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Posts Tagged ‘school’

  1. Spring(ish) Cleaning

    November 22, 2011 by Amy Hansford

    After various friends having Facebook friend culls, I thought I’d do my own this week.

    Picture care of Doug Savage from over at www.savagechickens.comFor anyone who doesn’t know, you can end up with a lot of friends on Facebook. It starts off as one or two old school friends, the ones you used to share a desk with Then their school friends find you and add you, the ones who never really spoke to you. Then their school friends find you and add you, the ones that used to bully you. But you can’t say no – it’s impolite, isn’t it?
    Then there are the friends you used to see every weekend, ten years ago. The ones who, after an initial ‘So great to see you on here!”, forget to ever speak to you again.
    Not to mention the ones that drive you up the wall with their gullibility (“Facebook are going to start charging £3 a month – I’m not paying! Join this group if you agree”), copy and pastes (“Post this as your status, if you have someone keeping an eye on you from above”) and incessant shouting/use of text speak (XFACTOR 2MO NIGHT).

    And so I culled my friend list.
    My criteria? Those who I’d not communicated with (or visa versa) for over a year or made me want to punch them in the face. I figured I’d go down by about thirty or so. EIGHTY. Eighty people, gone. That’s one in five. And I shouldn’t think any of them will miss my updates.

    Me? It’s not made a huge impact on my feed, but there are less irritating posts and I see more of the people I frequently catch up with. People who weren’t kind to me at school have gone – I feel happier knowing that they don’t get to see my happiness now. And it’s refreshing to have done.

    So, does your friend list need to be so big?

    Picture care of Doug Savage from over at www.savagechickens.com


  2. Costumes: World Book Day

    February 27, 2009 by Amy Hansford

    The time has rolled around once again for another year celebrating World Book Day and Book Week. A chance for schools to celebrate creativity, make-believe and fun! People get into a right old tiz trying to find a costumes for a dressing up day like this. When working in As If By Magic, we would always advise a good rummage through the costumes to find something you like, then we’d all think up books to match it. So if you find yourself in a bind, try that!

    Here’s a mix of characters and titles that might spark some ideas.

    Aladdin – Traditional (Aladdin, the Princess, Genie)
    Alice In Wonderland – Lewis Carroll (Alice, Mad Hatter, Tweedledum/Tweedledee, the White Rabbit, the Queen of Hearts, Cheshire Cat)
    Aliens Love Underpants – an alien in some underpants, obviously! **new!**
    Angelina Ballerina – Helen Craig and Katherine Holabird
    Asterix – Asterix, Obelisk **new!**
    The BFG – Roald Dahl (a giant or Sophie? or even The Queen?)
    Bob the Builder
    The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas – John Boyne (thanks Beccy!)
    Burglar Bill – Allan Ahlberg
    The Cat In the Hat – The Cat, the children, Thing 1, Thing 2
    Charlie and the Chocolate Factory – Roald Dahl (Charlie, Willy Wonka, Grandpa or an Oompa Loompa?)
    Dictionary – wear all one colour and stick words/definitions over yourself?
    Fantastic Mr Fox – Roald Dahl
    Funny Bones
    Gansta Granny –
    Granny! 
    Goldilocks –
     Goldie, a bear
    The Gruffalo – The Gruffalo, his child, the fox, the owl, the snake, the mouse, the BIG bad mouse! **new!**
    Harry Potter and the … – Harry, Hermione, Ron, Snape, Dumbledore, Voldemort, Hagrid, Luna Lovegood, Professor Lupin
    His Dark Materials – Philip Pullman (Take a cuddly toy animal as your Daemon)
    Horrid Henry – Francesca Simon
    Jack and the Beanstalk – Jack, Daisy the cow, the Giant, the beanstalk itself
    James and the Giant Peach – James, the Peach, the Centipede and numerous others
    The Jolly Postman – Allen Ahlberg (Why not go as someone on his round?)
    The Jungle BookRudyard Kipling
    The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - one of the children, Aslan, the White Queen, Mr Tumnus
    Little Miss… – Sunshine, Naughty, Trouble, Chatterbox
    Little Red Riding Hood – Traditional. (Little Red, the Wolf, or Grandma?)
    Lord of the Rings – JR Tolkien (Where to start! Frodo, Bilbo, Legolas, Gollum, Gandalf)
    Mary Poppins – Mary herself, Jane, Michael, Burt the Chimney Sweep
    Meg and Mog – Helen Nicoll
    Mr Men – Happy, Tickle, Topsy Turvy, Tall, Loud
    Noddy – Enid Blyton (Noddy, Big Ears)
    Oliver Twist – Charles Dickens (Oliver, Nancy, Fagin, the Artful Dodger)
    Percy the Park Keeper – Nick Butterworth (thanks Sarah!)
    Peter Pan – JM Barrie (Peter Pan, Wendy, Captain Hook, Smee, Tinkerbell)
    Peter Rabbit – Beatrix Potter
    Pinocchio - Pinocchio, Gepetto, Jiminy Cricket
    Pippi Longstocking
    Pocahontas
    Joseph Bruchac
    Puss In Boots – Traditional
    Robin Hood
    Room On The Broom – The Witch and the others!
    Snow White and the Seven Dwarves – Snow White, dwarf, wicked queen
    The Snow Dog - The Snowman, the boy, the dog
    The Snowman – The Snowman, the boy
    Spot – Eric Carle
    There’s a Viking In My Bed – Jeremy Strong
    Thomas the Tank Engine – The Fat Controller, plus cardboar dboxes to make yourself into an engine **new!**
    The Three Mustakeers – Alexandre Dumas
    Tin Tin – Herge
    Tracey Beaker – Jacqueline Wilson
    The Twits – Roald Dahl
    The Very Hungry Caterpillar – A caterpillar, a butterfly, a leaf, a piece of fruit, a piece of junk food!
    Twilight – Stephanie Meyer (Pale up, fang up and look a little off kilt!)
    Watership Down – Richard Adams (Here’s some inspiration!)
    Where the Wild Things Are – Maurice Sendak (I saw the best Max costume from a paper-thin all in one boiler suit and some card claws and ears!)
    Where’s Wally – Martin Handford (Wally or Waldorf?)
    The Wind In the Willows – (Moley, Ratty, Badger, Mr Toad)?
    Winnie The Witch
    Where’s Wally 
    – not just Wally! There’s Waldo, and the Wizard and lots of other recurring characters!
    Winnie The Pooh – Winnie the Pooh, Christopher Robin, Tigger, Piglet, Eeyore, Kanga, Roo, Owl and the rest!
    The Wizard of Oz – Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man, Cowardly Lion, Professor Marvel, the Wicked Witch, Glinda the Good Witch
    101 Dalmations – Dodie Smith (Cruella, a dalmation)? **updated!**