Your kids are amazing especially compared with everybody else's (who seem to cry all the time). How do you show your love for your kids this holiday season? With toys that are smooth and colorful, interactive and exciting. And with ones that have educational value because you are the boss.

1). FLAX ART HOSPITAL PUZZLE AND PLAY SET

    Here is a toy that doesn't need power and the kids have to put it together themselves. This 50-piece puzzle set that can make your children active is made of soft-edged hardwood and make a complete hospital, with an X ray room. It also includes eight patients, a car and a driver. $ 135; flaxart.com.

2). TINY LOVE ACTIVITY BALL

    Sure, it's cool, but this colorful baby toy also develops problem solving and motor skills. It has a head and legs, a magnetic(磁性的) hand and a tail. Suitable for little ones from 6 to 36 months. $19.95; tinylove.com.

3). ROBOSAPIEN

    This small, remote control robot is really powerful. It performs 67 preprogrammed functions(功能), including throwing, kicking, picking up and dancing. You can even program your own function ——which, sadly, does not include doing windows. $99;  robosapienonline.com.

4). MINI PEDAL（脚踏板的）CAR

    Want a Mini Cooper but can't fit the family inside? Get one for the kids. They can jump into this Mini car, which comes in hot orange with a single adjustable(可调的) seat, and ride away. For ages 3 to 5. $189; miniusa.com (click on "gear up," then "Mini motoring gear").

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    The islands of Malta and Gozo are brilliant for a family holiday, packed with fun places to visit whatever your children's ages. The islands' small size means everywhere is within easy reach.

    Sandy beaches and swimming spots

    One of Malta's best beaches for families is soft-sanded, sheltered Golden Bay. Older children can try activities such as stand-up paddle boarding, sailing or windsurfing, while the gentle slope of the beach makes it easy for younger kids to safely paddle in the sea.

    Eating out

    Children are welcome at most restaurants, though more upmarket places often only accept older kids. There are often kids' menus that tend to offer pizza, but you can always ask for a half portion of a starter dish (portions are huge in Maltese restaurants). With a wide range of cuisines on offer, children are bound to find something they'll like, Maltese food is strongly influenced by Italian cuisine, so there's pizza and pasta galore, and some kids will love the national dish-fried rabbit

    Accommodation

    Try to schedule at least a few days on Gozo as there are lots of self-catering farmhouses with pools to rent and it's even easier to get around than Malta. Smaller hotels in Valletta usually only accept older children.

    Transport and other tips

    The easiest way to get around Malta and Gozo is to drive, but the local bus service is reliable, easy to use, and fairly inexpensive. Buses are frequent between major towns, but only roughly hourly to and from smaller places. Ferries run between Malta and Gozo, and you can take tourist boats over to Comino.

    I remember meeting him one evening with his pushcart. I had managed to sell all my papers and was coming home in the snow. It was that strange hour in downtown New York when the workers were pouring homeward in the twilight. I marched among thousands of tired men and women whom the factory whistles had unyoked. They flowed in rivers through the clothing factory districts, then down along the avenues to the East Side.

    I met my father near Cooper Union. I recognized him, a hunched, frozen figure in an old overcoat standing by a banana cart. He looked so lonely, the tears came to my eyes. Then he saw me, and his face lit with his sad, beautiful smile-Charlie Chaplin's smile.

    "Arch, it's Mikey," he said. "So you have sold your papers! Come and eat a banana."

    He offered me one. I refused it. I felt it crucial that my father sell his bananas, not give them away. He thought I was shy, and coaxed and joked with me, and made me eat the banana. It smelled of wet straw and snow.

    "You haven't sold many bananas today, pop, "I said anxiously.

    He shrugged his shoulders.

    "What can I do No one seems to want them."

    It was true. The work crowds pushed home morosely（愁眉苦脸的）over the pavements. The rusty sky darkened over New York buildings, the tall street lamps were lit, innumerable trucks, street cars and elevated trains clattered by. Nobody and nothing in the great city stopped for my father's bananas.

    "I ought to yell," said my father dolefully. "I ought to make a big noise like other peddlers, but it makes my throat sore. Anyway, I'm ashamed of yelling, it makes me feel like a fool. "

    I had eaten one of his bananas. My sick conscience told me that I ought to pay for it somehow. I must remain here and help my father.

    "I'll yell for you, pop," I volunteered.

    "Arch, no," he said," go home; you have worked enough today. Just tell momma I'll be late. "

    But I yelled and yelled. My father, standing by, spoke occasional words of praise, and said I was a wonderful yeller. Nobody else paid attention. The workers drifted past us wearily, endlessly; a defeated army wrapped in dreams of home. Elevated trains crashed; the Cooper Union clock burned above us; the sky grew black, the wind poured, the slush burned through our shoes. There were thousands of strange, silent figures pouring over the sidewalks in snow. None of them stopped to buy bananas. I yelled and yelled, nobody listened.

    My father tried to stop me at last." Nu," he said smiling to console me," that was wonderful yelling, Mikey. But it's plain we are unlucky today! Let's go home."

    I was frantic, and almost in tears. I insisted on keeping up my desperate yells. But at last my father persuaded me to leave with him.

    Coming to the end of my assistantship in Barcelona, I start to think about what the future might hold.

    It's been seven months and a few days since I arrived here and things have changed so much in what some might call a short period of time. When I first arrived in Terrassa I was excited and nervous to start a new adventure in a country I love. The first few days seem so long ago now, trying to find a place to live, organizing my timetable with the schools, meeting new people.

    However, a fortnight later, the excitement started to fade and I began to spend more than a few nights thinking about family and friends back home, wondering if I should be there with them. Everything started to change after meeting some new friends and spending good time with them, eating together and seeing new places as a group. I suppose we should never forget how important it is to have good people in your life, because they can make a difference.

    Coming back to Terrassa after visiting home for Christmas felt like returning to a second home, to a place that was mine with people I cared about. Things got even busier and more people came into my life; new friends, romance and a whole lot of good food flowed by in what seems to have been weeks, not months.

    Now, looking forward, there are some decisions to make. Should I return home to Scotland and move on with life there or try to extend my time here, perhaps make it something permanent? Experiencing other cultures or learning about the world is such an important thing to do if you have the means.

    My advice from my experience so far is to travel and try new things whenever you get the opportunity. You may find somewhere you were always supposed to be.

    Hacking isn't just for computers and smart phones. According to a study, scientists have found a way to hack a plant's genes in order to make it use sunlight more quickly. Someday, the results could increase the number of food produced around the world.

    Scientists used tobacco plants in the study because it is easy to change the plants^' genes. Hacked plants are larger than normal plants.

    Photosynthesis is the word used to describe how plants use sunlight, water and carbon dioxide to make their own food. Scientists say this is a very slow process. Plants use less than 1 percent of the energy. But by hacking a plant's genes, the scientists were able to increase the amount of leaf growth on plants between 14 and 20 percent. Scientists hacked the plant's protective system. Normally, this system starts when a plant gets too much sunlight. When the plant senses the light, it creates more leaves. When the plant is in shade, the protective system is turned off. But the process is slow.

    The new study sped up the process by changing the plant's genes, the protective system turned on and off more quickly than normal. As a result, leaf growth on the plants scientists used in the study increased. Leaf growth on two plants increased by 20 percent, while leaf growth on a third plant increased by 14 percent. Scientists conducted the study on tobacco plants. But they think the genetic changes would produce the same results in corn and rice.

    Agriculture professor Tala Awanda said the study makes sense, but cautioned the yield（产量）might not be quite so high for conventional food crops. Still, she added in an email, "this study remains a breakthrough,"