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Make Your Own Mosquito Repellent Candles

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It is the season for insects to be out full force and while I seem to have some natural immunity to getting eaten alive, my children do not.

David Fisher, the candle-making expert on About.com has some good recipes and ideas on how to make citronella candles. He also includes other suggested essential oils such as clove, cedarwood, lavender, eucalyptus, peppermint, rosemary and lemongrass. Check out his mosquito repelling essential oil blend recipes.

There are also lotions that contain some of these essential oils that you can apply to your skin for double duty because candles will only scare them off for so long. Peppermint, citronella and lavender smell pleasant enough to wear, yet mosquitoes detest the taste and smell of them.

Some also make their own spray with a few drops of essential oil in alcohol. That doesn’t sound too gentle for children’s skin, so I would opt for a lotion. Here’s a gentle recipe from Sunspirit Aromatherapy that’s suggested as an insect repellent, although I don’t know how effective it is as I haven’t tried it yet.
-1 drop Lavender oil
-10ml Jojoba oil

At Nospray.com (a coalition fighting against the spraying of toxins) cinnamon oil and catnip are touted to be safe alternatives to Deet. Cinnamon oil would certainly smell nice in a candle too.

With the arrival of the Japanese Encephalitis Mosquito, it has become important to make sure those pesky mosquitos are not snacking on you.  Japanese encephalitis symptoms include Headache, neck pain, and Nausea. .  Japanese encephalitis does have a vaccine and you should contact your local medical professional for information on obtaining this vaccination.

But how else can you protect yourself against mosquitos? Keep mosquitoes away from exposed skin by wearing long-sleeved shirts, long pants, and socks, you can even wear a mosquito net hat.  Tuck shirts into pants and pants into socks to cover gaps in your clothing where mosquitoes can get to your skin.  For a natural repellent use essential oils for making your own Mosquito bug spray repellent. Add oils to water and spray into the air or add small drops to your clothing.  Use a Necklace or Bracelet oil diffuser to help repel mosquitoes naturally.  Insect bracelets and necklaces are great for children too.

 

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Learn about Chile for Kids

I don’t really know why, but Chile was my favorite country when I was younger. Something about the shape, or the name, or the remoteness of it was really interesting to me. Let’s learn all about Chile.

Chile Basics

  • Chile is officially the Republic of Chile, and it is a long, skinny country on the west coast of South America, bordered by Peru, Bolivia and Argentina. It’s the southern-most country in the world and the closest to Antarctica.
  • The country controls several islands, including Easter Island, and including the islands the country is about 291,933 square miles, or 765,102 square kilometers. It also claims 480,000 square miles/1.25 million square kilometers of Antarctica.
  • It is 2,670 miles.more than 4,300 kilometers long north to south, but at is widest point east to west is only 217 miles/350 km across. Because of its size it has many geographic regions and includes desert, volcanoes, a central valley good for agriculture, forests and more. It is considered part of the Pacific ring of fire because of the presence of volcanoes and the tectonic plates that created the mountains of South America.
  • The capital and largest city is Santiago, and the national language is Spanish. Parts of the country were colonized by the Spanish in the 16th century, and they declared independence in 1818.
  • The population is around 17.5 million.
  • Chile had a lot of unrest from the 1960s through the 1980s, with a coup followed by a military dictatorship. The country is now a presidential republic and is considered one of the most economically and socially stable countries in South America.
  • It’s not really known where the name Chile comes from. It could be the sound of a bird from from a word from one of various native people that could mean something like the ends of the earth, cold, snow or the deepest part of the earth.
  • The Mapuche were early settlers in the area now known as Chile, and the Inca briefly ruled part of northern Chile but faced great resistance from the Mapuche.

Chile National Symbols

The flag of Chile features a red band across the lower half, with the top half being about two thirds white and one third blue, with a five-pointed white star in the center of the blue square. The star is said to represent Venus, considered a guide by the indigenous Mapuches. Others say it represents the independent nation. Blue represents the Pacific Ocean, white is for the snow-capped Andes and the red recognizes the blood spilled to gain independence. The flag was adopted in 1817.

The national anthem is sometimes called the National Song, and other times referred to by its first line, “Puro, Chile, es tu cielo azulado,” or “How pure, Chile, is your blue sky.” It was adopted in 1828.

The Andean condor is a national symbol of Chile. It is one of the largest flying birds in the world and has the longest wingspan of any bird. Along with the condor, the south Andean deer is featured on the country’s coat of arms. This critically endangered species of deer lives in Chile and Argentina and tends to stick to difficult habitats like periglacial grasslands and bluffs.

The lapageria or Chilean bellflower is the national flower. It’s a climbing plant that grows in the rainforest.

Huaso, the Chilean cowboy, are considered a national symbol because of their importance in folklore.

Chile Learning Activities for Kids

Learn about Chilean rodeo, an important national sport. Here’s an animated overview of the sport, and a video showing how its done.

While they aren’t national symbols, there are llama and the related guanaco in Chile if you want to learn about them and what the difference is.

Find resources for teaching kids about Chile at Teachers Pay Teachers.

Learn about Pablo Neruda, a famous poet and politician from Chile. The children’s book Pablo Neruda: Poet of the People is a great place to start. Isabel Allende is another famous writer from Chile.

Explore Easter Island and make an Easter Island craft with this tutorial from Surviving a Teacher’s Salary.

Try some Chilean food like ensalada Chilena (this one is from Kid World Citizen) or cazuela de pollo (Chilean Food and Garden).