorites Suddenly I realized I didn’t know my own mother’s or father’s favorite holiday traditions from childhood. I began asking friends if they knew their parents’ traditions in childhood. My survey showed that no one I asked knew about their parents’ traditions.

My goal this ecember, as a grandparent, is to create a special memory each year for my granddaughter who lives out of state. I also plan to send her a written remembrance of one of my son’s Christmas events.

I recently received an email from the website storycorps.org’. It was encouraging all of us to record or write our family stories with this message:

Image: shutterstock.com

BRACES $

Engaging With the Grandkids

YOU ARE THE KEEPER OF YOUR FAMILY’S STORIES. PRESERVE THEM FOR GENERATIONS TO COME.

Books you might enjoy sharing with your children or grandchildren this month are: What Do You Celebrate?

Holidays and Festivals Around the World

by Whitney Stewart. Grades Answer: Make a Nice Smile • By the time you turn 6 or 7, you should see an orthodontist.

www.KidzConnextion.com 4 • Bear Essential News • December 2021

Christmas Around the World

by Mary Lankford. Grades - .

Get the Scoop!

It’s a Great Time of Year for a Concert

by Reporter Theron Plant, Jacobson Elementary

I love music! There is no better way to listen to music than now.

A lot of music is being performed right now during the fall and holiday season.

Music is sometimes a way to express feelings. For example, if the music tone is slow the composer might be sad at the time he created the music. It is fun to listen to because you just take it in, and it sounds beautiful.

Music is a way to express the composer’s feelings. But sometimes it is just for fun or written during their free time because they love the sound of music.

There are different types of music including jazz, classical, pop, rock and folk, just to name a few! There are around 1,300 music types, or genres, around the world. You can find concerts where people perform music right in front of you, such at in an auditorium at a local high school. Listening to music can seem like it is boring, but it is not boring at all! In fact, the time seems to fly by. When you listen, it can get your feet tapping. Maybe it can get you into “the zone” where you are just lost in music.

Maybe you play an instrument that someone is playing on stage. Sometimes I look at the trumpets and try to guess what chord they are playing or try to guess what chord they will play next if you have heard the song before.

Try to go out and listen to some music during the holiday season. There are so many concerts to go to!

Woman Works to Train Helpful Dogs

by Reporter Daissy Martinez Rodriguez Arizona Desert Elementary

Cleaning Up Pacific Garbage

by Reporter Brett Eymann Transitions Delta Center In August a new system was put to work to clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

The new technology—System 002, nickname Jenny—collected over 20,000 pounds of plastic and trash. The trash is then hauled aboard the ship and it is sorted with much of the plastic becoming recycled.

Even if Jenny is successful at cleaning up, there is still much more garbage that needs to be removed. With 10 Jennys about half of the trash in the ocean could be removed in about five years. The Ocean Project hopes to have the ocean cleared of plastic and trash by the year 2040.

Cleaning up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is crucial to marine life surviving. Trash in the ocean has gotten completely out of hand and it needs to be heavily reduced if we are going to save our ocean environments.

Infrastructure Bill Buoys Valley Metro

by Reporters Euwain & Aislyn Sheard, Homeschool On Aug. 10, the Senate passed a $1 trillion infrastructure bill. The House passed the bill on Nov. and President oe Biden signed the bill on Nov. 15.

This bill is special because it was a bipartisan bill. (That means both Republicans and Democrats voted to pass it). They agreed to give money to different states to help transit, build and fix roadways, and help clean up carbon emissions (reduce pollution). It will also help people who live in rural areas and

eidi Carman raised puppies for Guide ogs for the Blind.

Carman had a puppy named, Kerith, a golden Retriever, and noticed that she would not be good as a guide dog because she wanted lots of people’s attention. Carman decided to make Kerith a therapy dog.

“A therapy dog is a dog trained to help people feel better,” says Carman. According to Carman, she wanted to start a business like this because she started volunteering at hospitals and wanted to make people feel better. Carman started working in the emergency room and Kerith loved the firefighters. They eventually started going to the fire station.

The 20 volunteers that work with Carman have many types of dogs such as, labradoodle, sheepadoodle, border terrier, Leonberger, Labrador retrievers and golden retrievers.

The goal for Carman is that first responders and dispatchers have less stress. A typical day with her therapy dog starts with breakfast, then to the fire department so firefighters can spend time with Kerith who is now three years old. “There are usually eight firefighters on duty,” says Carman.

Carman’s inspiration is all of the first responders. They are my heroes and are amazing. They deserve to have a lot of love. My ultimate goal is to make all first responders happy.”

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News Stories Written by Kids— for Kids

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larice Garcia has been teaching second grade at Greenfield Elementary for eight years. She has been a teacher for 12 years. She began teaching in her hometown of El Paso, Texas.

“I began my teaching career in the school district where my parents, myself and my children went to school,” notes Garcia, who adds, “When I began my career in education, I worked for my high school principal. I also worked with some of my elementary school teachers.”

Garcia says that it was her high school English teacher whose caring and interest in her students inspired Garcia to go into teaching. “I started to realize, this (the classroom) is where I can help,” she says.

Building relationships with her students is something that Garcia takes pride in, she says.

“I consider us a family,” she says.

“They can count on me.”

Garcia has four children—her oldest just graduated from ASU, another is attending NAU, and the two youngest are in high school.

“I enjoy spending time with my family, crafting, going to the movies and traveling,” Garcia reports. She

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Garcia’s favorite subject when whe was in school was reading, she says, but nowadays she loves to teach social studies and science. She says she loves science because anyone can do it, and you can make a mistake and it just leads to more discoveries and more learning. “I get all excited about science,” she says with a laugh.

Garcia has taught kindergarten through third grade, but she says second grade is her favorite. She notes that the kids are more independent, but still little enough to want to do their best. “My heart belongs to second grade,” says Garcia.

Student Claire nominated Garcia, and writes that her teacher “always supports us, (is) funny, kind and very, very, very, very, very, very nice!”

“I like to let them know that they are unique. They can do anything that they put their mind to,” she says of her students. Most of all, she hopes each student will embrace differences and “just be a kind human.”

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4. Eat slowly, and enjoy the food you are eating. Tip: Put your utensil bites.

5. Avoid extra calories from drinks like soda, juice, orbysweet tea durin Sponsored water.

6.—from Waitour 15-20 minutes before asking for seconds. Tip: Have some veg Fun tips on healthy foods, fitness and well being family to yours! hungry. phoenixchildrens.org 7.

Follow the plate method: Aim to make ½ of your plate vegetables, How Can We Control 602-933-0935 of yourPortions? plate grains/starches.

Written by Sydney augdahl, N Our Food

Growing, Growing,

Strong!

Pediatric

A portion is the amount of food we choose to eat. aving the right amount of food is very important for maintaining our health. When we eat too much food, our bodies have lower energy, and we can feel tired just as we may feel after eating a big Thanksgiving meal.

So, not only should we choose healthy How Can We Control Our Portions?foods, but we should also eat proper portions. Below are some tips and guidelines to help ensureimportant proper we choose to eat. Having the right amount of food is very portion control.

ietitian at Phoenix Children’s

ospital

the amount of food for our health. When we eat too much food, our bodies have lower energy, and we can feel s we may feel after eating a big Thanksgiving meal. So, not only should we choose healthy e should also eat proper portions. Here are some tips and guidelines to help ensure proper Your hand can help you know how much is right for you! rol:

your

Image: shutterstock.com

1.

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se your hand to measure out meals and snacks

5. Avoid extra calories from drinks like soda, juice, or sweet tea during a meal. Try to drink mostly water.

se a smaller plate for smaller portions.

8. Mix in 6. veggies!

Try cauliflower rice with regular rice or zucchini no Wait - minutes before asking for seconds. Tip: Have some fruit if you are stilland hungry.

9. Pick a dayvegetables to prepor your meals snacks. Use bento boxes or port

3. Eat - meals andout - meals snacks each Make sure to spread them out. hand to measure andday. snacks.

4. Eat slowly, and enjoy the food you are eating.

Tip: Put your utensils and food down between bites.

Your hand is your proportion size tool!

7. Follow the plate method: Aim to make of your plate vegetables, of your plate protein and of your plate grains starches.

Happy Holidays from Phoenix Children’s Hospital Endocrinol 8. Mix in veggies! Try cauliflower rice with regular rice or zucchini noodles with regular noodles.

Written by Sydney RDN 9. PickHaugdahl, a day to prep your meals A serving of protein = 1 palm

A serving of vegetables = 1 fist

A serving of carbs = 1 cupped hand

A serving of fats = 1 thumb

snacks.

se bento boxes or portion baggies.

Happy Holidays from Phoenix Children’s Hospital Endocrinology Department!

a smaller plate for smaller portions.

2-3 meals andfor 1-2the snacks each day. Make sure to spread them out.

Look Volume • Issue 3 in the slowly, and enjoy the food you are eating. Tip:Coming Put your utensils and food down43 between Editor & Publisher Sales Director & Publisher Nancy Holmes Stephen B Gin January issue s.

City Editor YR Coordinator Renee Griffith Julie Madden of tea during a meal. Try to drink mostly d extra calories from drinks like soda, juice, or sweet Copy Editor Art Director Bear Essential Mike Loghry Gary Shepard er.

News. t 15-20 minutes before asking for seconds. Tip:The Have some vegetables or fruit if you are still festival Bear Essential News for Kids is published monthly by ids’ View Communications Corp. to educate, enrich and entertain children gry. is a statewide and their families. Content of this newspaper is designed to promote reading and writing skills as well as creativity. educators are welcome to reproduce any portion of this newspaper for their students. of ow the plate method: Aim to make ½ of your celebration plate vegetables, ¼ of yourClassroom plate ¼ for any additional information on stories.

Call protein or fax ids’ View and Communications Please Call (480) 752-2327 for any editorial or advertising in uiries.

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December 2021 • Bear Essential News • 7

E

very year, kids around the world are hoping for their favorite toy to arrive. What is the toy you hope to get this holiday season? Maybe it is the latest trendy toy, or it might be a classic that has stood the test of time.

D

uring the holiday season, many people have traditions that include exchanging gifts. Are you hoping for a special toy this holiday season? Toys can be timeless or trendy, but kids have been playing with certain kinds of toys for a long, long time.

Dolls may be some of the oldest toys in the world, with evidence of dolls in ancient Egypt, Rome and Babylon. Dolls were originally made out of materials like wood, clay, fur or cloth. They are still popular today and come in a wide variety.

Before there were American Girl Dolls, Barbies, Cabbage Patch ids or actions gures, the rag doll reigned in colonial American.

Fashion dolls made with porcelain heads were popular in the mid1800s. In the 1900s, doll makers were trying to make baby dolls more and more realistic. There were dolls that cried, closed their eyes to sleep, wet their diapers, and those that appeared to eat and drink.

In 1959, Barbie appeared on the scene. Five years later, G.I. oe arrived and made action gures a hot COMMODITY. Then, following the release of the rst Star Wars movie, Star Wars action gures stormed toy store shelves and are still there today.

Luke, Leia, Han, Harry Potter, Anna, Elsa, Elmo, the Paw Patrol pups and many more show that dolls, plushies and other toys continue to be inspired by movies, shows and books. Likewise, some movies, show and books (Transformers, My Little Pony) have been inspired by toys!

Whether you are looking for a comforting companion or In 2020, toy sales increased by 16% in a cool collectable, here’s hoping that you get just the toy you are the US, most likely due to the pandemic. dreaming of this holiday season.

The average American family spends about $580 a year on toys.

Toys, Toys and More Toys!

Alfred Carlton Gilbert, or A.C. Gilbert, was an American inventor.

He was also an athlete who won an Olympic gold medal in the pole vault in 1908, but Gilbert remains best known as a toy maker—he invented the Erector Set in 1911.

This famous building and engineering toy made its public debut in 1913 at the Toy Fair in New York. The Erector Set was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame in 1998.

According to the A.C. Gilbert Heritage Society, when the government was weighing a ban on toy production in 1918 to support the war effort during World War I, Gilbert successfully argued against the ban. He was thus nicknamed “the man who saved Christmas.”

Gilbert died in 1961 and his company went bankrupt in 1967, but Erector sets continued to be made by other companies and are still around today. Other building toys have gained popularity over the years, including Lincoln Logs, LEGO and Magna-Tiles.

Play-Doh

Image: shutterstock.com

2021 Fina lists

been around for centuries, as have toys like marbles and hoops. But some toys not PERSIST, but surge in popularity at certain times. One of the most popular games in the world, chess, was very visible last year thanks to the pandemic, television, streaming and online chess. Similarly, hoops have been used as play things since ancient times, but the Hula Hoop became a huge fad in the 1950s.

Take a close look at the 2021 Finalists in the photo above.

Do you recognise any of them?

Timeline of Most Popular Toys 1900s

Rocking horse Die Cast Model T Ford car Crayola Crayons Spinning top

1910s

Raggedy Ann Doll Lionel Trains Teddy Bears Erector Set

8 • Bear Essential News • December 2021

1920s Radio Flyer Wagon Yo-Yos Tinkertoys Joy Buzzers

1930s

Army Men Figures Monopoly Microscope sets View Master

1940s

Slinky Magic 8 Balls Silly Putty Scrabble

1950s

Barbie Doll Mr. Potato Head Play-Doh Pogo Sticks

1960s LEGO Easy-Bake Oven Lite Brite G.I. Joe

Video Games

You can’t mistake the slightly sweet smell and s uishy feel of fresh PlayDoh. But did you know that Play-Doh became a playtime favorite by accident?

A non-toxic putty was made in the s by Noah McVicker at his family’s soap company. The putty was used to clean wallpaper, but by the 1950s many homes had switched away from coal-burning stoves and no longer needed the putty to clean soot off the walls. Joseph McVicker, who took over the business, needed a new idea and it came from his sister-in-law, Kay Zufall. She was a teacher and she suggested that the putty might be ideal for kids to use for crafting and play.

McVicker launched a new company, Rainbow Crafts Company, in 1956. A year later Play-Doh was available in red, yellow and blue. By the mid 1960s, the company was shipping over a million cans of Play-Doh each year.

Today you can nd Play- oh Slime, rackle, Foam and a PLETHORA of playsets in addition to classic cans of Play-Doh.

The National Toy Hall of Fame The National Toy Hall of Fame is part of the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York. Established in 1998, the Toy Hall of Fame recognizes popular toys that have delighted children (and adults) over the years.

Each year the Hall of Fame recognizes toys that have stood the test of time to become beloved classics. This year’s inductees include American Girl olls and the board game Risk. The hall also includes toys like Hot Wheels, the Frisbee, Easy-Bake Ovens and games like Candy Land, Monopoly, chess and checkers.

The hall notes that games like chess and checkers have

Erector Set

1970s Hot Wheels Etch A Sketch Skateboards

Star Wars Action Figures ubik’s Cube Tonka Trucks Pet Rock

Nerf Weebles Atari

Kids today are very familiar with video games from Minecraft to Mario, Fortnight to Animal Crossing and many more. But while you may play your favorite game on the Xbox, Switch, or on a tablet or phone, did you ever hear of an Atari?

One of the rst video games people could play at home was a table tennis game from Atari called Pong—it debuted in 1975. A few years later, the company had a real game changer with its Atari 2600 game system.

Chess & Checkers The most popular board games have been around for a long time—some for a very long time. A version of the game of checkers has been around since 3000 B.C. The game was played in ancient Mesopotamia in the Middle East, but the rules are unknown. A similar game called Al uer ue was very popular in ancient Egypt.

It was around 1100 in France when the game was adapted to use a chessboard with 12 pieces on each side. Rules continued to evolve, and a version like the checkers we play today was being played by the s. The rst checkers world championship was in the 1840s.

Chess may have grown out of a game called chaturanga that was played in India around the year 600 A.D. The game grew in popularity and soon spread throughout Europe and Asia.

The 1800s saw the standardization of the chess pieces we use today. At the same time, the chess clock was introduced into competitive play. According to Chess.com, it was also the rst game played online and one of the rst apps on a computer.

1980s

Care Bears Koosh Balls Transformers My Little Pony

1990s Nintendo Super Soakers Furby Elmo toys

PlayStation Beanie Babies

In addition to having better games and graphics, the new Atari system let you change games.

You could play Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Frogger and more!

While Atari was eventually overtaken by newer, faster systems, the Toy Hall of Fame credits the Atari 2600 with bringing video game play into American homes and making them a part of everyday life. The Atari 2600 was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame in 2007.

2000s

2010s

Xbox 360 Razor Scooters Ipod Touch Guitar Hero

Ipads Xbox One Kindle Pokémon

Attari Images: shutterstock.com

2020s Frozen Toys Amazon Echo

Puzzles Baby Yoda toys Board games Animal Crossing LOL Surprise!

Playstation 5

December 2021 • Bear Essential News • 9

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very year, kids around the world are hoping for their favorite toy to arrive. What is the toy you hope to get this holiday season? Maybe it is the latest trendy toy, or it might be a classic that has stood the test of time.

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uring the holiday season, many people have traditions that include exchanging gifts. Are you hoping for a special toy this holiday season? Toys can be timeless or trendy, but kids have been playing with certain kinds of toys for a long, long time.

Dolls may be some of the oldest toys in the world, with evidence of dolls in ancient Egypt, Rome and Babylon. Dolls were originally made out of materials like wood, clay, fur or cloth. They are still popular today and come in a wide variety.

Before there were American Girl Dolls, Barbies, Cabbage Patch ids or actions gures, the rag doll reigned in colonial American.

Fashion dolls made with porcelain heads were popular in the mid1800s. In the 1900s, doll makers were trying to make baby dolls more and more realistic. There were dolls that cried, closed their eyes to sleep, wet their diapers, and those that appeared to eat and drink.

In 1959, Barbie appeared on the scene. Five years later, G.I. oe arrived and made action gures a hot COMMODITY. Then, following the release of the rst Star Wars movie, Star Wars action gures stormed toy store shelves and are still there today.

Luke, Leia, Han, Harry Potter, Anna, Elsa, Elmo, the Paw Patrol pups and many more show that dolls, plushies and other toys continue to be inspired by movies, shows and books. Likewise, some movies, show and books (Transformers, My Little Pony) have been inspired by toys!

Whether you are looking for a comforting companion or In 2020, toy sales increased by 16% in a cool collectable, here’s hoping that you get just the toy you are the US, most likely due to the pandemic. dreaming of this holiday season.

The average American family spends about $580 a year on toys.

Toys, Toys and More Toys!

Alfred Carlton Gilbert, or A.C. Gilbert, was an American inventor.

He was also an athlete who won an Olympic gold medal in the pole vault in 1908, but Gilbert remains best known as a toy maker—he invented the Erector Set in 1911.

This famous building and engineering toy made its public debut in 1913 at the Toy Fair in New York. The Erector Set was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame in 1998.

According to the A.C. Gilbert Heritage Society, when the government was weighing a ban on toy production in 1918 to support the war effort during World War I, Gilbert successfully argued against the ban. He was thus nicknamed “the man who saved Christmas.”

Gilbert died in 1961 and his company went bankrupt in 1967, but Erector sets continued to be made by other companies and are still around today. Other building toys have gained popularity over the years, including Lincoln Logs, LEGO and Magna-Tiles.

Play-Doh

Image: shutterstock.com

2021 Fina lists

been around for centuries, as have toys like marbles and hoops. But some toys not PERSIST, but surge in popularity at certain times. One of the most popular games in the world, chess, was very visible last year thanks to the pandemic, television, streaming and online chess. Similarly, hoops have been used as play things since ancient times, but the Hula Hoop became a huge fad in the 1950s.

Take a close look at the 2021 Finalists in the photo above.

Do you recognise any of them?

Timeline of Most Popular Toys 1900s

Rocking horse Die Cast Model T Ford car Crayola Crayons Spinning top

1910s

Raggedy Ann Doll Lionel Trains Teddy Bears Erector Set

8 • Bear Essential News • December 2021

1920s Radio Flyer Wagon Yo-Yos Tinkertoys Joy Buzzers

1930s

Army Men Figures Monopoly Microscope sets View Master

1940s

Slinky Magic 8 Balls Silly Putty Scrabble

1950s

Barbie Doll Mr. Potato Head Play-Doh Pogo Sticks

1960s LEGO Easy-Bake Oven Lite Brite G.I. Joe

Video Games

You can’t mistake the slightly sweet smell and s uishy feel of fresh PlayDoh. But did you know that Play-Doh became a playtime favorite by accident?

A non-toxic putty was made in the s by Noah McVicker at his family’s soap company. The putty was used to clean wallpaper, but by the 1950s many homes had switched away from coal-burning stoves and no longer needed the putty to clean soot off the walls. Joseph McVicker, who took over the business, needed a new idea and it came from his sister-in-law, Kay Zufall. She was a teacher and she suggested that the putty might be ideal for kids to use for crafting and play.

McVicker launched a new company, Rainbow Crafts Company, in 1956. A year later Play-Doh was available in red, yellow and blue. By the mid 1960s, the company was shipping over a million cans of Play-Doh each year.

Today you can nd Play- oh Slime, rackle, Foam and a PLETHORA of playsets in addition to classic cans of Play-Doh.

The National Toy Hall of Fame The National Toy Hall of Fame is part of the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, New York. Established in 1998, the Toy Hall of Fame recognizes popular toys that have delighted children (and adults) over the years.

Each year the Hall of Fame recognizes toys that have stood the test of time to become beloved classics. This year’s inductees include American Girl olls and the board game Risk. The hall also includes toys like Hot Wheels, the Frisbee, Easy-Bake Ovens and games like Candy Land, Monopoly, chess and checkers.

The hall notes that games like chess and checkers have

Erector Set

1970s Hot Wheels Etch A Sketch Skateboards

Star Wars Action Figures ubik’s Cube Tonka Trucks Pet Rock

Nerf Weebles Atari

Kids today are very familiar with video games from Minecraft to Mario, Fortnight to Animal Crossing and many more. But while you may play your favorite game on the Xbox, Switch, or on a tablet or phone, did you ever hear of an Atari?

One of the rst video games people could play at home was a table tennis game from Atari called Pong—it debuted in 1975. A few years later, the company had a real game changer with its Atari 2600 game system.

Chess & Checkers The most popular board games have been around for a long time—some for a very long time. A version of the game of checkers has been around since 3000 B.C. The game was played in ancient Mesopotamia in the Middle East, but the rules are unknown. A similar game called Al uer ue was very popular in ancient Egypt.

It was around 1100 in France when the game was adapted to use a chessboard with 12 pieces on each side. Rules continued to evolve, and a version like the checkers we play today was being played by the s. The rst checkers world championship was in the 1840s.

Chess may have grown out of a game called chaturanga that was played in India around the year 600 A.D. The game grew in popularity and soon spread throughout Europe and Asia.

The 1800s saw the standardization of the chess pieces we use today. At the same time, the chess clock was introduced into competitive play. According to Chess.com, it was also the rst game played online and one of the rst apps on a computer.

1980s

Care Bears Koosh Balls Transformers My Little Pony

1990s Nintendo Super Soakers Furby Elmo toys

PlayStation Beanie Babies

In addition to having better games and graphics, the new Atari system let you change games.

You could play Pac-Man, Space Invaders, Frogger and more!

While Atari was eventually overtaken by newer, faster systems, the Toy Hall of Fame credits the Atari 2600 with bringing video game play into American homes and making them a part of everyday life. The Atari 2600 was inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame in 2007.

2000s

2010s

Xbox 360 Razor Scooters Ipod Touch Guitar Hero

Ipads Xbox One Kindle Pokémon

Attari Images: shutterstock.com

2020s Frozen Toys Amazon Echo

Puzzles Baby Yoda toys Board games Animal Crossing LOL Surprise!

Playstation 5

December 2021 • Bear Essential News • 9

We are thankful for all the talented artists that entered this year.

Enjoy more fantastic art of Transit Smart 3rd graders at valleymetro.org/transit-education

10 • Bear Essential News • December 2021

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Continued from page 5

More Infrastructure Continued from page 5 also help people who live in rural areas and those with low income by giving them access to internet and clean water.

In Arizona, in addition to cleaning and resurfacing roads, one area this bill will affect is our transit system. We visited with Valley Metro’s sustainability coordinator, Mackenzie McGuffie, to find out more.

So, what will Valley Metro look like with this new funding? “I think expanding transit and making it more reliable. Another thing that’s really important for buses is that you want buses that can take you anywhere, but you also don’t want to wait that long for a bus,” explains McGuffie. “It makes a difference for a person if the bus comes every ten minutes or every 30 minutes. So, if we had more funding, we would be able to make the buses run more frequently.”

A big issue Phoenix faces is that it is very spread out. Part of the infrastructure bill can be used to help reach those that are further out. “So, if we are able to get more funding then, yeah, we would be able to expand light rail and get more transit service to cover our whole area much better,” says McGuffie.

In addition, Valley Metro hopes to invest in eight electric buses. This would help reduce carbon emissions. We haven’t gotten the electric buses , just because of funding. They are a lot more expensive than the kind of buses we have now,” comments McGuffie. Since they have come out, electric buses have shown to be way more quiet, smooth, and reliable.

When you drive around, you may notice that some streets are already under construction. Valley Metro is currently trying to make their routes bigger and longer for buses and light rail.

MORE INFRASTRUCTURE, page 14 ➧

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New Year, New Opportunities with Girl Scouts It’s almost time to begin a brand new year, which makes it a great time to join Girl Scouts. Girls can start the New Year right as they grow into their strongest, kindest, most resilient selves—while experiencing moments of joy every step of the way!

Girl Scouts is a great way for girls to share their voice, address issues that matter to them and help make change in their community. Girls and families can earn badges and start their journey in Girl Scouting from home.

Girl Scouts Arizona Cactus-Pine Council offers many virtual programs and activities that make it easy for any parent, caregiver or volunteer to lead programs at home.

Our programming focuses on four core program areas: STEM, outdoors, entrepreneurship and life skills. Whether they’re sleeping under the stars, creating colorful art, or teaming up with their new best friends to build a robot, Girl Scouts are always learning and growing.

Girl Scouts of all ages give back in big and small ways, and they use their creativity to solve community and even global problems.

Girl Scouts can earn their Bronze, Silver and Gold Awards in ways that have special meaning for them, whether it’s organizing a food drive, developing healthy eating programs in schools, or advocating for accessibility in

Troop 1688 earn ed Goodwill Go Green patches by collecting gently used clothes and shoes and dona them to their loca ting l Goodwill Arizo na retail store.

front of their city council—it's all part of making the world a better place.

Girls interested in learning more about Girl Scouts can visit a virtual or in-person Girl Scout Center. Virtual sessions are held over Zoom once a week and last no longer than an hour. Sign up to get the meeting login information by visiting girlscoutsaz.org/join.

Girls can also begin their Girl Scout journey in person at a Girl Scout Center near them! Girls and families can participate in a variety of activities including: completing badge work and earning fun patches, meeting new friends, and learning about how they can connect with a troop, start their own, or join as an independent girl member.

Girl Scout Centers are located in Chandler, Peoria, Buckeye and the Parsons Leadership Center in Phoenix. Most centers offer in person meetings once a month. Find meeting times and locations, and sign up for a meeting at girlscoutsaz.org/join.

So make a resolution today to begin your year right. Visit the Girl Scouts website to start your journey toward a fun, empowering new year!

Join Girl Scouts today!

Visit girlscoutsaz.org Call 602-452-7030 Text 844-317-9041

@GSACPC 12 • Bear Essential News • December 2021

18 We ARE Open for Assessments and Taking New Clients for All Services!

December 2021 • Bear Essential News • 13

Autumn’s VIP Readers Fun Online Parties • Book Fairs Reading Incentive Programs Cards For A Cause Fundraisers Vendor and Other Events To Promote Community Literacy

n Mentioand d a this % OFF get 10r first you r orde

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More Infrastructure

Continued from page 11

When we asked that would the bill affect most, McGuffie replied, “It will impact both…. but I think with electric buses it will have the (biggest) impact, but it will also help light rails. We are trying to expand. I mean we have multiple lines under construction right now—going to south Phoenix, further north into Phoenix and to the capitol.”

As you can see, Valley Metro is working hard behind the scenes to provide a quiet, smooth and reliable ride. This infrastructure bill will allow them to grow and to bring people more service. They hope to help reduce carbon emissions so that Phoenix can have a better and healthier transit system.

Black Mountain BMX

We Are OPEN and

RACING!

For Dates and Times, check our website

602-999-5979

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Where does Santaʻs MILK come from?

Make Some Snowman Sugar Cookies for Santa This Year!

Scan the QR code for this recipe, and many more great holiday treat ideas!

www.arizonamilk.org 16 • Bear Essential News • December 2021