Creative Shoebox Diorama Ideas for the School Season

There are a lot of common ways to make a shoebox diorama and they include tape, glue, construction paper and all the regular assortment of arts and crafts stuff but there are a few things you can do to make a diorama just a little bit special. Here is a list of ideas: • If you are doing an underwater scene you can cover the front of the box with Saran Wrap or thin plastic. This gives the diorama an underwater feel • Use string to utilize the full three dimensions inside the box; suspend objects from strings or tie strings from side to side and top to bottom and attach objects to the strings. This works well for flying objects like bird, pterodactyls or even clouds and stars. • Cut slots in the back and top of the box and use this to insert objects that you can move across the diorama. Make a bird, boat, comet or some other type of moving object then attach a tab to the back of it. Insert this tab in the slot then you can grab the tab from the back and slide the object across the diorama. This adds a nice little interactive element. This works well with all kinds of things from a rising sun, flying bird, erupting volcano or just about anything else that would move. • Think outside the shoebox! There is no need to run out and buy a new pair of shoes if you don’t have a shoebox. A more than adequate box can be made from scraps of cardboard or even a few cereal boxes cut and taped together. And there is no need to make a typical shoebox shape. Be creative in the shape you make. It adds a dimension of interest to the project. Half round, amphitheatre shapes are commonly used for dioramas and look great. • Achieving Depth – The most common trait of an average shoebox diorama is that it has a decorated background and objects placed on the bottom surface. You can add an attractive touch by decorating a strip of paper that is about two inches wide with a foliage pattern then attach this to the inside bottom of the diorama about an inch from the back wall - it reaches all the way from the left side to the right side. This adds a lot of depth and makes it look much more interesting. • Using alternate materials – You don’t have to use cardboard or boxes. As an example, if you are doing a polar bear or penguin diorama you could use white packing Styrofoam. If you are doing a desert scene you can apply glue to the bottom of the diorama and sprinkle real sand on it.

Let Us Learn French at Home in 3 Easy Steps

Learning a new language is not an easy task. It needs careful planning and good strategies. I have used several strategies to learn Spanish and I applied them to French too. The results were excellent. I am going to share my strategies as useful tips in this article.

Tip #1: Watch French movies.

This is the best method which can give you real results in no time. Develop a habit of watching French movies with English subtitles. This would definitely help as you will understand their common phrases and words. Conversational French would assist you while you try to understand the French literature. Do remember that you are watching movies to learn French do not get lost in the movie and forget French. Replay the movies again and again, if you cannot understand certain words. Careful following of these techniques would help you to get a grasp in a short span of time.

Tip #2: Make use of Flash Cards

It is one of the useful techniques available which would remarkably improve your French. Place cards with French words on the common objects in your house, If possible paste them over it. Slowly, you will know all the common French words. Then write the common French phrases in one side of the card and fill the other side with English translation. It would help you too remember the common phrases and help you to get a grasp of the language

Tip #3: Spend time reading French Comic Strips

This may be the silliest technique but it is effective in every way. Take comic books which have been translated to French. Keep the English as well as the French versions side by side, it would help you to understand the language better. You c an easily master a lot of words in this way as you would know the story in English. Make maximum use of it.

Nothing can replace a professional French class, but by using these three techniques, I am sure you would develop a strong foundation not only in French but also in any other French language.

Poetic tribute to Mother Nepal

While our country is battling its own identity and nationalism is being challenged, Bhuwan's collection of poem murmurs the melancholy of Mother Nepal", said Durganath Sharma, former General Manager of Nepal Television, during the book launch of Our Nepal Our Pride by Bhuwan Thapaliya.

"There are hardly good poems in Nepali these days", opined poet Yuyutsu RD Sharma who launched the anthology during a ceremony organized at the Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), Bhrikutimandap this Friday afternoon.

Sharma also exclaimed that Bhuwan Thapaliya has now joined the likes of Samrat Upadhaya and Manjushree Thapa. "His poems remind me of Bal Krishna Sama's poignancy and Laxmi Prasad Devkota's eccentric passion", he furthered while passionately reciting several poems from Thapaliya's collection.

"Bhuwan has simply perfected the art of poetry and for a Nepali to achieve that in English is simply exceptional", added Sharma.

Adam Donaldson Powell who edited the book said, "Bhuwan Thapaliya is our conscience. His Poetry is our pride and our reality towards reaching our dream and our hope."

While quizzed about the motif of his writing he told City Post that he is just a person who is in love with the notion of life and idea of love. "This book is the cry of my Motherland and through this book I have given her a medium to shed her tears", he elucidated "We are all indebted to our mother and these poems are a reminder of that"

Thapaliya also shared that he writes only when his heart wants him to write and his heart always demands him to write. The book comprises over hundred poems and is published by the cyberwit.net, an India based publishing house.