Ok… Ok…  This is not your typical post on construction type activities, but I couldn’t help but point out this one.   Kaboose (a wonderful site for crafty ideas) has a great summer time activity / project listed on their site.  Seashell Critters are cute little guys your kids can put together with next to nothing in materials, other than a little glue, some shaky eyes, and a little imagination.

We just got back from the beach (Surfside Beach - Texas).  The kids had collected a rather larger quantity of shells found from their journeys and searches along the sand.  They play with them in all sorts of creative ways, and I am already thinking about buildings and structures we could assemble using the mollusky materials …After all, isn’t this the most natural form of calcium carbonate, one of the most prolific building materials?  I digress…

I think the addition of little eyes and facial features is a clever idea.  I’m off to our local craft store to pick up some of these little peepers right now.

I remember (way back when ) when anyone asked what the world’s tallest building was, immediately you spat out the Empire State Building. And then shortly after things started to get complicated when it became a competition to see who could build the tallest. Although, in my mind, some of them cheated by simply extending a communication tower up over the height of the others…

I found an interesting site which shows 10 of the world’s tallest buildings in an illustrated format. It is really cool to see the Empire State Building still hanging in the top 10. Having been built in 1931, it still belongs in the race even if it falls a little short at some point. If you ever get a chance, the Modern Marvels (History Channel) episode featuring the construction of this building is well worth the watch, especially with a Tivo. Although it loses the kids about 10 minutes into it

What is even more interesting about this site is the listing of buildings planned for construction. There are some really cool structures planned. Some that I really wonder if they will stand the test of time. Not to mention a giant gorilla crawling to the top and batting down airplanes from the sky.

So what is the tallest building? Well arguably it is still the Sears Tower, but it all depends on how you measure it. You see the Sears Tower is one of those buildings with one of those great big antennas on top. However, the roof line sits at 442.3m. And the tallest building by roof line is in Taipei, Taiwan called Tapei 101 with its roof at 448m. I know this is probably fightin’ words to someone from Chicago. And, I guess the plan is to keep building a bigger antenna on top to keep up with the Jones’. I wonder what the equivalent surname in Taiwan would be?