Make Your Own Booklet Project

Hand-sewn Booklet: Make Your Own

It's no secret that we're book lovers and storytellers over here. We've been studying the 7 continents in our homeschool co-op and, as one of the teachers, I've gleefully brought our family's passions to class, introducing the kids to folk tales from each region. Later, I'll post a mega list of all the picture books we've used.

Oceania/Australia presented a unique challenge. For Africa, we chose a particularly hilarious Anansi story and performed a puppet show for my son's presentation at co-op. But for Australia, we struggled to get a hold of picture book at all. 

So, we made our own!

I wanted to do a true booklet so my 3rd grader could hand sew it, which he enjoys, and because booklets like this are more durable and feel more like a "real" book than simpler projects. We already had a manual craft drill, a darning needle (they are blunt), and strong thread.

What we do NOT have is a wonderful but expensive program like InDesign to order the pages for easy printing. When you make a booklet, you lay the sheets on top of each other and sew through the middle, so each page becomes two half-sized pages--the numbering can get complicated. I've made pdfs and docs with blank, numbered pages ready to print using standard programs like Word and Open Office. Get them along with instructions and other booklet project ideas on my teacher pay teacher site to Make Your Own Booklet.

You could staple it if you don't want to sew it, but for us, the sewing is half the fun.

For Australian mythology, we used the story of Crow Steals Fire, broke it down into plot points, and rewrote it in my son's words using his illustrations. He enjoyed retelling the story and sewing the book, so we'll be doing more booklet projects in the future!

Have fun!

Get Messy With Quicksand!

Need a messy science experiment / sensory play for those cold days? We've got you covered...

Quicksand!

Let's be real, here. It was MESSY.

It doesn't get more real than a photo of our house...

My kids asked me about quicksand and animals dying in quicksand. I'm pretty sure this is related to their obsession with dinosaurs, since at the time they were smashing tiny dinos into play dough.

First, we read How Quicksand Works together. I found it perfect for their age.

This Myth Busters video is also neat although it has a little language.

Next, we had fun with two cornstarch recipes. First, if you add just enough cornstarch (1/2c to 1c water), you make oobleck, a non-neutonian liquid. This link explains more what that means, but basically, it acts like a liquid and like a solid. If you punch it, it acts like a solid, but it will also ooze off of your hands like a liquid.

Add a little more water and you make a kind of quicksand. A total of 3/4c cornstarch to 1c water will do the trick. (So, if you started with 1/2c cornstarch, add 1/4c more). Now is the time to drown your tiny animals. Ours come from the science museum, birthday parties, and other random places. Actual rocks work even better because they are heavier.


Finally, to satisfy their dinosaur fixation, I read and told them about Utah's Dinosaur Deathtrap.

Bye, bye, tiny dinos!

For fun: Dragonbreath #1 by Ursula Vernon

We've been loving the Hamster Princess series by Ursula Vernon and so picked up this series as well:

Dragonbreath #1 by Ursula Vernon:

Danny Dragonbreath can't breathe fire, but he has no fear. And that comes in handy when a bad grade at school inspires him to enlist his cousin the sea-serpent's help with a research project. Using a hybrid of comic-book panels and text, Ursula Vernon introduces an irresistible set of characters that will have readers laughing until smoke comes out of their noses!

Dragonbreath is listed as middle grade just like Hamster Princess, and I'd say that it's more violent but also more goofy, because Danny Dragonbreath is so reckless. Some of the other children - er, animals - make fun of Danny and his friends.

The newest installment, Knight-napped, comes out this week, Jan 6th!

Ursula is the creator of Hugo-Award winning graphic novel Digger, which is for more mature audiences, as well as many other graphic novels and otherworks which you can find out about at
UrsulaVernon.com

Review of The Road to Surfdom at Learning Tangent

Connor Boyack writes an amazing picture book series where two twins (The Tuttle Twins) learn about libertarian economics using real world examples. By their very nature, this series challenges widely-held assumptions about economics and personal liberties. Whenever I read the description of the next book, I think, You can't teach a child that! It's too complicated/controversial/etc.!

Then I read the book and, guess what? You can! 

And you should. The Road to Surfdom covers the unintended consequences of central planning and even pictures a farmer who has lost his farm due to rising property taxes and eminent domain. Wow, that sounds like a big topic, right? You can't teach a kid that!

But yes, you can. And you should, because one day in the not-so-distant future, your child will vote on central planning issues.

For example, along with the highly contested presidential race this year, my ballot also included a state-wide vote to expand public transportation. Public transportation is one of those things that often sound great but have the kinds of unintended consequences depicted in The Road to Surfdom. The bond was approved and will affect 76 counties. I wonder if any houses will be torn down and what businesses might fail due to changes in traffic patterns? When we vote to give government this sort of power, these are the kinds of risks we take, and it’s important not only to understand the risks, but to understand how such changes might affect our future.

I'm a libertarian and yet these books manage to challenge my own non-libertarian assumptions--they often remind me of something I 'learned' in my public school education, and then I laugh and laugh. So if these books challenge the way you see the world, that’s a good thing!

You can get the Tuttle Twins books at a discount by purchasing the whole set or multiples of a book, and there are books for teens, audiobook versions, and workbooks as well. Perfect for your friends who believe in small government and big individual freedoms. Check out TuttleTwin.com for more information on this unique series.

Read more reviews here.

Review & Projects: Science Comics: Volcanoes

One day as I ambled through the book store (on my way to Ursula Vernon's book signing!) a snazzy cover and the words SCIENCE jumped out at me off the shelf. Like, practically fell on my head! I thought to myself, my kids like science! And comic books!

Flipping through the book, Science Comics: Coral Reefs: Cities Under the Ocean, I was impressed. I might have bought the book right then except that, sadly, my oldest has expressed a disinterest in ocean life (maybe they switched him at birth?). But, seeing that this was to be a series of awesome comic books, I snapped a photo of the cover and sent it to myself, and when I got home later, actually remembered to look it up and get a copy of the next book to review.

Here's the review of the latest, Science Comics: Volcanoes: Fire and Life on Learning Tangent Homeschool Magazine!

My favorite part about the book is that it was actually too advanced for my 7yo--I mean, he read it and liked it, but I'll be encouraging him to read these (again) when he's older. This surprised me because we've done plenty of hands-on experiments and read other books about volcanoes, because he likes them so much. I didn't expect to learn more! These books are solidly middle-grade because they provide a lot of technical detail and terminology. These give you a better sense that there is so much more to learn out there. And of course they are more entertaining than a text book. So now, the next time my kids ask to do a volcano experiment (again, hahaha!) I have more information to draw from and lovely illustrations to show them from the book.

So buy the book for yourself if your children aren't old enough yet (I'm serious!), and then use this handy-dandy vocab list to tie-in science experiments and the like with what the book teaches. Let me emphasize that the comic book depicts/explains these in a way that my google searches and other research for my kids up to that point simply did not:

Layers of the Earth:

• Crust
• Mantle
• Inner core
• Outer core

Plate Movement:

• Oceanic and continental plates
• Convergent boundary
• Subduct
• Divergent boundary
• Geotherm

Lava & Eruptions:

• Magma
• Magma chamber
• Lava
• Mafic, felsic
• Viscous
• Lava haze
• Pillow lava
• Convection currents
• Pyroclastic flow
• Outgassing

Types of Volcanos:

• Shield volcano
• Composite volcano
• Stratovolcano
• Parasitic volcano
• Hotspot

Examples of Hands-on Learning:

Layers of the Earth with homemade play dough

Model different types of volcanoes with your play dough.

Make a volcano "explode" and talk about chemical reactions.

Observe how temperature affects the volume of a gas with this balloon experiment.

Use colored marshmallows and toothpicks to model molecules in the book.

Blow out a candle using CO2.

Test the viscosity of different liquids by pouring honey, water, etc.

Model plate tectonics with graham crackers and frosting, or by cutting a show box in half, fitting one half over the other, filling with sand, and shoving the two halves together.

Model an earthquake and the damage to structures using jello.

Get your hands on pumice and other rocks to compare: test that they float, their mass displacement in a jar of water, their weight etc.

Have fun!

Review: Melissa and Doug Monster Puppets

If you're looking for a gift for young children that's NOT battery powered and that fosters imaginative play, check out these Monster Puppets with removable velcro features. My kids have had these for a couple of years and they still love them. I like the thick, sturdy feel and the endless possibilities.

One game we like to play is "My Monster Needs a..." which we sing to the tune of "The Farmer in the Dell."

My monster needs a nose! My monster needs a nose!

Please help me [Name] -- my monster needs a nose!

or:

My monster needs a nose! My monster needs a nose!

Thank you, thank you, [Name] -- my monster has a nose!

Another game we like is to stick the pieces in a container and pull them out for a surprise, or for the puppet creator to surprise the audience with their creation.

You can sometimes find these for a good price on [ Amazon ]. Have fun!

Constellations and a Review: Artec Paper Craft Planetarium

Finally, we found a star projector that was actually educational! However, it fell apart after two weeks. If you use any of Artec's products, be prepared to supplement their glue and sticky tape with better glue and tape. Because this particular one had some impressive features, I went ahead and wrote up this long review anyway, and at the bottom I'll mention a few other books and printables about Constellations.

Usually I see projectors that project random stars and we wanted constellations, or I see DIY instructions that involve removing the mirrors from flashlights and that kind of thing. This Planetarium shows you what the constellations look like at different times of the year so I was excited to try it out.

However, this kit is not for everyone.

At the ArTec Website

Long story short, it says 8+ for a reason! More like 30+ if you are not used to putting things like this together. Expect this project to take at least an hour to build. "We" used a hot glue gun to reinforce the double-sided tape that came with the kit. We did not even attempt the school glue because I hate that kind of glue. The tubular part of the projector was the most challenging.

On the other hand, the "craft" part is one of the things that I find appealing. Talk about developing motor skills!

I LOVE that this thing is not a hunk of plastic that you just switch on. My oldest was very excited about wiring up the battery compartment (!!!) and the lightbulb. When you wire something like that yourself, it's even more magical when it works! I've looked into designing our own electronic experiments without a kit like this and my brain imploded. The downside is that the final product is more delicate than a pre-made product.

The instructions were adequate... We did get the thing together so they can't be that bad. I felt that the print was a little small (haha, I'm old!) and the diagrams could be clearer. But reading instructions like these is not my strong point. Just know that your child may need help with this aspect if they're like me.

We also LOVE that each constellation is numbered and there is a corresponding list in the instructions. We'll be having fun looking up each constellation to expand this topic.

You also use a push pin, not included, or a safety pin like we did to punch all the holes in the constellations. This was oddly satisfying for us both.

So, this may not be the best kit to start with if your child is still developing fine-motor and instruction-reading skills.

Shipping is expensive on their website. Some of these kits are also available at regular stores at a slightly higher price, which is much less than you'd pay for shipping. There are many kits available on amazon as well like this obstacle-avoiding robot (not to mention The Robot Book which we like for DIY projects) and these constellation playing cards... aaahhh! Excuse me while I go add to the childrens' wishlist!




We checked out some neat books, including Find the Constellations by H. A. Rey. My kids love Curious George and this book is a higher reading level which is perfect for my seven-year-old. This book is very thorough.

Our other favorite was Glow-in-the-Dark Constellations by C. E. Thompson. This one is a field guide, so it's wonderfully concise while still packing in a lot of information about what constellations to look for in different seasons.

Now we're printing out constellation dot-to-dots from Almost Unschoolers where you can find more book recommendations as well. Dustbunny.com has a good overview of the basic constellations. Enchanted Learning has more constellation dot-to-dots although you do have to be a member. With the books we have, I think I'll make a few of our own dot-to-dots. When we went to the science museum's Astronomy Days, they had a neat activity where they taped illustrations of the constellations to the inside of a tent's roof, then sent us in to identify/match the constellation handed to us.

Then there's this easy paper telescope craft with printable constellation cards - no flashlights necessary.

Constellations are so much fun!