Gardening can be a very relaxing hobby for many people and this wonderful experience is not just for adults. Children are interested in gardening as well, if given the chance to explore nature and science in this way. Gardening can bring joy to both children and their parents alike, especially when the experience is shared together.

    The time that is spent gardening together builds precious memories within their hearts and minds for years to come. When you are gardening with your children, try to give them their own special area. Keep their area in the center of the best soil and light, as you want to make sure of a successful gardening experience.

    Plastic tools easily break and are difficult to use in the dirt, so when you are gardening with your children, give them real tools to use if possible. Even offering to let them use your tools is a way to admit the worth of the work they are doing. It is also important to talk with your children about the whole process of gardening, from planting to the harvest. They need to understand how things work and the importance of what they are doing.

    Show off the children's gardening work by taking friends and visitors for a walking tour through the garden and point out the children's particular spot. When you give attention to the children's work, this is a great motivation（动机） for children to continue wanting to be involved. Do not force children to take part when they are in a bad mood or if they are becoming bored. Instead, allow them to do something different, like building a scarecrow(稻草人)! This makes the gardening experience even more interesting. As you work together side by side with your children, you will encourage a love of the land in them, as well as creating lasting memories of time spent with you.

    The World Health Organization report compared the “obesity-related behaviors” for youngsters across 42 nations. And it reveals UK kids are among the laziest.

    Among teenage girls, the Scots topped the league table for most screen time, with 80 per cent spending at least two hours a day on computers. Wales came fourth with 76 per cent, and England seventh with 75 per cent. Girls in Armenia and Albania were least likely to spend hours idling online.

    Screen time figures for boys were even higher. Wales was second in the European “couch potato” league, with 85 per cent glued to their screens for at least two hours. Scotland was third with 84 per cent, and England 15th with 77 per cent. Boys in Switzerland and Portugal were least likely to dedicate two hours a day to sitting in front of a computer.

    Lead researcher Dr. Jo Inchley, from the University of St Andrews, said social media was impacting on kids' health. She said,“ We know there are risks, such as cyber bullying and impact on mental health. Also, there are longer-term impacts on physical health from being sedentary. One of the main challenges is that this kind of activity (social media and computer use) is so much part of young people's lives these days.” She said more needs to be done to get kids moving throughout the day.

    Dr. Steven Mann, research director for UK Active said the findings were “alarming”. He said, “Modern life has changed, but when teens are spending hours having fun with Facebook, Instagram and videogames, they simply aren't getting the exercise that they need. These alarming inactivity figures show that playtime is over before it has started for too many children, putting them at far greater risk of future conditions like heart disease, cancer and type 2 diabetes.”

    Tam Fry, from the National Obesity Forum, warned Brit teens are now “slaves to hand-held devices”. And the WHO warns four in five fat teens will continue to struggle with their weight throughout life. The report also shows less than half of UK youngsters consume fruit or veg daily.

    “We all know that exercise is good for us, but can you get the benefits without actually doing the exercise?” asks Michael Mosley.

    Having a hot bath or a sauna is a good way to soothe your limbs after exercise, but what happens if you do it instead of exercise? Dr. Steve Faulkner of Loughborough University asked me to take part in an experiment comparing the relative benefits of having a long, hot bath versus an hour of hard pedalling.

    For this study I join a group of volunteers who have all been fitted with monitors which continuously record blood sugar levels. Keeping your blood sugar levels within the normal range is an important measure of your “metabolic” fitness.

    The first part of the experiment is very relaxing, consisting of having a long, hot bath. While I sit in the bath, which they keep at 40℃, Steve closely monitors my core temperature. Once it has risen and stayed there, I am allowed out.

    A couple of hours after my bath I have a light meal. Since we want to see how having a hot bath compares with exercise we repeat the experiment.

    So what's the result?

    “One of the first things that we were looking at,” Steve says, “is the energy expenditure while you're in the bath and what we found was an 80% increase in energy expenditure just as a result of sitting in the bath for the course of an hour.”

    This is nothing like as many calories as cycling for an hour (which comes out at an average of 630 calories) but we do burn 140 calories, the equivalent of a brisk 30-minute walk.

    No matter where you are, knowing how to protect yourself and your family during an earthquake is necessary. Here are some tips for you.

    Duck, Drop, Cover and Hold

    Duck under a strong piece of furniture, if possible. Most earthquake injuries are the result of being hit by something falling on you. Drop to the floor to avoid falling or being thrown down. And protect you from flying glass. Use clothes, blankets, cushions or furniture for covering. Hold on to whatever you're using, as the ground motion may be violent. Get away from glass, bookcases or anything heavy that could fall over on you.

    Stay away from the doors

    Doorways used to be recommended but most experts now say: stay away from them. Doors can suddenly shut with bone crushing force. Anyway, the experts say that in modern construction a doorway is no stronger than any other location along the wall.

    Try to run outside

    While the ground is moving, the greatest danger is of being injured by taking a fall or being hit by a falling piece of building as you exit. If you smell gas or when the shaking stops, calmly, carefully make your way out and get clear of the building. Before you leave, get shoes on because you will be walking on broken glass. If you're in a crowd, stay calm, and take what can cover you and find where you are. In a crowd the greatest dangers are panic and the rush for an exit.

    It is never too early, or too late, to encourage a child to read. With the chill (寒冷)of winter upon us, the following is a list of wonderful stories with winter and or snow themes.

    Waiting for Winter

    It was written by Sebastian Meschenmoser. A little squirrel(松鼠), who has never seen snow, is determined that he will not miss it this year. He gets the help of his good friends, a bear and a hedgehog, trying to stay a- wake until they can all see the first snowfall of winter. This book is a wonderful story to read aloud to young children or for older children to read by themselves.

    The Snowy Day

    The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats is a short read, but since its first publication it has been loved by millions. It tells about a beautiful story about the magic and possibility of the first snowfall of winter, which appeals to young and older children.

    The Polar Express

    Popularized by the 2004 Warner Brothers all-digital film, The Polar Express was first published in 1985. The hero of this story is a boy who is given the opportunity to receive a gift from Santa himself. A magical train appears outside his bedroom window» taking him away on a fantastic journey to the North Pole.

    Mr. Willowby's Christmas Tree

    It was written by Robert E. Barry. Mr Willowby orders a lovely new Christmas tree, and when it is delivered to his home he finds it far too tall. He has the top of the tree cut off in order to make it just the right height. This book follows the treetop on its journey through the forest, where it brings the joy of the holidays for some woodland creatures. This book teaches us a valuable lesson about the joy of giving, and happiness that it can bring to the hearts of recipients (接受者).

Recycled, reused and renewable textiles（纺织品）only go so far in solving the fast-fashion crisis, writes Alexandra Carlton. The answer may lie in consumption.

Australia is the world's second-largest consumer of clothing, generating 800,000 tonnes of textile waste yearly. Individuals consume about 27 kilograms of new clothes annually and cast 23 kilograms of waste. Globally, the situation is even more severe, with an estimated 92million tonnes of clothing waste produced each year. This equates to a truckload of clothes entering landfills every second.

If you want to stop our unwanted clothes from jamming the planet, you'd assume that reusing and recycling would lead the discussion. However, full clothes recycling—breaking clothes down to their base fibres to create new ones—is no simple task. Clothes consist of various fibres, fasteners, and decorations that traditionally require painstaking manual（手工的）separation. Yet, innovation is underway, such as the Swedish large-scale sorting facility Siptex, where textiles can be sorted by color and material using infrared（红外线）technology.

Brands like Adelaide's Autark focus on minimizing output. "I keep my collections tightly designed and production numbers slim," says designer Sophia McMahon. Sometimes this means she doesn't have the exact clothes someone wants in store, but customers are patient while she makes items to order because they understand her brand's essence.

Startups like AirRobe are giving clothes a second life and could be part of the solution. The clothing resale market is currently worth 49 billion and is expected to reach 103 billion by 2025. AirRobe lets customers add new purchases to their digital wardrobe so they can be resold later without uploading photos or descriptions. "The ‘re-economy'—the reuse and recycle market sector—will be a real opportunity for us," says Erica Berchtold, CEO of The Iconic.

Researchers Samantha Sharpe and Taylor Brydges from the University of Technology Sydney advocate a widespread shift among consumers towards buying fewer, higher-quality clothes besides these innovations.