center. we'll tell you who protesters are now turning to keep the san jose hospital open. that plus all your top stor coming up, a special "nightly news kids edition" in front of a studio audience. then, making a splash. what you need to know when you

ahead to the pool, beach or lake to go swimming. also, monkey business. these birds are giving us all a reason to smile. then secrets o. >> take your hand up like this and drop your thumb. now your hand is a puppet. hi, my name is, and then whatever your name is -- they join us and treat us to a special performance. ♪ ♪ you are my world ♪ ♪ you are my world ♪ and kate the chemist is back with another fun experiment you can try at home. >> one mississippi, two mississippi, three mississippi, four mississippi, five mississippi. here we go.

hands in and show them what you made. now you've got the gloves. >> so funny! >> who is brave enough to try it? >> really? >> it's not bad. it's like weird pasta. >> it's pretty good, actually. this is "nightly news kids edition." welcome back to "nightly news kids edition." i'm lester holt. great to be with you guys on a saturday. i'm really excited. we have an audience filled with kids, so we're going to have a lot of fun. we have a super lineup ahead, including a special pop quiz lightning round. >> what planet has the strongest gravity field? and later on, a puppeteer and some special friends will join us. >> don't your arms get sore when you're moving? >> my arms don't feel tired at all. first, it's a holiday weekend and with the weather

warming up and summer on the way, many of you are probably thinking about heading to the beach, lake or pool, maybe even today or tomorrow. may is national water safety month, so we asked our good friend dylan dreyer to find out how you can swim safely and have fun in the water. >> reporter: when it gets hot, there's nothing more refreshing than a cool dip. >> in the water, it feels like i'm in space. >> the thing about swimming, swimming like a mermaid under water. >> reporter: how do you make sure to stay safe while splashing? here are our top tips. make sure you always have a grownup watching you while you're swimming, even when there's a lifeguard around. go swimming with a friend, have a buddy in the water and look out for each other. follow signs on water safety. don't go swimming if you see a

closed sign. used a coast guard approved life vest if you're not a strong swimmer. most importantly, learn how to swim. >> when you learn how to swim, you learn what to do when you get tired, you learn how to know what your comfort is with the water and you learn howto float. >> really, i just like to swim. >> i learned how to swim so i can get refreshed and cool. >> i love swimming because it's really fun. >> i learned about how to make bubbles under water and bubbles with your nose and with your mouth. >> reporter: when it comes to swimming in rivers, lakes and oceans, remember to watch out for tides and currents. sometimes it's hard to see where the water can pull you around. and don't swim too far out. stay close to shore so people can see where you are. >> make sure there's a lifeguard on duty and you want to swim as close as possible to a lifeguard

to keep an eye on you. you want to swim parallel to shore and get out of the area where the rip currents are. if they're not that good a swimmer, i suggest no deeper than your waist. >> reporter: what if you've floated out farther than you wanted? >> don't panic and try to swim in. just stay on that boogie board, the flotation device that you have, and you're much better off than trying to swim in on your own. >> reporter: it's also good to stay healthy while swimming. don't drink the water you're swimming in. at the pool, shower before you get in the water. dry off properly after a swim, including your ears. tips to make sure your summer goes swimmingly. >> dylan, thanks so much. as the days are getting longer and the weather is getting warmer, that means more time spent outside, and there's one thing that is super important when you're outdoors,

sunscreen. our pal, dr. john torres, explains why. >> we all need sun to keep us healthy but too much can damage our skin, which is why we wear sunscreen. when the sun shines, it sends two types of ultra violet rays to either. uv rays go into your skin and cause it to wrinkle. the goal is to stop both, and that's where sunscreen comes in. sunscreen can work in two ways. it can reflect the uv rays away from your skin, or it can absorb the rays before they get into your skin. most sunscreen does a bit of both. >> sunscreen is one of the best ways we can keep our skin healthy and protected from the damaging rays of the sun. >> another term you'll see on sunscreen, spf. it stands for sun protection factor. this number tells you how long the sun's uv rays would take to

redden your skin with sunscreen versus without. for example, if it takes five minutes to get a sunburn, if you wear sunscreen with spf 30, it would take about 150 minutes, or 2 1/2 hours to get a sunburn. >> sunburns are usually kind of sneaky. sunburns can be hard to feel at the time they're happening. that's why applying sunscreen regularly, even when your mom asks, at the pool every two hours, is the best way to prevent that damage happening on your skin. >> if you do get sunburned, take a cold bath, apply aloe vera gel. don't be afraid to go outside. it's really important. did you know the sun has benefits that help your body? sunlight boosts a chemical in the brain which can improve your mood and help you get better sleep, and you also get vitamin

d from the sun and that helps keep your bones strong and strengthens your immune system. time for our pop quiz, and since we have an audience this week, we're doing a special lightning round. and my good pal, dave price, is here to help us out. >> lester, how are you? >> i'm great. we've got teams in place. >> we've got great teams and an amazing audience that's going to help out as well. >> everybody is going to get a piece of this one. >> let's talk about how this works. we have team one and team two. we have may, the captain, we have joaquin, the captain over here. now, i need real silence for just a second as we go through the rules, because these are important. first of all, teamwork means everything, right? and we're going to have the audience help out as well. you have to choose the final right question. i'm going to read the questions and lester will, too, and then

you're going to have a couple of seconds to hit that buzzer, and hopefully get -- >> want to try it out? [ buzz ] >> there we go. why don't you try that one more time? i love the sound of that. that means you know the answer. so here is what we're going to do. the first team to buzz gets to answer. if you don't answer right, the other team can steal and try and answer right. >> and the crowd may be trying to help you out. [ cheers and applause ] >> now, the team with the most points is going to win all of the glory. are you ready to go? >> yeah. >> lester, i'll take the first question. what type of weather is hotter than the surface of the sun? is it, a, wildfires, b, a heat wave, or, c, lightning? >> lightning. >> you are correct!

>> lester, you're on. >> the next question is, what planet has the strongest gravity field? is it, a, jupiter, b, earth, or c, mars? >> jupiter. >> jupiter is correct! jupiter is the biggest planet in our solar system and it has the strongest gravitational field among all the planets. >> we're all tied up. this is it. for all the marbles, are you ready, audience, to see who is going to win? [ cheers and applause ] >> here we go. our question, what year did this building 30 rockefeller plaza open? you can look at the outside, look at the floors, the walls. was it 1989, 1954 or --

[ buzzer ] >> 1933. >> 1933! unbelievable! construction on this building started in 1932. it was done a year later and opened its first tenant in 1933. and this team wins! [ cheers and applause ] >> amazing, amazing. just a couple more neat facts, by the way. in this building we used to have the "today" show, which launched in 1950s, and it was co-hosted then by a chimpanzee. >> true story. >> what's the longest running game show or tv show? it's "meet the press" that started in 1947. and the nbc logo, that peacock with all those colors, was when we changed over to color television. and that's a little bit about this building. we had such a great time with

this game. smart answers, very quick answers. great job, guys. now for our picture of the week, and we have a couple to share with you. first, the columbus zoo and aquarium in ohio just welcomed a new addition earlier this month, a mandrel. the zoo says both mom and baby are doing well. the babies sleep and eat often and mandrels are the world's largest monkeys. the san diego zoo is excited about the recent birth of this bright orange endangered baby monkey. they are known for giving birth to bright orange babies that darken to black as they get older. the zoo says the birth of this baby marks a critical new member of this dwindling species population. just ahead, sticky and sweet.

kate, the chemist, shows how to make gummy worms. >> one mississippi, two mississippi, three mississippi. and show time -- ♪ you are my world ♪ >> a special performance just for you. ♪ you are my world ♪ >> no application fee if you apply by may 31 at university of maryland global campus, offering online and hybrid courses and lifetime career services. learn about our more than 125 degrees and certificates at umgc.edu.

learn about our more than 125 degrees - so abraham lincoln once said, "don't believe everything you read on the internet." oh, i see what they did there. misinformation online is real, and so are its negative and harmful effects. stay smart. the more you know.

welcome back to "nightly news kids edition." i'm lester holt. i hope you're having a good weekend so far. let's give it up for our audience, who is with us for this special episode. [ cheers and applause ] >> in this week's spotlight, there's one young woman using her voice and creativity to pave the way for future story tellers and hoping to inspire kids to

reach for the stars. joining us is puppeteer and ventriloquist. megan, great to have you with us. we have had you on the show before. before we have a conversation, you're obviously a big music maker as well. >> yeah, i love writing music and i've got music for you all today. >> take it away. >> come on out, june bug. are you ready to sing some fun music? >> yeah, and i know just the person to get it funky in here. come on out. >> hey, everybody. >> june bug, a skunk? >> you said you wanted funk. ♪ ♪ the greatest songs ♪ ♪ in a world full of melodies ♪ ♪ you're my harmony ♪ ♪ there's no place i would

rather be ♪ ♪ i would follow you to infinity ♪ ♪ the world just doesn't turn for me ♪ ♪ until eternity ♪ ♪ you are my world ♪ ♪ you are my world ♪ ♪ you are my world ♪ ♪ you are my world ♪ ♪ ♪ you're the reason for everything ♪ ♪ you're my rock, you're my

hope ♪ ♪ no greater love than your company ♪ ♪ and the joy that you bring ♪ ♪ you are my world ♪ ♪ you are my world ♪ ♪ you are my world ♪ ♪ you are my world ♪ ♪ >> great job, you two! >> and now, for the grand finale -- >> no, no, no, please don't spray us. >> megan, that is terrific.

>> thank you. [ cheers and applause ] >> thank you, thank you. >> first of all, who do you have with you? >> i'm baby june bug. >> we met. didn't we meet? >> yeah. >> you came by nbc once before, right? >> i did, and i asked you for a snack. >> you remember that. what's the difference, megan, between a ventriloquist and a lip reader? >> a lip reader. okay, so a ventriloquist is someone who can talk without moving their lips like this. i can talk without moving my lips. a lip reader is someone who can read lips, so if i were to talk, you can know what i'm saying. but i didn't say anything. >> you're also a puppeteer. >> i'm also a puppeteer, so a puppeteer is someone who can take an object and bring it to life and give it motion. so june bug is my puppet and i give him motion. so you can be a puppeteer. take your hand up like this and

drop your thumb. now your hand is a puppet. you can say, hi, my name is -- >> hi, my name is june bug. >> and, of course, everyone is looking to see if your lips are moving. how do you concentrate? >> how do i concentrate? so i concentrate through lots of practice. with lots of practice, i feel more comfortable and then i can just have fun. [ cheers and applause ] >> we've got some questions from the audience. do you want to hear some? >> yeah, i would love to. >> who do we have? >> i'm daphne. don't your arms get sore while you're moving and how do you do the voice of june bug and move your arms at the same time? >> my arms don't feel tired at all. she wasn't talking about you. i practice a lot and sometimes i practice with weights. so during practice, my arms get sore. but by the time we make it in front of you all, we don't get tired because we've done the work at home. >> that's something i didn't realize, there's a lot of

physicality in this. >> it takes a little bit of strength. >> but i'm not that heavy. >> another question? >> hi, my name is alexa, and when i grow up i want to be a fashion designer and president of the united states. what did you do to follow your dreams of becoming a puppeteer? >> you're going to be the most stylish president there ever was. [ cheers and applause ] >> so when i knew i wanted to become a puppeteer, i studied other puppeteers that i admired. i studied them and thought about what i could do to become special, how i would be a unique puppeteer. so i studied other puppeteers and then i watched the world around me and i created baby june bug based on the wonderful kids that i grew up around. if you want to be a fashion designer and president of the united states, study your history to learn previous presidents and study fashion. then you can learn the unique gifts that you have, how would it make you the best fashion

designer and president there ever was. [ cheers and applause ] >> that's really important. and before we say so long, what is your advice to kids, and what do you want them to know about the hard work that you have to put in to do what you do? >> yeah, it takes many hours of practice and work, but once you find that unique gift and talent that's special about you, focus on it and work on it. so i learned very early on that i loved puppetry and i took my puppet to school, i worked with him at home over and over, and i felt that was my unique gift. so find that unique gift and just work on it. [ cheers and applause ] >> thank you so much for coming on. great to have you. stop by any time. and i promise, the next time i'll bring snacks. >> i like cheetos. >> you've got it, my friend. megan, thank you very much. [ cheers and applause ] finally, she loves to entertain us with her spectacular experiments, showing us how science can be super fun.

we're talking about kate, author of several books, including "kate the chemist, the big book of experiments". she joins us along with our good friend, dylan dreyer. we're going to have a lot of fun and probably get messy. >> a little bit. >> we're all covered up. >> we've got our lab coats on. you've got some gloves on. i don't think dylan and i are going to wear dpgloves, we're going to brave it. >> i'm nervous. >> we've got you. >> what are we going to do? >> we are going to make gummy worms. [ cheers and applause ] >> you had me at gummy. [ crowd chanting ] >> kate, i wouldn't think gummy worms would be a science experiment. >> it is a science experiment. so what we're going to use is food grade calcium chloride and food grade sodium alginate and

we're going to have an ion exchange and that's going to make a polymer. it's a really long, long molecule. think of paperclips, if you've put them together in a big long necklace, that's kind of like a polymer. dylan, can i have you do the first part? take the calcium chloride and put it into the water. then you're going to grab your spoon and stir, stir, stir. >> this is really pretty. >> i think that looks good. lester, we're going to take these little mixers and we're going to dye it, so squirt it right in. >> that's why you have the gloves. >> that's why i have a lab coat on. >> so we're going to add a lot. the reason we add this is to make it taste really good, because otherwise sodium alginate is extracted from

algae, which is brown seaweed and it doesn't taste as good. perfect. we're going to give it a little swoosh and i think we're ready to get going. are you ready? >> yeah. >> we're going to put this in here and pull up as much as you possibly can, full syringe, if possible. perfect, perfect. then you're going to come over to the calcium chloride and we just squirt. >> oh, nice. wonderful, wonderful. let's do it again. >> one more. we want a lot of these, yes? we're going to just squirt, squirt, squirt. >> this looks gross. >> we're going to try it. we've got to count to five. one mississippi, two mississippi, three mississippi, four mississippi, five mississippi. all right, here we go. hands in and show them what you made. >> oh, they feel so funny!

>> okay, that is gross. >> it looks like snot. >> it's amazing. this is a gel, so a gel is when you have a liquid trapped inside of another liquid. have you ever had a gusher before? >> yeah. >> you bite down and then the liquid squirts out, that's exactly what will happen. who is brave enough to try it? >> really? >> it's not bad. it's like weird pasta. >> weird pasta, yeah. it's pretty good, actually. >> it's a lot better than it could have been. like i said, it has that algae. so if you have it at home, squash it up and make a puree and add sugar and you can make it as well. >> it's always a pleasure to have you. you bring fun and a little bit of mess. thank you guys for being here in the audience and thank you at home for watching. have a great day. remember to take care of

yourself and each other. so long.

saturday, may 25th, 7:00. as we take a live look outside. cloudy skies over san jose. a little