hands-on

Geronimo Stilton The Fourth Journey Through Time Fun Cleopatra Collar

October 17, 2022 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Geronimo Stilton Back The Fourth Journey Through Time has several sections in it. If you love the Geronimo Stilton Books, you’ll love this book and book craft.

The section and craft we focused on is about Cleopatra.

This book of the Geronimo Stilton series takes us through Cleopatra’s Time, Genghis Khan and Queen Elizabeth.

Geronimo Stilton The Fourth Journey Through Time Fun Cleopatra Collar

And today we are going to hang out in Ancient Egypt with the Queen of the Nile and have fun reading Geronimo Stilton Back The Fourth Journey Through Time.

About The Geronimo Stilton Books

Geronimo shares accessories to become perfect Ancient Egyptians.

And fashions during Cleopatra’s Time which gives a perfect base for today’s hands-on activity.

These books really can’t be beat for introducing historical topics, vocabulary, and fun illustrations.

Here is a peek into the elaborate and beautiful library of Alexandria.

Then, you can also add a few facts about Ancient Egypt.

Add this The Geronimo Stilton Book Fourth Journey Fun Egypt Game.

Cleopatra and Ancient Egypt Fun Facts

Ancient Egyptians loved board games.
Egypt has the only remaining ancient wonder in the world.
While she was known for her beauty, she was also very intelligent.
Cleopatra spoke around 9 different languages.
Both female and male ancient Egyptians wore eye makeup.
Cleopatra was the last ruler of the Ptolemaic dynasty.
Cleopatra’s favorite perfume was Mendesian perfume named for the city Mendes.
She had 4 children- 3 with Mark Antony- Ptolemy Philadelphus and twins Cleopatra ‘Selene’ and Alexander ‘Helios’. And one with Julius Caesar who she named Caesarion “Little Caesar”.
Ancient Egyptians called their home Kemet rather than Egypt.

If you want to add a few books to your mini unit study then, Everything Ancient Egypt.

And 1,000 Facts About Ancient Egypt are a couple great companion reference books.

Also, look at this great video on Cleopatra Queen of Egypt or Ancient Egypt For Kids from Homeschool Pop while you create your jewelry.

Cleopatra Project Ideas

Finally, let’s make a fun Cleopatra collar and craft jewelry.

You will need:

smooth sturdy cardboard
empty toilet paper rolls
hot glue gun/sticks or school glue
craft paints
dinner plate and a bowl

First, trace a large dinner plate onto your cardboard.

I used the back cover from a 12” x12” cardstock pack. You could also use poster board, but it will crumple a bit easier.

Corrugated cardboard will work but may be too thick.

Next, trace a bowl up near the top of the larger circle. You want to leave more room at the bottom for your necklace design.

Cut out both circles.

Cut all the way up one side of the empty toilet paper rolls.

These next few steps are fun and are what make this project turn out amazing.

Start by creating designs on your cuffs and collar with hot glue.

This is a good introduction to a hot glue gun if you feel your child is ready because it doesn’t really require touching the glue or pressing things together.

Now, use the hot glue gun to create a bunch of different jewel shapes on aluminum foil or a silicone mat.

I did find with the foil that it stuck to the hot glue. I just peeled off around it because it doesn’t affect it if left on the backing.

You can also help tidy up the edges and shapes with scissors. Dried hot glue cuts very well.

These silicone mats are great for protecting your table or desk while painting, gluing, etc.

Too, another tip is that you can use regular white school glue if you like to make your design.

But hot glue dries much faster. Let the hot glue harden and dry completely, pull off any glue strings that may be left behind. Then paint them in using pretty jeweled colors.

While your jewels are drying give your cardboard collar and cuffs a coat or two of gold, going right over the hot glue lines

Once your gold and jewels are dry you can attach them to the cuffs and collar with a bit more hot glue.

Your beautiful Cleopatra inspired cuffs and collar are ready to wear and show off your royalty!

Digging into ancient history can be so much fun and educational at the same time.

Homeschooling offers us a wonderful opportunity to introduce the world in a more relaxed way and make memories at the same time.

Other Geronimo Stilton Books Resources

Easy Hands-on Fun Ancient Greek Games for Kids DIY Knucklebones

October 16, 2022 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

If you’re doing hands-on history and want to add ancient Greek games for kids, you’ll love this knucklebones game and the other games on my page Kids History Games Boosts Learning & Promotes Critical Thinking.

I am sharing with you how to make and play Knucklebones.

It’s one of the oldest discovered ancient games.

Easy Hands-on Fun Ancient Greek Games for Kids DIY Knucklebones

Knucklebones is an ancient Greek game typically played with 5 small objects.

They were initially made from the knuckles of sheep or goats.

It was also called Tali, 5 stones, Jacks, scatter jacks, dibs, jackstones, or astragalus.

It is a primitive form of the modern game of jacks that is played with little metal pieces and a rubber ball.

The game of Knucklebones is 2,000 years old.

How Knucklebones Was Invented

The official rules are not known as it is such an ancient game.

But several versions have been guessed at through paintings and sculptures.

We are making the version that is like the more modern jacks game.

According to Sophocles, the mythical figure Palamedes invented te game of Knucklebones.

And taught it to Greek soldiers during the Trojan War.

Here is an image of a sculpture depicting two Greek girls playing Knucklebones.

They look so much like two little modern girls playing on the sidewalk, don’t they?

Ancient Greek Games for Kids

Look at some other toys ancient Greek children played with or spent their day being entertained with. And learn the Greek name for them.

Spinning Top-Stromvos
Rattles- Platagi
Animal Figurines- Athyrma
Marbles- Spheria
Piggyback game- Ephedrismos
Ourania- Game with a ball
Passe-boule- Similar to basketball

Here are some images of Ancient Gr e ek Toys to get an idea of what they looked like.

Ancient Greece Game Knucklebones Rules

You can play this game with 1 to 4 players. Cast (or toss) the knucklebones the same way you would dice.

Toss one knucklebone up into the air and try to grab one off the ground. Catch the falling one before it hits the ground.

Repeat but grab 2, then 3, then 4 to complete a sequence.

The winner is the first person to complete all the required sequences.

You can also play by tossing up all into the air and trying to catch as many as you can on the back of the hand or in your palm.

If you are going to play this version make your knucklebones smaller so they are easier to catch and don’t hurt.

Yet another variation is to try to toss one up and grab as many as you can in your hand before it falls.

You will want to practice.

Don’t scatter them to much or throw them too high. This will give you more control over catching them or grabbing them up.

Also, a completely different take on knucklebones assigns a points system to each side of the die.

And the winner is the one with the highest point value after tossing the knucklebones and counting up where they land. This is where the numbers or symbols you added come into the game.

Encourage your children to make up their own game with the Knucklebones. See what their imagination comes up with.

Next, look how to make your own DIY Knucklebones.

How to Make DIY Knucklebones Game

I found this terra cotta air dry clay at dollar tree and thought it looked pretty ancient so it was perfect.

You will need:

Then, create a rustic dice shape by first rolling 4 to 5 similar sized balls of clay out.

Next, pinch to create a bowed shape on the top and bottom of one face. But don’t invert too much if you plan on writing/drawing on them.

Rotate and repeat this step all the way around, this will give us a basic shape similar to real knucklebones.

Allow the clay to dry completely. This is what your final shape should look like.

Decorate your sides with numbers or symbols if you like using a small paintbrush and paint or a paint pen.

We researched ancient Greek numbers and used those. This will give your child some math practice too. You could also make up your own symbols for your family if you want.

Make a key like I did here to keep track of what each Greek number represents.

What do you think? What other Ancient Greek games for kids will you add to your Ancient Greece Unit study?

Other History Games for Kids

And finally, here are some other Ancient Greece activities.

Other Ancient Greece Activities

Learn About Mozart The Eight Journey Through Time Geronimo Stilton Series

October 11, 2022 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

The next book in the Geronimo Stilton series Out of Time (Geronimo Stilton Journey Through Time #8) has fun learning facts about Mozart. So, if your child is loving the Geronimo Stilton books, you’ll love this next hands-on craft with the book.

How about combining Mozart, music, and the adorable antics of Geronimo Stilton?

In the Geronimo Stilton series, The Eighth Journey Through Time sails through 4 different time periods in the book.

What a busy mouse.

Learn About Mozart The Eight Journey Through Time Geronimo Stilton Series

Out of Time (Geronimo Stilton Journey Through Time #8) takes your little learner to meet:

Alexander the Great,
Queen Cleopatra,
Sir Francis Drake,
and todays topic of interest- Mozart in The Court of Vienna.

The way the books are set up, your child can read the whole thing or just choose to start at one of the time periods.

Geronimo meets Mozart and his family and helps them get to the Court of Vienna.

Of course like the other books in this series, it is loaded with fun facts. Also, it has introductions to several instruments, fashion of the time period, and many historical references.

Also, there are a few logic games where your child studies a picture and discover what is wrong.

These books are aimed at middle to upper elementary, but they are really fantastic for struggling or reluctant readers.

They are not quite a graphic novel and have a fair amount of reading to them.

But it is laid out in such a fun and colorful way that they hardly realize they are learning all wonderful historical facts.

Benefits of Learning Music

Even if you or your child have no musical aspirations music is a great experience and has so many learning benefits.

Strengthens memory and attention.
Reinforces important language skills.
Relaxes and relieves anxiety.
Improves listening skills.
Helps learn math skills (quarter, half note, etc and fractions).
Nurtures creativity.
Makes you use more of and different parts of your brain.

While you listen to some of Mozart’s music, play a memory game.

Encourage your child to identify the instruments they hear.

They can also listen for when the music speeds up and slows down. What a wonderful way to help you both relax and focus, this can be a great beginning, end, or reset to your homeschool day.

Also, look at these sites:

Fun Ways to Teach Children Note Values
Dig a little deeper into learning about Mozart with this YouTube video- History of Mozart from Bedtime History .

Then, add some fun facts about Mozart.

Marvelous Mozart Facts

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born in 1756.
He wrote his first musical compositions at just 5 years old.
Mozart could speak 12 different languages.
He wrote over 600 musical pieces in his short lifetime.
He was left-handed.
Mozart wrote his first opera at just 12 years old.
Mozart died December 5, 1791 at age 35, believed from rheumatic fever.

Let’s make a DIY music memory game without the need for any special equipment.

But I do suggest that if you don’t have a paper slicer you grab one.

They are so great for cutting straight lines and very inexpensive. But you can do this with just a ruler and scissors also.

Music Appreciation Activity DIY Memory Game

You will need:

white cardstock
colored cardstock
glue stick
paper cutter or scissors
markers

First, cut your white cardstock into 2 ½ ”x 2 1/2” squares.

Again, you can use scissors, but these little paper slicers come in handy dandy for a lot of different projects and are really reasonable.

Next, cut your colored cardstock slightly larger than the white, say 2 3/4” to 3” square.

Draw music notes, simple instruments, music symbols, or write out musical terms on your white cards.

Remember you will need two of each.

A quick Google search can help you find some inspiration.

But here is a photo of the 6 I did for this version. You can make more or less depending on your child’s familiarity with music and their skill level.

Once your designs are drawn glue the white cardstock to the center of the colored squares.

This helps create sturdier cards and you can’t see through the white cards anymore.

To play the game it is simply like traditional memory, mix up and then lay all the cards out face down.

Take turns picking two at a time to try and create a match, if you get a match you keep the pair, and draw again, but if not put them back down in the same spot.

Repeat until all cards are matched up.

Music Note Memory Variations

Write the notes on half your cards and the name on the other half.
Draw instruments on your cards instead.
Write composer names.
Draw music bars with different notes

Other Geronimo Stilton Series

Finally, you’ll love these other hands-on book crafts for the Geronimo Stilton series books:

4 Fun and Engaging Bat Activities for Kindergarten

October 10, 2022 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Today, I have some engaging bat activities for kindergarten. Find some other fun kindergarten crafts on my kindergarten homeschool curriculum page.

October is the perfect time of year to swoop into a mini unit on bats. These adorable and often misunderstood creatures are a great way to introduce concepts like echolocation and nocturnal.

I have a few do it yourself ideas and a fun sensory bin bat activities for kindergarten. This sensory bin is so easy and inexpensive you can make it with just items in your pantry.

4 Fun and Engaging Bat Activities for Kindergarten

The benefits of sensory bins are many for preschoolers and kindergarten aged children.

They can explore and build their imaginations.

Also, they are good for self regulation, promote fine motor skills, and simple life skills.

That is all before adding in some extra educational activities.

Bat Unit Study Resources

First, include a few of these books to begin your study.

Nature Anatomy is a great living science book that has so many applications.

There is a beautiful two page spread on bats that is perfect to go along with the sensory bin.

You can also go with Bats by Gail Gibbons if you want something to reference during your play and learning in the sensory bin.

I also found this fantastic bat skeleton at Dollar Tree.

I wasn’t sure at first because of the scary teeth but realized that it offered a great learning opportunity to talk to your child about the myths surrounding bats.

And the fact that while yes there are vampire bats, the majority of bats are peaceful bug and fruit eating creatures.

If you look at the plastic skeleton you will see that anatomically it is pretty close to a real bat skeleton.

You can use it as a tool to label the different parts of a bat and talk about how they use their ears for echolocation.

Share a fact about what is echolocation. Bats emit high frequency sound through their mouth or nose and listen for the echo.

From the echo, the bat can determine the size, shape and texture of objects in its environment.

Too, add in my free Bat Unit Study.

Dynamic Why Bats Are Not Birds Lapbook For Multiple Ages
$4.00 Add to cart

Learning About Bat Activities

Too, once you create your sensory bin for kindergarten, add some other ideas for learning.

Add letter tiles to work on beginning sounds or even spelling out simple words like bat, night, wing, or fly.
Hide the letter tiles in the rice and have your little bat swoop in and grab one then tell you the name of and sound that the letter makes.

Roll a die and have your child count out the appropriate number of bats to match the number.

Let your child play and develop their imagination in the sensory bin while you read aloud from Stellaluna.

Busy hands mean the brain is free to take in and hold onto information.

Add spoons and cups for scooping, measuring, pouring, and investigating the sensory bin.
Talk about the fact that bats hang upside down rather than resting on top of the branch the way birds do. Demonstrate with the pasta bats and sticks in the sensory bin. Introduce the concept of nocturnal animals if your child is not already familiar with it.
Bats are most active from dusk to dawn. Make your bin a deep purple that makes it look like dusk, just after the sun sets but before it is completely dark, the time that many bats begin to feed. This is a great way to open up the topic for conversation. They are sure to remember these things taught during play.

And add pincers or tongs for picking up the bats to build fine motor skills.

How to Make a Bat Sensory Bin

Now, look how to make an easy bat sensory bin from things you already have in your home.

Here is a list.

Food coloring or liquid watercolors
Uncooked white rice
farfalle(bowtie) pasta
White beans
Sticks from the yard.
And a container or bin

First, I had liquid watercolor on hand so I used that to color my rice and pasta but you could also use food coloring or watered down craft paint as well.

Place your rice in a large bowl or ziploc bag and add coloring. Shake and knead the bag or stir until it is completely covered.

Next take a small handful of bowtie pasta and toss in a bag with black and/or brown coloring until coated well.

If you do brown, black, and even gray it gives you the opportunity to talk about the different colors of bats.

You could also just use black beans if you have them on hand for your night sky.

Spread rice and pasta out on a baking sheet in the sun to dry. The liquid watercolors dried up in less than 20 minutes.

Once your materials are dry, add the rice to a large baking dish or other shallow container to create a dusk colored sky.

Next, add some sticks gathered from the yard to give your bats somewhere to fly around and hang from.

Sprinkle a few great northern beans (or beads or pom poms) for stars.

Finally, add your bats.

Finally, add these other science fun activities.

Other Kindergarten Homeschool Curriculum Activities

Native American Crafts for Kindergarten How to Make a Kids Pinch Pot

October 5, 2022 | 1 Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

If you’re looking for Native American crafts for kindergarten, you’ll love this fun pinch pot. Besides this fun activity grab more on my page kindergarten homeschool curriculum.

I can clearly remember creating little pinch pots in early elementary school.

They were the perfect little art project when you were ready to move beyond crayons and paper.

Native American Crafts for Kindergarten How to Make a Kids Pinch Pot

No matter how imperfect they were they were perfect in your eyes. And I suspect your mother’s too.

When considering a simple Native American kindergarten craft, I immediately thought of these sweet little pinch pots.

Many tribes made their pottery in a similar fashion.

In fact, pinch pots are one of the oldest methods of making pottery.

About Native American Pinch Pots

Native Americans would usually gather their clay by hand from streams or hillsides.

It was a very labor-intensive process.

First, they had to extract the clay from the ground and then it had to be purified.

It was often mixed with plant fibers or sand to reduce shrinkage and cracking.

They would then create their clay pieces. Then, place them to dry in the sun and then heat with fire to be sure all moisture was removed.

For the most part these pots were used strictly as storage and for gathering.

Later on, they became a decorative item in many Native American homes.

Different patterns and designs mean different things to different groups.

Tribes like Pueblo, Navajo, and Cherokee are just a few of the groups that would have made pinch pots. Too, they would pass the skills of how to make them down to each generation.

Native Americans: A Visual Exploration had a great breakdown of maps, pictographs, and timelines.

The pictures are bright and offered a lot of information that can be shared with your child.

We are going to try out two different clay pot methods that were used by Native Americans

Sometimes these methods were even combined.

Once done these are great little trinket holders for beads, barrettes, paper clips, or other small items.

How to Make a Native American Pinch Pot

Next, look at this short list of supplies for making this fun Native American pot.

You will need:

Air Dry Clay
Paintbrushes
Acrylic craft paint

Roll a lump of air dry clay into a ball and how much is up to you.

You may start and decide your pot needs to be larger.

Just mush it up, add some more and begin again.

I had white on hand so that is what I used.

But you could also buy it in terra cotta color for a more natural mud look. And you can use the rest to mix and match pots for more Native American crafts for kindergarten.

Press your thumb or fingers into the center to create a large impression.

Be careful to not poke all the way through.

If you do, you can easily repair it by squeezing and pinching it together again.

Show your child how to pinch the sides and bottom to widen the bowl and thin the side.

You want it to have relatively the same thickness all over.

Press the bowl gently into a hard surface like the counter to flatten and level out the bottom.

Allow your bowl to dry overnight and then flip over. Let it dry for 24 hours.

Flip once more so that the bottom can dry and let it sit another 24 hours.

You can put your pot out in the sun to dry just like the Native Americans did.

Finally, it is time to decorate your pinch pot.

A good plan is to show your child Native American designs from books or online.

And let them try to replicate them on their pot with acrylic craft paint, watercolors, or markers.

Native American Crafts for Kindergarten How to Make a Kids Pinch Pot. If you're looking for Native American crafts for kindergarten you'll love this fun pinch pot. Besides this fun activity can be added to my tips in how to homeschool kindergarten. Native Americans would usually gather their clay by hand from streams or hillsides. It was a very labor intensive process. Tribes like Pueblo, Navajo, and Cherokee are just a few of the groups that would have made pinch pots.

Then, try the second method.

Native American Kindergarten Crafts: Coil Pot

Another method of creating pottery that is similar to pinch pots is a coil pot.

Roll the clay out in coils and layer them to create your desired width and height.

Roll clay into snakelike coils.

Spiral the coil around itself until you have created a base as large as you would like it to be.

Gently pinch the coils together so that they hold to one another.

Start coiling around the outside edge and upward to create the sides of the bowl to the desired height.

Again press them gently together to remove cracks and gaps and help the coils stick together.

Let dry for 2-3 days until completely dry, flip every 24 hours.

What do you think? Are you ready to make a few?

Other Kindergarten Homeschool Curriculum Resources

Additionally, look at these other homeschool kindergarten resources.

Other Homeschool Native American Unit Study Resources

Finally, here are some Native American unit study resources.

I know you can find an idea or two here.

hands-on

Geronimo Stilton The Fourth Journey Through Time Fun Cleopatra Collar

About The Geronimo Stilton Books

Cleopatra and Ancient Egypt Fun Facts

Cleopatra Project Ideas

Other Geronimo Stilton Books Resources

Easy Hands-on Fun Ancient Greek Games for Kids DIY Knucklebones

How Knucklebones Was Invented

Ancient Greek Games for Kids

Ancient Greece Game Knucklebones Rules

How to Make DIY Knucklebones Game

Other History Games for Kids

Other Ancient Greece Activities

Learn About Mozart The Eight Journey Through Time Geronimo Stilton Series

Benefits of Learning Music

Marvelous Mozart Facts

Music Appreciation Activity DIY Memory Game

Music Note Memory Variations

Other Geronimo Stilton Series

4 Fun and Engaging Bat Activities for Kindergarten

Bat Unit Study Resources

Dynamic Why Bats Are Not Birds Lapbook For Multiple Ages

Learning About Bat Activities

How to Make a Bat Sensory Bin

Other Kindergarten Homeschool Curriculum Activities

Native American Crafts for Kindergarten How to Make a Kids Pinch Pot

About Native American Pinch Pots

How to Make a Native American Pinch Pot

Native American Kindergarten Crafts: Coil Pot

Other Kindergarten Homeschool Curriculum Resources

Other Homeschool Native American Unit Study Resources

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hands-on

About The Geronimo Stilton Books

Cleopatra and Ancient Egypt Fun Facts

Cleopatra Project Ideas

Other Geronimo Stilton Books Resources

How Knucklebones Was Invented

Ancient Greek Games for Kids

Ancient Greece Game Knucklebones Rules

How to Make DIY Knucklebones Game

Other History Games for Kids

Other Ancient Greece Activities

Benefits of Learning Music

Marvelous Mozart Facts

Music Appreciation Activity DIY Memory Game

Music Note Memory Variations

Other Geronimo Stilton Series

Bat Unit Study Resources

Dynamic Why Bats Are Not Birds Lapbook For Multiple Ages

Learning About Bat Activities

How to Make a Bat Sensory Bin

Other Kindergarten Homeschool Curriculum Activities

About Native American Pinch Pots

How to Make a Native American Pinch Pot

Native American Kindergarten Crafts: Coil Pot

Other Kindergarten Homeschool Curriculum Resources

Other Homeschool Native American Unit Study Resources

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