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Art & History

What is the Mexican Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos)?

On 1st and 2nd of November, Mexico celebrates its Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos). This is a festival that begins on 28th October and ends on a public holiday on 2nd November. During this time, Mexicans believe that the deceased have permission from God to visit friends and relatives on earth, and once again enjoy the pleasures of life. It isn’t seen as a time of sadness and mourning but as a celebration of life.

Where Does the Tradition Come From?

The Aztecs believed that death was just a part of the circle of life and offered gifts to the goddess Mictecacihuatl (“Lady of the Dead”) for deceased children and adults. This tradition was incorporated into the Catholic celebration of All Saint’s Day and All Soul’s Day when the Spanish conquered the country. You might know All Saint’s Day by its other name – Halloween!

Poetry By You, Written By You

When I Am Angry – Written by You

Cat is 10 years old and loves dogs, bats and snakes. She has a dog and is working hard to persuade her parents to allow her to have a snake. She likes climbing, playing the piano and drawing.

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Food and Recipes, Home, Health & Style

Egg Box Gardening

I started a little experiment of my own this spring. I wanted to find an easy way of sowing seeds for growing vegetables at home. I have a small veggie patch, but I worked out last year that I could grow a lot more, if only I had many more seedlings to plant out.

But sowing seeds can be a bit fiddly, and then you’ve got to plant out each tiny plant. That takes a lot of time. I wanted more veggies for less work, so I collected as many egg boxes as I could find, and sowed seeds into each egg holder. The pictures show the planting and growing on of broad beans, but I have also used the egg boxes for runner beans, radishes, beetroots, spinach, tomatoes, rocket, pak choi and patty pans.

And it’s not too late to start growing your own right now. You don’t even need a veggie patch in the garden; plant the egg boxes into a pot or container for your window sill or patio.

Home, Health & Style

Do You Have the Denim Blues?

Since Levi Strauss and Jacob Davies developed jeans all the way back in 1873, denim jeans have become the garment we reach for at the weekend. They are attractive, hard-wearing and versatile, so it’s no wonder that we spend so much time in them, and so much money on them. In the US alone about 450 million pairs of jeans are bought each year.

But what do you wear when you get bored of jeans? Is there really a comfortable, suitably casual alternative? Lissie, who blogs at GrungetoGoddess has some ideas for those who have the denim blues.

Home, Health & Style, Popular

12 Steps to Becoming a Self-Confident Kid

Do you ever wish you were more confident? Do you watch other kids standing in front of the class, and presenting their work, and wish you be that self-confident kid?

We often talk about self-confidence and self-esteem in tweens. These two are linked, but slightly different. Self-esteem is about how you feel about yourself, how you value your abilities and yourself. Self-confidence is about how you feel about your abilities, about trusting yourself to do something.

You could have a high self-esteem generally, but have low self-confidence in a particular area, e.g. doing maths, or standing in front of the classroom and presenting a book report.

We often split people into ‘confident’ and ‘not confident’, but we can all learn to be more confident. It just takes a bit of practice. Here are our top tips for increasing self-confidence and self-esteem!