EXERCISE: We all know that schools are closed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

What we didn’t know were these tips from the American Physical Recreation Institute of Learning and its counterpart, For Outside Only Learning.

While children are home, there are things they can be doing to stay active.

The first is called the Flamingo. The child should stand still with one leg raised, and arms out to the sides as if they were wings. This pose should be held at least three minutes per leg.

The second is the Ostrich. The child should jog in place for at least three minutes while flapping his or her arms and making honking noises.

The third exercise is the Opossum, where the child should stiffen up and “play dead.” In pop culture, this could be compared to the fad of “planking.” The child should hold the pose for two minutes.

The last is the Lemur, where the child should run — outside of course — making a “sashay-like movement” on their legs while waving their arms above their heads.

We can learn a lot from the animal kingdom, and parents might want to look for themselves to see what other animal behaviors could provide some fun exercise for children.

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POETRY: We found a nice poem to commemorate today. This is by Dorothy D. Warner.

I saw a cowslip through the fence,

A horsefly in the store,

I saw a boardwalk up the street,

A stone step by a door.

I saw a mill race up the road,

A daybreak through the gloom.

I saw a nightfall on my lawn,

A clock run in the room.

I saw a peanut stand up high,

A sardine box in town,

A bedspring at the garden gate,

An inkstand on the ground.

You don’t believe all this, do you?

For not a single thing is true.

It’s just a silly way to say,

Happy April Fool’s Day!

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HINT: Spell out the acronyms for the organizations: APRIL FOOL!

We hope you appreciated the laugh as much as we did.