200+ Science Fair Project Ideas

Here are some of the ideas my son and I ran across when researching possible topics for his science fair project.  FYI, he eventually chose: "Which food produces the most gas?" I can't imagine a topic more inclined to appeal to adolescent males - with the possible exception of any experiment involving a catapult

Biology

1. BASIC PLANT EXPERIMENTS. 
1. How is plant growth impacted by the amount of various nutrients added (or taken away)? gravity/magnets? sound/music? movement? mowing/pruning? type/quality of soil? type/quality/quantity of light? type/quality/quantity of water? pH? electrical current? cycles of rain/drought? presence of worms/biologicals? environmental factors (flood, fire, drought)?
2. Is there a mathematical relationship between root and stem growth?
3. Does soil composition and porosity affect root pattern & growth rate?
2. BASIC MICROORGANISM EXPERIMENTS. How do water-borne microorganisms respond to different amounts of nutrients added to (or taken away from) soil? different temperatures? pH? 
3. BASIC ORGANISM EXPERIMENTS (MICE, WORMS). How do organisms respond to differnet types of food (ex: energy drinks)? music? motion? the presence/absence of predators? Can they communicate, and if so, how and under what circumstances?
4. FUN WITH ELECTROMAGNETISM. Do electromagnetic fields affect plants? microorganisms? macroorganisms?
5. WATER QUALITY. 
1. What is the effect on water quality of seasons? amount of rainfall? chemicals? runoff? excessive algae growth? growth or reduction in population of certain species (i.e., decomposers)?
2. How can polluted water be remediated?
6. ADAPTATION.  If you systematically eliminate a trait in a population (ex: remove the smallest fish, remove all plants with green flowers, remove all short plants, etc.), how many generations does it take for the trait to disappear from the population entirely? How does nature repopulate an area devastated by fire/flood/drought?
7. BOOSTING YOUR ACADEMICS. Is there a relationship between academic success and eating breakfast? time spent on homework? studying method employed? time of day chosen for studying? studying with or without music/sound? caffeine?
8. FUN WITH FUNGUS. On which foods does fungus grow best? How do fungus seeds spread in the absence of wind?
9. EAT YOUR FRUITS AND VEGETABLES  How is ripening rate impacted by presence/absense of specific chemicals? light? temperatures? humidities? presence/absense of other foods?  Which fruits/veges cause the most gas?
10. SOIL SCIENCE. What kinds of soils retain water better? promote/inhibit plant growth? promote/inhibit growth of certain plants/microorganisms/organisms? withstand compacting best?
11. VIDEO GAME SCIENCE.  Do video games effect heart rate? blood pressure? appetite? tolerance towards violence? attention span? ability to delay gratification? reflexes?
12. KIDS VS. ADULT. Do children have better reaction times than adults? do kids/adults have different resting pulse rates?
13. MUSIC. Does listening to different types of music affect heart rate? blood pressure? academic performance? mood? stress?
14. PRODUCT TESTING.  Which lotions do best job of reducing dry skin? Which suntan lotions do best job of protecting from sun? Which orange juice contains the most vitamin C? Are the calorie counts on nutritional labels accurate?
15. SMELL.  Is everyone's sense of smell the same? Or does is vary by gender? age? culture?
16. HAND DOMINANCE.  Doe hand dominance correlate with gender? academic ability? athletic ability? eye dominance? ear dominance? culture?
17. SOMETHING ROTTEN THIS WAY COMES.  What factors increase/inhibit decomp rates? Just how biodegradable are "biodegradable" products?  
18. PHYSICAL EXERCISE.  Does the type/quality/quantity of warmup activity impact athletic performance? How long do you have to exercise before you start to build endurance/stamina?
19. GERMS. Which method best reduces spread of germs - covering mouth with hand, elbow, or handkerchief? What are "germiest" places in public?

Physical Sciences (Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics)

1. Do size, shape or mass have the greatest impact on a magnet’s strength?
2. What evidence can we find about the rotation of the earth from star trails?
3. Does the presence of designated hitters increase the average number of runs in baseball games?
4. How does sunspot activity affect radio reception?
5. How does particle size affect settling rates?
6. How does temperature (or air pressure; or evaporation rate; or substrate; or surface area) affect crystal growth?
7. What forces act on soap bubbles to determine their shape?
8. What differences can be observed in the way salt & sugar crystals grow?
9. What will happen to a rubber ball (or a ping pong ball; or a marble) exposed to dry ice? Why?
10. Can the hydrogen and oxygen in water molecules be split?
11. How do different thermal cups perform in keeping liquids hot for long periods of time?
12. What do magnetic field lines look like? Why?
13. What materials block radio raves most effectively?
14. Does the shape and mass of an object affect its velocity when sinking through water?
15. What is required to build the best paper airplane in the world?
16. Do different objects accelerate at different rates?
17. What is the most efficient angle for windmill blades?
18. What is the relative elasticity of various types of string (i.e., twine, kite string, fishing string, sewing thread)?
19. Which material is a better insulator – straw, sand, paper or cloth?
20. Do different colors absorb heat differently?
21. Do different gases expand differently when heated
22. Are “fireproof” fabrics really fireproof (NOTE: Adult supervision required!!)
23. Can astronomical observation & math be used to estimate the distance of the sun and the moon from earth?
24. What makes stars appear to twinkle? Demonstrate
25. How does the viscosity of liquids affect the shape of droplets?
26. Can light be bent?
27. What color can be seen most clearly through a fog?
28. Which type of sunglasses do the best job of absorbing light & protecting the eyes?
29. Can solar energy be used to cook food (we mean directly – not indirectly such as creating electricity to run a regular stove!)
30. Does regular carbonated soda cause bone to decompose?
31. Which brands of carbonated soda are the most corrosive?
32. Does temperature change the magnetic field patterns of a standard horseshoe magnet?
33. What is the difference between music & noise?
34. Which fuels are most efficient in producing energy?
35. How does gear size affect gear efficiency?
36. Compare different metals (ex: density, buoyancy) & explain similarities/differences
37. Compare different woods (ex: density, strength, burn rate) & explain similarities/differences
38. What is the best method, other than heat, to melt ice?
39. Does the viscosity of a fluid affect its boiling point?
40. Compare and explain the resonance of different objects (ex: metals, glass). Explain.
41. How does the shape & construction of (insert musical instrument here) affect the sound quality of the instrument?
42. What kind of sound carries best through water? Through fog?
43. Do metals expand at the same rate when heated?
44. Does aluminum foil make a difference in cooking times?
45. What is the best nose cone shape for a model rocket?
46. What is the best wing design for an aircraft?
47. What factors determine solubility of a substance?
48. Does temperature affect the pH of acids or alkalines?
49. Does the pH level of fruits & vegetables effect their taste?
50. Which freezes first, hot or cold water?
51. Are there differences in different brands of bottled water?
52. How “clean” is rain water in your area?
53. What biological or chemical agents do the best job of cleaning up oil spills?
54. Does the shape of ice affect melting time? Why?

Electrical & Structural Engineering/IT

1. Do potatoes conduct electricity? Why?
2. Does salt water light up a light bulb better than regular water? Why?
3. How can you use magnets & wire to create electrical current?
4. Does the size of a wheel affect the speed of a vehicle?
5. How does the shape of a pinewood car affect its speed?
6. How does the size of wire (or number of coils, or type of wire) affect the strength of an electromagnet?
7. What materials make the best magnetic shields?
8. What factors (for example, temperature, color of light, angle of light) affect the current, voltage and power generated by a solar cell?
9. How can structures be made more impervious to collapse during an earthquake?
10. How can structures be made more impervious to flooding?
11. Do quarters and feathers fall at the same speed?
12. How does the composition of various balls (i.e., rubber, marble, ping pong) determine how they bounce?
13. What is the impact of lever length on the strength of levers? (Or, How does the length of a catapult affect its range?)
14. How does shape affect buoyancy?
15. What materials make the best shock absorbers (hint: test by dropping eggs from various heights!)
16. Which materials work best as sound barriers?
17. Does the particle size of sand used to make bricks (or concrete) matter?
18. Can light from a Light Emitting Diode (LED) be modulated using sound?
19. What materials work best in a sandbag for preventing a flood?
20. Does a ceiling fan really reduce room temperature?
21. Can eggs withstand a greater force from one direction than from others?
22. How can a computer be used to break codes?
23. Can encoded information (floppy discs, metro cards, credits cards, etc.) be affected by magnetism (NOTE: Adult supervision required for this one!)
24. How is an electrical current affected by temperature (or magnetism, or type of conductor)?
25. Is electrical current affected by the diameter of a wire?
26. What affects the strength of an electromagnet?
27. How many blades should a fan have?
28. How does the shape of a kite affect its flight?
29. What controls the descent rate of parchutes?

Earth Science

1. Where is the current of a stream the fastest?
2. Does the amount of water affect the size of a wave?
3. What is the greater cause of water erosion in a stream – gradual erosion over time, or major events like storms and floods?
4. How does topography affect weather conditions
5. How do changes in air pressure affect weather
6. How does the growth of vegetation affect soil erosion?
7. What are the most effective ways to control soil erosion?
8. How do stalactites and stalagmites form?
9. How does the size of particles in rivers affect how fast they settle?
10. What factors contribute to makes soils more or less porous?
11. Can antacids help soil polluted by acid rain
12. How do soils in different parts of our area differ?
13. What affects evaporation the most … air temperature, water temperature or wind speed?
14. What is the relationship between the depth of water and its temperature (or salinity, or pressure)?
15. How does the construction of levies along rivers effect erosion & deposition patterns?
16. Why do hurricanes gain more power over warm water than cold water? Demonstrate.
17. Why is there no wind in the eye of hurricanes? Demonstrate.
18. Why are winds highest in the eyewall of hurricanes? Demonstrate.
19. How can earthquakes cause tsunamis? Demonstrate.
20. How are average temperatures (or average rainfall) changing in your local area (or state? Or country? Or the world?)
21. How can you measure wind speed?
22. How can you measure atmospheric pressure?
23. What is the difference between direct sun & shade? Is it constant or variable?
24. Particle fallout: Does the amount of particle pollution in soil vary with distance from a road (or height, or location)?
25. What happens to road salts applied to roads after the snow melts? What effect does this have on the environment?
26. What would happen to weather if the Earth was a cube?
27. How do obstacles affect water (or wave) motion?
28. What factors influence the size, shape & other characteristics of cracks in dried mud?
29. What does the shape of local streams & water features tell about the geology of the local area
30. How much silt is there in a river at different times? How do specific events (rain, droughts, floods) affect silt levels?
31. What factors influence dune shape, form and movement?
32. What factors influence beach erosion?
33. How can rock formations be dated by examining the fossils within them? (use a local formation as an example, if possible)
34. How does naturally-occurring asbestos form? Is it as dangerous as the asbestos that contractors once used as insulation for buildings?

Social Science

1. If you ask the same question in a negative and positive way, will you get different answers?
2. Does the color of a questionnaire affect how people answer the questions?
3. Do flashcards with pictures enhance memorization better than flashcards without pictures?
4. Are poems with a lot of rhythm, rhyme & different sound devices easier to learn than those written in free verse?
5. Do men and woman have the same “favorite colors”?
6. Is text written in colored ink easier to remember than text written in black and white ink?
7. Are horoscopes accurate? Can their accuracy be measured?
8. At what age to people develop the ability to accurately estimate the number of marbles in a jar?
9. How do various types of music affect concentration?
10. Can subliminal messages really be used to affect how people make decisions?
11. Is there such a thing as ESP?
12. Can people really tell if they are being stared at?
13. Can a computer program help people make decisions?
14. Can computer games be used to encourage students to do homework?
15. How good are we at hearing one voice in a crowd?
16. In communities with voluntary recycling programs paid for by the community or state, what is the average level of compliance?
17. Does a bath take less water than a shower?
18. What is the average ratio of recyclable waste to unrecyclable waste in your house?
19. Does the ability to memorize information vary during the course of a day? Does everyone demonstrate the same daily pattern?

20+ Fun Geology Facts

Once upon a time I earned a degree in geology ... then came the oil glut (am I ever aging myself!) and I moved on to other careers.  These days, I retain just enough geology trivia to amuse my middle school students.  Here are some of my standards:

1. Rubies and sapphires are actually the same mineral - corundum.  The basic chemical formula of corundum is Al2O3, but traces of iron stain the mineral red (ruby) while traces of chromium or titanium stain the mineral blue (sapphire).
2. Rubies, sapphires and emeralds are all more rare than diamonds.
3. Not all diamonds are clear.  They come in a variety of colors (called "fancies"), including yellow, green, blue, orange, brown ("champagne"), purple, grey, black (called carbanado, recently shown to be meteoric), milky white, pink, and red.  Red is the rarest.  
4. Antacids taste like chalk because they ARE chalk, a.k.a. calcium carbonate.
5. There are 18 volcanoes in the US with the potential to erupt again, all of them in Alaska, Hawaii and the West Coast states.
6. Will Yellowstone spawn a "super volcano" that will destroy the US?  ANSWER: Probably not.  The amount of rhyolitic magma just beneath the surface of Yosemite is relatively small at present, so even if it eventually "erupts" through the surface, should cause minor lava flows rather than a large super volcano-type eruption. (For those who are still hoping the Mayans were onto something, however, a super volcano-type eruption is technically possible.  USGS sets the odds of such an event occurring in the next few thousand years at 0.00014% .)
7. The Gulf of California is a spreading zone - many millions of years from now, it will be an ocean.
8. The earth is slipping along the San Andreas fault at a rate of about 2" per year.  This means that in about 15 millions years Los Angeles and San Francisco will be neighbors.
9. California is sinking at a rate of about 4" per year. But you can't blame the San Andreas fault for this one; rather, sinking is due to pumping of natural underground water reservoirs.
10. There's a "failed" rift line - known as the New Madrid Seismic Zone - that stretches from Indiana to Arkansas. Though this rift was not extensive enough to split the North American continent into two parts, the area remains geologically active and is likely to spawn one or more major earthquakes in the near future. (According to USGS, there's a 25-40% chance of a ~6.0 magnitude event in the next 50yrs.) 
11. The Great Lakes, combined, contain more than 20% of the world's available fresh water. (Doesn't count underground aquafers or polar ice)
12. There are only 4 Great Lakes, not 5. Lake Huron and Lake Michigan are actually one continuous lake that we have arbitrarily decided to treat as two separate entities. Together, they form the largest lake in the world - larger than Lake Superior, which is often credited with being the largest freshwater lake in the world. 
13. People experiencing earthquakes in the Great Lakes region have the glaciers to thank - the earth there is still "rebounding" from having been smushed by glaciers during the last ice age. ("Smushed" isn't actually a geological term, but it should be.) 
14. What country owns Antarctica? ANSWER: No one - there's a treaty that establishes Antarctica as a "neutral zone" ... though no telling how much longer this will go unchallenged, since melting due to global warming has begun exposing huge oil and mineral reserves beneath Antarctica's surface.
15. Despite what you've seen on Christmas cards and holiday specials, it rarely snows at the Earth's poles, because cold air is lousy at retaining moisture.  For this reason, both the Arctic and Antarctica are classified as cold deserts.  Overall, Antarctica receives more snow because it is surrounded by ocean (ice in the Arctic is ~2 miles thick); the Arctic, in contrast, sits in a virtual land-locked lake, and sports a mere 15 feet of ice.  This explains why it's possible for portions of the Arctic to disappear (melt) during summer months. 
16. People who wade into the Dead Sea automatically float.  Dissolved salts make the water so dense, humans are less dense in contrast and so float.
17. What is the most earthquake-prone state in the US? ANSWER: Gotcha!  It's not California, but Alaska (see Item #3).
18. What is the most dominant element in the air we breathe? ANSWER: Gotcha again!  Our atmosphere is 80% nitrogen.
19. Iceland looks huge on a regular map, but it is approximately the size of Kentucky.  This is because the Mercator projection map we use to make lines of latitude and longitude lie flat inadvertently makes countries nearer the poles appear HUGE. 
20. The Appalachian Mountains and the Scottish Highlands were once part of the same mountain range, before plate tectonics separated them.
21. Most mountain ranges on Earth are gradually diminishing due to erosion and weathering, but the Himalayan Mountains are still growing. 
22. Why doesn't the earth have as many craters as the moon?  ANSWER: We do!  Geologists have so far located ~170 impact craters on Earth. However, they are hard to spot because many of them have been gradually eroded away or been overgrown by vegetation. 
23. About 200 million years from now, Asia and America will collide to form a supercontinent centered around the north pole.  Scientists already have a name for it: Amasia. (Because apparently scientists are better at predicting stuff than they are at naming stuff.)
24. Every so often our magnetic poles "reverse" - the north pole and the south pole reverse their magnetism.  Scientists estimate this could happen again about 1000-2000 years from now ... So start relabelling your magnets now!

A Thousand Words: Which God?

SOURCE: http://laughingsquid.com/wp-content/uploads/religion-flowchart-20091027-125629.jpg

Beach Music Playlist

I lied ... this isn't actually a playlist, but a list of artists/genres that belong on any decent, self-respecting beach playlist.  Use these as suggestions for compiling your own perfect selection of beach tunes!

1. Anything by the Beach Boys.  Even their songs that aren't about summer or the beach sound like they're about summer or the beach.
2. Anything by Jimmy Buffet.  Ditto.
3. Hollywood at the Beach music.  Invoke your inner Frankie Avalon or Annette Funicello by dancing to the music they danced to in their legendary beach movies: Wipeout (Herbie Hancock); anything by The Pyramids, Donna Loren, the Bobby Fuller 4 or Dick Dale and the Del Tones; and, of course, any song actually performed by Frankie and/or Annette (they could foil motorcycle gangs, tan AND sing!)
4. Laid-back R&B.  That laid back R&B groove from the '50s is a perfect match for hot summer afternoons - and hot summer nights!  I respectfully suggest anything by the Drifters, Temptations, Platters,  Marvin Gaye, the Righteous Brothers, the Mamas & Papas, or the Four Tops.
5. Shag/Carolina Beach Music. The shag is the official state song of South Carolina and the unofficial dance of summer.  Shag music is hard to define but is sort of cross between Hollywood beach music and R&B. Classics of the genre include: anything by Chairmen of the Board, the Embers, the Fantastic Shakers, the Catalinas, the Tams, the Coastline Band, Bill Deal & the Rhondels, Delbert McCLinton, Holiday Band, Heart and Soul, Band of Oz, Georgia Prophets, Billy Scott, or North Tower; Teasin' You (Willy Tee); Girl Watcher (O'Kaysions); Brenda (OC Smith); Lady Soul (Temptations); Mrs. Grace (Tymes); or Sixty Minute Man (Billy Ward and the Dominoes)
6. Songs about summer or the sea.  If a song has "summer" in the title, it's a sure bet for the beach!  Suggestions include: Summertime (Louis Armstrong); Hot Fun in the Summertime (Sly and the Family Stone); Summer in the City (Lovin' Spoonful);  Summertime (Fresh Prince); Cruel Summer (Bananarama); It's Too Darn Hot (South Pacific soundtrack); Hot Summer Nights (Grease soundtrack); Sea of Love (Honeydrippers); and Hot Summer Nights (Night).  Oh - and don't forget the theme to Hawaii 5-0! 
7. Songs that make you happy.  I personally feel that a beach playlist should contain songs that make you feel happy.  Here are some that do it for me: Don't Worry, Be Happy (Bobby McFerrin); What a Wonderful World (Louis Armstrong); Don't Stop Believing (Journey); Future's So Bright I Gotta Wear Shades (Timbuk 3); C'est La Vie (Robbie Nevil); Pocketful of Sunshine (Natasha Bedingfield); Ain't Nothin' Wrong With That (Robert Randolph); Feeling Good (Michael Buble); I'm So Excited (Pointer Sisters); Beautiful Life (Ace of Base); and Sing, Sing, Sing (Benny Goodman)
8. Songs that make you want to dance.  If you're one of those energetic beach types - always playing frisbee or building something out of sand - do be sure to include tunes that make your pulse race.  I respectfully suggest the following: anything by Michael Jackson, Bananarama, Van Halen/David Lee Roth, or Huey Lewis and the News; or anything with the word "disco" or "bootie" in the title
9. Silly songs.  Is there a better time to indulge your frivolous side than reclining seaside with a book in one hand and a drink in the other?  Some silly novelty songs that I've found work well on the beach: Secret Agent Man (Johnny Rivers); I Like to Move It (Madagascar soundtrack); Puttin' on the Ritz (Irving Berlin); Love Potion #9 (The Searchers); Rock Lobster, Love Shack (B-52s); YMCA, Macho Man (Village People);  Copa Cabana (Barry Manilow); and Oh Yeah (Yello).
10. Anything Caribbean/Reggae.  Nothing says "vacation" quite like Jamaican!  Some perennial favorites include the Red, Red Wine (UB40); Banana Boat Song (Harry Belafonte); Caribbean Queen (Billy Ocean); Hot, Hot, Hot (Buster Poindexter); and, of course, anything performed by Bob Marley.
11. Anything Hawaiian.  You could start at Don Ho but I wouldn't stay there for long!  Instead, try more authentic artists like Ku`uipo Kumukahi, Keali`i Reichel, or the Brothers Cazimero; Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's gorgeous version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow; or any other tune sung to the accompaniment of a eukalale. 
12. Mellow classics.  If you prefer music as smooth as the sound of the waves sliding onto shore, I respectfully suggest the following performers: Sade, Chicago, Carly Simon, Michael Buble, Andrea Bocelli, or any performer doing their version of the Cole Porter songbook.
13. Cuban music.  Cuban music may be a little hot and smoky for your typical family beach, but it's just the ticket for a hot summer night with your loved one!  Don't worry about genre (mamba, salsa, danzon, son, bolero, etc.) - they're all good.  For a quick overview, I recommend anything by Damaso Perez Prado, Buena Vista Social Club, AfroCuba Matanzos, or Celia Cruz.
14. Instrumental.  If you don't want voices cluttering up your enjoyment of sand and surf, it doesn't get any better than the Gipsy Kings - 5-10 superb guitar players who perform a range of salsa, flamenco & pop music.  Smoking hot music for a smoking hot day!

Breaking Up Is Hard To Do Playlist

Compiling this list made me reflect on how similar mourning the death of a relationship is to mourning the death of a loved one.  If you're very, very lucky, you may finally achieve the poignant acceptance of moving on (I'm Moving On, You're My Favorite Mistake), but first you have to pass through anger (Hit the Road Jack, Love Stinks), denial (I Ain't Missing You), negotiation (Baby Come Back, At This Moment), and regret (Even Now, Hard Habit to Break).  

Call me a hopeful romantic, but my favorites are the ones that, while acknowledging that both parties may have gone their Separate Ways, hold out the hope that maybe, Somewhere Down the Road, Against All Odds, things may yet work out.  Where there's love, there's hope ...!

1. Achy Breaky Heart, Billy Ray Cyrus
2. Against All Odds, Phil Collins
3. Ain't No Sunshine, Bill Withers
4. All By Myself, xxx
5. All Out of Love, Air Supply
6. Always on My Mind, Elvis Presley 
7. At This Moment, Billy Vera
8. Baby Come Back, Player
9. Bluer Than Blue, Michael Johnson
10. Burn, Usher
11. Careless Whisper, George Michael
12. Crazy, Patsy Cline
13. Cry Me A River, Justin Timberlake
14. Crying, Ray Orbison
15. Damage Is Done, Foreigner
16. Don't Speak, No Doubt
17. Even Now, Barry Manilow
18. Everybody Needs A Little Time Away, Chicago
19. Every Rose Has Its Thorn, Poison
20. Every Time We Say Goodbye, Rod Stewart
21. Ex-Factor, Lauryn Hill
22. First Cut is the Deepest, Rod Stewart
23. Good Riddance, Green Day
24. Goodbye Girl, Bread
25. Goodbye to You, Scandal
26. Hard Habit to Break, Chicago
27. Hard to Say I'm Sorry, Chicago
28. Heart of the Matter, Don Henley
29. Heartbreak Hotel, Elvis Presley
30. Hit the Road Jack, Ray Charles
31. How Am I Supposed to Live Without You, Michael Bolton
32. How Can You Mend a Broken Heart, Bee Gees
33. How Do I Live, Trisha Yearwood
34. Hurt, Nine Inch Nails
35. Hurt So Bad, Little Anthony
36. I Ain't Missing You, John Waite
37. I Don't Care Anymore, Phil Collins
38. I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues, Elton John
39. I Heard It Through the Grapevine, Marvin Gaye
40. I Hope You Dance, Lee Ann Womack
41. I Was A Fool (to Let You Go), Barry Manilow
42. I Will Remember You, Sarah McLachlan
43. I Will Survive, Stephanie Bentley
44. I Will Survive, Gloria Gaynor
45. I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now, Ray Charles
46. If You Leave, OMD
47. If You Leave Me Now, Chicago
48. I'm Moving On, Rascal Flatts
49. I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry, Hank Williams
50. It Must Have Been Love, Roxette
51. It's My Turn, Diana Ross
52. It's Too Late, Carole King
53. Last Goodbye, Jeff Buckley
54. Look Away, Chicago
55. Love Doesn't Live Here Anymore, Faith Hill
56. Love on the Rocks, Neil Diamond
57. Love Stinks, J. Geils Band
58. Lyin' Eyes, Eagles
59. Memory, Barbra Streisand
60. My Favorite Mistake, Sheryl Crow
61. My Heart Will Go On, Celine Dion
62. New Attitude, Patti Lbelle
63. One Last Cry, Brian McKnight
64. Over You, Daughtry
65. Please Don't Go, KWS
66. Right Here Waiting, Richard Marx
67. Send Her My Love, Journey
68. Separate Ways, Journey
69. She's Gone, Hall & Oates
70. Since I Don't Have You, Skyliners
71. Single Ladies, Beyonce
72. Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, Louis Armstrong
73. Somewhere Down the Road, Barry Manilow
74. Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word, Elton John
75. Stormy Weather, Lena Horne
76. Take Good Care of My Baby, Bobby Vee
77. These Boots Are Made For Walkin', Nancy Sinatra
78. These Eyes, Guess Who
79. Thnks Fr Th Mmrs, Fall Out Boy
80. Tonight I Wanna Cry, Keith Urban
81. Too Much Too Little Too Late, Johnny Mathis
82. Total Eclipse of the Heart, Bonnie Tyler
83. Tragedy, Bee Gees
84. Unbreak My Heart, Tony Braxton
85. Unchained Melody, Righteous Brothers
86. Usta Be My Girl, O'Jays
87. The Way We Were, Barbra Streisand
88. We Just Disagree, Dave Mason
89. What Hurts the Most, Rascal Flatts
90. Whenever You Come Around, Vince Gill
91. Wherever You Will Go, The Calling
92. While You Loved Me, Rascal Flatts
93. Wicked Game, Chris Isaak
94. Yesterday, The Beatles
95. You Give Love a Bad Name, Bon Jovi
96. You Keep Me Hangin' On, Kim Wilde
97. You Won't Forget Me, Carly Simon
98. You'll Think of Me, Keith Urban
99. You're Only Someone That I Used to Love, Natalie Cole
100. You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling, Righteous Brothers

Did I omit your favorite breakup song? Let me know!

High-Energy Playlist

Here's a playlist for those times when you need a boost of musical adrenelin.  I realize that I could probably just copy the index of any "Club Music CD", but have decided, completely arbitrarily, that that would constitute cheating: instead, I've laboriously culled my music library for my favorite go-to up-tempo classics, sure to leave you feeling both energized, empowered, and possibly craving a disco mirror ball in your bedroom.

1. 1999 - Prince
2. 25 or 6 to 4 - Chicago
3. Accidentally in Love - Counting Crows
4. Ain't Nothing Wrong With That - Robert Randolph
5. All Star - Smashmouth
6. Beat It - Michael Jackson
7. Beautiful Life - Ace of Base
8. Blinded By the Light - Manfred Mann
9. Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy - Andrew Sisters
10. Born in the USA - Bruce Springsteen
11. Boys Are Back in Town - Tin Lizzy
12. Couple Days Off - Huey Lewis
13. Crocodile Rock - Elton John
14. Dancing Queen - ABBA
15. Dancing With Myself - Billy Idol
16. Don't Stop Believin' - Journey
17. Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough - Michael Jackson
18. Eye of the Tiger - Survivor
19. Fame - Irene Cara
20. Far From Over, Frank Stallone
21. Final Countdown - Europe
22. Firework - Katy Perry
23. Girl Gets Around - Sammy Hagar
24. Girls Just Wanna Have Fun - Cyndy Lauper
25. Glamorous Life - Shiela E.
26. Gloria - Laura Brannian
27. Gonna Fly Now - Rocky soundtrack
28. Gonna Make You Sweat - C+C Music Factory
29. Goody 2 Shoes - Adam Ant
30. Hit Me Up - Gia Farrow
31. Hit the Road Jack - Ray Charles
32. Holding Out for a Hero - Bonnie Taylor
33. Hot, Hot, Hot - Buster Poindexter
34. Hot Stuff - Donna Summer
35. How Will I Know - Whitney Houston
36. I Get Around - Beach Boys
37. I Like to Move It - Sacha Baron Cohen
38. I Want Candy - Bow Wow Wow
39. I'll Be There for You - Rembrandts
40. I'm So Excited - Pointer Sisters
41. I'm Walking on Sunshine - Katerina & the Waves
42. It's Raining Men - Weather Girls
43. It's the End of the World as We Know It - REM
44. Jump - Pointer Sisters
45. Jump - Van Halen
46. Kiss - Tom Jones
47. Kiss Him Goodbye - Nylons
48. Legs - ZZ Top
49. Let's Get It Started - Black Eyed Peas
50. Let's Go Crazy - Prince
51. Livin' La Vida Loca - Ricky Martin
52. Livin' On A Prayer - Bon Jovi
53. Live to Win - Paul Stanley
54. Love Train - O'Jays
55. Lovin' Every Minute of It - Loverboy
56. Macho Man - Village People
57. Manhunt - Karen Kamon
58. Maniac - Michael Sembello
59. Mikki - Toni Braxton
60. Modern Love - David Bowie
61. My Sharona - The Knack
62. New Attitude - Patti LaBelle
63. Oh Yeah - Yello
64. One Way or Another - Blondie
65. Part-Time Lover - Stevie Wonder
66. Philadelphia Freedom - Elton John
67. Pocketful of Sunshine - Natasha Bedingfield
68. Poison Ivy - Coasters
69. Proud Mary - Tina Turner
70. Push It - Salt 'n' Pepa
71. Rhythm is Gonna Get You - Gloria Estefan
72. Rock and Roll All Night - Kiss
73. Rock You Like a Hurricane - Scorpions
74. Round and Round - Ratt
75. She's a Lady - Tom Jones
76. She Works Hard for the Money - Donna Summer
77. Sing Sing Sing - Benny Goodman
78. Single Ladies - Beyonce
79. Spirit in the Sky - Norman Greenbaum
80. Still the One - Orleans
81. Superfreak - Rick James
82. That Thing You Do! - Wonders
83. Theme from Hawaii 5-0
84. Tubthumping - Chumbawamba
85. Turn the Beat Around - Gloria Estefan
86. Two Princes - Spin Doctors
87. Turning Japanese - Vapors
88. U Can't Touch This - MC Hammer
89. Uptown Girl - Billy Joel
90. Venus - Bananarama
91. Walk This Way - Aerosmith
92. Waterloo - ABBA
93. We Will Rock You - Queen
94. We're an American Band - Grand Funk Railroad
95. What I Like About You - Romantics
96. Workin' for the Weedend - Loverboy
97. Yeah - Usher
98. YMCA - Village People
99. You Shook Me All Night Long, AC/DC

Night Driving Playlist

This playlist is for when you're in one of those "moods" - dark, brooding, perhaps a little melancholy.  For those nights when - literally or metaphorically - you're driving down long, dark, barren roads with only your ghosts to keep you company and the borderlands between you and your dark side have shrunk to the width of a lane of darkly glistening highway.  A mood that can only be soothed by songs with dark, brooding lyrics about loss and dispair; horns solos that tear at your heart; and minor chords that jar your soul.

1. 16 Tons, Tennessee Ernie Ford
2. Adagio for Strings, Barber (any cover)
3. Always Something There to Remind Me, Naked Eyes
4. American Pie, Don McLean
5. Big John, Tennessee Ernie Ford
6. Big Man on Mulberry Street, Billy Joel
7. Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen
8. Brothers in Arms, Dire Straits
9. Cell Block Tango, Soundtrack from Chicago
10. Cold as Ice, Foreigner
11. Come Sail Away, Styx
12. Crazy, Gnarls Barkley
13. Crying Game, Boy George
14. The Damage is Done, Foreigner
15. Desert Rose, Sting
16. Don't Fear the Reaper, Blue Oyster Cult
17. Downbound Train, Bruce Springsteen
18. Dream On, Aerosmith
19. Don't Tell me 'Cause It Hurts, No Doubt
20. Folsom Prison Blues, Johnny Cash
21. Gangsta's Paradise, Coolio
22. Garden of Allah, Don Henley
23. Ghost Riders in the Sky, Outlaws
24. Ghosts, Dan Fogelberg
25. Goodnight Saigon, Billy Joel
26. Fortuna Imperatrix Mundi: O Fortuna, Orff (any cover)
27. Hallelujah, Jeff Buckly
28. Hazy Shade of Winter, Bangles
29. Hot Summer Nights, Night
30. Hotel California, Eagles
31. House of the Rising Sun, Credence Clearwater Revival
32. I'm a Fool to Want You, Carly Simon
33. I'm on Fire, Bruce Springsteen
34. In the Air Tonight, Phil Collins
35. In the Midnight Hour, Wilson Picket
36. Into the Night, B.B. King
37. Into the Night, Santana
38. I've Loved These Days, Billy Joel
39. Kashmir, Led Zeppplin
40. A Kiss From a Rose, Seal
41. Lies, Elton John
42. Live and Let Die, Paul McCartney
43. The Living Daylights, A-Ha
44. Logical Song, Supertramp
45. Lonely in Your Nightmare, Duran Duran
46. Mad World, Michael Andrews
47. Maddest Kind of Love, Big Bad Voodoo Daddies
48. Magic, Ghostbuster's Soundtrack
49. Mission Impossible Theme, U2
50. New Religion, Duran Duran
51. New York Minute, Don Henley
52. Night on Bald Mountain, Mussorgsky (any cover)
53. Nights in White Satin, Moody Blues
54. On the Dark Side, John Cafferty
55. One, Three Dog Night
56. One Night in Bangkok, Murray Head
57. Peter Gunn Theme, Blues Brothers
58. Piano Man, Billy Joel
59. Pressure, Billy Joel
60. Promentary, Soundtrack from Last of the Mohicans
61. Purple Rain, Prince
62. Relax, Frankie Goes to Hollywood
63. Requiem: Lacrimosa, Mozart (any cover)
64. Riders on the Storm, The Doors
65. Save a Prayer, Duran Duran
66. Secret, Maroon 5
67. Six Silver Strings, B.B. King
68. Sound of Silence, Simon & Garfunkel
69. Stairway to Heaven, Led Zepplin
70. The Stranger, Billy Joel
71. Streets of Philadelphia, Bruce Springsteen
72. Struggle, Nuttin' But Stringz
73. Summer in the City, Lovin' Spoonful
74. Sunglasses at Night, Corey Heart
75. Sunset Grill, Don Henley
76. Take On Me, A-Ha
77. Tainted Love, Soft Cell
78. They Won't Go When I Go, George Michael
79. The Thrill is Gone, B.B. King
80. Thunderball, Tom Jones
81. Too Low for Zero, Elton John
82. Too Much Sex, Not Enough Affection, Timbuk 3
83. Total Eclipse of the Heart, Bonnie Tyler
84. Town Without Pity, Brian Setzer
85. Trouble, Bitter:Sweet
86. Twilight Zone, ManhattanTransfer
87. Unfaithful, Rihanna
88. Uninvited, Alanis Morisette
89. Until The Night, Billy Joel
90. A View to a Kill, Duran Duran
91. Voices Carry, 'Til Tuesday
92. When Doves Cry, Prince
93. While the Night Is Still Young, Billy Joel
94. Who Wants to Live Forever, Queen (Seal also does a great cover of this)
95. Wicked Game, Chris Isaac
96. Winner Takes It All, ABBA
97. The World is Not Enough, Garbage
98. The Wreck of the Edmund Fitgerald, Gordon Lightfood
99. You Belong to the City, Glenn Fry
    
    

40 Fun Things to Do on a Hot Summer Day

It's a hot, sticky summer day - way too hot to think.  Why even try?  The thinking has all been done for you, so peruse the following options, pick one that appeals, and "chillax" - relief is a list away!

1. Go to an over-airconditioned theater and watch the same movie three times in a row.
2. Buy a kiddie wading pool, fill it with water, put on the Beach Boys, and have a pool party.
3. Start a water balloon (or water gun) fight.
4. See if your car's hood really does get hot enough to fry an egg.
5. Practice your goofiest dives at the local swimming pool.
6. Hunt down an ice cream truck - pursue one by car if necessary.
7. Buy slurpees and deliberately give yourself brain-freeze.
8. Run through a hose (or sprinkler) - either your own, or stalk a landscaping crew.
9. Jump in a pond, lake, ocean, or any other naturally occuring body of water.
10. Visit the local fire station and offer to field check their hoses for free.
11. Wade in a stream or along the edge of a river.
12. Go to a water park.
13. Hang out in the frozen foods section of a grocery store.
14. Make fruit-cicles by freezing fruit juice in ice cube trays.
15. Make homemade ice cream.
16. Sell lemonade or iced team to people who are as wretchedly hot as yourself. Make enough money to fly to Alaska.
17. Play "Beau Geste" with your friends, pretending you are lost and dying in the desert.  Take turns sacrificing your lives for each other.
18. Put on a tape of the ocean, sit back in a lounge chair, and pretend you're at the beach or on a cruise. To heighten the realism, manipulate a member of your family into bringing you chilled drinks on a tray.
19. Put your teeshirt in the freezer before putting it on.
20. Shove ice down the back of someone's shirt.  Hope that they will return the favor.
21. Fill your birdbaths to the brim - if you're hot, imagine how it must feel to have feathers.
22. Give your pet a bath - you're going to get wet anyway, so why not do it on a hot day?
23. Fetch that snowball you froze last winter out of the freezer, top with chocolate syrup, and eat.
24. Crunch on ice chips.
25. Find an electric fan and point it directly at your face.
26. Continually agitate your wind chimes so that it sounds like a windy day.
27. Think about that dud of a boyfriend/girlfriend you almost married; sure to give you chills.
28. Go fishing. Try to fall in the water as often as possible.
29. Go paddleboating, canoeing, innertubing, or rafting in a convenient body of water.
30. Read a Jack London book - you'll be grateful to be somewhere warm when you're done.
31. Sit in your car for five minutes, then climb out: guaranteed to make the outside air temperature feel positively temperate!
32. Frolick in a public fountain.
33. Find an excuse to hang out at the (air conditioned) public library for a while.
34. Freeze your food before eating it.  (Tip: Works well with fruit, sandwiches and cookies, not so well for mac and cheese.)
35. Stand in front of the refrigerator with your forehead pressed against the door.
36. Do a rain dance.
37. Three words: root. beer. float.
38. Sit under a shady tree and read a good book.
39. Ride your bike downhill to generate a breeze. 
40. Get in the car, turn on the air conditioning, and drive north.

Books About the Sea

What could be more appropriate to read at the seashore than books about the sea?  Here are some suggestions:

1. Adventure at sea- fiction.  Of course the grandaddy of all ocean adventures is The Odyssey (Homer), though Moby Dick (Herman Melville) comes in a close second.  Other epic sea adventures include Sea Wolf (Jack London), Captains Courageous (Rudyard Kipling), To the Ends of the Earth (William Golding), The Bounty Trilogy (Charles Nordhoff/James Norman Hall), The Caine Mutiny (Herman Wouk), Lord Jim (Joseph Conrad), and The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket (Edgar Allan Poe).  In the mood for something more contemporary?  Try American Sea Writings: A Literary Anthology (Peter Neill, ed.) ... or you can't go wrong with anything by Clive Cussler, whose dashing hero, Dirk Pitt, is the Indiana Jones of Underwater archaeology.
2. Adventure at sea- fact.  In this case, fact is often more riveting than fiction.  The following all tell tales of real-life ocean voyages, complete with storms, cannibals, despotic captains, pirates, and more: Kon-Tiki (Thor Heyerdahl), Two Years Before the Mast (Richard Henry Dana), The Journals of Captain Cook (James Cook), Percival Keene (Frederick Marryat), Sailing Alone Around the World (Joshua Slocum), Before the Wind: The Memoir of an American Sea Captain, 1808-1833 (Charles Tyng), Over the Edge of the World (Laurence Burgreen), and The Saga of the Cimba (Richard Maury). 
3. Stories about people marooned on islands.  You might want to read these in case a big storm comes along, sucks you out to sea, and eventually deposits you on a deserted island.  Improbable, perhaps, but if this should happen to you, wouldn't you be glad you just finished reading Robinson Crusoe (Daniel Defoe), Swiss Family Robinson (Johann Davis Wyss), The Coral Island (R.M Ballantyne), The Mysterious Island (Jules Verne), The Tempest (Shakespeare), The Story of a Shipwrecked Sailor (Gabriel Garcia Marquez) or Lord of the Flies (William Golding)? 
4. Naval warfare - fiction.  No one writes naval fiction like Patrick O'Brian in his Aubrey-Maturin series, though C.S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower series comes in a close second. Other fan favorites include Alexander Kent's Richard Bolitho series, Julian Stockwin's Thomas Kydd series, Dewey Lambdin's Alan Lewrie series, C. Northcote Parkinson's Richard Delancey series, James Nelson's Revolution at Sea series, Richard Woodman's Nathaniel Drinkwater series, Edwin Thomas's Martin Jerrold series, Peter Smalley's HMS Expedient series, and Dudley Pope's Lord Ramage series.  Or try Under Enemy Colors (Thomas Russell) - a great read without the necessity of investing in a series.
5. Naval warfare - fact.  These books are the next best thing to shipping out with Nelson or John Paul Jones!  Try The Cruel Sea (Nicholas Monsarrat), The Safe Guard of the Sea or The Command of the Ocean (N. A. M. Rodger), The Influence of Sea Power upon History, 1660-1783 (Alfred Thayer Mahan), or Delilah: A Novel about a U.S. Navy Destroyer and the Epic Struggles of Her Crew (Marcus Goodrich).
6. Books about submarines.  Guess it's only fair to include books about adventures under the sea, especially since life in a submarine is inherently chilling, even before you throw in sea monsters, depth charges and nuclear reactor accidents.  I respectfully recommend: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (Jules Verne), Run Silent, Run Deep (Edward L. Beach), Das Boot (Lothar-Günther Buchheim), or Hunt for Red October (Tom Clancy).
7. Stories about doomed ocean voyages.  There's no better time to read about doomed ocean voyages than when you're safely ashore!  Try one of these tales of ferocity, heroism, and despair:  The Perfect Storm (Sebastian Junger), A Night to Remember (Walter Lord), In Hazard (Richard Hughes), Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea (Gary Kinder), In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex (Nathaniel Philbrick), Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage (Alfred Lansing), Fastnet, Force 10:The Deadliest Storm in the History of Modern Sailing (John Rousmaniere), or The Old Man and the Sea (Ernest Hemingway). 
8. Stories about Being Adrift.  Speaking of chilling, imagine being adrift on the ocean for days, weeks, months.  Or don't imagine it - read about it in one of these tales of survival (some fiction, some fact) on the open sea: Adrift: Seventy-Six Days Lost at Sea (Stephen Callahan), Life of Pi (Yann Martel), The Open Boat (Stephen Crane), or Mutiny on the Bounty (William Bligh).
9. Stories about pirates - fiction.  Your first choice has to be Treasure Island (Robert Louis Stevenson).  Beyond that, you are sure to enjoy The Red Rover (James Fennimore Cooper), Captain Singleton, Colonel Jacques, The Pirate Gow or King of the Pirates (Daniel Defoe), Captain Blood, The Sea Hawk or The Black Swan (Rafael Sabatini), Adam Penfeather Buccaneer, Black Bartlemy's Treasure, Martin Conisby's Vengeance, or Winds of Fortune (Jeffrey Farnol), Tigers of Malaysia series, Black Corsairs series, or Pirates of Bermuda Series (Emilio Salgari), Frenchman's Creek (Daphne du Maurier), The Pirate (Sir Walter Scott), Tales of Pirates and Blue Water (Arthur Conan Doyle), Birds of Prey (Wilbur Smith), On Stranger Tides (Tim Powers), Peter Pan (J.M. Barrie), or Cup of Gold (John Steinbeck).
10. Stories about pirates - fact.  Who needs fiction when you can enjoy the real thing?  Books about real pirates and their adventures include Under the Black Flag (David Cordingly), A General History of Pyrates (Daniel Defoe), A General History of the Robberies and Murders of the Most Notorious Pyrates (Captain Charles Johnson), Sir Francis Drake: The Queen's Pirate (Harry Kelsey), History of the Buccaneers of America (James Burney), The Pirate Hunters (Richard Zachs), Pirates: Predators of the Sea (Angus Konstam), Real Pirates: The Untold Story of Whydah (National Geographic), Fast Ships, Black Sails (Naomi Novik), A Pirate of Exquisite Mind: The Life of William Dampier (Diana Preston), Jolly Roger (Patrick Pringle), and The Pirates Own Book: Authentic Narratives (Charlles Elms).
11. Stories about monsters of the sea - For those that prefer to encounter sea monsters in print rather than in life, you may enjoy the following tales of man vs. a variety of sea beasts: Jaws or Beast (Peter Benchley), Moby Dick (Herman Melville), 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (Jules Verne), The Foghorn (Ray Bradbury), Sea Monsters: Prehistoric Creatures of the Deep (Michael J. Everhart), Chased By Sea Monsters (Nigel Marven), Monsters of the Sea (Richard Ellis), or the most recent addition to the canon, Sense & Sensibility and Sea Monsters (Jane Austen and Ben Winters).
12. Funny stories about the sea.  In case you prefer your entertainment a little lighter and a lot funnier, these books deliver seafaring adventure with a dose of laughter: The Pyrates: A Swashbuckling Comic Novel (George MacDonald Fraser), Doctor Dogbody's Leg (James Norman Hall), Mr. Roberts (Thomas Heggen), The Adventures of Roderick Random (Tobias Smollet), The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove (Christopher Moore), The Princess Bride (William Goldman), and Mr. Midshipman Easy or Peter Simple (Frederick Maryatt). 
13. Fiction set on the sea.  There are probably thousands of books set in beach towns, the vast majority of them chick lit or romances, some more trashy than others.  I leave you to find those on your own.  Some more literary options include Ship of Fools (Katherine Anne Porter), The Emperor of Ocean Park (Stephen L. Carter),  South Beach: The Novel (Brian Antoni), On Chesil Beach (Ian McEwan), and Beach Music (Pat Conroy).
14. Children's books about the sea.  Tons of books written for children/teens about the ocean, sea creatures, and the beach.  Here's a very short list of some of my favorites, generally organized by age (youngest to oldest):  Mr. Seahorse (Eric Carle), Rainbow Fish (Marcus Pfister Herbert), Little Mermaid (unknown), Call It Courage (Armstrong Sperry), The Sign of the Seahorse: A Tale of Greed and High Adventure in Two Acts (Graeme Base), Carry on Mr. Bodwitch (Jean Lee Latham), Island of the Blue Dolphins (Scott O’Dell), Nim's Island (Wendy Orr), The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle (Avi), and The Water Horse (Dick King-Smith).

Events for Beach Olympics

Every year our family - all three generations - hit the beach for a week of relaxation and togetherness.  One favorite activity is Beach Olympics, a series of events that changes from year to year.  We do a few events each day, keep track of points, and award prizes at the end of the week, but sure this could be done other ways.  For most activities we pair really young kids with older kid/adult to keep the teams fair.  Here are some of the events we have attempted over the years - feel free to use these or make up your own!

1. Tallest sandcastle contest
2. Human pyramid contest (prizes for highest pyramid, pyramid that lasts longest)
3. Most creative sandcastle contest (we have had haunted castles, princess castles, wild west castles ...)
4. Relay races (each team member carries scoop of sand to bucket, dumps it, then returns; winner is team that fills bucket first)
5. Crab races (carve circle in dirt, put crabs in middle; first crab to leave the rink wins)
6. Boat races (dig channels in the sand, close enough to ocean to fill with water; use breath to waterguns to propel boats forward)
7. Sea doggie contest (contestants stand with back to waves; last one standing wins)
8. Beachball contest (which team can keep their beachball continuously in air for longest time)
9. Frisbee throwing contest (prizes for length, accuracy)
10. Deepest pit contest
11. Buried alive contest (who can completely bury thier teammate under sand the fastest)
12. Raft raiding contest (played in ocean; which team can take the other team's raft by force or stealth)
13. Raft riding contest (which team can get cram most team members on a raft without falling/sinking)
14. Worst sunburn contest
15. Long jump contest
16. Limbo contest
17. tug-of-war contest
18. Surfing contest (person able to stand on surfboard/boogieboard longest wins)
19. Sea creature sand sculpting contest
20. Loudest snoring contest
21. Dodgeball contest (using beachball)
22. Precision water gun shooting (most fun if you use cold water and a human target)
23. Beach scavenger hunt (who finds most items in assigned time; or who finds all items first)
24. Wheelbarrow races (funny because if you drop your partner, they land face-first in the sand!)
25. Funniest "hot sand!" dance

50+ Things to Daydream About at the Beach

Laying out on the beach lends itself to quality daydreaming - the sun forces your eyes to close, the heat compells your mind to wander.  Following is a list of ideas meant to inspire your imagination and coax your mind into wandering ...

1. If you could live in any state in the U.S., which state would you choose, and why?
2. If you could live in any country in the world, what country would you choose, and why?
3. If you had unlimited resources, what kind of house would you live in?  What rooms would it have? What amenities? 
4. If you had the opportunity to visit the moon, would you go? Why or why not?
5. Create a mental list of the 10 places in the world that you would most like to visit.
6. Create a bucket list - the things that you would like to accomplish before you die
7. If you could be the world's expert in any topic, what topic would you like to be an expert in? Why?
8. What did you want to be when you grew up? Have you changed your mind since then?
9. If you had unlimited resources (intelligence, training, physical attributes, etc.), what career would you choosenow,  and why?
10. If money, time, etc. were no object, what 3 hobbies would you most like to cultivate?
11. If you were to hold any record in the Guiness Book of World Records, what record would you hold?
12. Imagine that your bio were to appear in "Who's Who in the World." How would your real bio read? How would your "fantasy" bio read?
13. What are three things about you that most people don't know?
14. What's the best piece of advice anyone ever gave you?
15. If you could take the place of any character in a book or movie, what character would it be, and why?
16. If you were a movie director and could turn any book into a movie, what book would you choose to direct?
17. Think of a favorite movie and change the ending. Is your version better or worse than the original?
18. If you were an author, what type of books would you write? What would be the plot of your first novel?
19. If you had a love potion, whose drink would you pour it into?
20. What is your idea of a perfect date? Where would you go? What would you do? What would happen?
21. If you could give yourself permission to sleep with any five celebrtities, which five celebrities would you choose?
22. If you could redo any single decision that you've made in your life, what decision would you change? How would your life be different as a result?
23. How will you be remembered when you pass? Is this how you want to be remembered? If not, what kind of things could you do to change the way you will be remembered?
24. If you could be president for one month, what would be your top 5 priorities for the country?
25. If you could live the life of any artist, politician or celebrity for a day, who's life would you choose to live? What would you do that day?
26. If anyone in the world alive today could be your penpal, who would you choose?
27. If you could be a teacher (elementary, secondary, graduate, post-graduate), what topic would you choose to teach, and why?
28. If you could be a contestant on any reality show (cooking, singing, dancing, designing, social, etc.), what reality show would it be and why?
29. If you could be a world famous athlete in one sport, what sport would you choose? Imagine your dream career, from beginning to conclusion.
30. If you could go back in time and spend a day with any character from history, who would you choose, and why?
31. If you could go back in time and live your live in any historic era, which era would you choose and why?
32. What are some ways in which the world will be different 50 years from now?  (Think science/technology, economy, politics, culture, music/arts)
33. If you were given 3 wishes (and none of them could be to wish for more wishes, or for money/wealth), what would you wish for?
34. If you have ten million dollars but you could ONLY spend it on charities, what charities would you support, and why?
35. What are your 10 favorite movies? Why? (you can also do this with TV shows, books, restaurants, foods, songs, etc.)
36. If you could keep any breed of dog as a pet, what breed would you choose? (Repeat for type of car)
37. What's your favorite holiday and why?
38. If you could afford season tickets to any ONE sports team, what team would you choose?
39. If you could attend any ONE music concert, which artist would you choose?Invent a recipe utilizing your favorite ingredients
40. If you could watch a marathon of any movie actor's movies, what movie actor would you choose? What movies would you include in your marathon?
41. Who was your favorite teacher? Why?
42. If the world was going to end and you had to plan your last meal, what would you eat?
43. If you could invent a new flavor of ice cream, what would it be?
44. If you could create and market an invention, what would it be?
45. If you could invent an app for the iphone or computer, what app would you invent?
46. What type of weather is your favorite? Why?
47. If you were accidentally locked in a store all night, what kind of store would you like to be trapped in?
48. If a disaster were about to overtake your house, and you could only save 10 things (omitting family members and pets), what 10 things would you save?
49. If you were a muppet character, which muppet would you be?
50. If you could be a superhero, what superpower(s) would you want to possess?

All this daydreaming about daydreaming is making me long for the beach ...!

50+ Fun Things to Do on the Beach

For decades now, every summer my husband's extended family has rented a big house on the beach for a week of relaxation, food and fun.   The following list contains a couple of hundred ideas of ways to have fun on the shore, most of them extensively beta-tested by us!

DURING THE DAY

1. Swim, float, body surf, dive under waves
2. Go snorkeling, scuba diving
3. Play wipe-out (turn your back to the waves and deal with what comes)
4. Surf the waves on an innertube, raft, boogie board, surfboard, wakeboard
5. Go kayaking, canoeing, waveriding, sailing, parasailing, waterskiing, jetskiing
6. Play a beach-friendly sport: volleyball, racquetball, horseshoes, frisbee, dodgeball, tag, tug-of-war or football
7. Have a sandcastle building contest
8. Have a sand sculpting contest
9. Host beach olympics (see separate blog entry for a list of suggested events)
10. Have a watergun fight
11. Enjoy music (listen to radio, iPod, sing, or bring an instrument and create your own)
12. Dance
13. Play chess, checkers
14. Collect shells, polished stones, seaglass, driftwood, sand dollars
15. Crab racing
16. Hang out in a comfy chair: read, sleep, sunbathe, catch up on phone calls, drink something fruity
17. Daydream (see separate blog entry for list of suitable daydreaming topics)
18. Put your chair in the surf and dangle your legs in the surf
19. Write words in the sand large enough to show up on Google Earth
20. Carve a maze in the sand
21. Bury people
22. Dig a pit big enough to float in
23. Use a metal detector to hunt for buried treasure
24. Feed the seagulls
25. Go fishing, crabbing, clamming
26. Search for tidal pools
27. Search for sea creatures: dolphins, whales, seals, puffins, turtles, mermaids
28. Fly a kite
29. Stroll/hike/jog along the shoreline
30. Reenact the D-Day landing
31. Watch the sunrise/sunset
32. Have a picnic
33. Talk about your favorite episodes from Shark Week
34. Create art: paint, sketch, take photos, compose music, write in a journal, compose poetry
35. Go topless
36. Leave something funny on your chest, fall asleep, and wake up with a goofy sunburn
37. Identify shapes in the clouds
38. Practice your life-saving skills
39. Blow bubbles
40. Meet someone new
41. Take photos of the family (serious or goofy - for example, posed as bathing beauties or muscle men)
42. Exercise (jog, do yoga, gymnastics, calathenics)
43. Walk a dog
44. Reenact your favorite beach/ocean/island movie: Beach Blanket Bingo, Little Mermaid, South Pacific, Robinson Crusoe, The Odyssey, Jaws, Blue Lagoon, Apocalypse Now, Lord of the Flies (just kidding about the last few ...)
45. Swim/walk in the rain
46. Read stories/poetry about the sea (see separate blog entry for an appropriate selection)
47. Identify plants, shells, or wildlife (birdwatching, identify animal footprints in the sand)
48. Play Pictionary in the sand (your team has to guess what you're drawing before an incoming wave erases your picture)
49. People-watch (cutest kid, best body, worst body, best tan, worst sunburn, ugliest hawaiian shirt, etc.)
50. Seal a message in a bottle and send it out to sea
51. Give yourself a beach spa treatment (exfoliate using wet sand, have someone lay warm stones on your back)
52. Wave at passing boats, airplanes
53. Have a beach party (music, food, , goofy games, dancing)
54. Ride dunebuggies, horses, motorcycles on the sand
55. For the ladies: don a guazy dress and stand in the wind
56. Pick up trash, litter
57. Pretend to be a pirate: tie a kerchief around your head, bury treasure, make a map, talk like a pirate, drink grog, force people to walk the plank

AT NIGHT:

1. Enjoy fireworks (watch others or set off your own)
2. Hunt for crabs
3. Light a fire and have a cookout/clambake
4. Tell spooky ghost stories about pirates
5. Attire yourself in glowsticks and go for a walk
6. Watch lightening (from a safe vantage point, of course!)
7. Watch the stars/moon using a telescope
8. Watch for shooting stars, UFOs
9. Walk hand-in-hand with a loved one
10. Look for glowing seaweed, seacreatures
11. Recreate the beach scene from From Here to Eternity
12. Dance to the music of the waves
13. Swim nekked