Salty Sam’s Fun Blog for Children
Post Number 43
lslands
Hello Everyone
ln a way l live on my own little island here in my lighthouse on the rocks. A lot of people who live in noisy places wish sometimes that they lived on an island.
l do live quite near to the mainland though. The nearest town to me is Rocky Bay where my family and friends live.
There are islands in the world that are far more out to sea.
The British lsles are made up of over six thousand islands!
Sark is one of the most famous ones because life there is a little different from the mainland. lt has its own parliament; but no street lights or cars! The only way to get around is by horse and cart or maybe tractor.
The most remote island in the world is called Tristan da Cunha at the southern end of the Atlantic Ocean, 2,000 km or 1,300 miles from its nearest neighbours.
Tristan da Cunha has an active volcano that erupted in 1961. The people had to flee the island and couldn’t go back home for two years! They waited in England until things had calmed down.
The largest island in the world is Greenland. lt isn’t very green though because it is covered in ice and snow. lceland is an island and that is quite green.
Greenland is smaller than Australia but Australia is called a continent not an island.
New Guinea, Borneo and Madagascar are the next three biggest islands but they could all fit into Greenland together it is so big.
The smallest islands in the world are probably the coral reef islands. Coral reefs are made up of the skeletons of millions of tiny animals. Sometimes these form into a little circle with sea water in the middle. These special doughnut shaped islands are called atolls.
One of the newest islands in the world is Surtsey which appeared in 1963. lt was formed when molten lava from a volcano bubbled up from under the sea and surfaced above the water.
The lava cooled down and after a while plant seeds blew across the sea and started to grow there.
Nobody lives there though. There is just a hut with some bunk beds in it for people who want to visit. Not all islands have people living on them.
Some of the most famous islands are called Christmas lsland which was discovered on Christmas Day and Easter lsland which is famous for its large statues of heads.
lf you want to know, the locals call Easter lsland ‘The Navel of the World’. (Navel means belly-button/tummy-button.)
Some islands have only one person living on them. Sometimes in the past this happened by accident when a sailor was shipwrecked.
One of the most famous castaways was Alexander Selkirk who was marooned on a Pacific island for four years. He was probably the inspiration for the famous book ‘Robinson Crusoe’ published in 1719. (This is often thought of as the first novel to be written in the English language, but in fact there were other story books published before this.)
One of the interesting things about islands is that they often have animals on them that can be found nowhere else. For example kiwis are only found in New Zealand and lemurs are only found in Madagascar.
lf you have an atlas at home or at school, see if you can find these islands that l have been talking about in it.
Do you live on an interesting island?
Bye bye everyone – don’t forget to subscribe to my blog!
Love and kisses
Salty Sam
www.christina-sinclair.com
Bill and Bob’s Joke of the Week
Bill: l know another good book for finding out about islands and castaways.
Bob: What’s that?
Bill: Shipwrecked by Mandy Lifeboats!
Salty Sam © Christina Sinclair 2015
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of material from this blog without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited.
Links may be used to www.christina-sinclair.com
Picture Gallery
Sark and Little Sark
Horse-drawn carriage on Sark
Tristan da Cunha as viewed from above (the white patches are clouds in the sky above the island)
Ancient statues on Easter Island
(Unusual hat second from the right – but I think it would look better with a bobble on it 
)
Alexander Selkirk was rescued in 1709 after four years and four months alone
A kiwi
A lemur
Islands can be places of sanctuary for wild life in rivers and lakes as well
This island in Hyde Park harbours many nests
Atolls are the smallest islands in the World
THE SALTY SAM NEWS DESK
As you know Britain is an island and it has about eleven thousand miles of coastline, but how much do you know about it?
Bill and Bob have set you this quiz – some of the answers may surprise you!
BILL AND BOB’S ROUND BRITAIN QUIZ
- How many islands are there in the British Isles?
- How many native languages are there?
- When was Great Britain born?
- When was Scotland and England bound together under one parliament?
- Which islands are in the British Isles but are not in Great Britain?
- Which is the highest mountain in Britain?
- Which is the largest city?
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Hobby Time
Bill and Bob love collecting stamps and now Henry does as well; they say it is a good way to learn about geography.
Henry on his way to Bill and Bob’s house to play
Do you know what these countries are?
- Nippon
- Magyarország
- Brasil
- Deutschland
- Norge
- Sverige
- Suomi
- Hrvatska
- Espana
- 中国
They are the names of the countries in their own language.
BLOW MY FOGHORN!!!
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lt’s the Weekend!
HOW TO MAKE AN ARCHlPELEGO DESK SET
These boxes are made individually and can be grouped any way you like on your desk. They are made with bright, tropical island colours but you can use any colour that matches your bedroom or study.
An archipelago is a group of islands. (Pronounced arky-‘pel-e-go.)
You will need 2 sheets of plastic canvas 26.7cm x 34.3cm / 10.5 inches x 13.5 inches and 3 long biscuit/cracker boxes 7cm in width.
Big Box
4 side panels 37 holes by 21 holes
1 base panel 21 holes by 21 holes
Medium Box
4 side panels 29 holes by 21 holes
1 base panel 21 holes by 21 holes
Small Box
4 side panels 21 holes by 21 holes
1 base panel 21 holes by 21 holes
Mark your cutting lines with short lengths of yarn woven though the holes before you cut your panels – and double check your counting!
Working from the centre point work 7 diagonal lines into squares 5 holes across.
W = white
C = colour
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C/ |
W\ |
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C\ |
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W\ |
C/ |
C\ |
W/ |
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C/ |
W\ |
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C\ |
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W\ |
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Work 5 stitches diagonally on top of them in the other direction in contrasting colours to create diamond shapes. (Cross cornered cushion stitch).
Run a line of diagonal orange stitches around the white and green panels and a line of diagonal green stitches around the white and orange panels and then a line of diagonal yellow stitches around the outside of them.
Embroider the base and then construct the box by over-sewing the panels together with yellow yarn. Sew the bottoms of the side panels to the base and then sew up the sides.
Put a cardboard box inside the box you have made, hold it steady and run a pen along the top of the canvas work box to draw a line along the cardboard box.
Take the cardboard box out again and draw a line running 6mm below the first line.
Score along both lines with the tip of a pair of scissors then cut down the corners of the box to the bottom line. Fold the flaps back and trim the excess that falls below the base of the box.
The box should insert neatly into your worked box and can be replaced if it gets inky or dusty.
A perfect set for pens, pencils, scissors, paint brushes and paper clips.
TIP
If you want to make a box of a different size then cut your panels two holes wider than your cardboard box and try to use panels with an odd number of holes because this better fits canvas work stitching.
Work out your pattern before you start cutting.
Please note that the material on this blog is for personal use or for use in classrooms only.
It is a copyright infringement and, therefore, illegal under international law to sell items made with these patterns.
Use of the toys and projects on all of these blogs is at your own risk.
©Christina Sinclair Designs 2015
Answers to the News Desk Quiz
- How many islands are there in the British Isles? – 6,289
- How many native languages are there? – 11 – but the main ones are English, Scots, Gaelic, Welsh, Cornish, Manx (in the Isle of Man) and Jersey French
- When was Great Britain born? – 1603 when Scotland and England were unified under one monarch (King James 1 of England but James VI of Scotland) – ‘Great’ is great as in ‘large’ (well larger than it was as two separate countries) not as in ‘fantastic’ (Britain is England and Wales)
- When was Scotland and England bound together under one parliament? – 1707
- Which islands are in the British Isles but are not in Great Britain? – Ireland, Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man
- Which is the highest mountain in Britain? – Ben Nevis in Scotland
- Which is the largest city? – London – it has just about the same number of inhabitants as Scotland and Wales put together
Hobby Time Answers
- Nippon – Japan
- Magyarország – Hungary
- Brasil – Brazil
- Deutschland – Germany
- Norge – Norway
- Sverige – Sweden
- Suomi – Finland
- Hrvatska – Croatia
- Espana – Spain
- 中国 – China (Zhōngguó)
If you are now starting to make presents and decorations for Christmas, you might like to check out my pinboard for lots of ideas:
https://www.pinterest.com/TheSaltySamBlog/winter-festivities/
The fountains in Trafalgar Square
