Bread that is left uncovered gets dry.

Bread that is covered too long gets mold on it

Melting: Butter melts if you leave it out on a hot day. Butter melts if you heat it in a saucepan on the stove. Ice melts and ice cream melts. It is better to have ice cream melt in your mouth unless you prefer "soup ice cream."

Whipping: Potatoes that are cooked and beaten are called mashed potatoes. Egg whites that are whipped are called meringue when it's on top of a pie, and whipped cream that is whipped too long is called butter. It you make butter this way, (probably by accident) add salt to the whipped cream. But your children won't believe it's butter until you add a few drops of yellow food coloring.

Pets

Anything that lives can be a pet. It all depends upon your tastes and your psychological background. If you are squeamish about hamsters and white mice for pets, you will almost certainly transfer this fear to your child. If your child has a fancy for worms and you can't stand them, encourage caterpillars or lightning bugs.

Many small creatures such as butterflies or lizards are happier in their own homes, which are not inside bottles.

Insects: Don't underestimate insects as pets for small children. Insects breathe, hear, see, smell, taste, and feel. They don't take up nearly as much room as a German Shepherd. And they eat less. Just add a new green leaf every day. Part of a nylon stocking stretched tight over the jar and held with a rubber band gives them more air than a few holes poked in the top. It's good to know the names of some good insects like lady bug, and the bad ones like aphis and mosquitoes. (Lady bugs eat aphis.)

Angleworms: Angleworms can be kept in a box of soil and each worm given a name and treated like a friend.

Caterpillars: A caterpillar that has formed a web around itself can be found on leaves of bushes and trees. This cocoon can be kept inside a jar with air holes, and a butterfly should emerge.

Fish: Guppies are good for small children because they carry their eggs in their stomach and give birth to real live fish. Most goldfish in a bowl are not terribly fascinating, even when you find out that fish have ears buried in their heads, and noses, not to breathe through, but to smell through. They breathe through their gills.

Turtles: The little dime-store turtle is fine, but the bigger box turtle is more fun. He doesn't live in water and can stay in a carton or the whole back yard if he is fenced. He likes raw meat and lettuce leaves.

Fowl: It's hard to make a pet out of a chicken, but a duck will let you hold him, and he will follw you. Girl ducks lay eggs (in a nest) that are good to eat. A duck in the garden will eat all the snails as well as the bugs. But they are also vegetarians and like primroses, too. If you take the quack out of a duck because the neighbors complain, you must be prepared to watch over him for life, as he cannot protect himself. The same is true of de-scenting a skunk and we will mention it here, as we do not plan a special section on skunks as pets.

Frogs: A frog starts his life as an egg and inside the egg is an embryo. The embryo hatches into a tadpole and at this point your child's experience with it will probably begin. In a few weeks he gets two back legs and two front legs and now he is a polly-wog. When his tail disappears he is a frog, and frogs can jump and get away from you, so don't let him out of your sight or you won't have him for long.

Birds: Parakeets or budgies have taken the country by storm in the last few years. Two parakeets in a cage will talk to each other and are not so likely to talk to you. Even if parakeets don't talk, they are pretty, easy to care for, and will sit on the child's shoulder or finger. They need to be let out of their cage every day to exercise their wings. They live to an old age if windows are closed and the cats are outside.

Cats: These long-suffering animals are very good with small children, provided they have both grown up knowing each other when each was small. They are willing to play "Baby" and will line up with the Teddy bears on the beds at night Something that purrs when you hug it seems to give special comfort A very good experience for the child is to see her mother cat have babies.

Dogs: No two people could ever agree on the type of dog for small children. But generally, it's a good idea that if the child is very small, the dog should be pretty big in order to take care of itself.

A good place for a puppy is in an old play pen. Tear open cardboard boxes and line the sides of the pen so he can't get out

If the puppy gets lonesome at night, the sound of a clock ticking close to him offers comfort

Or if he seems cold, a bottle of warm water with a tight lid can be placed in his box.

Two or three jingle bells sewed tight in a piece of cloth is a good toy for a puppy, and pacifiers are fun for him to chew on.