Kidsday: Summer vacation poll

We surveyed 126 students in fourth, fifth and sixth grades to find out what they like to do over the summer vacation. We gave them three choices. Here are the results:

Stay home: 58

Sleep-away camp: 35

Day camp: 33

We thought it would be interesting to see what kids like to do over the summer. Each of us enjoys a different activity.

Brooke wrote, "At sleep-away, you learn how to be independent. Sometimes at night you go by a fire, and you're with your friends every day. It's really fun."

Molly likes day camp because "You get to see new friends and old friends. When it's hot, you can swim a lot." She enjoys going to Thomas School of Horsemanship in Melville.

Jack likes to stay home. "You do not get homesick," he said. "You can sleep as late as you want. Another good thing is you get to relax as much as you want. The best thing is . . . you get to do as you please."

The video game of Life

I played the Family Game Night video game (EA Games for Xbox 360).

It has Clue, Twister, Life, Mouse Trap and Yahtzee. My favorite game was Life, because it teaches you about life. You go through college first, then you get your first job, then you get married, then you have a baby and, finally, you retire with your spouse. It taught me how to go through life when I get older.

I realized that sometimes, my opponent takes money away from me, and I still don't know how to take money back from him. I also get mad when you earn so much money, and then you have to spend it on a baby and a house.

RATING: 3 of 5

-- Kidsday Reporter Danny Striano

How-to book of science projects

I read the book "See for Yourself: More Than 100 Amazing Experiments for Science Fairs and School Projects," by Vicki Cobb (Skyhorse Publishing). There are pictures and step-by-step instructions for each project.

The projects work well if you have the right ingredients. One time, I wanted to make Oobleck -- a Dr. Seuss recipe (all you need is cornstarch and food coloring, and the food coloring is optional). I didn't have the right cornstarch, and it didn't work.

I would rate this book a 5 (out of 5), because it has a lot of great projects. I made the paper airplane in the book, and it flew pretty far. Then it crashed.

If you want to see all the other projects, get this book.

-- Kidsday Reporter Alex Wang

CLASS OF THE WEEK: Katie Dopico's fourth-grade class, WEST SIDE SCHOOL, Syosset