Weekly News!!

In this issue of Weekly News, we have: an update on the delayed posts, a DT project for you to make, and a story from around the world! First, we have recently been trying to sort out an issue on the website and some posts have been delayed. This is working now, and we will continue to write on tfrc. However, so far we have only rewritten one of the posts that was delayed, but we will try to rewrite others too. Moving on, here is a fun and creative DT project for you to do. Have you wondered what fairy homes look like? Maybe you have imagined a home with lots of colourful flowers and cute little furniture? Or did it look different? Well, actually, fairies live in a big variety of places. Different fairies like different things, and some of them only like specially built homes just for them. So here’s a way to build a special home for a fairy, and you can choose a design to match your fairy’s needs. You will need:a wooden rectangular stick, cardboard, a long wooden plank, a juice carton, an unglazed terracotta plant pot, a tiny torch (you will have to fit this through your own drilled hole in the pot) colourful fabric, a drill, and general craft supplies, such as tape, scissors, etc.

First drill a hole into your pot a quarter way up one side, and another hole a tiny bit higher. To avoid breaking or damaging the pot completely, use these instructions: Soak the pot overnight, and place it in a large bucket and cover it with water. Use masonry drill bits and before you start, place a piece of tape over the surface. Start small and drill slowly, meanwhile gradually increasing the size. Clean up afterwards. Next, use a small hacksaw to saw four stumps, approximately 1cm high, from your wooden stick, and a  small piece from your plank (7+cm long). Glue them together to make a mini bed. Cut a rectangle of colourful fabric (or sow a blanket out of it if you have the supplies, but this is optional) and you can cut a rectangle of thicker, light coloured fabric for a pillow. Remember to think about what design your fairy would prefer. You can also make a shelf out of the wooden items, or a carpet out of the fabric, to make your fairy feel more at home. When you are done, secure the torch with tape or glue in the bottom hole so the light is inside but the switch or button is on the outside. The hole above is so your fairy can get in and you can look at the house you have made. Then, Cut out a circle of cardboard which fill fill in the pot but will not slip down to cover your furniture. Put it halfway down the inside of the pot. Here is where you decide what fairy your home will be for. Flower fairy: If your soil is very wet, place a protective layer over the cardboard so it doesnt leak into your fairy home. Make sure it is securely in place, then place your soil on top and plant some decorative flowers for your fairy. Ice fairy: Make a plastic ice shard mould, then pour hot glue inside. This will be very hot so ask an adult to do it for you. When it is dry, take it oit of the mould and make a few more. Vary their sizes. Next, paint them, a translucent blue to match the colour of ice, and paint some translucent white. Glue them onto the cardboard circle. Make  snowflakes by twisting wire into the shape, then sticking the remain8ng wire in between the ice shards. You can paint this too if necessary. Water fairy: Splatter the cardboard circle with different shades of blue paint, and cut out and paint 3 cardboard waves to stick in, again using different shades if you have them. Next, use orbeez or plastic bubbles to decoarte around the waves. Finally, your fairy home is complete! Now, watch your home to see if a fairy comes in!

Fianlly a story from around the world: Rare pink rainbows spotted across England! Unusual pink rainbiws were spotted over southern and westen England on the 24th of June. Normal rainbiws are caused by light hitting water droplets in the sky, creating a spectrum of colours from what is usually white light. Pink rainbows, however, are caused by the sun’s low position in the sky, which means the usual range of colours is less visible. These pink rainbows are rare, but can sometimes be seen around sunrise and sunset. This may be the logical explanation, but what if the real answer is way more magical. Could these be created by fairies? See if you can spot them at it if you see one in your fairy home. Just remember, if you dont see a fairy, thats fine. They might be there, but they could easily be hiding or using an invisibility spell. Sometimes fairies dont want to be seen…