NEW: Printable learning aids The high cost of traditional publishing makes it very expensive to produce printed materials related to our content. Advances in "ePublishing" remove that barrier. By publishing digital files, we can offer useful products at very low prices. For example, our Spatial Concepts is a very popular online learning tool. It is great for use by a child in front of a computer, but may difficult to use with a group of children unless you enlarge the images. A printed version could be more effective for groups. To meet this need, we created printable versions of: A Game of Opposites, Spatial Concepts, A Rainbow of Frogs, Crocodile Smiles, Mix and Match Vehicles, Mix and Match Nutcrackers and Animal Riddles Each set is available as a pdf file in an 8.5x11 inch format that you can purchase, download, and print. Crocodile Smiles and Mix and Match Nutcrackers have the fewest pages and cost only $1.99 each. The others are $2.99. Visit the Meddybemps Store page to preview the products and for more information.

NEW: Where to go if you've lost any marbles or if you simply need cheering up We sometimes find what might best be called Travel Treasures. These are people, places, or things that are so interesting and/or delightful that we feel the need to tell you about them. We decided to introduce you to some of our favorites. Our first Travel Treasure is The Moon Marble Company. Note: We were not paid or compensated in any way for this recommendation.

Pumpkin Pirates Tour Germany Follow the Three Pumpkin Pirates as they tour royal castles, explore ancient towns, and cruise down the Rhine. Look over their shoulders at cuckoo clocks, hay ghosts and a very pretty sunrise in Bavaria. 60 page German Tour

A fresh look at the voyages of the ghost ship Compass Rosie New content and a new look means new fun with the Pumpkin Pirates and their voyages of discovery. Australia is the first stop, with more destinations appearing soon. Read the Legend, tour the ship, and view 42 fine photos of Australian subjects. Set sail with The Ghost Ship Compass Rosie.

A church steeple rises above our miniature village The Meddybemps Minature Village now includes 33 structures you can print, cut out and assemble. The latest is a church complete with wedding party. A grocery store and filling station were added earlier this year. These buildings are just the right size to use with those popular little wooden trains.

Word Puppies, Pirates, and Fun with Vocabulary Words Once in a while we wonder, "What if...?" How could a teacher or parent present vocabulary words in a new and playful fashion? What if the words were on bones and the students were like hungry puppies, eager to "chew" on new words? Understood words could be collected and put in the individual puppies' dog houses. Sound like fun? See: Word Puppies to see how it turned out. Join the Three Pumpkin Pirates as they discover new words in Alaska in a sample lesson.

A "Super Menu" featuring 151 llustrated Links We wondered if a page of illustrated links would make it easier for children, parents and teachers to find their favorite activities, games and stories on Meddybemps.com and to discover some they haven't tried. So, we're launching a Skills Development Super Menu. The links are arranged by skills development category. See if it's helpful to you and let us know. Write to Jerry at bananas@meddybemps.com.

It's time to decorate the Christmas tree We just completed a new drag and drop game in which you pick a tree and cover it with your choice of ornaments. It's simple Christmas Tree Fun. There is also a link to an original song (and a video) about decorating Chrtistmas Trees, written by Humberto Almaraz.

Three Pumpkin Pirates-The Movie Our second video features Susan's wonderfully expressive reading of Three Pumpkin Pirates. I reworked the original artwork and added a few new illustrations to the original 1998 poem and the new video. Lots of fun!

Two Brave Pixies - The Movie Many visitors have asked for stories "with sound". So we added music, narration, sound effects and "camera movement" to Two Brave Pixies and created a YouTube video. What do you think of our effort?

What would you do with a pile of leaves? This new set of activities invites children to sort leaves by color or shape, match shapes to photos, mulch and bag, even imagine jumping on a pile of leaves. Try Leaf Games with someone young and dear to you.

A new Garden Pixie story with spectacular fall colors. Sometimes a career choice takes a little courage. Meet Two Brave Pixies who desire change in the midst of their Fall gardening tasks.

More photos from the beach! Tippity Witchet presents an expanded collection of Beach Snaps for your enjoyment. See herons nesting in the tops of trees, pelicans sunning, sanderlings scurrying, a blue crab hiding in the sand, a ghost crab climbing out, and tiny coquinas exposed by the waves. It's almost like a day at the beach!

Make mouth-watering pizzas! The chefs need help keeping up with demand at Pepper's Only Pizza. Fill customers' orders or make one for yourself. Pick a size and then cover your pizza with seventeen delicious "normal" toppings or an equal number of Frogwart's "Special" (and wonderfully quirky) toppings. Yummy!

A cart full of pastries. Our activities that allow you to move pets or flowers around the screen have long been big favorites. Now children can arrange cupcakes, muffins, cakes and pies in the window of Bobby's Busy Bakery. They can also decorate birthday, wedding and theme cakes, or build a miniature bakery. You can almost smell the goodies in this cosy shop!

They made The Best Part even better! Thanks to talented friends Jacob and Toni Rhodes at Reading Rhino, But That Wasn't The Best Part is now available as an iPhone/iPod Touch App. You can read the story or choose to have it read, and you can click on sound effects and exclamations throughout the story. This is a "predictable" story, perfect for aspiring and beginning readers and great entertainment for all. Click on the iTunes button to learn more:

A monster you never knew existed. Wonder where this winter's ice came from? Perhaps you've had an overnight visit from The Terrible-Tempered Ice Dragon.

Don't be alarmed. Learning opposites is fun. Understanding opposites is an essential language arts skill for young children. There are forty words and playful illustrations for parents and teachers to work with in our new Game of Opposites.

Dust off those Nursery Rhymes! Rhymes play an important role in language development, yet fewer children learn them today. Are they old-fashioned, too violent, or not politically correct? Phooey! See what we did to give six classics a fresh reason to be heard in Rhymes and Reasons. You can make up stories like these, too. So can your children.

Look up! There are mice, moose, dragons and dinosaurs floating over your head! What do you see when you look up at the clouds? Try our Cloud Imagination Game yourself or with a child. Move your mouse pointer over the cloud photo at left. See what we saw?

Learn something new about Protective Coloration You are invited to play a quick Protective Coloration Game before or after you read the new Pigmoose story (see description and link below).

Due to the clever use of Protective Coloration, you probably can't see a Pigmoose in this picture. But you will have no trouble following his latest adventure, It's Hard To Hide A Pigmoose!. The story is in our Beantime Stories section.

Even Garden Pixies have to work at interpersonal relationships. Keeping a garden neat and tidy can be hard work for pixies and sometimes the wrecking crew feels the need to clown around. See what happens in our latest tale, Red Wrinkler and His Rowdy Cousins.

Kangaroos, Pelicans, and a Mermaid's Purse? Tippity Witchet shares beach photos and a short video in different areas of our site. New to Fun with Sea Shells are pages devoted to Other Beach Treasures recently found on the beach and a Bouncing Beach Surprise. Photos of Pelicans and Sanderlings appear at Beach Snaps.

Tippity "Tweets" on Twitter! Follow Tippity Witchet through her days on Meddybemps. She might bake brownies, do a little snorkling over a coral reef, or go on a nature hike. See what's up. Could be fun!

Our Blog is for Parents, Teachers and Librarians We're just getting our feet wet with blogging. So the title "On The Beach" is appropriate in that sense as well as in our intended meaning. Please read and contribute. It should be a great way to you to comment on our site and to share helpful ideas with other users. Jump in anytime!

Cute as a Bug! Remarkable high-speed photographs captured new characters in our very own garden. See the photos. Read a new story about a pixie named April and her pet, Bugpuppy. Are there pixies in your neighborhood? Read about the discovery of our garden pixies.

Once In A While We Have To Toot Our Own Horn From time to time, we study our site stats and browse through the major search engines to find some of the more than 5,000 sites that have created links to ours. We look to see if they include comments or a review so we can learn what parts of our site are being recommended and why. We created a page with links to a few of them to give you an idea of who links to us and what they say about Meddybemps.com. Go to Our Reputation if you are curious.

Jelly Bean Site Spins Off We try to make Meddybemps.com fun for the whole family, even though it's primary purpose is to help young children improve learning skills. While children may like the funny drawings in the Bean Cellar area, they are not likely to catch all the silly references and puns that amuse adults. So we are launching a new site called Jelly Bean Delights (www.JellyBeanDelights.com). We've freshened the material, added new content, and created some spiffy new products for our older fans and, hopefully, for a new group of Bean Spotters.

Whimsical Shirt Art is On Track for Toy Train Collectors "You just can't have too many trains!" Every railway enthusiast knows that. Someone you know needs a shirt or mug with this message. Learn more on our page at Zazzle.com. A second design shows a single engine and says, "I just need one more..." Adult's and children's sizes are available. Enjoy carloads of fun at Fun With Trains.