The Big Book of Girl Stuff

by Bart King

If you start by thinking about what you LOVE to do, you’re probably on the right track to finding your hobby. We’re assuming that you know about classic activities like Cat’s Cradle (and other string games), face painting, tie-dying T-shirts, and outer-space exploration.

  Activities

  While you’re figuring out your new passion, take a look at some of the following activities. We have listed them from the easiest to the most challenging.

  Arm Shortening

  Talk about being limber!

  You will need: A wall, an arm, a hand at the end of the arm, fingers.

  1. Face a wall. Stand up straight!

  2. Extend an arm and move your feet until your fingers just touch the wall.

  3. Keeping your arm straight, bring it down and behind you.

  4. Now bring your arm back up to its original position. It’s shorter!

  Want to know why this works? (Come on, you do, don’t you?).[5]

  The Ultimate Makeover

  How much do you trust your friends?

  You will need: A friend who is a good sport, makeup supplies for the face (no mascara!), a blindfold.

  This is a super-hilarious idea. You need at least two girls to play, although audience members will get a huge kick out of it.

  The two girls sit and face each other. One girl will apply makeup to the other’s face, but the trick is that the girl applying the makeup has to do it blindfolded! That’s why it’s important that the makeup be safe to use on the face, especially if it accidentally gets on the lips or eyes.

  The audience can gather around and watch (no hints!) as the blindfolded girl applies makeup. When she’s done, the two girls switch roles, but nobody is allowed to look in the mirror until both are done. Then they can look!

  Option: A different version of this game is getting a supply of hairclips, barrettes, combs, and brushes and having the girls do each other’s hair.

  Multi-Tasking

  A new twist on doing two things at once!

  You will need: A foot and a hand.

  It is commonly believed that girls are better at multi-tasking than boys. Let’s test that! Sit down. Lift your right foot off the floor. Start making clockwise circles in the air with your foot.

  Good! Now keep circling your foot and hold your left hand in the air in front of you. Pretend that you are going to use your finger to make a number “6” in the air in front of you.

  Now put the two parts together! Circle your right foot clockwise and make a “6” in the air with your left hand. Tough, huh? If you’re like most girls, your foot will change directions even though you don’t want it to. Try experimenting with different hand-and-foot combinations and directions.

  Quick Summer Fun!

  If you have access to a swimming pool, drag a kid’s inflatable pool over to it. (Just blow it up, but don’t put any water in it.) You can use the inflatable pool like a boat inside the larger pool!

  Money Magic

  This trick will make you richer! (In a very general, non-money way.)

  You will need: A dollar bill, two paper clips.

  Take a dollar bill (or any other denomination) and fold it as the illustration shows. Then put the paperclips on the bill as shown. Tell your audience to get ready, and then quickly pull the ends of the dollar bill apart from each other. The paper clips will fly up and when they come down, they will be magically connected!

  Contagious Yawns on Demand

  Just open wide . . . soon everyone else will be too!

  You will need: A mouth and a group of people.

  You know that people yawn when they are bored or tired. There are other reasons to yawn; lots of us yawn when we’re nervous! But strangely, people also yawn just because they saw someone else yawn first. (You may even yawn just reading about yawns!) These are called contagious yawns.

  One out of two people who see someone else yawn will usually open wide and yawn themselves. To test this theory, try yawning in a subtle (but noticeable) way when you are with a group of people. See if anyone else then yawns in the next thirty seconds.

  Now, here’s the cool part. People who imitate someone else’s yawns (without thinking about it) are more empathetic than most. That means that they are sensitive to other people and their feelings. Watch who yawns and make a mental note: They are sensitive!

  Make a Dork Album

  Celebrate your inner dork!

  You will need: Embarrassing pictures of yourself and/or a friend, a small picture album.

  Round up the worst, least flattering photos of yourself you can find. You know, the pictures where your eyes are closed, where you didn’t know someone was going to take a picture, where you just woke up in the morning, or where you made a horrible face on purpose but then were surprised at just how horrible it was . . . those pictures! Then sort through them and pick the cream of the dorkiest photos.

  Once you have your All-Star Lineup, fill a small photo album with them. This will provide you with laughs when you may be taking life too seriously. These also make great gifts for friends! You can make them a Dork Album of just your friend, just you, or both of you together.

  Dress-Up Day!

  Tired of playing a joke on one person at a time?

  You will need: Friends.

  Persuade all your friends that they simply must dress up in a certain style on a particular day. It could be Hawaiian or 1960s or mismatched clothing—but have a theme and really push for it.

  Then when the “Dress-Up Day” rolls around, just wear your regular clothing. When you see your friends at school in their floral shirts or tie-dye, they will be surprised. “Why aren’t you dressed up? This was YOUR idea!” they will ask. Act very casual and say, “I changed my mind.” Their expressions will give you laughs for a long time. (Hopefully, they won’t be mad at you for a long time, too!)

  Chain, Chain, Chain . . . Chain of Daisies

  Organic jewelry has never been better!

  You will need: Daisies, a pocket knife. (Other long-stemmed flowers can also work, even dandelions.)

  You can make a daisy-crown with this method, which may be the coolest thing of all time. Other possibilities include daisy belts, daisy bracelets, daisy anklets, and daisy chokers. (“Hey, get these daisies off of me!”) You may need as many as 35 to 40 daisies for a belt, but fewer for other daisy chains.

  Cut a daisy stem so that it’s about 3 to 4 inches long. Cut a small slit about halfway down the stem; then do the same thing with the remaining flowers.

  Take a daisy and stick its stem through the hole of one of the other daisies. Then take another daisy and put it into the hole of the daisy you just stuck through the first one. Keep doing that! Work your way along, testing for length and straightening the stems, until you only have one daisy left. Then hook that into your first daisy. Put on your crown and find something to use for a throne. The woodland creatures will soon be there to pay respect and compliment you on your beauty.

  Note: Don’t use roses for this. Think of the thorns!

  *The word daisy originally meant “day’s eye.” So that means the petals are the flower’s eyelashes! Cute!

  Fortune-Teller Note

  What? You’ve never made one of these?

  You will need: A square piece of paper, a pen or pencil.

  In case you’ve never folded up a fortune-teller, here’s how to do it:

  1. First up, get a square piece of paper. Then just fold it in half. Now unfold it.

  2. Fold each of the four corners of the paper to the center point. Leave them folded down, and turn the paper over.

  3. On the back side of the folded piece of paper, take each of the four corners and fold them down to the center point. Then number each of the eight triangular folds.

  4. Now you need eight FORTUNES. You need to invent these. In addition to “yes” and “no” type answers, you may want to have some “maybe” and “random” fortunes. For example, you could have fortunes that read:

  We sense an answer in the air .
. . what does the wind whisper?

  The future holds great promise.

  Who’re you kidding, sister?

  Popsicles are good!

  Go ask the Magic-8 Ball®!

  Possible but not probable.

  You know the answer in your heart.

  Absolutely yes.

  Not a chance!

  Write these fortunes under the triangles with the numbers.

  5. Then turn the paper over and write the name of a color over each of the squares. Presto-change-o! You’re ready to start fortune-telling!

  Show a friend the colors she has to pick from. After she picks one of the four colors, turn the “color” side of the fortune teller down. Stick a thumb and forefinger into “pinching position” on each side.

  You will start spelling out the color, opening and closing the fortune-teller with each letter. Once you finish, have your friend pick one of the four numbers that are revealed on the inside of the fortune-teller.

  Again, open and close the fortune-teller as many times as the number she picked. Your friend again picks one of the four visible interior numbers, and this is the fortune that you peel back and open. If you follow all these steps, we can say with certainty that the future holds great promise.

  It’s Different for Girls!

  This experiment often demonstrates the natural superiority of girls!

  You will need: one male human (ten years old or older), one female human (ten years old or older), one or two lip-gloss, ChapStick, or lipstick containers.

  1. Have your girl and boy volunteers kneel down on the floor. Make sure that they keep their legs together.

  2. Now, have both of them bend forward and put their elbows up against their knees. Their forearms should extend forward from the knees, and their palms should be flat against the floor. (Their legs should still be together.)

  3. Place the lip-gloss containers (or whatever you’re using) upright at the end their fingers.

  4. Okay, now you’re ready! Have both of them now kneel up straight with legs still together. Have them clasp their hands behind their backs, above their waists.

  5. Now tell them this: “Keeping your arms and legs in position, lean forward, knock the lip-gloss container over with your nose, and return to the kneeling up position.”

  Watch! The odds are very high that the girl can do it. The odds are very high that the boy can’t!

  The reason this happens is because girls tend to have their body weight down lower than boys. They can balance better!

  Dollar Ring

  How to make a bling-bling ring!

  You will need: Any U.S. paper money.

  If you’re looking for a fun way to “wear” your lunch money, this is it. Girls have been using this design for a long time; it dates back to at least the 1930s!

  1. Take a dollar bill (the crisper, the better) and fold the white border on the top and bottom over to the front side.

  2. Then fold the bill exactly in half, lengthwise. Okay? Now do it again! (So you fold the bill in half twice lengthwise.) The big ONE insignia should be framed by your fold.

  3. Hold the bill in front of you. On the left end, fold the white border of the end back and away from you. Good! Now make another fold the same way that frames the picture of the ONE.

  4. Start turning the folded bill into the shape as shown; you may want to wrap it around your finger to give it the shape you’ll want. Make sure it looks like the picture!

  5. With the folded end on the left, make a fold so that the right-side of the bill bends straight up. Then wrap and fold it over and down as the picture shows.

  6. You’re almost done! Loop the folded end (on your left) around in a circle so that the symbol of the ONE ends up right in front of the folded area that you made with step 5. There should be a little tail hanging down below it.

  7. Take the tail and wrap it up and behind the folded symbol of the ONE. Then keep going around and fold it over the top. (If it’s really long, you may need to wrap it a little around the bottom too.)

  8. Tuck that last little fold to the right of the symbol ONE into the gap between the folded “badge” and the ring itself. This holds the whole thing together!

  9. Walk around like you’re cool!

  Tip: Don’t wear your ring around any area with mean people who might want your pretty jewelry!

  Black Light Freak-Out

  It doesn’t seem like this would work that well. It does!

  You will need: a black light, Liquid Tide, a bubble blower.

  The human eye can’t see “black light.” You can buy black light light bulbs; they are sometimes used for taking night photographs or for cool tricks like this. Tide detergent has a fluorescent chemical in it that shows up under black light really well. So here’s what you do:

  Mix 1/3 cup of Liquid Tide with the same amount of water. Turn on your black light. Dip your bubble blower into your mixture and blow bubbles. They will glow and look purple-freaky! This is a great thing to do at slumber parties and on Halloween.

  Soda Blast!

  It’s dramatic and it’s safe.

  You will need: A bottle of diet soda (20 ounces minimum), some Mentos breath mints, a pipe or test tube or cardboard roll you can stack the Mentos in.

  For best results, let your soda sit at room temperature for a day before you use it, and do not jostle the bottle around. You will want to do this activity outside. The bigger the soda bottle you’re using, the more room you will need.

  To begin, unroll your Mentos package. Your goal will be to dump all of them into the soda bottle at the same time. The best way to do this is to stack them inside a test tube or short piece of pipe. Hold a small card under them so they don’t fall out.

  Now slowly open the bottle of soda. Position your stack of Mentos directly over the mouth of the bottle. Remember, you want them all to go in together. When it’s all lined up, slide the card away from the bottom of the stack and let them fall in. Then stand back. The contents of the bottle will erupt straight up in an amazing way!

  How does it work? All the carbon dioxide in the bottle is attracted to the Mentos. The little bubbles combine to make big bubbles, and the big bubbles combine to make an eruption. There will probably still be soda in the bottle after your blast goes off, so if you have more Mentos, you can do the trick again with the same container of soda.

  Journalism

  “. . . in the end, I always come back to my diary. It’s where I start and finish.”

  —Anne Frank

  Does calling it a “diary” make it less cool?

  You will need: Uh . . . A journal? Your favorite pen.

  As they get older, many girls start looking inward and thinking hard about their lives. They ask the important questions: Who am I? Who are you? Where did I leave my favorite pen? This is a time of life when you need a place to record your wishes, secrets, and feelings for yourself.

  A journal can be an amazing document to look back over and see what was important to you last year or five years ago. You’re basically making your own time capsule! Whether you think you’re a good writer or not doesn’t matter. The journal is for YOU, although we bet you’ll eventually want to share parts of it with others.

  Where you actually write may matter. Although it’s easy to write on a computer, there is something really personal about a journal that is handwritten. Here are some different ways you can approach your journal:

  Absolutely Creative Journal: Poems, doodles, ideas, sketches, made-up languages, and glued-in collages collide in a beautifully messy work of art and you.

  “Get the Bad Juju Out” Journal: This is perfect therapy. If you pour all of your insecurities, fears, and hatred out into your journal, guess what’s left inside you? Nothing but good stuff!

  Gratitude Journal: Think about what you have to be grateful for, and write about how, even during the tough times, life is good.

  “Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what yo
u don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.”

  —Oprah Winfrey

  Decompression Journal: By writing down the day’s events, you can process through them and gain perspective. Keeping a journal like this is like having a front-row seat at the movie of your life.

  Journalistic Journal: Once you’ve been writing for a while, you may want to encourage your friends to give you writing or artwork they’ve done and put it into a “joint journal” or “’zine.” ’Zines are do-it-yourself (D.I.Y.) publications, but they don’t have to be on paper. Your website could be where your ’zine material is, which is when you stop being a ziner and become a blogger (web-logger).

  Or, you can just combine all of the above ideas into one journal! Try to make time for writing, but don’t feel like you need to make an entry every day . . . that turns the journal into a chore, instead of the terrific outlet of fun, detoxing, and creativity for you that it can be.

  And remember: Just like school yearbooks, the longer you have your journal, the more priceless it is!

  *Oops, One More Thing! If you leave your journal out, someone is going to read it. (That’s what little brothers are for, right?) So if you’re writing private thoughts, it would be best if nobody knew it existed. Be sure to hide the journal in a good spot. Not under the bed or in a drawer. Try the pocket of a jacket that you have in the back of your closet. If it’s on the computer, protect it with a password. Or just keep it in another dimension!