Happy New Year!

Hi readers,

I don’t know about you, but I’m really looking forward to the new year! Have you started thinking about all the stuff you’d like to do in 2011 yet?

On page 19 of the January/February issue, we showed you how to make a Future Box.

Once you’ve made the box, write down all your wishes on small pieces of paper. Then seal up the box and put it in a safe place. On January 1st, 2012, you can open the box again and see how many of your wishes came true!

For now, I’ll share one of my wishes with you: For 2011, I wish to meet more chickaDEE readers on the blog this year!

Post a comment below and tell me one of YOUR wishes for 2011.

Happy new year, everyone!

Mandy

Editor of chickaDEE

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Wacky Weather Fact!

Hello readers,

On page 11 of the December issue, we asked you to be a weather detective and find out if some wacky weather sayings were true or false.

Here was one of the wacky facts:

You can tell the temperature outside by listening to the chirps of crickets.

True or False?

The answer is TRUE! Warm weather makes a cricket chirp faster. You can count cricket chirps to figure out the temperature.

Here’s the formula from The Old Farmer’s Almanac:

To convert cricket chirps to degrees Fahrenheit, count number of chirps in 14 seconds then add 40 to get temperature.

Example: 30 chirps + 40 = 70° F

To convert cricket chirps to degrees Celsius, count number of chirps in 25 seconds, divide by 3, then add 4 to get temperature.

Example: 48 chirps /(divided by) 3 + 4 = 20° C

But since winter is coming, you’ll have to wait until spring to test it out!

Talk soon,

Mandy

Editor of chickaDEE

chickadeeblog@owlkids.com

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Photo Diary: The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair

Hello readers!

Last Friday, chickaDEE took a field trip to The Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in Toronto, Ontario. Here are a few pictures from our trip!

This is Laura feeding a goat.

This little goat wanted some more food!

These funny-looking guys are called African Geese.

These sheep are resting after being sheared.

This rabbit is called a Flemish Giant. He’s pretty big, huh?

Well, check out how big he is compared to my head! Haha!

Here is the chickaDEE team trying to pose with Freedom the Llama and Nancy from Sonny’s Llama Farm in Delhi, Ontario. Freedom didn’t know where the camera was… but Laura sure did!

Laura, Melissa, Freedom the Llama, Nancy and I smile for the camera!

Thanks to everyone at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair. We had a blast!!

Leave a comment below and let us know what you guys thought of our field trip!

Talk soon,

Mandy, chickadeeblog@owlkids.com

Editor of chickaDEE

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Behind the Scenes!

Hello readers,

Only 12 more days until Halloween! We hope we put you in the spirit with the Halloween recipes in the October issue.

On page 16, we showed you how to make “A Frightening Feast.” The day of the photo shoot was a beautiful summer day in June. Yes, that’s right! Did you know we work on issues months in advance? That means we had to think up all the fun fall stuff while it was scorching hot outside. It also means that we had to make a summer day look like a spooky fall evening for the photo shoot. So get ready for a behind-the-scenes look at a chickaDEE photo shoot!

Here’s a sunny summer day…

Turned into a spooky scene!

Notice that the sky is darker and we added some eerie mist, too.

Let us know what you think of our transformation by leaving a comment below!

Talk to you next week,

Mandy

Editor of chickaDEE

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My Beastly Book of Monsters

Hello readers,

Only 20 more days until Halloween! To help you get into the Halloween spirit, check out My Beastly Book of Monsters. Each page has a different instruction for you to add your own silly touch to the monster picture.

Trust me, you’ll be drawing and colouring for hours! But don’t just take my word for it… try a few of the monstrously fun activities by clicking here.

Talk to you later!

Mandy

Editor of chickaDEE, chickadeeblog@owlkids.com

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