hands on history

Ancient Phoenicia Minibook = Modern Day Lebanon

June 16, 2013 | 3 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

The Phoenicians were famous seaman and founded colonies all over the Mediterranean Sea. When we studied the ancients this time, I tried to focus on making it matter by tying it to its modern day location which is Lebanon. Though the boys enjoyed reading about Beirut and understanding that Beirut is the capital of Lebanon, I think they enjoyed it a little more when we made the glass blowing connection. After we studied it last time, we focused on the Phoenicians craft of glass making.

Because I like to keep my units with some hands-on activities, I collected a few activities about Ancient Phoenicia at the bottom of this post. That way we both have some resources when we review this again.

Today, I also have the next minibook on Ancient Phoenicia. It is a tab book and I have a map included in this download that glues on the inside and a few facts too if you want to use them.

Download Phoenicians book here.

It is book 6 and it goes placed at the top right side. We did revisit our glass blowing lapbook to make it somewhat hands-on.

I rounded up a few other hands-on ideas because it really makes learning about any topic a bit more lively. Even something simple is more memorable than a worksheet.

(Pic. Att: Creekside Learning)

Look at this fun boat made by the kids at Creekside Learning. Click here to go there.

(Pic. Att: Creekside Learning)

They also made purple dye. Click here to go there.

(Pic. Att: Satori Smiles)

Over at Satori Smiles they used an expired bag of frozen blueberries to make the dye. Check out the fun here.

My glass blowing lapbook ties in with this unit too. Click here to go there.

The Phoenician alphabet. (Picture Att: Design With Type)

I could see making a code of some sort to make this more interactive.

(Pic Att: Love Learn Play)

Over at Love Learn Play there is a 6 page download with resources and some copy work.

(Pic Att: The Artful Parent)

The Artful Parent has some beautiful ideas for doing some glass activities that would make studying this topic take an art trail. Click here to go there.

Then some links we marked/found helpful.

Reviews & Quizzes for Story of the World Volume 1. A helpful resource that has multiple questions to use for review and that is interactive.

History of the Phoenicians

Quizlet has some flashcards.

I hope some of these ideas help to spark your creative ideas or add to enrich your study about the Ancient Phoenicians.

Hugs and love ya,

How to Make Smokin’ Hot Egyptian Pillars Out of Cardboard

June 7, 2013 | 2 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Ideally I wish everybody would have a Cynthia as one of their co-op leaders, but since that is not possible, I want to share one idea that came of out of her creative little mind for our co-op. Besides being a great friend, she is so talented at coming up with ideas that keeps the fire for fun stoked in our co-ops.

It was her idea to have two 8 1/2 feet Egyptian columns and they came out so beautiful because of her hard work.

The strengths she brings to a co-op is an excellent example of what I talked about in my 5 Days of a Homeschooling Co-op. Prep the learning environment and the kids will have fun and learn at the same time.

Here is her supply list:

14 – 5 gal. buckets
2 rolls duct tape
6 sections of clean bendable cardboard large enough to wrap around buckets (each about 4 ft. wide x 3 ft. tall )
paintable wallpaper samples cut into strips (optional)
chalk pastels
paint
Elmer’s glue
spray can of matte finish for protecting chalk pastels
large heavy rocks that will fit in 2-5 gal. buckets
2 pieces of wood cut to serve as caps for tops of pillars
2 hooks for banner
tape measure, ladder or chair

And here is her explanation of how to make them.

1. Find a picture of Egyptian pillars to use as a guide for colors and patterns.

1/2

2. Decide how tall you want the pillars. We used 7 buckets stacked on top of one another which made each pillar about 8 1/2 ft tall. You can adjust the height by using more or fewer buckets.

3. Remove the metal handles from all of the buckets.

4. Fill the bottom bucket with heavy rocks. This will give the pillar stability.

5. After the bottom bucket is full of rocks place another bucket with the open end on top of the open end of the bucket with the rocks in it. Use duct tape to secure the two buckets together tightly right around the outside of the buckets where the open ends are placed together. Be generous with the duct tape and go all the way around the buckets perhaps even a couple of times for strength and stability.

6. Place a third bucket on top of the first two so that the bottom ends are against one another. Use duct tape to secure them together tightly where the two bottom ends meet. Don’t forget to go all the way around the buckets with the duct tape once again.

7. Continue placing and taping the buckets together in the same manner as the first and second buckets alternating (open end to open end, bottom end to bottom end) as you go up until you have reached the height you desire.

8. Decorate each section of cardboard. There are many ways this can be done, but we used chalk pastels which we sprayed with matte finish for the bottom two sections and paintable wallpaper sample strips for the top section. After the wallpaper sample strips dry, glue them to the top cardboard section. Or instead of wallpaper sample strips you can easily continue decorating the top section with pastels or paint.

9. Once everything on the cardboard is dry attach the bottom section to the pillar. We taped ours together at the back with duct tape as well as double-sided duct tape between the cardboard and bucket to give it extra strength. Be generous with the duct tape so the pillars don’t come apart.

10. Place the next section of cardboard right above the one on bottom and duct tape it in the same manner as the first.

11. Attach the last section of cardboard with duct tape above the second one in the same way as the first two.

12. Now you are ready to cap the pillar. For a cap we used a board cut a little bigger than the top of the bucket. We also nailed another board a little smaller than the opening of the bucket to the bottom side of the board that serves as the cap. This anchored the cap inside the bucket so that it would not fall off.

13. To hang a banner or something else between the pillars install hooks into the middle of the edges of the caps.

In another post, I will share how Kelley made that beautiful banner.

I love the fact she used discarded wall paper books and buckets. Simply ask your local paint store if they have any supplies like that they are discarding.

Our study of the Great Empires won’t be easily forgettable because of her hard work. A little cardboard, imagination and diy creates lasting memories.

Thanks Cynthia for such an amazing job. I hope this inspires you with an idea or two to keep activities fun in your co-op or just through the summer.

Are you going to give it a try?

Use this idea with my Ancient Civilizations Unit Study and my other unit study, Ancient Civilizations II.

Hugs and love ya,

Free Minoan and Mycenaean Minibook for an Ancient Civilization Study

June 5, 2013 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Our year end co-op is always worth the time that it “distracts” me. Making a Roman shield and helmet compliments of some free cardboard and an easy costume equals a memorable day for Tiny. I promise to share all the easy how-to tips in upcoming posts.

But now that its May–YIKES– that means curriculum planner updates are coming soon too. Hold on to your britches as I switch between topics in the upcoming weeks like my home management binder + my unit study printables + adding in my curriculum planner updates and yes I even have another giveaway coming up.

My year end co-op is finished, my New Bee workshops are done for the year and I am feeling all energetic and zippy. Okay—-well almost because the kids said they could use a day or two to sleep in and my house still needs to be put back together. Just sounds better if I say the kids need it.

Today, I want to share with you the next minibook in our ancient civilization unit because we did our own lapbook too while we did the Great Empires Activity Study by Home School in the Woods.

On a side note: I was excited after searching high and low for some great clip art that I actually found some to purchase. You have to love those folks making donations to the Dynamic 2 Moms site because when they donate, I buy for you. I always try to be sure they get a Thank You from me.

Our reading focused on the Minoans and Mycenaean. The Minoans settled on the island of Crete at the same time as the rise of Mesopotamia and Egypt. This civilization too has royal palaces and paved roads.

In Minoan culture, bulls were significant and vaulting off the back of bulls was a sport. The Mycenaean were skilled at using gold, built the first Greek empire and were highly civilized even though all around them were barbarian tribes. That is enough to understand about each culture if you are trying to keep it simple. I like simple.

This next minbook is a layered book about the Minoan and Mycenaean and all you do is staple on the side. As I have time you know I like to create minibooks that have text and create another set that is blank in case you want to fill in your own information. This one is no different. I have text on one set and the duplicate set is without text.This allows you to use it with both, older and younger children, or to use the information given if you are in a bind for time. We do a lot of writing so I keep our minibooks easy because the focus is on the delight of learning not on penmanship. However, if you are working on penmanship you will enjoy having them blank. As you can see, lots of ways to use all of my minibooks

Download here minibook on the Minoans and Mycenaean

You know I told you that this lapbook is going to have many different civilizations in it. When I first started homeschooling, I focused on one civilization at a time and I still like to do that, but too after going through them with each kid or each year, sometimes its nice to have a quick glance at one time. I think it helps younger children to get a panorama of history and its equally important for my older sons because it serves as a review. One reason also is if history is not your first love like it is for us, then looking at each ancient civilization with not so much detail keeps it from becoming overwhelming. I can’t imagine people not wanting to study history their every waking minute. Just saying.

Hugs and love ya,

Ancient Maya Lapbook (Free Homeschool Unit Study)

May 23, 2013 | 10 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

We have been putting the final touches on our unit study for the ancient Maya. We started off our discussion on Meso-America and narrowed our interest down to the ancient Maya.

Free Ancient Maya Lapbook and homeschool unit study @ Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

I want to focus more on the Aztecs but Mr. Awesome and Mr. Senior 2013 are throwing out other topics for our next unit study topic.

Ancient Maya Lapbook (Free Homeschool Unit Study)

Tiny still likes this topic so we haven’t settled on our next unit study. Too, I think we may focus some on our new curriculum we just got. It’s hard for us to stay away from a good unit study for long so maybe the change to cooler weather will make them decide on a topic.

In most unit studies we find an abundance of hands-on things to do but for this topic they really were focused on reading. However, we did find some hands-on things in the book Amazing Maya Inventions You Can Build Yourself that we liked.

We spent quite a few days learning about the tzolk’in calendar, also called the Sacred Round. It wasn’t as easy as the Maya made it look to line up the two circles for the calendars side by side.

{tzolk’in calendar. pic att and link to learn about it.}

But we did manage to make two circles like the book said and followed the directions but I am not so sure we managed to use it like they did. It made us appreciate the advancements they made in math, building and a written language.

I added this calendar circle as a minibook in the lapbook. So here it is, the next lapbook for you. It has 9 minibooks.

Then of course you know I have to make something for you to put on the outside of your lapbook for a cover in case you don’t have wild hair and want to create one. So here are two cover choices.

Remember too all of my minibooks or downloads are usually kept separate and not one big HUGE download. I do this because it helps to keep organized when you can pick/choose what you want to download or keep on your computer.

Also, I do it this way because you may prefer to notebook and you can use individual minibooks and decorative pieces from the front cover to create your own notebooking pages. It is rare that I do one huge download. Just letting you know there is a method to my madness.

I made a few organizational changes to our school area this year and am ready to share that with you next. Here is a glimpse of one area I had to redo. I FINALLY got my teacher’s manuals for history and other subjects in a notebooking system I heart. I will have my pictures to share on the small but meaningful changes made to our area.

You know I heart quotes each day. I find this one inspirational today as I think about you and the countless other educators as we daily give to our kids. Also, I was talking in my workshop Monday night how you do give up some things to homeschool but they seem so insignificant now when you see the blessing of your children. {sappy moment thought}. It just made me think of this today.

The things you do for yourself are gone when you are gone, but the things you do for others remain as your legacy.”

~ Kalu Kalu~

How to Get the Free Lapbook Maya and Free Notebooking Pages

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

That means when you sign up to follow me, you get access to my subscribers library and this freebie.

However, not all my freebies are in the library (wink).

I like to keep up to date with what is valuable to you so I can give you more, some freebies you must sign up again on the form below even if you are already a follower.

And it’s the only way I have of freely delivering them to you. Just follow the steps below.

► 1) Sign up on my list.
► 2) Go to your inbox and confirm your email from the automatic reply I sent you. If you’re already a confirmed subscriber, you will not have to do this. You’ll receive the freebie instantly.
►3) Last step. look for my reply AFTER you’ve confirmed your email.

FBI Unit Study Experiment 2 (Invisible Ink) + FBI Printables

May 23, 2013 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Are you looking to study modern American history? You'll love this AWESOME free FBI Lapbook and Unit Study | Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

I promise you I have not forgotten about releasing the newest free lapbook about the FBI, but it was such an extensive unit for us. I still have more to share before I release it.
Today, I want to share another activity we did on the FBI unit study and that was to make invisible ink.

Of course, according to my teenagers anyway, you have to try the experiment out the way they did it on the movie, National Treasure. There are several ways to make invisible ink and we did a couple of them.

So the teens gathered some supplies and printed off some of the invisible ink activities from the internet. The one they really wanted to do was the one using cornstarch. An iodine solution is used to reveal the writing. You make a gravy using cornstarch and write with that.

Then the message will appear purple after rubbing an iodine solution over it. The iodine binds to the starch molecules.

Instead of waiting for me to get some more iodine, they decided to try it the easy way with lemon juice.

They wrote with milk too.

Do you think it would appear with just the heat of the blow dryer?

The boys determined that though the blow dryer was beneficial, they needed a much greater heat source like a hot burner or stove.

Once we got the burners going on the stove, we had messages.There are many methods to making invisible ink like white wine, vinegar, apple juice and even orange juice.

Click here for the Kids World article on making invisible ink appear if you want some recipes. This activity is an overall easy activity to do and it appeals to kids or adults of any age. They still would like to see a purple message though using iodine.

I have a few more printables to add to this growing unit.

We needed some covers for the notebooks the boys decided to use. I leave it up to my high school sons to decide whether they want to lapbook or notebook. It is such a fine line, I feel, between those two concepts because minibooks can be used in a notebook. So it really is just a matter of how you want to present the information. Presentation is part of the grade for my high school sons so they get the say in how the cover pages are put together. For younger kids using lapbooks, the emphasis could be on crafting and decorating the outside flaps of lapbooks.

The next round of notebooking pages makes me feel better anyway preparing for the graduation of Mr. Senior 2013. The two pages can be used to track the history of the FBI from 1908 to present and/or add in world events. Just in case I missed anything in the last 100 hundred years of American History he can get the general idea of it in now before he graduates. You know history is our very favorite subject and we probably didn’t miss any big events. It just comforts me when I have those moments wondering if I did enough with him.

There are just a few lines on the page to jot down the main world events and/or mix match to line up with the history of the FBI. It is meant to be used as a quick reference for history. Too, I think it really builds appreciation in understanding what was happening in the world around the special agents as they tried to keep up with changing times.

By the way if you want to do some more reading about the way they did the invisible ink in the movie, National Treasure, read here . The article, National Treasure – can lemon juice and hot breath reveal invisible ink? is from The Creative Science Center.

hands on history

Ancient Phoenicia Minibook = Modern Day Lebanon

How to Make Smokin’ Hot Egyptian Pillars Out of Cardboard

Free Minoan and Mycenaean Minibook for an Ancient Civilization Study

Ancient Maya Lapbook (Free Homeschool Unit Study)

How to Get the Free Lapbook Maya and Free Notebooking Pages

FBI Unit Study Experiment 2 (Invisible Ink) + FBI Printables

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How to Get the Free Lapbook Maya and Free Notebooking Pages

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