Just For Fun

Explainers
KIDS NEWS 2024: Mark Knight's 2024 Christmas card suggests Santa might have to pedal hard to keep the Christmas tree lights on as an energy supply crisis looms in Australia. Picture: Mark Knight

Who will leave lights on for Santa?

Herald Sun cartoonist Mark Knight has come up with a festive plan for keeping the lights on over Christmas as the electricity grid struggles with supply – but can Santa keep up with demand?

Just for Fun
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 28: The Bluey balloon floats the Annual Thanksgiving Day Parade on November 28, 2024 in New York City. This is the 98th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade which was first held in 1924 and only paused from 1942 to 1944 during World War II.   Kena Betancur/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by KENA BETANCUR / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

Bursting Bluey rescued just in time

A giant inflatable Bluey was the star of the show at this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade – but because of a last minute emergency, the loveable blue heeler almost didn’t make it

VIDEOAnimals
**Please do not use until we have permission**

A green tree frog was captured devouring a keelback snake on Tuesday in Cedar Vale, a suburb of Logan. Picture: Melissa MacPherson

Famished frog feasts on snake

An Australian couple have recounted the extraordinary moment they came across a 10cm green tree frog as it slowly consumed a keelback snake thought to be about 25 cm long

Just for Fun
The bottle was thrown into the Atlantic in 2008.

Message in a bottle washes ashore

A stunned Aussie has stumbled across a bottle with a rolled up letter inside it that was thrown into the sea from Brazil 16 years ago. But who wrote the letter and what did it say?

VIDEOJust for Fun
World’s tallest and shortest women Rumeysa Gelgi and Jyoti Amge meet

World’s tallest and shortest meet

They may be a world record apart in height, but when the world’s tallest woman and the world’s shortest woman recently met for tea they were surprised to find they had a lot in common

Funny
Lego whiz kid Connor Brennan , 17, with his new model of the Adelaide skyline, on May 13th, 2021, at his  Redwood Park home.
Picture: Tom Huntley

Lego whiz builds mini hometown

Teenager Connor Brennan feels right at home building with Lego, so it makes sense for him to create a mini version of his hometown, Adelaide

Funny
ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA - NewsWire Photos May 12, 2021: The stats on the most popular baby names are in ... for girls, Charlotte has come in at the top spot for the 8th time in 10 years and Oliver is the most popular boys' name. Picture of baby Charlotte, 5 months (wearing a bow), and Oliver, 7 months. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Naomi Jellicoe

Charlotte still queen of the playground

The 2021 Baby Names Report is out, which analyses trends over the past decade. For the eighth time in 10 years, Charlotte is the top girls’ name with Oliver also consistently number one for boys

News
Mark Knight cartoon for Monday 3rd of May 2021 Herald Sun Newspaper .

Helping Aussies leave the kitchen table

Despite new childcare subsidies intended to make it cheaper for adults to go back to workplaces, Mark Knight wonders whether anyone actually wants to get out of trackpants and slippers

Funny
Why pranking could be good for the soul (without going too far). Lifestyle and playful photos of Emily, her husband and their two kids in the yard with pranking props (rubber snakes/spiders). Colourful and casual clothing, eyes to camera shots for SMARTdaily cover photo.    Cassie, 10, and Jake, 8, in their room. Picture: Alex Coppel.

Why pranks can be good for you

Playing tricks can relieve stress and raise a smile – and kids who share their funniest prank could end up with a character named after them in the next Funny Kid book!

Spelling Bee
SMART: PM'S SPELLING BEE. Akash Vukoti , now 11, made history as the youngest ever competitor in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in the US and has thrown his support behind the Prime Minister's Spelling Bee in Australia.
A child prodigy inducted into American Mensa aged three, he has since become a household name in the US, with TV appearances  including Dancing with the Stars and Little Big Shots. Akash has over 250,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel. Akash is pictured at home in Texas. Picture: supplied.

Super speller backs PM’s Spelling Bee

US spelling whiz and YouTube star Akash Vukoti has some advice for students sitting the Prime Minister’s Spelling Bee from today and those still planning to sign up before registrations close on March 24

EXPLAINERExplainers
ItÕs the year of the Ox and with the Chinese New Year approaching, Lion Dancers are doing their thing in Chinatown. 5 February 2021. Picture Dean Martin

Dancers - Raymond Nguyen (guy on right with Lion head), Long Taing (guy with glasses with lion head), Dung Huynh (ail on left ) and Dean Coleman (tail on right )

Welcome to the Year of the Ox

Millions — perhaps billions — of people around the world are preparing for a very important annual celebration — Chinese or Lunar New Year. Here’s what you need to know to join the fun