Fun Every Month

Bonza Bottler Day

Reading Comprehension for December 12

Bonza Bottler Day has an Australian name, but it's a worldwide day for fun! Bonza means "great" in Aussie slang. Bottler is Aussie slang for "something excellent." Therefore, Bonza Bottler Day must be a day that is great and truly excellent!


Every month has a Bonza Bottler Day in it, though you rarely see it on a calendar. Each month has a number, right? When the day's date matches the month's number, it's Bonza Bottler Day! Several holidays are also Bonza Bottler Days. The date for New Year's Day is 1/1, Groundhog Day is 2/2, and Veteran's Day is 11/11. Bonza Bottler Days give us a day every month of the year to have fun! How do people celebrate? Let's look at Lacey Buckland and see what she does.


Lacey Buckland is an oddball. She wears mismatched socks on purpose. Her favorite hobby is playing the harmonica. She likes to yell "Fore!" every time she kicks a soccer ball. Best of all, there is never a Bonza Bottler Day when Lacey doesn't plan something special to do.


She kicked off the new year with a puzzle party. On New Year's Day, Lacey's parents wanted to sleep late. They warned her and her brothers to be quiet. Since it was too cold to play outside, Lacey sat up puzzle stations around the living room. She raced her brothers to be the first to finish a puzzle. She popped some buttered popcorn for them to munch. Later they played "sardines." It was like hide-and-seek in reverse. One person hides, and everyone spreads out to look for him. This game must be played quietly. As each person finds the hidden player, they join him in hiding! Soon the hiding place is crowded! The last person to find the hiding place is the next hider.


Although February 2 was Groundhog Day, Lacey's Bonza Bottler Day was all about edible art. She had a snack food sculpture party! First she made a paste of sour cream, cream cheese, and dried onion soup mix. Then she put out five bowls. In them she put potato chips, pretzels, corn chips, popcorn, and goldfish crackers. Finally she passed out paper plates. Each guest made their own snack food sculpture! The edible paste held the creations together. Some were towers, and some looked (sort of) like a person. After they were done, Lacey's mom took pictures. Then everyone ate their art!


March 3 arrived like a lion, with a fierce wind. Lacey thought it was a great time to put together a pots-and-pans band. Her baby brother chortled when she put a long-handled pot on her head. She gave him a skillet and a wooden spoon. Her other brothers drummed on big pans and ting-a-linged on glass jars. Lacey blew across the opening of a soft drink bottle. It was noisy fun!


On April 4 Lacey had friends over for old-fashioned games. They played jacks and hopscotch. Lacey got some hula hoops so that they could have a hula hoop contest. The funniest contest was seeing who could get the most hula hoops going at once!


May 5 was a perfect day for a picnic and relay races. Lacey came up with some races that her younger brothers could win. They played until everyone had won a race.


Because she enjoyed books, Lacey chose June 6 as the day to make her own storybook! She came up with a simple story. Then she used her brothers as models. Lacey took pictures that helped tell the story. Her mother took the film to a one-hour photo place. By that evening, Lacey had a small book with parts of the story written under each photo!


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