Trolls and NorfinsWritten by Gayle Olson
These lucky little dolls with funny little faces and wild hair were born many years ago in a town in northern Jutland, Denmark. In 1951, Thomas Dam began carving little wooden trolls, while his wife and daughter began making stuffed toy trolls. In 1959 Dam family began a factory, making little vinyl trolls.Each model was designed and made in wax which was covered with copper to create mold for little creatures. Thomas Dam continued to design and create until his death in 1989. Today production continues by his son Nils and daughter Lajla who makes molds for new designs. Once upon a time... The story of trolls began many, many years ago. A kind troll named Uras lived on a small forested island called Gjol in Lim Fjord in Denmark. He lived in a cave with his very large family. As family grew bigger, cave grew smaller. Uras decided he would need to build a new and bigger cave. To make work easier, Uras cast an old ancient spell to make trolls bigger and stronger.
| | Get Your Kids MovingWritten by Laura S. Garrett, RD, LD
Are your children active? Inactivity among children is becoming an epidemic. Motivating your children to be active not only improves their health now, but it will also benefit them later in life.Here are some facts: * Lack of exercise is a major reason for growing rate of obesity among children. Rather than letting your child watch TV all day, encourage him to spend time each day in play that requires him to be physically active. * Exercise can strengthen children's bones, something they will benefit from as adults. Children who participate in weight-bearing impact sports such as running, gymnastics, tumbling, and dance have higher bone density than children whose major activity is a non-weight-bearing exercise such as swimming. * Active children may increase their chance of becoming healthy adults. Children who enjoy being active are more likely to develop lifelong, healthy habit of being physically active. Physical activity decreases risk of obesity, cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, stoke, and heart disease later in life. Simply put, people who are active on a regular basis tend to live longer than inactive individuals.
|