Kidsday: Taking care of chinchillas

My teacher adopted two chinchillas at the beginning of the school year from a couple who needed to find them a home. Our chinchillas are nocturnal, which means they sleep in the day and are awake at night.

Chinchillas come in different colors. Most chinchillas are gray, white or black. We have two white chinchillas. Their names are Milo and Mal. They are very friendly. We need to feed them and clean their cage every day. They eat pellets and hay. We change their water every day, too. Milo and Mal each get one raisin a day for a treat. We take them out and hold them while we are cleaning their cage. It is a big responsibility for all the students in my class to take care of them, but we love it.

Having chinchillas in our classroom is so cool.

My summer love: Surfing

Summer is gone, and what I miss most is surfing. Every summer, you can find me in the water at Long Beach. I surf on gentle waves. I like to surf with my dad.

First, I get in the water with my surfboard. You need a surfboard that helps you keep your balance. Then, I paddle out in the water. When I paddle, I lie on the board on my belly. Next, I wait for the perfect wave. Then, I stand on my surfboard and surf. I feel great when I'm standing on my surfboard. As you can see, surfing is awesome.

-- JAKE RUSIGNOLO/Kidsday Reporter

Kinect Adventures!

Last night, I played Kinect Adventures! (Microsoft) on free play. Free play is when you don't have to play other kids online. When you play this game, you don't use a controller; you use your body to hit the ball to the targets.

One fair thing about the game is that it has a time limit of one minute. This makes you move quickly. Another good thing about this game is its awesome graphics.

Each new adventure place you visit keeps you entertained. It sometimes takes a picture of you that you can print.

I realized while I was playing that I was learning about different animals and gravity while getting exercise, too.

When you do decide to play against others, you can't have more than three players to go against. That's a drawback.

-- CLAYTON SANTIAGO/Kidsday Reporter