Improve Your Communication Skills
The Best Urban Beaches
Who else is looking forward to the summer? Whether you call your summer break a ‘vacation’ or a ‘holiday’, there is a good chance that some of you are heading for the beach.
Did you know that around the world there are hundreds of artificial beaches. Some are near the coast, but others are miles away from the seaside – perfect for those who don’t or can’t travel far.
City beaches are sometimes called ‘urban beaches’ like the one above in Cologne, Germany. This can involve the delivery of hundreds of tonnes of sand, to a place where there is no sand.
Islands Brygge, Copenhagen, Denmark
There is no sand here, but it is an oasis of fun in the middle of the city. For many years, this area was run down and neglected, but after a regeneration project, new life is blossoming. Who wants to jump off this diving board?
Festival of Love Beach, South Bank, London UK
This beach is all about relaxing and digging your feet into the sand. No pool (and the chilly Thames is certainly no alternative!) but great views over London, and the South Bank centre often has great activities for kids on offer. Check out their website for details.
Paris Plage, France
The capital city of France can get really hot and muggy in the summer months, so what better way than to cool off at an urban beach? Check out the huge showers in the picture!
Bundek Lake, Zagreb, Croatia
In the south of the city of Zagreb, this park was brought back to life after many years of neglect. It is a popular spot for locals and tourists alike, hoping to cool off in the hot Croatian summers.
Baby Plage, Geneva, Switzerland
Baby Plage, Geneva
This might be the MOST fun urban beach for kids in the world. The huge trees are festooned with old tyres and bicycle tubes, knotted together to create ladders and swings.
San Alfonso del Mar, Chile
Ok, this is a bit of a cheat, cause it isn’t an urban beach, but it is the biggest swimming pool in the world, so we had to include it! It is 8 hectares, and holds 250 million liters of water. That is equivalent of 6,000 familiar 8m long pools! It is part of a privately owned complex in South America.
BONUS BEACHES
Now, don’t tell your parents that we showed you this, and don’t try it out at home, but how awesome does this look? We can’t help thinking that this would be VERY messy, but it looks so relaxing and fun!
The artist Justin Kemp created home sandbox for under his desk.
This was built in Japan in 1993 – an artificial beach with a retractable roof. It was not commercially successful and closed over 10 years ago. Which is a real shame, because it looks really amazing.
Featured Image – Cologne KM689 Beach Bar in Germany
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!
Kymberlee Jay – Professional dancer and Remarkable Woman!
Award winning choreographer and dancer specialising in underground styles including street dance, Kymberlee Jay has 21 years of experience and has worked with a variety of companies and clients including Nike and Madonna. What makes her unique? She’s self taught and prefers masculine hip hop moves – beating the boys at their own game!
Remarkable Women connected by Nokia is a celebration of 50 women who are true ‘Unfollowers.’ These Remarkable Women are challenging normal conventions, bravely being different and inspiring others.
What made you agree to be part of the Remarkable Women campaign, and what do you hope to achieve with your involvement?
Amazing Libraries and Bookstores Around the World
What do you like about going into a bookstore or library? Is it the smell of the books, or the sight of the different coloured spines, waiting to be pulled from the shelf, so that you can dive in?
We have compiled a list of some of the most amazing libraries and bookstores around the world. Some of them you may have heard of, others are less well-known, but all of them made us smile or gasp in wonder. Which one is your favourite, and which library or bookstore would you add to the list?
Real Gabinete Português de Leitura, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Real Gabinete Português de Leitura pic by Mathieu Bertrand Struck
A building so remarkable that this one photo cannot hope to do it justice – more pictures here. This is the largest and most valuable collection of Portuguese literature outside of Portugal. The library was constructed between 1880 and 1887 – the facade was carved out of limestone in Lisbon, Portugal and transported by ship to Rio.
Have You Been ‘As Good as Gold?’
