Have you ever been to a Zoology museum? Zoology is the fancy name for the study of animals, and most Zoology museums have some really impressive skeletons!

In Caleb and the Incredible Counting Machine, Uncle Bill works at the Zoology department of the University in their town and that’s where Grandpa goes to find him when he needs help. In this instance there is a scary Sabre Tooth Tiger in the entrance!

Did you know that Sabre Tooth Tigers are thought to have been extinct for over 10,000 years? And almost all the skeletons found were recovered from tar pits in Los Angeles, USA? They are thought to have gone after an easy meal that had got stuck in the tar – a decision they probably regretted!

Activity 1 – Double Trouble

Can you complete this mega-challenging maze? You will need to have really good eyes (or a magnifying glass!) It might help to print it out and use a pen…

And once you have done that you can colour this fine specimen to make him (or her?) look more realistic. A lovely gift for your mum…

Activity 2 – Messy Desk Memory Test

The picture below shows Uncle Bills messy desk on a good day!

Can you challenge someone else in your family to see how many objects you can remember after studying the picture for just 30 seconds? You might want to agree different lengths of time if the people playing are of very different ages.

In case you are wondering, the strange lump at the back of the desk is a chunk of “agate” – look it up and you will be amazed at the variety of colours!

Activity 3 – My Favourite… Skeleton

I’d love to see a drawing of your favourite animal – as a skeleton! Hope that doesn’t gross you out too much! What would it be for you, an elephant or a frog?!

Look it up on-line and get drawing all those bones! Send the finished picture to me at the email address on the About page and I’ll post it under Your Stuff.