Farming for Fun

In Florida we have palm trees, white sand beaches and sunshine, on the good side, and shark attacks, hurricanes and fire ants on the bad. I’ve never been bitten by a shark, the hurricanes could have been worse and fire ants? Well, it’s a constant battle for who owns my lawn. Right now they are winning.

So seeking refuge, I went to a church picnic yesterday. I sat on concrete (I thought it was safe) and chatted with friends over mouthfuls of potato salad and hotdogs, when something decided to take a mouthful of me. Ants have no respect for size.

Today I’d like to pay tribute to Milton Levine, a man who, 49 years ago, had an idea inspired by ants. If only I could be so positive. From The Playmakers:

On July 4, 1956, during an Independence Day picnic in Southern California, Milton Levine made a discovery. The kids were playing and everyone was relaxing … except for the ants. Beside the pool, the little workers were diligently going about their antly business, unnoticed by everybody except Milton. As he watched, he recalled his boyhood in Pennsylvania, where he would scoop up a mound of ants in a Mason jar and watch them dig tunnels. “It just came to me,” he said. “Why not build an ant observation toy?”

Since that July 4th day back in 1956, over 20 million Ant Farms have been sold, much to the amazement of the company’s patriarch. “I thought it would be good for maybe two years,” Milton confessed. “Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would sell for this long.” Levine is retired now at the age of 89, but still very active and very passionate about his ants. Scientists may tout their ability to lift over fifty times their own body weight, an impressive exploit to be sure, but Milton Levine has discovered their most amazing feat yet.

“I love ants,” he said to me. “They put my kids through college.”

Happy Independence Day!

BLURT FAQ

Where can I buy a copy of Blurt!?
Online you can find it at Etoys, KBToys, or Toys ‘R’ Us.
To literally hold a copy and feel it’s substantial funness, go to your local Toys ‘R’ Us store. Call first though, because they sell out quickly.

Bible Blurt! is available at Living Word, Talicor, Biffey’s, and Educational Learning Games.

What versions of Blurt! are available?
Currently, there are three versions available, Blurt!, Bible Blurt!, and the Bible Blurt! card game.

When is a new version of Blurt! coming out?
Sty tuned! More info is on the way!

I lost my Blurt! rules. Do you have a downloadable version available?
Yes. Right click on the version of Blurt! you have below and download a text file of the rules you need.

Blurt! Rules
Bible Blurt! Rules

Blurt for Literacy

So I was talking to Miss America… Now there’s a phrase you don’t get to say too often. Of course, this was back in 1997 when I attended Literacy Volunteers of America’s National Convention. The new Miss America at the time was Tara Holland, who decided to use her new-found fame and power to help eradicate illiteracy. I was there as the inventor of Blurt to announce a partnership between the game and Literacy Volunteers of America. To date, the game has helped raise over $50,000 to fight illiteracy and LVA has merged with the esteemed organization Laubach Literacy International to create ProLiteracy.

Now Mattel and Keys Publishing are beginning to brainstorm ways to do even more to promote literacy through the game Blurt, by working with Save the Children. I’ll post more details when Mattel’s version of the game comes out this fall. In the meantime, do you know of a local literacy program that could use a free Blurt game? If so, let me know!

So I was talking to Miss America and she said that literacy programs are poorly funded because people like you and I are more readily willing to give money to charities that save lives through medical advancements. The problem was (and still is) the perception that “no one is dying from illiteracy.” Yet over 50% of unemployed people in the US are functionally illiterate. Because if you can’t read, you have a hard time finding a job, and if you can’t find a job, you can’t earn money, and if you can’t earn money, you can’t afford food, and if you can’t afford food…

If you can read this, thank a teacher.