Meet "Rocky"

This is the kids' new "adopted" penguin, "Rocky".  He's decked out to go ziplining, on a set-up they ran across the room on a string.

He arrived in the mail last night, and is a hit!  They had decided to adopt a penguin when they got the WWF gift catalog in the mail, pooling all the money in their two piggy banks (tooth fairy money and money earned doing chores).  Adding it all together, they only had $25 between the two of them - enough to adopt a penguin and get a certificate but not enough to receive a stuffed animal.  That was OK with them - they just really wanted to adopt a penguin.

Well, without telling them I went ahead and provided a Mom's-matching-grant (a time honored program you've probably heard of before, I'm sure), and upped them to the $50 level that would bring the stuffed animal.

Today has been all about this penguin.  They had to work out a custody-sharing agreement in which he will sleep with each of them alternating nights, and they've been making clothing and ziplines and cutting out paper fish for him to eat.  We read up on Rockhopper Penguins online, and looked on the world map to see where he probably came from.

In my experience, children love to donate to animal causes.  If you have an animal-loving child, consider a symbolic adoption as a gift - I bet it will be a hit!