Blog

Misaki Kawai sits in front of a painting for Lunch Lady Magazine

Misaki Kawai: Arty Farty

Japanese artist Misaki Kawai is inspired by children's minds. In her art, she attempts to channel the best part of kids: playfulness, curiosity and an appreciation of a good fart.

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Mariam Issa on motherhood, being a refugee and creating community

Mariam Issa on motherhood, being a refugee and creating community

Mother of five, Mariam Issa, came to Australia after fleeing civil war in Somalia. When settling in the Melbourne suburb of Brighton, she experience racism and isolation. Yet she discovered community connection by leading with compassion and love.

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Illustration of a pink house with three mums and six children. They are a single mum commune.

Building a village: the single mum commune

When her husband left her with three children, Janet Hoggarth let her single-mum friends move in with their kids. Together, they formed a single-mum commune, or as they called it, a mummune.

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Why kids need time in nature

Why kids need time in nature

With kids spending more time on screens then ever, it's imperative to make time for reconnection with nature. Journalist and author Richard Louv has spent a good chunk of his life helping people and societies reconnect in a way that is joyful, futuristic and technological. And it all begins with children.

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Hear The Cry Of Youth

Hear The Cry Of Youth

Photographer Carine Thévenau has been taking pictures since she was eight years old. Her most recent doco series was motivated by her desire to photograph what really matters. The Young Ones. How did this shoot come about? I started to think about the light we shine on people through the...

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Understanding Gratitude

The thank-you project

To mark her 50th birthday, Nancy Davis Kho wrote 50 thank-you letters. The experience taught her that gratitude takes practice but it's almost-always possible to find it.

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Dear Lunch Lady

Dear Lunch Lady

Q. This is not a lie: I have a box of bicarb soda from pre-internet days. How long do things generally keep for, and what happens if I cook with them? PS. I always thought sifting dry ingredients was to catch weevils, and seeing as indoor kitchens and Tupperware have...

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Kate Constantine

Meet Kate Constantine

We interview Kate Constantine – a Gadigal artist from the Eora nation – on creating art, love and life on Bundjalung Country, Byron Bay.

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Lunch Lady - Issue 15 - Pro Flow

ProFlow

The stigma around menstruation has been with us a loooooong time. In fact, it’s historically been such a taboo topic that we know very little about how women managed their periods in ancient times. Men held the pens back in those days and none, apparently, felt compelled to write much...

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First nations education for kids at Children's Ground (Lunch Lady Magazine)

First Nations education: CHILDREN’S GROUND

Children's Ground is an organisation led by First Nations people for First Nations communities. To learn more about this grassroots approach to education we spoke to the founders and CEO.

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Happy Ever After Lunch Lady Magazine

Happily Ever After?

The idea of having one solumate who supplies all our affection, intimacy, emotional support and understanding is sold to us from a young age. But what if co-dependence is actually making us unhappy?

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Emily Wurramarra

A chat with Emily Wurramara

Warnindhilyagwa woman and ARIA nominated singer-songwriter, Emily Wurramara talks motherhood, music and NAIDOC week. Interview : Nicole Lutze Describe yourself. I’m cracked, I’m bubbly, I’m a bit of sparkling wine mixed with red cordial, with a frangipani and hibiscus sitting in it. I love to sing, and it makes me...

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Painting a way forward

Painting a way forward

Kamsani Bin Salleh talks about combining the past, present and future through art. Describe yourself. I’m based in Perth but originally from a small country town. After school I studied architecture because I was interested in design but didn’t think I had a future in art. This seemed a practical...

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What it’s Like to Write a Novel

What it’s Like to Write a Novel

A chat with first time book author Victoria Hannan about her stunning debut, Kokomo. What made you want to write a novel? Back in 2017, I was working in a job I hated. I wasn’t sleeping well and I was so stressed my hair was falling out. I knew I...

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Interview with illustrator Sakuya

Quick Q+A With illustrator Sakuya Higuchi

Q: What is your name? おなまえは? A: Sakuya Higuchi 樋口 咲耶です。 Q: How old are you? おいくつですか? A: 34 years old in September. 9月で34歳になります。 Q: Where are you from? 出身地はどこですか? A: Ibaraki, Northeast of Tokyo. 茨城県です。 Q: Where do you live now? どちらにお住まいですか? A: Tokyo 東京都です。 Q: When did you...

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the little free pantry for Lunch Lady Magazine

Little Free Pantry

Inspired by the Free Little Library movement, Jessica McClard saw a need to create free food boxes and believes any small action of giving in community can make a huge difference. // What is Little Free Pantry? The concept behind Little Free Pantry (LFP) is simple: give what you can,...

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Growing up Black in Australia by Tekie Quaye

Growing up in Australia by Tekie Quaye

"Becoming a parent raises all sorts of questions about the way you might bring up your child and the family you want to be. I find that much of what I do and don’t want for my daughter is a reflection of my own experiences as a child."

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Lunch Lady Blog - issue 12 - Starry Skies

Starry Skies

How did Starry Skies begin—what ignited the initial idea? Co-founder and director Sid is the creative mind behind our big sister event Shambala and was the catalyst behind Starry Skies. The concept came from the idea of needing another holiday to recover after going on a holiday with the kids,...

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Malala's father - interview

Malala's father - interview

A chat with Ziauddin Yousafzai, father of Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala, about fatherhood, the importance of education and breaking the iron bars of patriarchy. Could you tell us a bit about your own childhood? How did your experiences shape your thinking about equality and education? I grew up in...

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Lunch Lady Blog - Holy Scrolly - Issue 7

Holy Scrolly - try these scroll recipes

CHEDDAR + MISO SCROLLS • 1 cup self-raising flour • 3/4 cup Greek yoghurt • 3 tbsp hatcho miso • 3/4 cup cheddar cheese, grated • 1 tbsp sesame seeds 1. Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F / Gas Mark 4. 2. Line a baking tray with baking paper....

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Lunch Lady - issue 3 - album covers drawn by a 6 year olds

100 CLASSIC ALBUM ARTWORKS RECREATED BY A SIX-YEAR-OLD

Interview with Tano Veron: Co-founder of art project Rock at Six Years, a collaboration with his six-year-old niece, Nicolina Lorenza Vachetti What is this project about? Rock at Six Years is a family art project by me and my niece, Nicolina Lorenza Vachetti. It’s a collection of contemporary abstract album...

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Lunch Lady Blog - issue 14 - Bunnies

All about bunnies

Adorable pets, cartoon heroes and an intractable environmental scourge: this is the story of the world’s most lovable pest. Okay, we admit it: ‘rodent’ is a bit mean. While the rabbit was once a card-carrying member of the order Rodentia, it achieved such world-spanning success and biological diversity that, in...

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Cultivating Kindness in Kids

Cultivating Kindness in Kids

We all want our kids to be kind human being, but an increasing body of research is showing that kindness is also good for our mental and physical health. Here's how to cultivate more of it in your family.

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how to grow your own watermelon

GROW YOUR OWN WATERMELON IN A POT.

The first thing on the list for any potted-plant DIY is a pot. And this pot needs to be a biggie. Look for something with at least a 20-litre capacity, and drainage holes. Once you’ve acquired your big watermelon pot, you’ll need to fill it with potting mix. Don’t use...

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