Hoopla 7: MAGNIFICENT MACHINES

ISSN 3 049-52 96

Make a mobile Scoot, skate & ride!

Pulley power

rious kids r u c o f e n i z The happy maga

Puzzles & riddles!

F I I C N E G N A T M

MACHINES

HOOPLAMAG.COM issue 7

Welcome to Toolkits at the ready, we’re taking a look at amazing machines!

Plus, make a balancing mobile and a pulley ride for your teddies!

Have you got a bicycle, scooter or skateboard? Try out some fun games to play on them and bake up some energy boost bars to take with you on your wheeled adventures.

We’d love to hear what you think of Hoopla. Turn to page 35 to find out how to take our survey.

Tara

Meet the Hoopla gang!

Whirl Jem

Callie

Tanj

Get in touch hello@hooplamag.com hooplamag.com facebook.com/hooplamag instagram.com/hooplamag x.com/@hooplamag

!

Subscribe HOOPLA is only available by subscription.

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Activities should be done under close adult supervision and are done at your own risk.

Launchpad Publishing Ltd cannot accept liability for damage done.

is made by: Editor-in-Chief: Jenny Inglis Editor: Tara Pardo Illustrator: Clive Goodyer Designer: Rachael Fisher Creative consultant: Tammy Osborne Page 28-31 © Storytime Magazine Ltd, 2025.

All rights reserved. Illustrator: Sian Roberts.

Unit 7, Global Business Park, 14 Wilkinson Road, Cirencester, GL7 1YZ Printed in the UK by The Magazine Printing Company using only paper from FSC/PEFC suppliers www.magprint.co.uk

© 2025 Launchpad Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved. Reproduction of the whole or any part of the contents of HOOPLA without written permission is prohibited. Illustrations: © 2025 Clive Goodyer

CONTENTS 6 8 10

© Shutterstock.com

12

ART PROJECT

Craft a brilliant balancing mobile to hang up in your room.

OUTDOORS

Coats and helmets on, let’s skate, scoot and cycle!

FOOD

Keep your energy levels up with these banana and oat bars.

Putting in effort can be hard work, but also rewarding and fun!

16 18

SNAP HAPPY & COLOURING

Meet clever ravens, who can make tools and recognise people!

See the world’s biggest machine and colour in a fun picture.

DISCOVERY

Find out about amazing machines and make a pulley!

24

PUZZLES & RIDDLES

26

YOUR JOURNAL

28

m

k.co

stoc

tter

hu ©S

THINK ABOUT... EFFORT!

AWESOME ANIMALS

20

© Shutterstock.com

Dinosaur footprints, a boost for endangered cats and a red Moon!

Work out the answers to these machine-themed puzzles!

Write and draw about your thoughts and feelings.

STORY

Will Edith’s invention work in time for the town competition?

32

LETTERS & COMPETITION

33

QUIZ

34

ANSWERS

Share what you’ve been up to and you could win a prize.

Solve this picture quiz about awesome machines!

Find all the answers to our quizzes, puzzles and riddles.

© Shutterstock.com

4

GOOD NEWS

Good NEWS footprints Hundreds of dinosaur Oxfordshire. have been uncovered in

© Emma Nicholls

The trackways were made 166 million years ago by two types of dinosaurs, nt-eating thought to be a massive pla s and the sauropod called Cetiosauru galosaurus.

9-metre-long meat-eating Me traordinary “These footprints offer an ex osaurs, revealing window into the lives of din nts, interactions, details about their moveme nt they and the tropical environme sty Edgar inhabited,” said Professor Kir ngham. from the University of Birmi

Safer surfing Lights help keep surfers safe.

New research has shown that attaching lights to the bottom of surfboards helps to keep great white sharks away.

Sometimes the sharks mistake surfboards for their seal prey, so they come for a closer look and can even attack. The Australian researchers found that sharks weren’t interested in surfboards and kayaks with LED lights on the bottom, and the brighter the light, the better they worked!

4 HOOPLAMAG.com

© Shutterstock.com

How the dinosaurs might have looked

© Richard Butler

Underground life

Scientists are studying life found deep inside rocky caves.

These long caves inside the volcanic islands of Hawaii were once filled with rivers © Shutterstock.com of molten lava. Even though no sunlight reaches the caves, scientists have found life in the form of microbes. There are lava tubes on Mars, too, so the scientists are studying the microbes to help them work out whether similar life could exist on Mars and other planets.

© Mark Witton

DINOSAUR HIGHWAY

LUNAR ECLIPSE

How does the Moon cut his hair?

Eclipse it!

Ha Ha !

The Moon is going to turn red!

©

Sh ut te rst oc k.c om

But don’t worry, it will only look red for a short time, because of a total lunar eclipse. That’s when the Sun, the Earth and the Moon all line up and the Earth casts a shadow that covers the entire Moon. The Moon turns a deep red because it gets a small amount of light that has passed through the Earth’s atmosphere. You will have to get up very early to see the eclipse.

It happens on March 14th from about 4 am to 6:20 am, when the Moon dips below the horizon.

pl n et e h t r o F E WS

Good N

From S mBentley @s mbentley

1,200 new employees have been hired in Colorado, USA, who specialise in stopping fires. Who are these employees?

Goats! The goats eat the dry, scrubby bushes where fires can easily start and spread. They’ve been deployed after an enormous 580-acre quarry fire, which came within a mile of the owner’s headquarters, to make sure the same thing doesn’t happen again. The steep terrain is hard for humans to access, so removing the plants by hand can be difficult and expensive. The goats get a good meal, and reduce the chance of fire at the same time.

It’s a win-win! © Shutterstock.com

The Iberian lynx, a large cat from Spain and Portugal, was in danger of extinction in the early 2000s, with fewer than 100 in the wild. Thanks to habitat restoration, the reintroduction of rabbits (their main food source) and breeding programmes, things have turned around.

Support from scientists, conservationists and governments helped the Iberian lynx population grow sixteenfold, to over 1,600 individuals, in just two decades. This shows that even critically endangered species can quickly recover with dedicated efforts!

© Shutterstock.com

Firefighting herd Cat comeback

Get cre tive!

g n i c n a l Ba mobile Make a fun hanging decoration in sp by awesome ired artis and enginee t r Alexander C alder.

You will need • A wire coat hanger • String • Ruler or tape measure • Scissors • Sticky tape • Another thin, straight object about 25-30 cm long, such as a reusable straw or kitchen skewer

Objects you could hang from your mobile:

• Small animal toys or keyrings • Pens, rubbers or safety scissors • Shells • Dried pasta pieces

1 Prep rethepieces • Cut a piece of string about 40-50 cm long. Tie one end of the string to the wire hook of the coat hanger.

• Cut some more

lengths of string, two 20 cm, one 30 cm and one 40 cm.

• Tie them to the

hanger and straw or skewer as shown.

6 HOOPLAMAG.com

Gravity pulls the objects downwards.

When the pull on each object balances the others, the hanger is level.

2 Putit lltogether • Tie or tape the objects to the loose ends of the threads.

• Hang your mobile on a door handle

while you check everything is balanced.

The hanger and the straw/skewer should be horizontal. If they’re not, slide the strings sideways along them until they are level.

• You may like to add more threads and objects to your mobile.

• When it’s ready, ask an adult to hang it up somewhere high.

Alexander, who lived from 1898 to 1976, trained as an engineer. In the 1930s, he created motor-driven moving sculptures. Later on, he made hanging mobile sculptures that moved in the wind.

They were often made of wire and found objects.

He also made giant abstract sculptures.

Photos © Shutterstock.com

Wikimedia Commons © Eric Koch for Anefo, via

R E D L A C R E D N A X E AL

We’d love to see your balancing mobile! Ask a grown-up to take a photo and send it to us at hello@hooplamag.com

Perfect pieces!

Find the missing pieces of the squares.

Circle your answers and check them on page 34.

1

2

3

Great outdoors Get out and explore! Visit

Le t ’s roll!

It’s great fun to scoot, skate and cycle – whatever the weather! And there are loads more reasons to love these marvellous moving machines...

your favourite playground, skate park, woodland trail or picnic spot.

It’s totally free and a

great way to spend time with family and friends.

It makes you feel great! It gives you a thrill that puts a huge smile on your face – especially when you reach the top of a hill and get to ride back down again!

It can even boost your confidence and reduce anxiety.

STAY SAFE • Always have your adult around.

• Always wear a helmet. Elbow •

and knee pads are a good idea too, and wear sensible shoes, such as trainers.

Make sure your bike is in good condition; the brakes should work well and the tyres should be pumped up.

• Start on paved skate parks, bike

paths or wide, smooth trails and focus on the journey, not the destination. There’s no rush!

b ic y c le a s e o d W h at a d? call its d e!

Po p - c y c l

Ha Ha!

To find your nearest traffic-free bike route and mountain bike trail, visit sustrans.org.uk

Cycling or scooting is a brilliant way to get to school. It’s excellent exercise and makes you feel more alert and ready to learn. It’s also kinder to the planet by reducing the pollution caused by car or bus journeys.

Ask a grown-up to send a photo of you and your wheels to hello@hooplamag.com and you might see it in a future magazine!

MORE IDEAS! Take your scooter, skates, skateboard or bicycle, and some friends, to a wide-open space like a park and play these games.

1 Let’s r ce Use chalk to mark a start and finish line and race there and back, or race against the clock!

2 Obst cle course Get creative and invent a course. You could include a wiggly chalk line to follow and bean bags to circle or zig-zag through. Time how fast you can complete the course.

3 Red light,green light A bike made for two or more riders is called a tandem bicycle.

It’s a great way for two people with different riding abilities to ride together. The world’s longest tandem bike is over 55 m long! It had one rider pedalling at the front and four more at the back.

For this game, you’ll need at least two players and a ‘caller’. Mark a start and finish line and then, when the caller says ‘green light’, start rolling. When they say ‘red light’, you have to stop.

If they see you still rolling after shouting ‘red light’ then you’re out. Keep going until the first rider reaches the finish line to be the winner.

HOOPLAMAG.com 9

NO M

NO M !

ENERGY BOOST BARS

You will need • 2 bananas • 7 tablespoons of peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)

• 4 tablespoons of coconut oil (plus a little extra for greasing the baking tray)

• 6 chopped dried apricots • 2 tablespoons of flaked almonds

• 300 g whole rolled oats • 4 tablespoons of honey

!

ADULT HELP NEEDED

This yummy snack is perfect to help you cycle, scoot and play!

1 2 Ask an adult to preheat the oven to 180 °C. Mash the bananas with a fork and add them to a saucepan with the peanut butter and coconut oil.

10 HOOPLAMAG.com

Warm gently on a low heat, then add the chopped apricots and flaked almonds. Add the oats and honey, mix well and remove from the heat.

3

Grease a baking tray with the extra coconut oil. Pour in your mixture and spread it out evenly.

Press it down with the back of a spoon.

Ask a grown-up to take a photo of you with your energy bars and send it to us at hello@hooplamag.com and you might see it in the next Hoopla!

Ask an adult to put it in the oven for 15-20 minutes, until it starts to brown on top. When it has cooled down but is still slightly warm, cut it into bars or squares.

Crossword conundrum Bananas Peanut butter Coconut oil Apricots Almonds Oats Honey

Fit the list of ingredients in the grid in just the right way to solve the puzzle.

O U

Check your answer on page 34.

Brilliant bananas!

Food gives you energy to help you run, play, grow and learn! Bananas are excellent for boosting energy because they contain natural sugars and carbohydrates. They are also packed with vitamins and minerals like potassium, which is good for your muscles and your heart. The energy in the oats is released more slowly, so you can keep playing for longer.

t r o ff E About

k n i h T

Scientists describe effort as ‘a force that is needed to do work’, like moving something.

But it can mean more than forcing something to move. Even if this mouse can’t move the elephant, it could still put a LOT of effort into trying!

We also say things like:

Put some effort in!

You made that look so easy, it seemed effortless!

You can have an A for effort!

I’ll make every effort to help you.

Do simple things always take little effort and difficult things take a huge effort?

There is more than one idea about what effort means and it can mean different things to different people.

What do you do in your everyday life that takes effort and what doesn’t take effort?

Draw a line from the examples to where you would place them on the effort line.

Running around

Blinking

No effort

0

12 HOOPLAMAG.com

Drawing a picture

Listening to someone

1

2

3

4

Helping someone

5

6

7

Making a choice

8

9

Learning something new

10

Watching TV

Lots of effort

If I keep trying, I think I can get to the top...

Is it the same for everyone? For example, if we are learning to ride a bike, some people will be able to master it very quickly and for other people it will take longer.

Does the person that finds it easy put less effort in?

Or is it just different for different people, depending on what you are good at, how old you are and what experiences you have had before? Perhaps the person who finds something easy, or effortless, has to put much more effort into something else.

into in your life?

What do you put a lot of effort Draw or write your idea here.

© George Rudy / Shutterstock.com

We can’t all be the best at everything.

Is the effort we put in more important than the end result?

I think…

Because…

HOOPLAMAG.com 13

How do we make effort?

Effort seems to involve ingredients that combine together – just like when we use eggs, flour, butter and sugar to make a cake.

Here are some possible ingredients when something takes effort.

H ar d wo r k

Tr ying

Your own idea

An achievement or outcome Energy

Which of these ideas is most important for you?

Would you rather eat a piece of homemade cake or a slice of cake bought in a café?

It might seem a silly question, but it is helpful because making and eating cake takes effort!

What effort do you have to put in when… making your own cake?

YUM!

buying a piece of cake in a café?

There is effort with both. With a homemade cake, you have to go to the effort of buying the ingredients and baking the cake.

The café visit also takes effort because you have to travel there, order and pay for the cake.

14 HOOPLAMAG.com

The feelings you get when you put effort and time into making something are usually positive and make you feel good. Having a piece of cake in a café may also make you feel happy in a different way – it may feel like a treat!

HAPPY Grumpy

Circle how you feel when you put effort into something.

Tired ED I R R O W Confident HOPE F

RE L AXED SAD U L D U O R d P e s i g r Ene C I C T H S A A I L L S E U N H G ED ENT EXCITED All photographs © Shutterstock.com

Sometimes it can be hard to put effort into something if it doesn’t come easily.

Other times, you can feel excited to put in the effort, because it’s fun or because you know you will have achieved something.

If we understand that putting in effort can be hard work as well as rewarding, then that may make us feel happier and motivated to try even harder for ourselves and others!

Let’s look back…

What is the importance of making an effort?

Imagine if we didn’t put effort into anything – where would we be then?!

Can you think of something you’d like to put more effort into in future?

Sometimes we put effort in because we know it’s the right thing to do or because we have to. Other times, we put in effort because it’s fun and exciting, like playing a sport or drawing a nice picture. Little daily efforts, like doing homework, may in the future lead to things that you want to do. So, the little efforts all added together make a BIG difference and are worthwhile.

HOOPLAMAG.com 15

e m o s Awe

S L A M ANI

Clever ravens These brainy birds have worked out how to make and use their own tools!

y l i m a f e h t In

large mbers of a e m re a s n Rave rvids s called co d ir b f o y il fam rooks, des crows, lu c in o ls a that gpies. They a m d n a s jay on jackdaws, verywhere e t s o lm a nd can be fou uthern the very so t p e c x e , h Eart d the America an th u o S f o tip aps. polar ice c

Super smart!

Despite only weighing around 1 kg, ravens are one of the cleverest animals on the planet. They have similar levels of brain power to the great apes, like gorillas and chimpanzees. It’s thought that ravens have similar problem-solving skills to those of seven-year-old children – so they may even be as clever as you!

16 HOOPLAMAG.com

Making plans

Like apes (including us) and some other animals, ravens can use tools, such as sticks. They even make tools, fashioning hooks out of twigs to help them get food out of crevices in rocks.

As well as solving puzzles, ravens can plan for the future. In an experiment, the birds chose a token over a food treat if they knew the token would give them more food later on. Most animals wouldn’t be able to resist and would snap up the treat on offer now.

What helps ravens stick together?

Vel-crow!

Ha Ha !

Mega memories

Ravens have e xcellent memo ries.

Researchers h ave found the y can remember how different peop le have treated th em and hold grudges again st those they didn’t like !

Where’s the pair?

Find two identical ravens. Circle them and then check your answer on page 34.

HOOPLAMAG.com 17

Photo © Shutterstock

Cool tools

P A N S Y P P HA

This is part of the biggest machine on Earth! The Large Hadron Collider is a 27-km ring built 100 m underground.

It uses electric fields and strong magnets to smash tiny particles together at high speeds. These experiments help us learn more about what the universe is made of.

Mega machine

Colouring calm!

Pens, pencils or crayons at the ready!

Colour in this picture of machines hard at work.

It’s World Book Day!™ on March 6th!

Cut out this token and swap it for a book at your local bookseller or supermarket.

Discovery

DEN

Machines make it easy! t Hard work takes effort! Machines are things tha help us do a job more easily with less effort.

Most machines in the world are built by combining just six simple machines in different ways.

1

By putting these simple machines together you can make all sorts of complex machines.

Lever A lever is made up of a rod and a point that it rests on, called a fulcrum.

When you push down on one end, you can lift a heavy weight (called the load) on the other end. The closer the fulcrum is to the load, the less effort is needed to lift it. A see-saw is a lever!

2

Ramp

s an own a n k o s l ine, a simple h y c r a e v m a is This plane, vy object. d e n i l inc hea to a ano in i ifting a l p f a o t y f wa ible g to li imposs t e tryin s n o i g m l a Im be a ch would it’s mu t t i u – b , n va t up . straigh t i t f a ramp i l p u to t i h to pus easier

The chain and gears are a kind of pulley system

20 HOOPLAMAG.com

A car’s whe els a the other w nd axles work ay around.

The greater for ce from the turns the w heels to inc axle rea distance co vered by ea se the ch turn.

3 Wheel and axle Wheels and axles help us move loads more easily. When the wheel is fixed to the axle, they both spin at the same time. The larger wheel travels a bigger distance than the axle. It takes a small effort to turn the big wheel, and this effort is multiplied into a greater force by the axle. A doorknob is a good example of how rotating a bigger wheel can help us turn a small axle more easily.

Brake levers

The largest monster truck ever built was called Bigfoot 5. Its tyres res are each three met tall, one and a half times the height of a door!

4

Wheel and axel Wheel and axle – the pedals are the wheel because they turn in a big circle

Wedge A wedge is thick on one end and thin or sharp on the other. It can be attached to a handle to make it easier to use.

Examples are knives for cutting and axes for splitting wood. The longer and sharper a wedge, the more work it does with little effort.

Boats are wedge-shaped at the front to help them cut through the waves.

5

Screw

6

A screw changes a spinning motion into a forward or backwards motion.

Imagine trying to push a nail into a piece of wood without using a hammer. A screw is like a nail but with ridges running around it (called a thread). When you turn the screw, the thread acts like a ramp, pulling the screw into the wood. Screws are useful for holding things together but they can also lift heavy items too. A jam jar lid is a type of screw!

Pulley A pulley makes it easier to lift a weight. It is made up of a rope wrapped around a wheel that is fixed in place. One end of the rope is attached to the object that needs lifting, like a bucket in a well. A motor (or person) pulls on the other end.

Construction to cranes use pulleys s help them lift part r of buildings or othe e, machines. This cran is the known as ‘Big Carl’, ld and biggest in the wor k is currently at wor in Somerset in the UK!

What kind of music do crane operators like?

Lift the load!

The maximum load this crane can lift is 15 tonnes. The numbers show how many tons each box weighs. Which box can be added to the load?

1 2 4

22 HOOPLAMAG.com

1 1

Circle the answer and check it on page 34.

1 2

2

2

1

Pulley power!

Make your own simple pulley machine and take a toy for a ride!

d You will nee

ring,

e of st • A longorpiribecbo n yarn

ndle

• A bucket with aachae to hook pl • A hostrizrinongtaovl er , such as a the me bannister, climbing fra or door handle

Heavy metal!!

1 2 3

Find a place to try out your pulley.

You’ll need somewhere to loop your string around that is high enough so that you can lift your bucket up to it.

Tie one end of the string to the handle of the bucket.

Pull down on the other end of the string so that it comes over the handle, pulling your object up.

A single pulley doesn’t change how much effort is needed, but it does change the direction.

Pulling down is easier than pushing up because gravity helps you out.

Combining several pulleys to make a pulley system (called a block and tackle) reduces the effort needed to lift an object.

With enough pulleys, a person could lift a car!

c i f i r Ter teasers! s and then Work out the answer 34. check them on page

Word wheel Can you make six words using the letters contained in the wheel? Use these spaces to write in.

The letters can be used once each to make one seven-letter word.

What is it? (CLUE – think of a mode of transport popular with kids!)

M a c hi n e s e a Find the names of the six simple machines in the grid.

LEVER WEDGE INCLINED PLANE WHEEL AND AXLE SCREW PULLEY

rch

1 2 3 4 5 6

The words might be written forwards, backwards, horizontally, vertically or diagonally.

G X W D T M L D E E Y R P R V E

J

F Q E M G O U U U

P Z R

J

E X V D J

I N C L

F L

I

B

I N E D P L A N E

O T S C M W R U E H A I

Z

N T L K R A Z Y W F Q A H E L X A D N A L E E H W Y

Seesaw balance!

What shape would you have to add to the right side of seesaw 3 to make it balance?

Draw the correct shape.

1

! s e l d d i R

rrying a c s a uck w .

1) A tr f rocks o d a o l n s bega a huge k c o r e ly th ople Sudden . A lot of pe out rushed e to fall n o o tn saw bu the driver. to tell ot?

Why n

Did you know... a meowing machine was invented in Japan in 1963 to scare away rodents!

Hey, that’s my job!

Here’s a tip: In picture 1 you can see that a square weighs the same as two circles and one triangle, and in picture two you can see that one triangle weighs the same as two circles.

2

2) It goes u p and at the same time goes down.

If you bring a frien d, then the fun won ’t end.

What is it?

Learn the lingo!

Skateboarding tricks have some funny names.

Most of these are real but two are made-up!

Tick the two you think are NOT real tricks.

3

3) I have water inside because your clothes keep me busy.

I spin and spin and yet I’m never dizzy!

What am I?

Airwalk Bumbershoot Darkslide Goofy-foot Kickflip Wabbit Nose pick Pop shove-it

HOOPLAMAG.com 25

BEING me My name is

I have g n i h t e m o This is s recently… t a d r a h tried

Something I don’t find easy is...

26 HOOPLAMAG.com

My mood journal The date ate is

Write about it or draw a picture!

I’m putting lots of effort into learning to play the guitar!

I would like to get better at...

is...

Something I’m really good at

I’m great at balancing a ball on my head!

I’d like to invent a machine that could...

HOOPLAMAG.com 27

Story corner

EDITH

The Inventor

By Helly Douglas

Edith was an inventor – the best inventor in town. Well, almost. Most of her inventions still needed some work!

Edith’s amazing self-closing cat flap was brilliant – if only it hadn’t shut just when the cat was halfway through! And Edith’s whistle for calling her dog was wonderful. It was just a shame that everyone else’s dogs came running too when she blew it.

When Edith heard there was a competition to invent a brand-new machine, she had to enter. Her idol, the famous inventor Jenny Rocket, was going to be the judge!

Edith plotted and planned and, every day after school, she rushed home to work on her incredible invention. At last it was finished – just in time for the competition.

28 HOOPLAMAG.com

Edith stood back to admire her machine. It was a masterpiece – a giant, light-up music box! She was sure it would win first prize.

Everyone would certainly gasp when the lights sparked up and the music began to play.

with a heavy heart. The other children were excited. They couldn’t wait to show the judge their designs. Edith felt like a total failure. Maybe she wasn’t an inventor after all.

Edith grabbed the handle and slowly turned it. Nothing happened. The machine needed more power. Edith turned the handle faster, but no matter how quickly she went, she couldn’t get more than a flicker from the lights.

Exhausted, Edith slumped to the ground. There was no way this would win and she had run out of time to fix it.

Jenny Rocket burst through the doors on her bike and rode around the hall, waving. Everyone applauded. She leant her bike against the wall and strode around the room to see the inventions on display.

Edith gulped as she came over.

“Can you tell me about your wonderful machine?” she asked.

That night, Edith went to the town hall and set up her music machine

HOOPLAMAG.com 29

“It’s a music machine that lights up,” Edith muttered.

Jenny Rocket clapped delightedly.

“What a fantastic idea! Show me how it works.”

Edith furiously turned the handle faster than she’d ever managed before. Horribly slow music started to whine and the lights flickered on and off.

Someone nearby laughed.

Defeated and out of breath, Edith dropped the handle. Her cheeks were bright red.

Jenny Rocket smiled. “Don’t worry,” she said. “All my inventions went wrong when I was younger.

You mustn’t give up.”

30 HOOPLAMAG.com

Edith hid behind her machine as the judge moved on. She couldn’t wait for the competition to end.

The judging had almost finished when suddenly the lights went out, plunging the hall into darkness.

No one could get the lights to work and they couldn’t carry on in the dark. The competition was going to be cancelled, and all the children felt very disappointed.

Edith thought for a moment. If only she was stronger, she could have turned the handle of her machine faster and lit up the room.

In the gloomy dark, Edith could just see Jenny Rocket climbing

onto her bike. The light from her helmet lit up the spokes of her wheels. It gave Edith an idea.

“Don’t go!” she shouted, and ran across the hall. “I know how to light up the room!”

Edith carefully connected Jenny Rocket’s bike to her machine. She then jumped onto the bike and started pedalling furiously.

With a groan, the machine flickered on and music began to play. As Edith pedalled faster, the lights shone brighter and brighter.

Everyone cheered as light and music from the machine filled the room.

Edith kept cycling as Jenny Rocket finished her judging. Around her, children started to dance to the music. The competition was turning into a dance party!

Jenny Rocket stepped up to the stage and cleared her throat. The hall fell silent. “The best inventions solve a problem. Tonight, we had a problem and one person saved the day. The winner is… Edith!”

The hall erupted with cheers.

Everyone started dancing around Edith and her wonderful music machine. She had done it. She really was the best inventor in town!

L e t t e rs

Hi, I’m Tanj! Write to me or send me a photo of your artwork, craft or activity to hello@hooplamag.com and it might appear on this page next month plus, you might win a prize!

Tom and Jamie made a fantastic gingerbread house!

Amy, 8, m ade a snow angel!

Wi n!

Email us a photo of your makes or bakes, your artwork, a poem, story or a photo of yourself with your magazine to be in with a chance of winning an awesome prize!

Send your photo to hello@hooplamag.com or post it to us at Hoopla magazine, Unit 7 Global Business Park, 14 Wilkinson Road, Cirencester, GL7 1YZ. Don’t forget to include your name, age and address. Photos may appear in the magazine. Prize winners will be chosen at random.

32 HOOPLAMAG.com

ving Vega, 9, is lo her Hoopla magazines.

ns Congratulatio wo n Vega, you’ve e this awesom nce Snip-out Scie b o o k!

This book from Whizz Pop Bang is packed with papercraft activities to snip, fold and stick!

Congratulations to Ava, 7, who wins a Magnetic building set (issue 5) and to Steven, 6, who wins two Andy Day books – Dino Dad and Dino Dad, Ice Age (issue 6).

Qu iz 1

Put in some effor t and you’ll find the answers!

Why will the Moon turn red on March 14th?

Check your answers on page 34.

of these is a type of 4 Which bird in the corvid family? family?

a) There will be a lunar eclipse b) It’s going rusty c) There will be a big dust storm

a) A ravioli b) A ravine c) A raven

Answer:

Answer:

What is the name of the 2 biggest ever monster truck? a) Big Betty 1 b) Bigwheel 2 c) Bigfoot 5

5

Answer:

What sort of machine is a seesaw? a) A lever b) A pulley c) A screw

do you call a bicycle 3 What made for two?

6

What does the Large Hadron Collider do?

a) A bi-bicycle b) A tandem bicycle c) A pal-cycle

a) It makes rings b) It smashes particles together c) It’s a bumper car ride

Answer:

Answer:

If you need a hint, take a look at these pages: 1) 5 2) 21 3) 9 4) 16 5) 20 6) 18

Photos © Shutterstock.com

Answer:

HOOPLAMAG.com 33

A ns we r s Page 7 Perfect pieces

These are the missing pieces of the squares.

1

2

3

Page 11 Crossword

conundrum!

A B L A M N O C O N A N D C A P R I C O T S N S

O A S

These are the matching ravens.

34 HOOPLAMAG.com

Page 24 Word wheel

Page 25 Learn the

The box weighing 1 tonne can be added because there are already 14 tonnes in the load and the maximum allowed is 15 tonnes.

The seven-letter word is SCOOTER. More than 100 words can be made from the letters but here are some you might have found: core, cost, escort, root, roost, roots, rose, rots, sector, scoot, score, soot, sore, sort, store, toes, tore, torso.

G X W D T M L D E E Y R P

Page 17 Where’s the pair?

Page 25 Riddles

Page 24 Machine search

P E A N U T B U T T E R T H O N E Y I L

Page 22 Lift the load

R V E

J

F Q E M G O U U U

P Z R

J

E X V D J

I N C L

F L

I

B

I N E D P L A N E

O T S C M W R U E H A I

Z

N T L K R A Z Y W F Q A H E L X A D N A L E E H W Y

Page 25 Seesaw

balance

You would need to add a circle to make seesaw 3 balance because the square weighs the same as a triangle plus two circles (seesaw 1) and a triangle weighs the same as two circles (seesaw 2), which means a square must weigh the same as four circles.

1

2

3

1) Because the truck was a dumper truck and was tipping out its load.

2) A seesaw.

3) A washing machine.

lingo

The two that aren’t real skateboarding tricks are bumbershoot, which is another name for an umbrella, and wabbit, which means tired or exhausted!

Page 33 Quiz

1) a – The Moon will look red on March 14th because there will be a lunar eclipse.

2) c – T he biggest ever monster truck is called Bigfoot 5.

3) b – A bicycle made for two is called a tandem.

4) c – A raven is a type of corvid.

5) a – A seesaw is an example of a lever.

6) b – T he Large Hadron Collider smashes particles together.

Coming in next month’s

D iv e in t o t h e d e e p !

PL AY PI R AT E G A M ES !

EXPERI MENT WITH A PA P E R B O AT

PA I N T A BREAKING WAV E

BAKE S H I P ’S B I S C U I TS

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What is the hardest working kitchen utensil?

The sieve, because it’s always straining!

y Quirk s ble t o u Q

© Firdaus Latif, via Wikimedia Commons

a nin g A f te r c l e e, why s u o h e h t slip di d d a d o v e r? to o H e us e d ow m u c h e lb grease!

W hy w a s t he b r o o m l at e?

It h a d ove r s we p t !

Sometimes it takes only one act of kindness and caring to change a person’s life.

Jackie Chan, movie star, director, writer, martial artist and stuntman

What kind of e a r s d o es T h o m a s th e Tank Engine ha ve?

Engine-ea rs!

siest What ’s the ea a big w ay to m o v e heav y ship? tug!

With a little

Wa nt to h e a r a washing machine joke?

I’ve got loads of them!

Mindful mo ments Try saying these at the start of each day to help you find fun and happiness…

• I am positive and optimistic.

• I am full of creativity and

imagination.

• I am loved and appreciated.

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