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How to Make an Easy Roman Helmet & Shield & A Set of Printable Wings

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How to Make an Easy Roman Helmet & Shield and A Set of Printable Wings was easy to make. Also, look at my Ancient Rome Lapbook for Kids and Fun Hands-on Ideas for more fun.

It has never been a secret that I don’t sew and barely craft.

So when it came time to get Tiny ready for our year end co-op when studying Ancient Civilizations, I turned to cardboard and duct tape.

How to Make an Easy Roman Helmet & Shield & A Set of Printable Wings

Ancient Rome was a powerful civilization, and it influenced many things in our modern world.

And you’ll love how to make an easy Roman helmet doesn’t really take so long.

HOW TO MAKE AN EASY ROMAN HELMET

Supplies List

  • 2 Large pieces of cardboard. I got mine from Target when they were throwing the boxes away. I knew I wanted one piece tall enough to be a shield for Tiny.
  • Gold and red duct tape or your choice of colors.
  • Silver Sharpie
  • 1 piece of red cardstock
  • About 3 pieces of poster board. We chose red color.
  • 1 men’s extra large red t-shirt
  • Scissors, a hot glue gun and a sharp craft knife like x-acto
  • We already had brown summer sandals for footwear.
  • Of course, no kid this age will go without anything under the shirt, tee hee hee and they shouldn’t so a shorter pairs of shorts works.

Just in case all of this gets gibberish sounding and because you know I love a good old picture anytime to explain anything, I put one here for you.

Easy Peazy Roman Kids Costume How To

It was all easy to make but like anything it takes a bit of time to put it together.

HOW TO MAKE AN EASY ROMAN HELMET

This took me part of 2 days or one weekend to put this together along with some help from hubby.

Helmet. The helmet was 3 pieces of cardboard, some duct tape, and red cardstock.

One piece of cardstock I measured to go around the head or as a headband.

One to go over the top so the “feathers” can adhere to it and then the front part that was free drawn by hand and then colored with a silver sharpie.

It was glued on the headband.

Easy Roman Costume
Easy Roman Shield

Then I took the red cardstock and made a crease in the center and then cut it into strips but not cut all the way through.

Then glued it on the top of the cardboard piece of the helmet.

Easy Roman Shield
How to Make an Easy Peazy Roman Costume

Here is a side angle of it.

After you glue it on the top strip coming over the helmet, just work with the cut strips until you get them to stick up how you like.

KIDS ANCIENT ROME COSTUME WITH CARDBOARD

I cut some up thicker and others thinner to make it more rustic and real looking.

Easy Roman Shield

Tiny was pleased with it and we worked next on some “armor” for the shoulders and chest.

Shoulder & Chest Armor. This was quiet a bit easier. I just used soft poster board, duct tape and leather shoe strings. I laid the soft poster board across his shoulders, did an eyeball measure and taped it with duct tape.

It is two pieces after I cut a circle for his head and I taped the back side. I left the front open so he could slip it on.

Easy Roman Shield
Easy Roman Shield

 One view is of the top in the picture above and if you turn it over it didn’t look so hot on the underneath, but hey nobody sees that anyway. I just used more tape to hold it.

This was the very last piece put on so that I could put duct tape around the neck or the other side of the circle.

I used leather shoe strings around a piece of gold poster for his chest armor.

Shield. This didn’t take long either. The hardest part was cutting it. I thought about painting it but didn’t really want to mess with waiting for it to dry.

That was one option though. Instead we just covered it with red poster board and used duct tape to cover the edges.

Easy Roman Shield
Easy Roman Shield

I think I change my mind but maybe the hardest part was finding a good set of “wings” that were approved by Tiny.

MORE ANCIENT ROME HANDS-ON ACTIVITIES

He spent almost an hour on the internet looking for some. In the end I couldn’t find any that were free on line so I made some from our clipart.

You never know when you might need one set of wings, so download here printable wings.

Easy Roman Shield
Easy Roman Shield

Add a foil covered bowl to the center and we were done.

It was the back that took just a little longer because I made some cardboard  holders for him to put his arm through and one for him to hold.

So in all the back had 2 holders to keep up his shield.

Again I lifted the shield and measured about where he would hold it and made some cardboard “holders” and used duct tape to keep them in place.

Kids Roman Shield from Cardboard

After that hubby helped to make a sword “holder”  out of a left over piece of cardboard and a bracelet or two and we were done.

Helmet, shield, chest armor, shoulder armor and a sword holder. What more could a kid want for his Roman soldier costume? Try one!

How to Make Smokin’ Hot Egyptian Pillars Out of Cardboard

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Dynamic reader rave


How to Make An Egyptian Pillar Out of Cardboard . You'll love these EASY steps. Click here to start making yours!

CynthiaIdeally 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.

egypt-column-backdrop-2
racinet-egyptian-columns

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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.

photo-6

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.

photo

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.

photo-15

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.

photo-21

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

cap of pillar

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.

Great Empires Review and Co-op 4.2013 17

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,

Ancient Maya Lapbook (Free Homeschool Unit Study)

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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.

Ancient Maya Lapbook (Free Homeschool Unit Study)

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.

Ancient Maya Lapbook (Free Homeschool Unit Study)

{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.

Ancient Maya Lapbook (Free Homeschool Unit Study)

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.

organization homeschool binders

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.
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Mini Unit Study Of Turkey For Kids | Free Country Report

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

I have a mini unit study about Turkey. Too, look at my page Homeschool Geography for hands-on and simple ideas and tips.

Did you guess which country my boys chose at the Geography Quest?

Yep it was Turkey. To be honest, I was a tad shocked but happy at the same time that they chose that country. You’ll love these ideas for a mini unit study about Turkey.

Mini Unit Study Of Turkey For Kids | Free Country Report

My oldest son, Mr. Senior 2013, got the final say on country choice since this is his last year to school {sniffle}.

Somewhere along your homeschool journey you wonder if “too much history” is too much. {mmmm does that sense?} You pray most of what you teach your sons sticks with them.

When he chose to talk about Istanbul, formerly Constantinople, and write his essay on it,  I was thrilled because of the rich history of the country.

Easy Homeschool Unit Study Turkey

Mini Unit Study Of Turkey For Kids | Free Country Report

It is absolutely fascinating to study about the beautiful buildings like the Hagia Sophia which still stand today, but also to learn of the diverse influence of the country.

One could spend a lengthy unit study just on the influence of Christians on Constantinople then the Muslim influence.

However, since this was our not back to school Geography Quest with our field  trip group, we had to condense it to about a week of study.

One small point to remember about planning and doing unit studies is that when a topic lends itself to one or more subjects easily than others, don’t force a fit.

If you can’t find a topic for one subject like science or art, focus to enrich the subject/s that your topic does naturally flow with and teach. 

Emphasis should be given to learning what interests you and your kids and it should be age appropriate.

Here are some of the topics we read about in our country mini unit study.

Mini Unit Study on the Country of Turkey

Mini homeschool unit study about the Country of Turkey | Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Science:  Tiny, my youngest son, chose to do a report about the cape hyrax. The biology of any country is a good topic for younger children.

The cape  hyrax, or rock rabbit is similar to a badger and he tied in the fact that the early colonist mistook this animal for a badger. He researched this topic on his own because that is what interested him.

Social Studies: He also wanted to show money from that country. It is important when doing a unit study about countries to point out that other money is not play money.

My husband went to the foreign exchange commission and got some Turkish money for us to take and share with the group.

Mini homeschool unit study about the Country of Turkey | Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

My middle son, Mr. Awesome, who is my social creature had to read about a variety of topics and influence on the people.

Social Studies:  He explained about a Turkish bazaar or the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul. He was interested in the clothing, the fascinating way they still make carpets and rugs from ancient ways.

He just couldn’t wrap his mind around the fact that after Constantinople was invaded by the Ottoman Turks they started construction on the building that is still part of the Grand Bazaar. Spices, Turkish pipes {yes he had to view Turkish pipes} clothes, and weapons he had to investigate.

Country of Turkey Quick and Fun Unit Study at Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Along with that he had to talk about Turkish delight which is like a confection candy.

Having never been to Turkey, we can only imagine what true homemade Turkish delight tasted like.

My oldest soon started passing out Turkish delight, that we ordered from a place in Washington, to share with the group. I told you we ate our way through the countries.

Geography of Turkey

Bible/Physical Geography: Then we focused some on the physical geography of the country. Mount Ararat is the highest point in Turkey.

The Bible speaks in Genesis 8:4 about the ark coming to rest on Mount Ararat. So we had to discuss whether the ark was discovered or not.

Studying more about the physical geography, it leads one to wonder where exactly did the ark land and Noah unload the animals.

Also, this is not the only time Mount Ararat is spoken about in the Bible. The region is referred to in the book of 2 Kings too.

Mount Ararat is called by the Turks Aghri Dagh (Mount of the Ark) and by the Persians Koh-i-nuh (Noah’s Mountain). It led to quite the discussion with all of the kids.

Of course then you have to discuss that both the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in the Bible are major rivers in Turkey.

We could hardly leave the Bible part topic because Asia Minor in the Bible is mostly Turkey and that opens up all the discussions of the lives of the early Christians.

Phew…..you see why I was thrilled when he first chose it but wondering uhmmm how to do this in one week.

There was more discussion about the physical geography of the country because Istanbul is the only major city that straddles both the Europe and Asian continents.

Was that an advantage or disadvantage in fighting wars?

Turkey Co-op Ideas for learning about the country at Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

Then Mr. Senior 2013 wanted to focus on the history of not just the whole country but on Istanbul. Remember  I had mentioned how a unit study is like a funnel, and you want to narrow down to the subtopic that interests your family.

Country of Turkey Homeschool Unit Study

Ancient History/Art: Before he spent time talking on Istanbul, he started off with the story of the Trojan war. He showed how part is made up, part true and some speculation that surrounds the city of Troy.

He did point out that that area is now Turkey.

He moved quickly to focus on the Ottoman Turks conquering the city as well as talking about the Hagia Sophia. The Hagia Sophia is only one building among many that are full of the intricate Turkish artwork.

People coming from Europe called Turkey “Land of the Sunrise” and the early Christians called it “second holy land”.

Istanbul is also called “Crossroads of the World” because of the meeting of cultures there.

He studied about Alexander the Great, but didn’t present this to the group as that would have been “too much”. {Whoa back Mr. Senior 2013 there are small kids too at the Geography Quest}. He did mention Sultan Mehmed II because he was the conquering invader in Constantinople.

All of this led to a discussion about Islam as well with my older two sons. Tiny was looking at pictures of his rock rabbit because he wasn’t interested in this subject.

That is the beauty again of unit studies. Stay on them as long as your children’s appetite is being satisfied.

The youngest ones can stop. Their appetite is satisfied.

One thing I did notice was that there was not a lot of what I consider good resources on this unit study topic.

There were lots of books that told the history of Istanbul. Even after several visits to our library, the books barely mentioned this area that has thousands of years of history.

Books About Turkey the Country

7 Books about the Country of Turkey

Add these books to your reading day or to a unit study to learn about the fascinating country of Turkey.

Turkey (Countries)

An introduction to the history, geography, plants and animals, people, economy, cities, transportation, government, holidays and festivals, and culture of Turkey.

Turkey (Our Global Village Series)

Bring the world a little closer with these multicultural books. An excellent way for students to appreciate and learn cultural diversity in an exciting hands-on format. Each book explores the history, language, holidays, festivals, customs, legends, foods, creative arts, lifestyles, and games of the title country. A creative alternative to student research reports and a time-saver for teachers since the activities and resource material are contained in one book.

DK Eyewitness Istanbul (Travel Guide)

DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Istanbul will lead you straight to the best attractions this city has to offer. Explore the must-see Hagia Sophia, take in the beauty of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque, and don't miss out on the incredible street food.

Discover DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Istanbul.

   • Detailed itineraries and "don't-miss" destination highlights at a glance.

   • Illustrated cutaway 3-D drawings of important sights.

   • Free, color pull-out map (print edition) marked with sights, a selected sight and street index, public transit map, practical information on getting around, and a distance chart for measuring walking distances

   • Guided walking tours, local drink and dining specialties to try, things to do, and places to eat, drink, and shop by area.

   • Area maps marked with sights and restaurants.

   • Detailed city maps include street finder index for easy navigation.    • Insights into history and culture to help you understand the stories behind the sights.

   • Suggested day trips and itineraries to explore beyond the city.    • Hotel and restaurant listings highlight DK Choice special recommendations.

With hundreds of full-color photographs, hand-drawn illustrations, and custom maps that illuminate every page, DK Eyewitness Travel Guide: Istanbul truly shows you this city as no one else can.

Turkey (Exploring Countries)

Turkey, located on both the continents of Asia and Europe, is the birthplace of some of the worlds oldest

I See the Sun in Turkey (7)

A day in the life of a child in Turkey told from the child’s point of view. I See the Sun in Turkey is one of the books in the multiple award-winning I See the Sun in... series of bi-lingual picture books, each focused on one country and one day in the life of one child with a story told from the child’s perspective. I See the Sun in Turkey provides a unique introduction to the culture, family life and language of Turkey in a way that is age-appropriate and sensitive to the current culture and circumstances without becoming political. As with the other books in the series, the author has spent a considerable amount of time in Turkey, not merely as a tourist, but immersed in the environment and living with families who have opened their homes and their hearts to her. Includes facts about the country and a glossary for extended learning. Written in English and translated into Turkish.

Nearly Nonsense: Hoja Tales from Turkey

Nasrudin Hoja was a mullah (teacher) in Turkey. He was a busy man he worked in a vineyard, gave sermons at the mosque, and was sometimes even a judge. He did all of this with a nagging wife, a constant stream of uninvited visitors, and many animals. Although Hoja’s life wasn’t easy, his heart was always light and his observations about life held a witty twist. For instance, when his donkey got lost, his neighbors offered sympathy, but Hoja found the bright side: “Imagine if I were riding the donkey at the time. I’d be lost too!”Though the ten Hoja stories presented by Rina Singh and richly illustrated by Farida Zaman are funny, each one contains such insight into human nature that Sufi teachers use them to illustrate their teachings. Traditional Turkish Hoja stories are much-loved throughout Asia, and Nearly Nonsense brings them to a North American readership sure to enjoy them and, through laughter, to learn from them.

On Two Feet and Wings

He is in a foreign country, he is alone, and he is just a boy...Abbas Kazerooni is not yet ten, but he’s suddenly forced to leave his parents, his friends―his entire world―and flee Tehran. The Iran-Iraq war is at its bloodiest, and the Ayatollahs who rule Iran have reduced the recruitment age for the army. If Abbas doesn’t escape, it’s almost certain that he will be drafted and die fighting for a regime that has stripped his family of all they have.

On his own in the strange, often frightening city of Istanbul, Abbas grows up fast―with little more than his wits to guide him. He must conquer difficult things: how to live on his own, how to navigate a foreign city and culture when he doesn’t speak the language, and, most importantly, how to judge who is a friend and who is an enemy. Facing the unexpected as well as the everyday challenges of life on his own, Abbas walks a tightrope of survival―yearning to please the demanding father he has left behind, yet relishing his new found independence.

His quick thinking, entrepreneurial spirit, and the kindness of strangers allow him to make the best of his dire situation in surprising ways. Does he have what it takes to not only survive against these challenging odds but achieve his parents’ ultimate dream for him: a visa to England, and the safety it represents?

This compelling true story of one young boy’s courage provides a powerful child’s-eye view of war, political tumult, and survival.

Between my passport that Tiny showed to the group, the Turkish liras or money and passing out Turkish delight we got all of this in our mini unit study.

We had to save time to savor the other countries presented at the Geography Quest by the other families.

Some of the other kids wore hats that you would think come from France to the Mexican shirts worn by the boys.

We had a great time kicking off our school year and the last year for Mr. Senior 2013. {I may go into sappy mode}.

Mini Unit Study Of Turkey For Kids | Free Country Report

I hope these pages help you in your study about the countries.

We learned about Costa Rica, France, Ireland, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Romania and Turkey.

MORE TURKEY COUNTRY UNIT STUDY RESOURCES

These pages have a place to keep fast facts and then one part to do a mini report as you work your way through the countries. I do think we need to do this for another time or at least keep doing some more countries.

Country of Turkey Unit Study Resources

Naturally, we covered a variety of subjects and did not force a fit.

Too, I found these Turkish quotes.

So, when we ended this mini unit study we did copywork.

“Listen a hundred times; ponder a thousand times; speak once.”

A wise man remembers his friends at all times; a fool, only when he has need of them.”

“A lion sleeps in the heart of every brave man.”

A cup of coffee commits one to forty years of friendship.”

“Man is harder than iron, stronger than stone and more fragile than a rose.”

Quick and Fun Homeschool Unit Study about the Country of Turkey. You'll love it over at Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus. CLICK HERE!

MORE HOMESCHOOL GEOGRAPHY

HOW TO GET THE FREE TURKEY GEOGRAPHY COUNTRY REPORT

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Free FBI Lapbook and Fun Unit Study for Kids

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

I have my free FBI lapbook and fun unit study ideas for kids. Also, look at my page The FBI American History.

Also, look at my page Homeschool Lapbooks – Powerful Tools For Mastery Learning and Best Homeschool Unit Studies.

The boys and I were absolutely thrilled with this next unit study. We covered it and still seem to be covering sub-topics or at least going over them.

My oldest two sons are learning on their own about it now without me. That is what I am talking about, I can go on to the next unit study with my youngest and the oldest boys can cover a unit study sub-topic they still want to do.

The FBI unit study is way longggger than the Amazon Rain Forest unit study and heaven forbid I tell them to go to the next unit study because I almost had a full blown mutiny at my house when I did.

The unit turned into two lapbooks or like I had mentioned before at least enough printables for two lapbooks or notebooks.

One tip about using minibooks that I know a lot of new notebooking page users or lapbook users tend to forget is that they are just minibooks. This means you can use them ANY way you see fit.

My older boys continued to like lapbooks not because they were crafty or like to color but because they have a say in them and I make them geared toward highschool. 

I have always tried to make them as enhancements and not make them have to do them. As they got older I adjusted the minibooks, for example, by making lines small enough for a little more room for writing.

Too, sometimes they just prefer a notebook page to glue a mini book on and use the rest of the page for sketching and labeling.

Notebooking pages can include timelines, graphs, or more text on the page.

They like the choice of viewing timelines and resources to see what they want on the page. The minibooks helps me too as the teacher because I can guide them toward the main points I want them to take away from the sub-topic on our unit study.

On to the first lapbook. I will explain how best to use each minibook here and then at the bottom I will put the links.

These first two minibooks are focused on learning about the 3 branches of the United States Government.

If your child is real young, it may be enough to just write the names of the 3 branches on each branch of the tree.

If they are older and you want to cover a little about what each branch does and the members or groups that make up each branch, then include Exploring Each Branch of the U.S. Government minibook. Links are included on the downloads to take you to sites that will help to explain the branches. Use one or both minibooks.

These next two minibooks at the top and center of  the lapbook are about the FBI and J. Edgar Hoover. Despite his controversial lifestyle and the debate that is still going on today about J. Edgar Hoover, he still receives the lion’s share of recognition for his contributions to the FBI during the time he served. This point is even recognized by the FBI. 

He was such an interesting person to read about and the controversy in our house was sparked more so by the new movie that came out about him even though we did not see it.  My teens are still in controversy over his lifestyle but focusing on the contributions he made to the FBI during the time he served and how times changed significantly during his lifetime makes for  fascinating history topics.

You can’t have a study of the FBI without investigating espionage and crime. Crack the code flip book is about codes used by the FBI. Incorporating fingerprint science into the investigation by the Bureau is something else J. Edgar Hoover can be credited for. 

Fingerprint facts minibook goes along with our activity we did on fingerprints. The front page is a place for your child to put a couple of his fingerprints on.

Not only did J. Edgar Hoover grow up in Washington, D.C. but it is the location of many U.S. symbols. The minibook Washington D.C. National Landmarks led to the discussion of American history symbols and their meanings which is what I needed to accomplish in this unit study for my youngest guy. Of course, it never hurts to review them with me my older guys too.

The G-Man and Inventions – Connecting Borders of the United States minibooks are next. Probably many of our great grandparents were familiar with the term G-Man. Before 1934, “G-Man” was underworld slang for any and all government agents. In fact, the detectives in J. Edgar Hoover’s Bureau of Investigation were so little known that they were often confused with Secret Service or Prohibition Bureau agents. By 1935, though, only one kind of government employee was known by that name, the special agents of the Bureau.

Connecting borders is a minibook to focus on the inventions of that time that made a difference in the way the FBI developed. On the FBI site, it comments: “The United States was well united, with its borders stretching from coast to coast and only two landlocked states left to officially join the union. Inventions like the telephone, the telegraph, and the railroad had seemed to shrink its vast distances even as the country had spread west.”

Okay, right before I took my long winter break that I normally take in Nov/Dec, I had left this minibook with you because I knew it would take a while for your children to research about these presidents that J. Edgar Hoover served under and then write about them.

Creating these minbooks for so long, I am normally pretty right on target with the amount of space needed for writing but not on this one. I goofed on these minibooks and if your child was telling you that there was not enough room to write he/she was right. Believe me, I heard about it from Tiny.

Remember, I don’t expect huge gobs of writing because we do other writing, but I do expect some.  The reason I was off on this one was because some presidents had a couple of vice-presidents and then too back then it was the norm for families to be larger. Of course, Tiny wants to list every vice-president and every child.

So I had to redesign them and make them a tri-fold and not bi-fold. I hope you haven’t started it but if you have, just use these larger minibooks with more room to write on for your next set. There are 10 presidents in all to focus on in this unit. And oh yes, because we started with these ten on this tri-fold, then I think I better go ahead and complete all of the presidents like this, don’t you think?

Then you could put them on an O ring to study, put them on a notebooking page or put in a pocket. I think I hear another project coming up!

3 Branches of the United States Government

Exploring Each Branch of the United States Government

About the FBI

Who was J. Edgar Hoover?

Crack the FBI Code

Fingerprint Facts

National Landmarks

G-Man

Inventions – Connecting Borders of the United States

Pocket for Presidents

President Fact Cards for Presidents Number 26, then 30th-38th.

Then if you missed the previous printables, here they are in one spot for you.

These are the first two covers created by the boys that can be used on the outside of your lapbook by cutting in half, used to divide data in your lapbook or to put inside a notebook binder if you are notebooking with the minibooks.

FBI Cover I

FBI Cover 2

FBI Notebooking Pages – World Events and/or history of FBI

Download key figures in FBI here.

Also, I started back last night with our workshops for the New Bees and the morning after the workshop, I have such a high of homeschool endorphins. After we discussed how to cope with strong willed children or is that ….ummmm…. strong willed moms, it made me think of this quote today.

“Be strong enough to stand alone, be yourself enough to stand apart, but be wise enough to stand together when the time comes.”

~ Mark Amend~

Sometimes you can be your child’s best friend and sometimes you have to be their worst enemy. I think we all have days like that. Anyway I went away full of homeschool pep and I hope the new homeschoolers do too after each workshop.