Warning Sign Trivia Quiz

Answer: Swan

"The Ugly Duckling" is a fairy tale that was written by Hans Christian Andersen a very long time ago - in 1843! It is about a little duck who was constantly teased because people thought him very ugly. He was so unhappy. But one day, he discovered he had grown up to become a swan, which is one of the most beautiful birds in the world! The 'Ugly Duckling' now had lots of friends and was very happy.

Did you know that the word 'swan' can also be a verb? A verb is a 'doing' word. You can use it in a sentence such as "My friend is swanning about all over the world", which would mean that your friend was traveling all over the world, going from place to place, or gallivanting around.

If you're a good swimmer, you can perform a 'swan dive' into the water. Keep your legs together, your back straight, and put your arms out to the side. As you dive in, you raise your arms up over your head. It should look very graceful!

Answer: Wags

When dogs are excited or happy, their tails move madly about, and this is called "wagging". I'm sure if you give your dog a treat, his tail will wag even harder! Although don't forget that dogs cannot eat chocolate, grapes or raisins, as these can make them very ill. Grapes and raisins can cause kidney failure in dogs; and chocolate contains something called theobromine. Theobromine is found in the cocoa bean that makes chocolate, and it could cause your dog to be extremely sick. Some people say that dogs can have white chocolate because it is made of cocoa butter, and not the cocoa bean. But white chocolate does contain trace amounts of theobromine, so I'd steer clear of that as well!

"Little Bo-Peep"
Little Bo-Peep lost her sheep
And doesn't know where to find them.
Leave them alone, and they'll come home,
Wagging their tails behind them!

Answer: Rising

"The Tiger Rising" is a story of one boy's journey after his mother's death. The boy, Rob, meets a tiger in the woods who is in a cage. This tiger comes to represent how Rob deals with the loss of his mother: he keeps his feelings locked away inside him, and he feels sad and trapped - just like the tiger. Rob, and his new friend, Sistine, try to work out how to free the tiger, and so how to help Rob deal with his grief.

What are some other things that rise, apart from us when we get up from a chair? Well, bread rises when it is being baked in the oven (that is because of the yeast you put in the bread); heat rises; sea levels rise (and lower); the sun rises in the morning; and bubbles rise!

Answer: Grins

"The Cheshire Cat" is a character in Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland" who is always grinning, and always disappearing! He disappears bit by bit, starting with his tail, with his big grin being the last bit to go.

But did you know where the phrase "grinning like a Cheshire Cat" came from? It is hard to trace the origins of this phrase, but Lewis Carroll was not the first to come up with it, although it was he who made it famous. It is thought to have come from a county in England called Cheshire, where a picture of a smiling cat was drawn on the packets of cheese. Some people say that these cheese makers in Cheshire molded their cheese into the shape of a smiling cat, and this cheese was eaten 'tail first', thereby leaving the big grin until last - just like the "Cheshire Cat"!

Answer: Wigs

Wigs are things that people sometimes wear on their heads if they don't have much of their own hair. Wigs can be made up of real hair, or fake hair, and when worn, it looks like someone has their own hair. Wigs are also often worn for costume parties, or when you are dressing up for Halloween for example.

A wig can also be called either a "hairpiece", a "toupee", or a "postiche". A grey wig is called a "grizzle".

Author Roald Dahl wrote a very scary book called "The Witches", about mean witches who wanted to rid the world of children! The witches all had no hair, and so had to wear wigs so that people couldn't tell that they were witches. These wigs made their scalps flakey and itchy, and gave them a condition they called "Wig-rash". Roald Dahl also wrote the books "James and the Giant Peach" and "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory". If you haven't read them yet, please do as they are fabulous.

Answer: Rain

Do you remember the nursery rhyme "Itsy-Bitsy Spider"? Here are the words:

The itsy-bitsy spider climbed up the water spout
Down came the rain and washed the spider out
Out came the sun and dried up all the rain
And the itsy-bitsy spider climbed up the spout again.

A fun 'rain' experiment is to ask an adult to boil a kettle under your kitchen cabinet. Watch the steam from the kettle rise. The steam will rise up to the underneath of the cabinet. Then, when the steam cools, little water drops will form, and when they are heavy enough, they will start to drip off the cabinet - just like rain from clouds!

Answer: Sing

In "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs", the dwarfs always sing the song "Heigh Ho!" when they make their way home from the mines. They are very cheerful (except Grumpy!) and seem to enjoy their work:

We dig dig dig dig dig dig dig in our mine the whole day through
To dig dig dig dig dig dig dig is what we really like to do
It ain't no trick to get rich quick
If you dig dig dig with a shovel or a pick
In a mine! In a mine! In a mine! In a mine!
Where a million diamonds shine!
Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho, it's home from work we go!

Snow White loves to sing as well. She even sings cheerfully whilst she is cleaning the Dwarves' VERY messy house! Do you remember the song she sings: "Whistle While You Work"? Singing can make you feel happy too. Have you seen the movie "The Sound of Music"? Maria gets all the children to sing a song called "My Favorite Things", to cheer them all up in a thunderstorm. It works!

Answer: Grain

"The Little Red Hen" tells the story of a hard-working hen who lived with three very lazy animals: a pig, a duck, and a cat. One day, the hen found a grain of corn. All by herself she planted it; waited for it to grow into corn; took the corn to the mill so it could be made into flour; then made the flour into bread. Her animal companions refused to help her at all. But when the day came that the bread was made, they all wanted to eat it with her! But she said "Oh no, you won't! I planted the seed, I cut the corn, I took it to the mill to be made into flour, and I made the bread, all by myself. I shall now eat the loaf all by myself." And she did!

Some of our favorite breakfast cereals contain whole grain, and it's important to have a healthy start to the day. These cereals are a good option: Weetabix, Wheaties, Shredded Wheat, Puffed Wheat, Cheerios or good old fashioned oatmeal.

Answer: Rags

Poor Cinderella! Her evil step-mother and step-sisters made her run around after them, do all the chores, and wear tattered rags, while they wore expensive clothes. But that was all to change the day Cinderella's Fairy Godmother arrived! Cinderella was kitted out in a beautiful, elegant ball gown, and given a coach and horses, and allowed to attend the Prince's ball. The Prince and Cinderella fell in love, and despite some hindrance from Cinderella's mean family, she and the Prince married, and Cinderella went from rags to riches, and lived happily ever after!

The word "rag" can also mean to tease someone, or to tell someone off, and scold them. There is also a style of music called "ragtime", which is usually a very jazzy style of music.

Answer: Raisin

Another Roald Dahl book, "Danny, the Champion of the World", is a story about Danny, and the adventures he has with his father whilst capturing pheasants. Danny comes up with a new and intriguing way to capture the pheasants, so that they can thwart the plans of the villain, Mr Hazell. Danny's plan is so successful that his father calls him "The Champion of the World". Fortunately, most of the pheasants get to fly away in the end, and remain unhurt!

Raisins are very sweet and very delicious. They are made by drying grapes, either in the sun, or artificially. They can be eaten by themselves, or they can be put in lots of other dishes such as cereal, cookies and cakes. Raisins are usually made from large, dark grapes; while sultanas are made from drying white grapes; and currents are made from the much smaller dark grapes.