THATMuse

London boasts many iconic designs that are immediately recognizable, even if you’ve never been. The upper school of EIFA International School in London’s Marylebone are launching our London Street Treasure Hunt. The teams will pass the following Icons of Design. Some exchange with one of the below may even grant treasure hunters extra points! After EIFA students are sent scouring the streets from Bloomsbury to Covent Garden, we’ll release the hunt to the general public.

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Henry VIII, His Wives (and their demise!)

King Henry's Six Wives
Henry VIII’s Six Wives (taken from Fanpop)

Henry VIII was an all-around shocking, certainly groundbreaking (breaking being the operative word!), and thoroughly unforgettable king. Particularly notorious is his marital life—going through six wives. This month we’re launching our first ever London Street Fun Treasure Hunt. The Hunt is for about 50 kids (hailing from 40 nationalities, speaking 30 languages collectively!) from the upper school of EIFA International School in London’s Marylebone. One of the threads that ties our London Street Fun treasure hunt together is the story of Henry VIII, his wives – and their demise! So dig in and get ready for a regular Hello! Magazine, scandalous article that will answer some bonus questions for the street hunt.

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While I’ve been building a Street Treasure Hunt for the London-based upper school of EIFA International School it occurred to me that we don’t have any blog posts on Roman Numerals… Decoding detective work is certainly something for which treasure hunters on the London Street Hunt will be tested!

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Most people know that the Ancient Greeks invented democracy, and the Olympic Games. Ancient Greek philosophers and Greek tragedies are famous all over the world, and mythological stories from Ancient Greece still fascinate and inspire us today. But you may not know how much of the technology we rely on today is thanks to the inventions of Ancient Greece. In this post, we delve into the world of Ancient Greek technology, to learn about some ancient inventions that we still use in our daily lives.

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What do you think of when you picture life in Ancient Greece? Philosophy? Wine? Drinking parties? The Olympic Games? Well, you’re not wrong. These were all important parts of life for the people of Ancient Greece.

But there’s something missing from the picture: women. The women of ancient Greece had far fewer rights than men. They couldn’t vote, they couldn’t participate in drinking parties and their main role in life was to raise their kids.  As children, young Greek girls were under the authority of their father. And after marriage, their husbands became their official guardians.

But how did the life of Ancient Greek women change from childhood to maturity? Were there exceptions? And what did their daily life look like?

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In Ancient Greek mythology, Nike was the Goddess who personified Victory.  Personifications weren’t rare in Greek religion. For example, Arete was the Goddess of excellence and virtue, and Aeltheia was the spirit of truth. Sister of Kratos (Stregth), Bia (Force), and Zelus (Zeal), the Greek Goddess of Victory was famous for her grace, strength and speed.

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In the last 15 years, the Percy Jackson series has become one of the most popular book and movie franchises of our time. Fans of the series will know that Percy’s adventures mirror many of the deeds of the Greek hero Perseus, the inspiration for his character. But how well do you know the real story of Perseus and his nemesis, Medusa? In this blog post, we’ll delve into the real mythological story of Perseus and Medusa. So, take a seat and get ready to learn about gods and demi-gods, love, drama, monsters and heroes!

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Have you been following our #PortraitParty series? If so, you’ll know that by way of just reading this, you may be the lucky recipient of a PDF that will rock your world. WHO doesn’t want the challenge of deciphering a da Vinci decoding exercise? Who doesn’t want to spot 10 (yes, ten!) differences between an original Botticelli and a mocked-up version? Art History Word Search? We got you covered!

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Anyone who has studied Greek mythology will have come face-to-face with the centaurs at some point. If you’ve never heard of these half-human, half-horse creatures of Ancient Greek mythology, or would like to know more about them, read on…

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When we think of the Greek diet, we immediately think of tomatoes, aubergines and Moussaka. However, this dish actually didn’t appear until quite recently (relatively speaking, anyway!). What did the Ancient Greeks eat before then? Well, in short, their diet was very simple, varied and healthy. It was mostly composed of vegetables, oil, fish, grains and cereals, fruits, legumes… and of course, LOTS of wine.

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In Greek mythology, the Amazons were a tribe of strong lady warriors. In some versions of the myth, they lived in isolation, at the edge of the civilised world, and only communicated with men in order to reproduce. Proud to live in their own community, the Amazons didn’t allow men to enter their country, and would only meet them once a year to prevent their community from dying out. After giving birth, they only kept their female babies, leaving the boys with the neighbouring tribe.

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This week the boys and I made a general mess, moving furniture about to convert our dining room into an avant-garde, everyone-wants-to-be-there ‘PP GALLERY’. As you know from my last blog post, this is the beginning of my homeschool art project with the kids. We’re going to PARTY with hip artists & snazzy characters from history (fictional and otherwise) whose portraits we’re sticking on the walls. The installation of this #PortraitParty will be laid out over several weeks, and involves a covert operation with which to surprise Daddy (Hernan), our guest of honor. Our secrets will be unveiled at the opening, or vernissage of the PP GALLERY (PP stands for Portrait Party, and of course has the unreasonably sophisticated reference to our refined toilet humor).

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