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Welcome to Top-Mag's latest Christmas issue! Xmas is my favorite time of year; whether it's curling up on the sofa with a candy cane and hot cocoa or shopping for pressies with your friends! In this issue, we've got it all covered from Christmas Party Planning to Christmas around the world. Check out 2013's top 5 presents or, if you want to make something really special (and save some pocket money) have a look at the Homemade Christmas Present ideas. We've also included Christmas arts & crafts, recipe and puzzle page! Also, don't forget to take a look at our brand-new Introduction to Computer Programming article, this issues top song picks, sports and animal articles. Well, what are you waiting for? Have you got your candy-cane and some hot chocolate? Then start reading! Hope you enjoy...

Dear Readers,

This year, instead of spending all your pocket money on shop-bought gifts for your family and friends, why dont you try making some truly special and unique presents for everyone? Here are a few oneof-kind DIY gifts that would make anyone smile!

e handmade coupons whether Special Coupon Book: Your mum will love thes make sure youre willing to its a free manicure or night off dinner. Just fulfill your promises! then print them out or you You can make these coupons on the computer can make them by hand. If youre making them by hand, first cut the card into 18 x 5 cm kers, rectangles. Decorate them using pens/mar with and write your message inside. Tie them up a pretty ribbon to finish.

any sweet-toothed BFFs? Hot-Chocolate-in-a-jar: Do you have have to do is mix the Then this is perfect! All your friends e and enjoy them on your ingredients up with some milk over a stov next sleepover! cocoa powder,1/4 cup sugar, 1 In a (8- ounce) jam jar, layer 1/2 cup marshmallows. Screw on the tsp ground cinnamon and 1/4 cup mini w: lids and affix a label with the recipe belo a plate and mix together the To serve: Remove the marshmallows to 1 cup of milk to a simmer over low remaining ingredients in the jar. Bring mix and stir. Pour into cups and top heat. Add 3 tablespoons of hot cocoa with marshmallows before serving.

Stuffed Toys: Younger sibling s or cousins will love these new friends and treasure them when theyre older. Cut some colourful material into 2 simple and identical ani mal shapes. Sew the sides togeth er leaving a small hole at the top. Stuff the toys with cotton and sew up the hole. You can dec orate them with buttons or felt pen s. *make sure buttons are sew n on securely if the toy is for a you ng child.
nging this calendar Dads going to love ha r: da len Ca d ze ali on Pers fice! you made him in his of ver of the paper, to make the co rd ca of t ee sh a te First, decora . Next, print out drawings and set aside d an os ot ph h wit r, calenda them on to another 12 r templates and glue da len ca 14 20 ) aw dr (or h stickers and Decorate each page wit sheets of card paper. of paper on top of each sheet les ho o tw h nc pu y, all drawings. Fin ing. them together with str and join

Pasta necklace: Thes e colourful, funky neck laces are fun for all ages and wi ll definitely put a smile on your big siss face! First, dip about 15 pie ces of uncooked Penn e pasta into different coloured paint and gli tter and leave to dry. Then, thread the pasta onto a string. Ti e the ends of the strin g together with a firm knot.

Once a year Top-Mag releases the years' TM list of top toys for Christmas. And.. here it is (drum roll please):

5. Lego one on the dance floor! Once again Lego is in TMs top 5 and the every reason is simple; it is purely brilliant! Hedbandz You can get all kinds of Lego from their 2. is a new family guessing game in City range to Star Wars and even Lego This which one player wears a card around friends. Lego is also a great gift idea his head displaying an image. The other for any of your friends who will enjoy rs who can see the card attempt to the challenge of building a new caf or playe describe the item to the card bearer even a galactic star ship. without saying its actual name. For example if a player gets an image of a 4. PS4 you might say It is something The PS4 or Play Station 4 is the brand house live in. new console released by Play station and you promises to be probably the best one yet. With the latest variety of all new games, from action packed adventures to thrilling car racing games, this is a definite must for your Christmas list! 3. Just Dance There are so far 5 of these amazing dance games, the latest release being

Just Dance 2014. The fantastic mix of up beat songs, from Katy Perry and Will.i.am to 1D and Lady Gaga, are perfect for parties or just playing with friends and family. Plus group dances (with several players) will definitely get

Dont give up, keep working at it, and

Create an account on http://scrat ch.mit.edu/. Then all you simply hav e to do is create a coding masterpiece! Try diff erent things as you go along, so that you learn the basics before you start the real stuff. It is really easy to crea te with this - all you do is drag and dro p, to create a jigsaw puzzle of sort s. If you get bored with this, or you simply want to move on, then I wou ld recommend Codeacademy. This is also a site where you have to create an account. Once you are set up, all you have to do is log in, and there you have it - youve got multiple choice of cod e that you can do like HTML, Java, Jav aScript, Python and lots more. I wou ld recommend doing the Web Fundam entals course first (i.e HTML). This is a goo d introduction to the world of programming. Also to keep you on your toes download (with your pare nt/owner of the computers permission) Not epad++. (Go to http://notepad- plus plus.org/ and download the version that suits the device you use.) This enables you to practice the code youve lear ned, and to actually create a game/app/website! For more help go to http://www.w3schools.com/. you will reach your coding goals! By Mairad Butler

Hi everyone, I am a computer prog rammer, and I absolutely love it! If you are stuck for things to do during the Chr istmas holidays (and after) and are often on a computer anyway, then listen up...

1. Monopoly This year Monopoly hits the number one spot. The perfect family board game and one that pretty much everyone will enjoy this Christmas. Now you have the 2013 T-M top 5. Wonder what awaits us in 2014!

Ryan Curley

This issue's Top 10 Songs are: 1. The Monster Eminem Feat. Rihanna 2. Timber Pitbull Feat. Kesha 3. Take me To Church Hozier 4. Animals Martin Garrix 5. Story of My Life One Direction 6. Royals Lorde 7. Somewhere Only We Know Lily Allen 8. Move Little Mix 9. Wrecking Ball Miley Cyrus 10. I See Fire Ed Sheeran

chosen by Anna Barnwell

light up their Christians in China ul paper lanterns homes with beautif children hang for Christmas. The a is called Dun Che stockings and Sant Lao Ren.
In Italy, gifts arent opened until January 6th, which is the day it is believed that the Wise Men reached baby Jesus. La Befana brings gifts for the good and punishments for the bad.

Houses are decorated with strings of mango leaves (mostly in the south) and lots of brightly coloured tinsel. Lights are placed on the window sills and a star is hung outside. In some parts of India, a sweet coconut syrup cake called Thali-cake is made and given to neighbours.

Santa is k n o wn a s Julemande n a n d th e elves are kn o w n a s J uul Nisse. The childr believe th en at the elv es live in t and they le h e ir a ttics ave out ric e pudding s a uc e r s o f a nd milk out f o r th e m o n Christmas E ve .

From Christmas until New Year, the streets are lined with little stalls called Joselki. Each one is carefully painted with scenes of the Christmas story.

ons Snowflake Tree Decorati

You need: ), almost -Lots of small ( 3cm - 5cm straight branches e -Sticky tape or strong glu -Brown/black wool -White wool

What you need:

These festive treats look gre

Christmas Wreaths

tree. und each part 4. Wrap the white wool aro es so that it of the snowflake lots of tim is fully covered. end of the 5. Using glue here, stick the d: so Metho of wool to the snowflake are cut into last wrap cks sti the t tha e sur ke Ma 1. that no end sticks out. cks per even sizes. Youll need 3 sti snowflake 6. Youre ready to hang the snowflake. from your Christmas tree!! and cks sti 2 ng usi pe sha X an 2. Make Anna Barnwell ick St er. eth tog m sticky tape / glue the

them both to on a third stick on top of make a snowflake shape. wn wool and 3 Make a loop using the bro snowflake so stick it to the top of the a Christmas that you can hang it from

at, taste awesome and are sup

er easy to make!

Method: 1. In large saucepan, melt but ter over low heat. 2. Add marshmallows and stir until melted. Remove from hea t. Stir in a few drops of food colouring. 3. Add corn flakes and mix well. 4. Evenly portion warm cereal mixture. Leave to cool for a minute or two, then using buttered fingers shape into individual wreath s. Dot with sweets.

1/3 cup butter 1 pack (about 40) marshmallow s few drops green food colori ng 6 cups corn flakes small sweets to decorate

Skeleton & B

pine The Long-s

pine The Long-s o wn a s ish also kn Porcupinef efish d porcupin le k c e r F e th nails, it crabs, s e a t s He r m ins. It d s e a ur c h mollusc an of th e b o tto m is found at in lagoons th e s e a o r s th a t black spot ig b s a h h fis in spikes. world. This o c o ve r e d ls a a r o un d t h e is it ; r e r a n d p uf f he gets old lot of wate g o a wa y a s a in k c u s red it will esome fish If it is sca his is an aw t k in h t I . pike ball Christmas up into a s m e . M e rry a s e h t l e e yo u f a nd I h o p e !! e ve r y bo d y

Porcupinef

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by Caoilte Bre nna n

winter sport developed in St. Moritz, around 1882. It is an individua in the winter l sport played Olympic gam es from Swit United State ze rland to the s. The sport consists of a face down on 's lider' sliding a light weigh t m et al sl ed down a iced (sort-of like body-surfing track on ic e) . It s basically a and he who cr race osses the fini sh line first can go up to w in s! S lid ers 140 km/h. The 153.98 km/h 2010 speed re r (now thats co rd w fa as st !). Needless to dangerous sp say, Skeleton ort and not to is a pretty m en tion uncomfo go up to 5 grtable; the pr force practica essure can lly crushing yo u. Biathlon is a mix of any tw o sports. Win of cross-coun ter Biathlon try skiing and is a combinat ri ion fl e shooting. It or Military exer iginated in N cise. The firs or way as t competition different vari started in 17 ations of the 67. There ar sp e ort: sprint, in start and rela dividual, purs y. I am going uit, mass to ta lk a little bit Biathlon. As about 'Individ named, this is ual' an in d ividual race of women). The 20km (15km object of the for game is to fi possible while nish the race shooting the as quickly as most targets. has to fire hi The Biathlete s rifle four ti mes at any sh lying down, st ooting lane anding up and ly in g d own once agai Biathlete mis n. If the ses the target s a fi x ed penalty time minute is add of 1 ed to his tota l skiing time. Sweden and N or w ay , the US are am ongst the man where this sp y countries ort is enjoye d. Switzerland

Skeleton is a

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n Brennan

rogs Whats a f a r t a b o ut favourite p Christmas? Mistletoad

u call W h a t do y o are afraid people who of Santa? bic Claustropho

Santa do W h a t d o es misbehave? when elves em the sack He gives th

Megan, age 12: Direction ers for life! My best friend and I were in Dublin and there was thi s One Direction thing on in Liffey Valley. They had a hu ge silver 1D balloon and we ask ed the organizers could we have it. They said only if we sang a One Direction Song. So we went up and got the microphone that they had been using to promote the mselves and started singin g "What Makes You Beautifu l"! Halfway through the fir st verse we started laughing madly. Everybody was sta ring at us but we kept on singin g. Then nearly at the end of the song I had a HUGE sne ezing attack and I was sti ll meant to be singing! I was SSSOOOO embarrassed!!!

Roisin, age 12: Wedding Vows My godmother and my unc le were getting married and I was 4. They were just goi ng on to their vows and everybody had their eyes closed. Halfway through the ir vows I left my mum and da d and went up and sat on my godmothers knee. Hahaha . I must have looked hilari ous!

Carina, age 13: I scream. ..Ice-cream cake! One day we were making a cake for my aunties birthd ay. It was an ice cream cake. When it was ready, we cut it into slices and ate a small piece each. After we had finished it my aunt said it was lovely and thank you so much. I then replied, 'yes it was, but it was rather col d dont you think?' DUH!!! It was an ice cream cake! I wa s mortified!

Invitations

simple sweets like cake and chocolate and jellies. There are nice Christmas Invites are very important for a party. Decide who you are going to invite and recipes you can find online for cakes or dinners. We offer some great ones in this issue too. Additionally, here is a link to some Christmas recipes: then count them up and see how many invites you will need. You should http://www.delish.com/entertaining-ideas/holidays/christmas/christmasprobably get a few extras in-case you make a mistake on some of them. There are also websites where you can print all types of invites in colour or in dinner-recipes-kids** black and white for you to colour in yourself. Here is one of the websites: http://www.dltk-cards.com/custom.htm**. I hope you have fun making them! **These websites are not owned by Top-Mag therefore the content within is nothing to do with us. Please enter/use at your own risk & with the permission **These websites are not owned by Top-Mag therefore the content within is of your parent/guardian.** nothing to do with us. Please enter/use at your own risk & with the permission Decorations of your parent/guardian.** Christmas is a time when people commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ and also the coming of Santa Clause, snow, good will to your fellow men, love, Games giving - you get the idea. To show this, people all around the world put up It is a good idea to have games at all parties including Christmas ones. You Christmas trees and other decorations. In my could organise games like pass-the-parcel with a Christmas opinion however, a Christmas party is not a full theme to it. Other games include board games and you could occasion unless you have decorations. make up your own scene from Santas workshop on Christmas People all over the world decorate trees especially Eve! for Christmas with tinsel, baubles, small hanging plaques and a star or an angel on the top. They can Prizes (Optional) be expensive though so dont go telling your Mums Prizes are only an option if you are going to play games and or Dads that you need to get a Christmas tree and have competitions or if it is a fancy dress party or something loads of decorations for your Christmas party. But on those lines. You might like sweets, small toys or don't be discouraged with a little patience and accessories as prizes depending on your age. It is also a good some creativity on your part there's lots of simple idea if you are having young children under 5 over because decorations you can make for yourself. For eg, they will quickly get bored and go off and do their own thing paper chains which you create by getting lots of if there isnt something to work for. You do not have to give coloured paper strips and taping them all into out prizes but it would be a nice gesture since it is circular shapes and looping them through each Christmas, the season of giving and receiving gifts. other is a fast colourful decoration that can make any room look festive. Or, you could make Santa Food faces with a paper plate and some coloured Food is obviously a big must have at parties. You can have markers/crayons/pencils and some cotton wool. proper dinners like turkey, ham, potatoes and vegetables or chicken nuggets, sausages, burgers and chips or even just