Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

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Hands-On Activities

Grades 1 to 8 Free Homeschool Art Curriculum and Printable Notebooking Pages

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Today, I have free homeschool art curriculum. Also, look at my free Art Units page.

Too, it can be hard to fit in subjects like art and music.

So, having free art curriculum always works because there are no guilt feelings if you don’t use it all up.

Grades 1 to 8 Free Homeschool Art Curriculum and Printable Notebooking Pages

Besides, having free art curriculum, I created 2 sets of notebooking pages for each grade.

Altogether, I have grades 1 to 8 art curriculum and the notebooking pages.

List of Artists Studied in Each Grade Level

Also, the curriculum is set up where you 10 artists per grade level.

Look below at the names of all 80 artists.

1st Grade Artists Studied

2nd Grade Artists Studied

  • Paul Cezannne
  • Edward Hicks
  • Normal Rockwell
  • Pieter Brueghel
  • Sir Joshua Reynolds
  • Daniel French
  • Albrecht Durer
  • Mary Cassett
  • Winslow Homer
  • John Constable
  • Anne Whitney
  • Henri Rousseau
  •  George Catlin
  • John Singleton
  •  Henry Tanner
  •  Gustave Courbet
  •  Jean Millet
  •  Van Gogh
  •  Claude Monet
  •  Maria Sibylla

3rd Grade Artists Studied

4th Grade Artists Studied

  • John Curry
  • Wassily Kandinsky
  • John Millais
  • Raphael Sanzio
  • Gilbert Stuart
  • Eastman Johnson
  • Jessie Smith
  • Frederick Remington
  • Julia Cameron
  • Thomas Sully
  • John Audubon
  • William Morris
  • Edwin Landseer
  • Edmonia Lewis
  • Berta Hummel
  • Rosa Bonheur
  • Edgar Degas
  • Leonardo da Vinci
  • Pierre-Auguste Renoir
  • Georges Seurat

5th Grade Artists Studied

6th Grade Artists Studied

  • George Bingham
  • Frederic Church
  • Edward Curtis
  • Emanuel Leutze
  • Paul Revere
  • Robert Duncanson
  • Henrietta Johnston
  • Thomas Moran
  • Martin Heade
  • John Trumbull
  • James McNeil Whistler
  • Tom Thomson
  • Caravaggio
  • Camille Pissarro
  • Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
  • Kathe Kollwitz
  • Rembrandt van Rijn
  • Edvard Munch
  • Katsushika Hokusai
  • Johannes Vermeer

7th Grade Artists Studied

8th Grade Artists Studied

  • Casper David Friedrich
  • Gustave Caillebotte
  • Anne Vallayer-Coster
  • Michelangelo
  • Hendrick Avercamp
  • Henri Fantin-Latour
  • William Turner
  • George Inness
  • Paul Gauguin
  • Francois August Rene Rodin
  • Berthe Morisot
  • Édouard Manet
  • Jan van Eyck
  • Cecilia Beaux
  • Susanne Valadon
  • Maurice Utrillo
  • George Bellows
  • Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi
  • Francis A. Silva
  • Adélaïde Labille-Guiard

Then, look below at ways to use it.

Grades 1 to 8 Free Homeschool Art Curriculum and Printable Notebooking Pages

How to Use the Free Art Curriculum

Then because it’s free you have many options how to use it.

Too, art is subjective, meaning some children are more advanced in creative abilities than others.

Also, some of the easier techniques taught in the younger grades are beneficial for all budding artists regardless of grade level.

5 Options how to Use the Free Art Curriculum

Moreover, there are several ways you can use this curriculum.

  1. Of course, the first way is by grade level as is and make it a 10 week study any time of the year.
  2. Next, is the schedule we followed. So, we studied 1 artist per MONTH. This was a slow enough pace for the year, and it gave us a day or so each week to focus on learning about the artists, his/her techniques and history of the artist’s life.
  3. Also, one more way to follow it is to take 1 artist PER WEEK and choose 36 of the 80 artists regardless of grade level. Thirty-six weeks is enough for a year. Too, the free curriculum has enough information about the artist to create a framework of information regardless of age. Just remember with this method you overlook grade levels which I do anyway.
  4. This is another way we covered art and that for each child to choose an artist and focus on it. This was open-ended so each child could focus on what they wanted.
  5. I created notebooking pages for the non-artsy child so they could write about what they knew and do as much or as little art as they wanted to.

How to use the Notebooking Pages for Homeschool Art Curriculum

As a mom homeschooling multiple ages I want the flexibility to provide more in depth art, even for my highschoolers, as I used this curriculum.

Too, I needed to keep it on the lighter side for my youngest.

So both sets have the SAME art pieces but one set has one more text box and the other set has a sketch box.

First set has 4 Text Boxes – Artist Name, Facts About the Artist, Title of the Art and Interesting Facts.

Second set has 3 Text Boxes + 1 Sketch Box – Artist Name, Facts About the Artist, Title of the Art and Box for a Sketch of the art.

Your student can decide if they want to do more research and write under “Interesting Facts” or prefers to “Sketch” the art or a similar art piece.

The point is you with my download you have notebooking pages to use with your child’s art, as stand alone, or don’t use them at all. I love choices

Grades 1 to 8 Free Homeschool Art Curriculum and Printable Notebooking Pages

Also, look at some of the supplies we used to add to your roundup.

9 Fun Art Supplies for Learning

Whether you prefer to study art for a long period of time or short, I have some of our favorite supplies listed here. Too, everyone stores art differently. We love 3 ring binders and page protectors as well as large envelopes. I know you can use some of these ideas.

In addition, look at some of these other fun art ideas.

More Fun Homeschool Art Curriculum Ideas

Grades 1 to 8 Free Homeschool Art Curriculum and Printable Notebooking Pages

How to Get the Free Homeschool Art Curriculum and 2 Sets of Notebooking Pages

Now, how to grab the free art curriculum. This is a subscriber freebie..

 1) Sign up on my list.
 2) Grab the freebie instantly.
 3) Glad to have you following me by email!

100 Easy & Fun Ancient Civilization Hands-on Projects (Free List)

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Today, I have 100 hands on history ancient civilizations projects. Also, look at my Ancient Civilizations and Ancient Civilizations II pages.

Whether you’re studying about the Ancient Phoenicians, Ancient Sumer and Mesopotamia or Ancient Egypt and Greece, you’ll love this round up of 100 easy and fun Ancient Civilization ideas.

100 Easy & Fun Ancient Civilization Hands-on Projects (Free List)

I’ve included the following Ancient Civilizations in this awesome roundup.

  • Ancient Sumerian and Mesopotamia
  • Ancient Phoenicia
  • Ancient Babylon & Assyria
  • Ancient China
  • Ancient Greek
  • Ancient Roman and
  • Ancient Vikings.

EASY HANDS-ON IDEAS FOR ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS

Also, add some of these fun hands-on resources to your study for the day.

13 Ancient Civilization Hands-on Resources and Books

Add some of these fun resources to your unit study or study for the day of Ancient Civilizations.

Moreover, look at more of these hands-on ancient civlization posts.

1OO Ancient Civilization Hands-on History Projects. Learning shouldn't be hard, but it should be meaningful. Grab these 100 ideas over at Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

So, on my 10 Days of Diving Into Unit Studies by Creating a Unit Study Together, I show you step by step how to create a unit for a topic you choose. It’s not so hard if you have a pattern to follow.

Also, don’t forget to check out Home School in the Woods. It has been one of our favorite Ancient Civilization hands-on history resources for years.

Ancient Empires

Ancient Egypt

Another easy way to bring Ancient history to life is through fun coloring pages. These pages can be added to any unit study, lapbook or notebooking page or can be used alone.

Grab them below!

How to Get the Free 100 Hands-on Ancient Civilization Ideas

Now, how to grab the freebie. This is a subscriber freebie.

 1)  CLICK HERE ON THIS LINK TO SIGN UP ON MY EMAIL LIST & TO GET THIS FREEBIE.
2) Grab the freebie now.
3) Last, look for all my emails in your inbox. Glad to have you following me!

This blog hop is organized by iHomeschool Network, a collaboration of outstanding homeschool bloggers who connect with each other and with family-friendly companies in mutual beneficial projects.

Learning about history shouldn't just be fun, but meaningful. And meaningful shouldn't mean stressed out for you as you plan Ancient Civilization hands-on projects. My standard for hands-on is always the same - EASY. Grab this AWESOME round up of over 100 Hands-on Activities for learning about Ancient Civilizations. Click here!

Fun Kids Hands-on Egg Carton Sea Turtle Life Cycle Activity

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Today I have a hands-on way to show a sea turtle life cycle activity. Add my fun From Egg to Sea Turtle Nature Unit Study & Lapbook to make it for multiple ages.

This sea turtle life cycle activity lets your child create a unique art project while also including some marine science in their lessons. 

Gather up a few supplies including a book or two and sit down with your little ones to create the full life cycle and then use it as a tool to teach as well.

Fun Kids Hands-on Egg Carton Sea Turtle Life Cycle Activity

Ocean Anatomy gives a simple overview of different types of sea turtles as well as their life cycle, and some conservation information.

It is a great book to add to your library for all its wonderful content.

Fun Kids Hands-on Egg Carton Sea Turtle Life Cycle Activity

7 Facts about Sea Turtle Life Cycle Activity

  1. Baby turtles use a small tooth called a caruncle to break out of the shell before heading to the water.
  2. Once they are fully grown, they go back to where they were born to mate and start the cycle all over again.
  3. The female sea turtle climbs ashore, digs a body pit and nest (or egg chamber), lays her eggs, and then covers the nest with sand.
  4. It takes about six or seven weeks after being laid for the hatchlings to emerge and then head to the water.
  5. Most species nest several times during a nesting season, every 2-4 years.
  6. While it is not known exactly how long sea turtles live in the wild, scientists believe that their life span may be as long as a century.
  7. There is not much known about their first few years. During the time they head to sea as newly hatched babies until they return to coastal shallow waters, up to 20 years. They are called the lost years because not much is known about this period in their life cycle.
Fun Kids Hands-on Egg Carton Sea Turtle Life Cycle Activity

Then add a few more resources to your marine life study.

Resources to Study the Sea Turtle Life Cycle

10 Sea Turtle Resources

Add some books about sea turtles and hands-on resources to your lesson or unit study to bring it to life.

Next, look at these videos

More Sea Turtle Resources

Also, add more hands-on learning ideas.

Fun Kids Hands-on Egg Carton Sea Turtle Life Cycle Activity

Sea Turtle Life Cycle Activity

You will need:

  • Cardboard egg carton
  • Green and white craft paint
  • Green cardstock, construction paper, or craft foam
  • Black permanent marker
  • Scissors
  • Hot glue or craft glue

Cut out 5 cups from your egg carton (more if you want several eggs for the “nest”).

Paint 3 cups with various shades of green to make them unique, let your child add spots, etc.

Paint the remaining two cups white.

Fun Kids Hands-on Egg Carton Sea Turtle Life Cycle Activity

Allow all the paint to dry completely. While you are waiting, cut out 3 sets of 4 fins from green paper making them in 3 different sizes.

Fun Kids Hands-on Egg Carton Sea Turtle Life Cycle Activity

Set 1 white one to the side and leave it alone, this is an unhatched egg.

Cut one of the green cups down to a little more than half its size and glue it into the other white cup to create a hatching baby. You can even distress the egg a bit to show he is breaking it open.

Fun Kids Hands-on Egg Carton Sea Turtle Life Cycle Activity

Draw on little black eyes with a marker and glue the smallest fins as if he is pushing his way out of the egg.

Fun Kids Hands-on Egg Carton Sea Turtle Life Cycle Activity

Cut the second green cup down by about ⅓” and glue the medium-sized paper fins into place beneath the cup and add eyes. This is your juvenile turtle.

Fun Kids Hands-on Egg Carton Sea Turtle Life Cycle Activity

Finally, add the largest fins to the largest green cup and add eyes for your adult sea turtle.

Fun Kids Hands-on Egg Carton Sea Turtle Life Cycle Activity

They are ready to be a cute part of your lessons.

Fun Kids Hands-on Egg Carton Sea Turtle Life Cycle Activity

To give a better understanding of the life cycle you can use blue and beige paper or even sand if you have it placed on a tray to represent the water and sand.

Fun Kids Hands-on Egg Carton Sea Turtle Life Cycle Activity

Once you have that set up it is easy peasy to demonstrate the life cycle of sea turtles.

Fun Kids Hands-on Egg Carton Sea Turtle Life Cycle Activity

Share how sea turtles lay their eggs on the beach then head back to the water, then the babies hatch and head for the water until they are grown, and the cycle starts all over again.

Fun Kids Hands-on Egg Carton Sea Turtle Life Cycle Activity

10 Edible Beach Crafts For Teens and Make Edible Beach Glass

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You’ll love these edible beach crafts for teens for fun summer learning. Also, look at my page Seashore Watching Unit Study and Beach Lapbook for more fun beach ideas.

Does your teen love to cook and craft?

If you are looking for a fun summer craft for a teen which is also edible, you’ll love the edible beach glass.

10 Edible Beach Crafts For Teens and Make Edible Beach Glass

This edible beach glass is adorable and delicious. It’s a great way to learn how beach glass is made.

Then there are the life skills cooking teaches, and some science and math worked into the simple recipe as well.

I also think it’s a great art project.

Whether the edible beach crafts are to be used as part of a unit study or for a fun summer-themed snack there are plenty of great ideas here.

So, include these excellent facts about beach glass.

5 Fun Facts About Beach Glass

  1. Beach glass is the debris left behind by broken bottles and jars which have been broken. The pieces are worn smooth, have a frosted appearance from the combination of the waves, and the sand wearing them down.
  2. There is a glass beach in Fort Bragg, California, but they don’t let you take souvenirs home with you.
  3. Beach glass is also known as sea glass, mermaid’s tears, and sea pearls.
  4. Common colors to find are clear, brown, green, and blue. Rarer to find are colors turquoise, yellow, and pink. Occasionally even red.
  5. Sea glass/beach glass can be found in many parts of the world. It is commonly found along the coasts of England and New England, North and South Carolina, Kauai Island in Hawaii, and California. There is also sea glass along the beaches of the Great Lakes, but it does look different than the glass found tossed about in the ocean.

5 MORE Facts about Beach Glass

  1. To age sea glass look at the tint- a light purple shade will be newer as manganese is added to the glass and turns purple with sun exposure, a green shade indicates that the glass is older.
  2. Sea glass is highly collectible and is used in jewelry, glass mosaics, wind chimes, to decorate frames or even just stored in a mason jar.
  3. It is much harder to find beach glass these days. More people are hunting for it on the beaches and many glass items packing items have now been replaced with plastic.  
  4. Due to more storms and the reshaping of the shoreline, the best time to find beach glass is spring.
  5. While often used interchangeably sea glass and beach glass are not the same thing. Sea glass is found on saltwater beaches, and beach glass on freshwater beaches.  The main difference in appearance is that the lakes aren’t as rough so there is not as much tumbling, making it less frosted and might even still have some shine to it.
10 Edible Beach Crafts For Teens and Make Edible Beach Glass

Too, look at these other edible beach crafts for teens.

10 Edible Beach Crafts for Teens

  1. Let them get creative with these Strawberry Sea Creature Snacks and see what they come up with.
  2. Delicious for a hot summer day- Ocean Blue Lemonade Popsicles. I have added these Shark Attack Cheesecakes to my must-make recipe list, don’t they look amazing?
  3. What a great art and cooking project this Edible Sugar Seashells and Sand recipe is.
  4. These sand dollar cookies are just too precious.
  5. Simple but these Beach Pudding Cups are a tasty and cute beach-themed treat.
  6. Pinchable cute Beach Crab Sandwiches look delicious.
  7. Learn how to Make a Sandcastle Cake.
  8. Semi-healthy and a fun theme- Beach Ball Fruit Pizza.
  9. I bet these Butterscotch Crunch Starfish are amazing.
  10. Make a Fun Edible Coral Reef

More Beach Crafts for Teens Activities

Summer Crafts for Kids

Also, add some summer crafts to keep summer fun for teens.

Grab a copy of Ocean Anatomy, not a heavy textbook, but rather a fun and beautifully illustrated flip-through full of great facts about the ocean and all that is in it.

10 Edible Beach Crafts For Teens and Make Edible Beach Glass

Finally, look how to make fun edible beach glass.

Beach Crafts For Teens Make Edible Beach Glass

I highly recommend using flavorings coconut, mango, and banana to add a little something extra to your edible beach glass but it is delicious with just the sugar flavor as well.

You will need:

10 Edible Beach Crafts For Teens and Make Edible Beach Glass

Directions:

Clip your candy thermometer onto the side of a medium-sized pan so that it doesn’t quite touch the bottom.

Combine water, sugar, and corn syrup into the pot and stir together.

10 Edible Beach Crafts For Teens and Make Edible Beach Glass

Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until the temperature on the candy thermometer reaches 300 degrees.

10 Edible Beach Crafts For Teens and Make Edible Beach Glass

At this point, you must work very quickly so be sure to have all your add-ins ready to go with the caps removed, heat-safe bowls, silicone mat, food coloring, and flavorings.

Carefully remove from the heat and divide ⅓ of the mixture into 2 heat-safe containers like these Pyrex measuring cups.

Quickly stir a bit of green and blue food coloring as well as a bit of the flavoring oil into two of your containers. Leave the third clear but feel free to add flavor.

10 Edible Beach Crafts For Teens and Make Edible Beach Glass

Pour the mixture from the pan and your containers onto your silicone mat quickly.

Beach Crafts

You don’t need to be neat just make a large blob shape. If it has started to set up, you can place the pan back on the heat for a minute or the glass cups into the microwave for 30 seconds to soften the mixture.

10 Edible Beach Crafts For Teens and Make Edible Beach Glass

Allow it to cool completely until hard, this should only take 10-15 minutes but you can pop it in the fridge to speed up the process a bit.

Transfer the hardened pieces to a zipper bag or cover them with waxed paper and hit them with a little mallet or against the counter to break them up into smaller pieces.

10 Edible Beach Crafts For Teens and Make Edible Beach Glass

Add pieces to a separate ziploc bag and add a few spoons of powdered sugar, shake to coat everything. This keeps them from sticking together and gives your beach glass the dull frosted appearance of real beach glass.

10 Edible Beach Crafts For Teens and Make Edible Beach Glass

Dust off excess powdered sugar.

Check out this side-by-side of real beach glass and edible beach glass, you can hardly tell the difference!

10 Edible Beach Crafts For Teens and Make Edible Beach Glass

15 Star Wars STEM Activities Ideas | Fun Flashlight Science and DIY Lightsaber

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I have some Star Wars STEM Activities for May 4th. Also, look at National STEM Day – Popsicle Sticks for Creative DIY STEM Projects for more stem ideas.

May The 4th Be With You is a day we look forward to in our Star Wars-loving household all year long.

It’s a day to dig in (to the couch) and binge on all our favorite Star Wars episodes.

Spend the day eating Star Wars-themed food, enjoy a little Star Wars trivia, and soak up all the good fun of one of the greatest movie franchises.

15 Star Wars STEM Activities Ideas | Fun Flashlight Science and DIY Lightsaber

This year I wanted to include a little STEM to give it an educational slant.

I have gathered up a great list of Star Wars STEM activities.

And I am going to show you how to recreate one of the most iconic objects from the series while investigating flashlights and how they work.

If you don’t already know what STEM is, it’s an abbreviation for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math.

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…

Star Wars Stem Flashlight Science

First, look at this Stars Wars STEM flashlight science activity.

Some kids just naturally love to take things apart and explore the what, why, and how while others need a little push.

Either way, they are going to enjoy exploring what makes a flashlight work and learning what each of those components is called.

Grab an inexpensive flashlight for each child, once taken apart it may not work again, you can often find them at Dollar Tree.  

What parts do you need for a flashlight?

Help your child identify each of the parts that make a flashlight work.

Explain that the batteries have different ends, positive and negative, and must be inserted in a certain way.

15 Star Wars STEM Activities Ideas | Fun Flashlight Science and DIY Lightsaber

More Star Wars Activities

  • Make Cool Star Wars Soap and 15 Star Wars DIY Projects

Investigate the different parts and name them, what does each do?

  • Switch- Turning on the switch allows the power source to make a full circuit to the light source, giving the flashlight power.
  • Case- Protects the inner parts of the device.
15 Star Wars STEM Activities Ideas | Fun Flashlight Science and DIY Lightsaber
  • Battery- Stores chemical energy and converts it to electrical energy to power the bulb.
15 Star Wars STEM Activities Ideas | Fun Flashlight Science and DIY Lightsaber
  • Contacts- A strip of copper metal that allows electricity to flow from positive to negative terminals of the battery.
15 Star Wars STEM Activities Ideas | Fun Flashlight Science and DIY Lightsaber
  • Spring-This is part of the circuit that transfers energy from the battery to the copper wire.
15 Star Wars STEM Activities Ideas | Fun Flashlight Science and DIY Lightsaber
  • Transparent lens- Protects the glass bulb from breaking.
  • Light Bulb- Creates a light source.
  • Reflector- This reflects the bulb’s light into a steady focused beam.
15 Star Wars STEM Activities Ideas | Fun Flashlight Science and DIY Lightsaber

I found this cool explanation of flashlight parts and how they are made for further study- How Are Flashlights Made?

Books about Star Wars

Second, add some of these Star Wars books and resources.

While origami is primarily considered an art it does incorporate aspects of math, engineering, and even computer science.

Grab one of these books for some fun Star Wars themed paper folding ideas.

Cooking is an excellent way to naturally work math and science into your child’s learning.

Turn it into intergalactic fun as well with a Star Wars Cookbook.

And if you are a fan of not only the movies but the man behind them, check out Who Is George Lucas from the Who Was series.

Now let’s use a second flashlight to create a fun DIY lightsaber for galactic war should we need it.

Star Wars Stem Activities DIY Lightsaber

You will need:

  • Bubble wand tube
  • Flashlight
  • Silver Duct or electrical tape
  • Colored tape or stickers
15 Star Wars STEM Activities Ideas | Fun Flashlight Science and DIY Lightsaber

Take apart your bubble wands, and rinse well until all soap is removed from the plastic.

You can throw away the actual wand part; you just need to use the “sheath” that holds it. Allow it to dry completely.

Place the opening over the flashlight and secure it with silver duct tape and go as far up or down the handle of the flashlight as you like.

15 Star Wars STEM Activities Ideas | Fun Flashlight Science and DIY Lightsaber

Cut small “buttons” out of colored tape or stickers.

We found these pricing stickers at Dollar Tree and cut some into squares. and apply them to the hilt of your lightsaber.

15 Star Wars STEM Activities Ideas | Fun Flashlight Science and DIY Lightsaber

Click on the flashlight and it is ready for an epic space battle.

15 Star Wars STEM Activities Ideas | Fun Flashlight Science and DIY Lightsaber

Additionally, I have more STEM related activities below.

More STEM Related Activities

15 Star Wars STEM Activities Ideas | Fun Flashlight Science and DIY Lightsaber

Finally, look at these fun Star Wars themed STEM activities.

Star Wars STEM Hands-On Activities

I have some out-of-this-world activities and resources for you to enjoy with the whole family as you celebrate and learn at the same time for May the 4th and beyond.

15 Star War STEM Activities

It's fun to learn about STEM when you can add a Stars War theme to your day. Grab ideas here on this list.