What is the Vampire Squid?

The Vampire Squid is a cephalopod that lives in the midnight zone. It can be found as deep as 3,000 feet below the sea. THAT IS DEEP!

This creature resembles both a squid and an octopus, but it is not either one. It has 8 arms with spines on them and two tentacles (which is what it uses to catch it’s prey). It ranges in color from a light reddish pink to a dark brown/black, depending on where it lives. It’s 8 arms are connected with a skin which is what gives the Vampire Squid its cape-like appearance.

The Vampire squid is about 8 inches long- like the size of a football.

It has fins on the top of its body that resemble ears. These are used to propel themselves through the water.

It is believed that the Vampire Squid feeds primarily on prawns, copepods, cnidarians, and other small invertebrates.

The vampire squid’s body is covered by light producing organs called photophores. It uses these lights to attract prey.

When the Vampire squid is threatened it emits a mucus that glows for several minutes. This in turn confuses the predator and the vampire squid is able to escape.

Because this creature lives so deep below the surface, it is difficult for scientists to study their behavior and mating habits. As more research is done, we will continue to learn more about this fascinating creature.

The Ocean is broken up into 5 basic Zones (or Layers):

1. The Sunlight Zone- up to 200 meters below the surfuace and where most life exists in the Ocean.
2. The Twilight Zone- up to 1000 meters below the surface and much colder temperatures.
3. The Midnight Zone- up to 4000 meters below the surface of the ocean.
4. The Abyssal Zone- up to 6000 meters below the surface.
5. The Trenches- the deepest parts of the ocean. Up to 11000 meters below the surface of the ocean. Here the temperatures are near freezing temperatures.

Easy Vampire Squid Craft

Directions for the Vampire Squid Craft:

Materials:

• empty toilet paper rolls
• hole punch
• red or pink paint (I use washable because it gets messy!)
• paint brush
• newspaper (for the mess)
• red, brown, or pink pipe cleaners cut in half (4 per child- when cut in half, you should have 8)
• Cardstock paper
• googly eyes
• glue
• optional: sharpie

Directions for Vampire Squid Craft:

Step 1: Remove all toilet paper from the toilet paper roll.

Step 2: Punch 8 holes along one side of the toilet paper roll and cut 2 small slits on the opposite side for the fins (that look like “ears”)

Step 3: Using the card stock, cut 2 – 1 inch triangles. These will be for the Vampire Squid’s fins.

Step 4: Lay out paper on your table surface, paint the entire toilet paper roll red, pink, brown, or black. Paint the triangle fins as well. Allow time to dry. While you wait, you can read a book about the Midnight Zone such as:

Step 5: When the paint has dried, add 8 pipe cleaners (4 full size, cut in half). Arrange them in a way that helps the vampire squid to prop up on a table.

Step 6: Add googly eyes or draw with a sharpie.

Step 7: Optional- Take a picture of your child with their Vampire Squid and make a page for your book. (See Making books to learn Post here).

60 Pieces Red Pipe Cleaners, Christmas Craft Pipe Cleaners,Pipe Cleaners Chenille Stem,Pipe Cleaners Bulk,Art Pipe Cleaners for Creative Home Decoration Supplies Arts and Crafts Project

Crayola Washable Paint (12ct), Paint Set for Kids, Nontoxic Paint, Kids Craft Supplies, for Classrooms, Assorted Colors, 16 Oz

Single Hole Punch 1/4” Hole Puncher for Crafts, One Hole Paper Punch with Blue Soft Grip Handle, Small Hole Punch for Kids and Adults

Red Cardstock – 8.5 x 11 inch – 65Lb Cover – 50 Sheets – Clear Path Paper

1210pcs Googly Wiggle Eyes Self Adhesive, for Craft Sticker Multi Sizes 4mm to 25mm for DIY by ZZYI

Finished Product- A Cute and Simple Vampire Squid!

Extending the craft (optional)

You can have your child do more research on the vampire squid and have them do a research report (with your help, of course). They can present their information to a small group or the family. See my animal research template below available for purchase in my store.

Fun Facts about the Vampire Squid:

1. The Vampire Squid lives primarily in the Midnight Zone. This is an area that is lower in oxygen levels, so they have a slow metabolism which allows them to survive.

Watch this close encounter with the Vampire Squid on Nautilus Live:

I have created several Deep Sea Creature Printables for the deep sea creature enthusiast: activities available in my TPT store .

What other deep sea creatures do you like? How did your Vampire Squid turn out?

The post Vampire Squid Craft – Midnight Zone Marine Biology appeared first on .

Are you looking for a fun, easy, creative, slightly messy, and hands-on way to learn about maps, land forms, and geography? Salt-Dough Maps are such a fun way to add the fun wow factor to your homeschooling lessons.

What kid doesn’t enjoy learning while creating a piece of hands-on art?

Here you will find directions on how to make salt dough, make a relief map, and other fun uses for the salt dough. While there is a little bit of added prep, the rewards of your child’s hands-on learning will be worth it.

Caution: Raw flour is safe safe for consumption, make sure that all participants wash their hands after each use.

“This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase using this link. Please see my disclosure for more details.”

How to Use Salt Dough Maps to Make Learning Creative and Fun!

Sure, you can print that map off of the internet and have your kiddos fill in the cities, mountain ranges, lakes, rivers, and other important landmarks… But that may not be the most effective way for your child to truly learn. Often, taking the extra time to prep for an engaging learning opportunity will reap the reward of long term learning.

Our brains are designed to connect with the physical world through hands-on interaction.

A Creative Learner

Hands on learning is so effective because children learn by doing. Creating a map using salt dough is not only fun, but will encourage your child to truly learn and have fun at the same time.

What is a Salt Dough Map?

A salt dough map is a three-dimensional map that allows children to create mountain ranges, hills, lakes, rivers, oceans, and so on. It is more useful for a child to see that maps represent different topographical features that are not easily seen with a paper map. The main components are salt, flour and water. Salt dough is super easy to work with and is fun to play around with.

These 3D maps are super effective for younger children that are just starting to work with maps. It helps them to see and understand the different characteristics of regions on a map. But don’t necessarily leave out your older ones. They can benefit from this hands-on lesson as well.

How Do You Make a Salt Dough Map?

Salt dough maps are super simple. They require a minimal amount of prep. They can, however, be quite messy. The mess, however, is well worth it!

Prior to beginning a salt dough maps, I would suggest spending a little time researching what relief maps are. We decided to research topography maps first, using the colors that are typically used for altitude differentiation.

There are so many amazing map books that you can purchase or check out from the library. Having a couple for reference is helpful.

We were learning about the Lewis and Clark Expedition in our history studies. This was a great opportunity to incorporate geography in a way that catered to my children’s kinesthetic and artistic learning styles.

Here are simple directions to create your own salt-dough map for any geographical region. We chose to create a map of the United States of America because we were studying the landscape in which pioneers traveled west. My children were learning about the different regions that were traveled through such as Mountain ranges, plains, rivers, lakes, etc.

We copied the colors of altitude from a geology website. You can even use a geography map book to use as an example for which colors to use.

What are the Supplies and Materials Needed to Make a Salt Dough Map?

Salt

flour

water

bowl

stirring utensil

pencil

acrylic paint

paint brushes

wood panel (or you can use thick cardboard)

paper to cover surface of table

365 by Whole Foods Market, All Purpose Flour, 80 Ounce

Morton, Iodized Salt, 737 Grams(gm)

Apple Barrel Acrylic Paint Set (2-Ounce), Best Colors Count, 32 Fl Oz (Pack of 16)

9×12 Wood Canvas for Crafts, 6-Pack Framed Wooden Panel Boards for Painting Pouring Crafts

Acrylic Paint Brush Set, 6 Packs / 60 pcs Nylon Hair Brushes for All Purpose Oil Watercolor Painting Artist Professional Kits

What is the Recipe for Salt Dough?

In a bowl, mix:

2 cups all purpose flour (cheap is fine)

1 cup salt

1 cup water

1 TBSP cream of tartar (ONLY for Play dough- not necessary for the salt dough maps)

Stir with a spoon, until it is too difficult, then use your hands. The goal is to mix until it has the consistency of play dough. Sometimes you may need to add more water or more flour. Find a consistency you like.

****Remember to always wash your hands after handling raw flour!!!****

Directions for Salt dough map

• Sketch out the region on your panel of wood with a pencil
• Cover your work area with newspaper or messy tablecloth
• Make your salt dough (don’t eat it, its disgusting :-)- see recipe above.
• using small amounts, begin to add the salt dough to your wood panel
• add layers of salt dough to the regions that are mountains
• using a pencil or other tool, etch out lakes, rivers, and other low areas.
• smooth your map gently with fingertips
• once you and your children are happy with your salt dough map, allow 1-2 days for the dough to dry completely.
• paint your dry map according to a key that you create (or copy)

How Long Does it Take for a Salt Dough Map to Dry?

I live in a dry climate (southern California). We did our map during late spring, and it took 1 day to dry. It may take longer if you live in a humid climate. You know it is dry if it is all the same light color and it will feel dry as well. Make sure that there is no more moisture in the salt dough.

What Paint do You Use for Salt Dough Maps?

Acrylic paint is the best paint to use for your salt dough maps. Make sure your Salt dough map is dry prior to painting as Acrylic paint is vibrant and dries rather quickly. It is best if you use a variety of brushes for your map so that you can add in details such as rivers and lakes. When we finished our United States of America salt dough map, it was so beautiful that I started using it as a decoration.

Practical Tips Before You Get Started

If you are working with super young kiddos, give them some exploration time with the dough before you begin constructing the map. Little ones love to experiment with new things, so you will notice they will be easily distracted observing and manipulating their fresh salt-dough. Let your young kids know that have a set time to play around with the dough before the lesson begins. They will be more ready to learn once they have explored and played with the salt dough.

“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.”

Benjamin Franklin

Now, if you are like me, stepping in to help (or take over) for your child is a real temptation. However, it is important to not take over this project for your kids. During the map creating project, try to let your child create and take ownership of this project, helping as little as possible.

What are some more uses for Salt Dough? Taking Salt Dough to the Next Level

The Uses are really endless! There are so many things you can make with salt dough! If you give salt dough as an option to your children to extend their learning they will take it. (Mine children LOVE using salt dough!)

Art

Create replica sculptures from famous artists or old artifacts that you see at the museum.

Geography

Choose any region and create a three-dimensional map. You can even add buildings, roads, parks, etc.

History

Create a bust of a famous person from history or recreate one of the seven wonders of the world.

Science

Create a habitat, mold an organ from the human body, make a model of a cell and label it.

Create Fossils and bones, and recreate an archaeology dig.

FREE CREATIVE TIME (My children’s favorite)

Math

Make manipulatives to practice addition, subtraction, and other math properties. The recipe is a good lesson in measurement.

Make some Salt Dough and simply let your children play.

You can make your own play dough. BUT, you will need to add 2 more special ingredients… Cream of Tartar and food coloring.

What is the Purpose of Cream of Tartar in Salt Dough?

The ingredient Cream of Tartar makes the dough super soft and easy to work with. If you place your dough in a zip lock bag, it will keep for quite a while. The salt is a preservative, so it could last for months.

Hands-On Learning Benefits

There are many benefits of hands-on learning! When children interact with the world they take ownership of their learning. Chances are they are having fun as well when they are learning in a hands-on way. This emotional connection to learning is another important aspect of their education.

What are some ways that you can integrate salt-dough into your child’s hands-on learning? Do you have any other ways that you can use salt-dough in homeschooling?

The post Salt Dough Maps- Creative Geography Lesson appeared first on .

We originally started out with a large timeline on our hallway wall. This worked for a short time, but I found that the wall wasn’t large enough. We have used a variety of other timelines in our years of homeschooling as well: fold up accordion style timelines, and a notebook where we filed work according to chronological order.

We never felt satisfied, however, with any of these ways of recording the historical, scientific, or art history events. That is when I decided to come up with our own timeline book.

“This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase using this link. Please see my disclosure for more details.”

Making a Creative History Timeline Book

Having a timeline of historical events is important for children so that they can visually see how events relate to each other. Not only major historical events, but scientific discoveries, inventions, important people, and art history movements and artists as well.

“Record not only major historical events, but scientific discoveries, inventions, important people, art history movements, artists, and composers as well.”

I wanted this book to be with my children throughout their entire school career. So I decided it would have to be pretty large (over 100 pages) and sturdy! Be prepared if you download this timeline book that it is very long. You may want to print the pages for the history period that you are studying.

Should you use a History Timeline Book in your Homeschool?

We decided to begin making a new timeline in a book this year. I created this timeline book as a resource for my children, but wanted to share it with others so that they could benefit from seeing how history unfolds as well. It follows the order and colors of the History Curriculum: The Story of the World” by Susan Wise Bauer. My kids really like listening to the CDs by Jim Weiss.

I use a variety of living history books alongside the Story of the World. I think that is what clicks for us for now. As my children get older, I may change things a bit.

While we do not exclusively use “The Story of the World” by Susan Wise Bauer, I decided to model the time periods after this curriculum. You will see that there are four main periods and they are organized by the colors from “The Story of the World.” However, these pages will work with any history curriculum that you are using. Also for those who want to save on colored ink, simply choose to print the History Timeline Book in grayscale.

You can find The Story of the World by clicking the links below:

The story of the world: Ancient times, from the earliest Nomads to the last Roman emperor history for the classical child, Vol. 1

The Story of the World: History for the Classical Child, Volume 2 Audiobook: The Middle Ages: From the Fall of Rome to the Rise of the Renaissance, Revised Edition (9 CDs)

The Story of the World, Vol. 3 Audiobook, Revised Edition: History for the Classical Child: Early Modern Times

Story of the World, Vol. 4 Audiobook, Revised Edition: History for the Classical Child: The Modern Age (Story of the World, 8)

MEGATEK Portable CD Player Boombox with FM Radio, Bluetooth, and USB Port | Clear Stereo Sound | CD-R/RW and MP3 CDs Compatible | 3.5mm Aux Input and Headphone Jack | Backlit LCD Display – Black

Here are samples of what the History Timeline Book pages look like below:

Continue to scroll down to download your FREE timeline Book!

Instructions for using this FREE PDF History Timeline Book

To use these for your personal homeschool, simply print out the pages on whichever type of paper you prefer, cardstock or a high quality printing paper. Ensure that you are printing landscape. You can bind the book landscape or purchase a folder to put your pages in. I bought a landscape 3-ring binder on Amazon to put my pages in. See below for a link to the landscape 3 ring binder that we use.

It may be wise to only print up the pages for the time period that you are learning about. There are approximately 130 pages total in this History Timeline book, so it is a lot to print up at one time.

Updated FRONT COVER for History Timeline Book

Supplies you may need/want for your History Timeline Book:

The number one item you may want to purchase is a landscape binder for your timeline pages. I use the one below from Amazon.

I also like to use a high quality paper that is thicker so that markers and pens don’t bleed through.

My children often draw and write down the history event on circle stickers. Having stickers is an easy way to stick in those history events. No glue or glue stick needed.

QuickFit Heavy-Duty Landscape 3-Ring Binder, Round Ring, 8 1/2 Inches by 11 Inches, 1 Inch, White

HP Paper Printer | 8.5 x 11 Paper | Premium 32 lb | 1 Ream – 500 Sheets | 100 Bright | Made in USA – FSC Certified | 113100R

Prismacolor Premier Manga Illustration Markers, Assorted Tips, Black & Sepia, 8 Pack

2 Inch Round Labels – Permanent, White Matte – Candle, Lid, Product, Favor Labels – Pack of 2,000 Circle Stickers, 100 Sheets – Inkjet/Laser Printers – Online Labels

Swingline 3 Hole Punch, Desktop Puncher for Binder, 20 Sheet Punch Capacity, SmartTouch, Black/Silver (74133)

What do I put on my History Timeline Pages?

There are a variety of ways to begin filling in your history timeline pages. As you are learning something that occurred in history, you can have your child draw a picture on a small plain sticker and place that in the book. You can use the lines provided to write in the event with a brief description.

Rainbow Resources sells great history stickers that you can place in your book. See those here.

Here is a great website that I have found helpful as we began filling in our Timeline Book:

Homeschooling 2E has printable timeline figures. We glue many of these pictures in our Timeline Book.

This FREE download contains:

1. 3 versions of A History Timeline front cover
2. Color Coded instructions for the history pages
3. Ancient History pages
4. Medieval History pages
5. Early Modern History pages
6. Modern History pages
7. “The Future” Pages

This History Timeline Book is 140 pages total. Print only the pages for the time period that you are studying to save on paper and ink.

Epson EcoTank ET-2720 Wireless Color All-in-One Supertank Printer with Scanner and Copier – Black

This printer has been one of the best investments I have ever made in regards to homeschooling. Investing in a high quality printer has been wonderful for our family. The Epson Ecotank is wonderful because it prints beautifully, however the ink lasts such a long time. Refill are also very inexpensive.

Printable History Timeline Pages

I begin with 7,000 B.C. and go through A.D. 2034+. AND, just for fun, I added “The Future” into the timeline book. You can use these pages to make educated predictions of discoveries, inventions or events that may occur. The increments for each time period are below.

More tips and tricks for the History Timeline Notebook

Don’t forget to add in important events from your own lives; such as weddings, births, etc. Using actual pictures (small) and gluing them in will help your child visualize the events and people in their history timeline books.

Date increments for History Timeline Notebook pages:

• Ancient History: 7000+ BC – 5000 B.C. — 500 year increments
• Ancient History: 5000- 2400 B.C. — 200 year increments
• Ancient History: 2300 B.C. – 900 B.C. — 100 year increments
• Ancient History: 800 B.C. – 120 B.C. — 20 year increments
• Ancient History: A.D. 100 – 400 – 10 year Increments
• Medieval History: A.D. 400-990 — 10 year increments
• Medieval History: A.D. 1000- 1600 — 5 year increments
• Early Modern History: 1600-1800 –2 year increments
• Early Modern History: AD 1801-1850 — 1 year increments
• Modern History: AD 1850 – AD 2035 — 1 year increments
• The Future: (this is just a fun way to think about what will happen in the future- use if it suits you) 5 year increments

I have added one blank timeline page at the end of each history period. Copy that page as many times as you want and add it in where you feel it may be appropriate for your studies.

SAVE TIME AND MONEY BY DOWNLOADING THIS FREE RESOURCE! History Timeline Printable

Here are your FREE HISTORY TIMELINE PRINTABLES!!! Subscribe Below and you will receive your FREE resource.

If you want the colorful front cover, scroll up to download the cover only. Subscribe to receive the History Timeline Book

Please feel free to share this with others. My goal is to help others where I have had teaching struggles. I hope that this resource is helpful to you!

For more fun homeschooling ideas click the button below.

How do you plan to use the timeline book? Do you have any tips or suggestions that would make this timeline more effective?

I value your feedback- LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW PLEASE

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How to Make a Homeschool Memory Book / Yearbook

Creating a memory book for your kids is a great way to remember all of the fun times you and your family have had during your homeschooling years. Preserving memories throughout childhood and being able to reminisce over them as your children get older is priceless.

Why Should I Make a Memory Book for my Homeschooler?

My Reason…

I spent 7 years in the public school classroom. Five of those years were spent in the wonderful grade of Kindergarten. One thing that we did for our kinder students that the parents looked forward to each year was a thoughtful and thorough memory book. We would present these thick books to the parents on the last day of school. Tears and laughter would flow as their children showed off different memories of the year. Trips to the farm, the first day of school, learning how to write their names, and so much more filled their books.

When I left the classroom and began to homeschool my own kiddos, I tried to keep a memory book on the whim. I didn’t prepare for it, I just started putting random things into a folder. I would forget, however, as the busyness of homeschool life and young children occupied me. When the end of the year came, I opened my “memory folder” to a couple of random pieces of paper. It definitely didn’t look like the memory books I had put together for my kindergarten students so many years ago…

I admit, I was sad that years went by and I never had a complete memory book (or even a partial one for that matter) for my own kids. How sad!

SOOOO…. I learned how to make a template that I could simply follow. I chose one day of the week to work on a page or two. And I learned to start printing up photos as I went.

NOW, tada! I have memory books for my kids. AND I must say that the joy we get from looking over them is priceless.

DIY Homeschool Memory Book PDF Printable

I created this Printable Homeschool Memory Book for my children so that we could start creating a beautiful way of remember all the fun that we had each year. Memory Book Time became a regular part of our homeschooling and my children looked forward to creating the pages that filled it.

I know that you are busy. Whether you homeschool, work, or are simply busy with the duties of a household and children. Starting a memory book can be overwhelming. Where do you start?

Or you can buy it at one of the sites below.

When Should We Start Making Our Homeschool Memory Books?

I think that starting a Homeschool Memory Book at the beginning of the year is ideal. However, just because you don’t start it on time, doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t start one at all. I suggest that you JUST START!! You may regret not starting a memory book at all. At least if you start the memory book mid year, you will have a starting point.

Starting the Memory book at the end of the year may prove to be overwhelming and it may cause you to give up. At least that is how I would be.

Tips and Tricks to Create Your Own Homeschool Memory Book

The #1 tip to creating your own homeschool memory book/ yearbook is consistency. I chose one day a week (it is what worked for our family).

Integrating the writing portion of the memory book into your actual writing plans for the week is another way that you can make the memory book a consistent part of your homeschooling. You can use the memory book to practice penmanship, spelling, and so much more. Let your kids take ownership of their memory books. You will end up with a fabulous (and probably hilarious) end product.

Allow your children to be creative. Put on some music or an audio book while they draw their pictures each week. I read aloud to my children when they are working on their memory books.

I give them art supplies, pictures, and stickers.

I am available to help them with the writing. My 3rd grader is capable of writing her own answers to the questions or filling in her memories. My first grade son requires a bit of help. I often write for him, or I allow him to do copywork- I write his answers and then he copies it into his book.

Side note: My daughter always draws her self-portrait with her stuffed animal Toothless. It has become her trademark. I know we will look back on those cute additions with such sweetness!

How do I keep up with a Yearbook? I am so busy!

Don’t overthink your child’s yearbook.

Let your child take control of it (as much as they can).

Purchasing a high quality printer that you can hook up to your phone is a simple way to add pictures to your yearbook easily. While it is an investment up front, it will make printing pictures easy for you.

Finally, choose one day of the week (or every other week) to work on your memory books. The consistency will ensure that you will have a completed yearbook by the end of the year.

Making a Memory Book —Supply List

You have a ton of freedom in how your memory book turns out.

My kids use the following items to create their memory books:

Prismacolored pencils (we don’t use markers because they sometimes bleed through the paper)

Fun and colorful stickers

A mobile printer that hooks up to my phone so that we can easily print pictures

high quality paper to print the memory book pages on

Laminator and sheets

binder and spiral bindings

optional- 3-ring binder

(see below)

Who is this Printable Memory Book For?

I created this printable memory book for grades K-3. I am currently working on an updated version for the upper Elementary grades and Middle school. Since my own children aren’t that age yet, I do need suggestions for what is appropriate at that stage of life. Feel free to leave your suggestions in the comments below or drop me an email using the contact me section of my website.

How to capture good memories with these photography tips

I will admit, I am not the best at taking high quality pictures. However, as I started taking more pictures, I wanted to get better at my photography. I found this amazing photographer who has lots of tips on her website. I have learned a lot from her, so I wanted to share with all of you! Her name is Courtney Slazinik and she is the owner of Clickitupanotch.com. Her site is a great resource for those of you who want to create lasting memories with amazing pictures.

What Pages are Included in the K-3 Memory Book Available for Purchase?

Don’t let this extensive list overwhelm you. Choose only the pages that suit your homeschooling. Place the pages in an order that works for your family.

ADD any additional pages such as artwork, stories, or poems that you may want to remember from your child’s year.

You can even print up more copies of pages that you would like, such as the field trip pages, monthly memory pages, birthday pages, etc.

Organizing your Memory Books

I bind my children’s memory books together at the beginning of the year. However, I have a friend that uses a 3-ring binder so that she can continually add to her child’s memory book.

I keep my children’s memory books in their school rolling cart Language Arts drawer. They know that on Thursdays we will spend 10-15 minutes working on them.

What if I Don’t Want a Detailed Memory Book?

I have a great solution for you. I have also created a FREE PDF pre-K through 12th grade homeschool memory book. It is one page per year. You can complete the page at the beginning of the year or at the end. It is really up to you. Simply subscribe to my website and you will receive it in your inbox! Bonus: It now comes with 2 banners, one for the first day of school and one for the last day of school. I hope you enjoy them!

Get the FREE Homeschool Memory Book Printable for K-12

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Check out this article on the memory book for k-12. One Page per year.

Do you keep a memory book for your children? What are some ways that you keep up with it?

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Here is a fun and engaging art history lesson for kids. They will create a self-portrait that is inspired by the Pointillism artist Georges Seurat. Using dots and contrasting colors, children will paint a portrait of themselves. This is a great art activity to hang on your walls!

This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase using this link. Please see my disclosure for more details.

Who was Georges Seurat?

Georges Seurat was born in 1859 in the Paris, France. His family was wealthy and lived a very comfortable lifestyle. Georges Seurat was an artist early on in his life. He went to art school, but got frustrated with the strict rules that the teachers taught. He dropped out of art school and started to study art on his own. When he saw Monet’s artwork, he was amazed with his use of color, light, and line. He was highly influenced by Monet’s style.

What Art History Movement Was Georges Seurat a Part of?

The Larger movement Georges Seurat was a part of was the Post-Impressionist movement, however more specifically he was the creator of Pointillism. Georges Seurat and Paul Signac are considered the founders of the Pointillism movement.

Artists at the time of Post-Impressionism were looking for new ways to paint “impressions” of what they saw around them. While impressionists were creating art with small brush strokes, Seurat and Signac took that a step further and used dots instead. The other difference was that they did not blend colors on their palettes, rather they placed dots of specific colors next to each other on the canvas and created the illusion of blending to the viewer.

What is the Pointillism Technique?

Pointillism comes from the French word for point or dot. Pointillism is a painting technique where dots of contrasting color are arranged in a way as to appear as a blended color when admiring the work from afar. It is sort of like pixels today. You get the full effect of Pointillism by standing a distance away from the art work.

In reality, the human eye is tricked by the precision of the dots location and by their color selection. Seurat was fascinated by the science of color and he sought to create beautiful artwork based on this science.

He and other Pointillists did not mix the colors on a palette before painting, rather they placed vibrant complementary paints directly on the canvas, side-by-side. The effect was brilliant! The viewers eyes “mixed” the colors when viewing the art from far away. That is one reason why Seurat’s art pieces were so large; over six feet in most cases

Georges Seurat preferred the term “divisionism” for his newly developed style, but it didn’t stick.

Why Did Georges Seurat Use Pointillism?

Georges Seurat wanted to create something new as an artist. He felt that he was being taught art in a way that was rigid and lacked freedom. He desired to create a new style of art after he studied the impressionist painters.

He loved the science behind art and color as well, so he mixed the two. He focused on the power of line and form as well as perception. He brought his love of color theory to the front and center of his art. He spent much of his time studying the science behind it.

While the Impressionists were using complementary colors and mixing them on a palette, Georges Seurat skipped the mixing step and applied color in dots directly on the canvas. He did NOT mix the colors, but rather allowed them to “blend” when we glanced at his art from afar.

What is Color Theory?

Color theory is the study of how colors are mixed and how they are seen with the human eye.

The Scientist Michel Chevreul had devised a theory of color and Georges Seurat was fascinated by that theory. When Chevreul was studying color he saw that when two colors were placed side-by-side and viewed from far away, they appeared to be mixed. Georges Seurat studied this concept and applied it to his art. Rather than mixing colors before applying them to his canvas, Seurat placed colors side-by-side and let the viewers brain mix them for him.

For more information on color theory see Designwizard.com.

What Other Artists Use Pointillism?

Paul Signac was another famous Pointillism artist. He is credited to have created this new style of art with Seurat, however, he is less famous.

Today, many artists are influenced by Pointillism. It can be seen in digital art, embroidery, and tattoos.

See this great article by MyModernMet.com for more information on Pointillism’s influence today.

What Was Going on in History During Georges Seurat’s Life?

The Franco-prussian was was going on during his young life, so his family relocated to Fontainebleau.

Scientific discoveries and artistic innovation occurred during the 19th century. The telephone was invented in 1876, the combustion engine was invented in the 1880s, and so many more technological inventions during the industrial revolution. Artists were constantly trying new techniques as well.

How to Teach About Georges Seurat in Art History for Kids

Start with the bigger picture (no pun intended) when teaching about Georges Seurat. Seurat came into the art world eager to make a big impression and he did just that. At a time when the impressionism style was in the forefront and gaining appreciation Seurat took it a step further with his innovative ideas.

What Are Georges Seurat’s Most Famous Pointillism Art Pieces?

The most famous piece of artwork, in my opinion, is “A Sunday on La Grande Jatte”. I can still remember learning about it in high school (many years ago :-)). It is so massive, it takes up most of the wall in the museum where it is located. “The Eiffel Tower”, “The Bathers at Asnieres”, and “Le Chahut” are other famous pieces by Georges Seurat.

A Timeline Perspective of Art History

It is important to give your children perspective when it comes to art history and history in general. Never teach out of context! Timelines are a great way to show your kids the purpose of what they are learning and the context. What was happening elsewhere around the world? What was going on culturally where the artist was from. Were any wars going on? Strife? Political issues? The art of the time usually represents a much larger cultural and historical picture; make sure to include this when you are teaching.

Try making your own Timeline and adding to it as you learn about different artists. Below is a FREE for subscribers printable timeline book that you can download if you would like.

Check out this ART HISTORY Timeline. It covers every continent in the world and all of history. Bookmark it and use it as a reference when needed.

For more information on the life of Georges Seurat see this great website TheArtStory.org

Georges Seurat Art History For Kids Lesson Plan:

Note: I taught this lesson for a group of 10 mixed aged homeschoolers from pre-k through 8th grade. When doing the lesson, I catered to the higher levels because I believe young children will glean from this type of education.

Grades: Kindergarten through 8th Grade (Modify based on your own children/students)

Learning Objectives/ Big Ideas: The 19th century was a time of great innovation in the arts and the sciences. Pointillism was a part of the post-impressionist movement and was invented by Georges Seurat. Students will apply his technique and become familiar with how to create an art piece using Pointillism.

Vocabulary: art history, pointillism, primary colors, color mixing, Georges Seurat, impressionism, innovation, color theory

About Georges Seurat:

A fun way to remember this artist: “Seurat Dot” (pronounced “SIR-ROT DOT”) while I am pretty sure that this is an incorrect pronunciation- the fact that it rhymes really helps children to remember what Seurat was famous for… DOTS!

Georges Seurat was born in 1859 in Paris France. He was the youngest of 3 children and born into a wealthy home. He lived a comfortable life and was encouraged to study art. He was sent to art school where his formal study began. However, he dropped out due to the strict rules and lack of artistic freedom. Georges Seurat continued to study art on his own. When he found Claude Monet’s Impressionists works, he was in awe. Monet’s use of color and lines inspired Seurat to create his own artistic style, which became known as Pointillism.

“Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.”

— Georges Seurat

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Materials Needed:

art work prints by Seurat (Check out this website for free public domain art work- The Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Book about Seurat (Optional)

picture of your child/student (5×7 or larger)

white cardstock paper

vellum paper (for tracing)

printer

black sharpie marker

acrylic paints in bright colors (or for younger kids-tempura paints)

Q-tips (lots)

newspaper for messes

paper plates

Map

Timeline

trash can or small brown paper bags

2 pieces of rope or string: one that is 7 feet long and the other 10 feet long- these will be used to demonstrate how large Georges Seurat’s art pieces were.

Optional: magnifying glass

Optional: Hardback blank book to keep your child’s art- if you are making them an Art History Introduction book.

Optional: I like to get into character when I teach. I find that the kids really enjoy it. For Art History I wear a beret and talk in an accent.

Prior to beginning the lesson:

You will need to create outlines of your child/students. This doesn’t take long, just a couple of steps and you can make the outlines for the self-portrait. See this lesson for instructions: Andy Warhol Pop Art Instructions.

I created a self-portrait template of myself so that I could have an example to do with my students. So, you may want to take the time to create a self-portrait of yourself

IF you do not want the Self-portrait portion of the lesson, please use any other picture or this template/coloring page of “A Sunday Afternoon on La Grande Jatte”.

Another great website with lots of famous art coloring pages is Supercoloring.com.

You can also give freedom to your students to sketch out whatever they would like and then paint using the pointillism technique.

The Lesson

Hook/Interest Grabber

1. Dress up and put on your Beret! Grab that accent and introduce yourself as the Artist/Instructor get into character and have fun!
2. Display a piece of Seurat’s artwork. You can locate free art on the website Metropolitan Museum of Art and print it up. Tell your students that they are going to be inspecting some famous art pieces and you need their expert input. I like to pass around a variety of art pieces and allow the children to really inspect it, they can use magnifying glasses as well. This is a great activity to get your children interested in the lesson.
3. Spend a couple of minutes allowing the children to describe what they see. Write notes on the board or on a piece of paper. Encourage discussion about colors used, perspective, and where else you may find this type of art (think of pixels on a TV or digital art).
4. Bring out your map and your art history timeline and show student that today’s artist is from Paris, France and lived during the 19th century. His name is Georges Seurat!

Lesson:

1. If you purchased the book “Joining the Dots: The Art Of Seurat” By In-Sook Kim, then read that book and discuss who Seurat was and his style of art. Pay attention to how Seurat uses the science of color to create illusions of color mixing in his famous art works. This book does a good job of showing that.
2. Discuss who Georges Seurat was and how he developed the Pointillism method which is a part of the larger impressionist movement.

Activity:

Children will create a self-portrait using the Pointillism method:

Step 1. Line the table with a protective covering such as newspaper.

Step 2. Pass out the supplies: Paper plate with which ever paint colors you are using, Q-tips (lots), trash can nearby, self-portrait template. (see Andy Warhol lesson for directions in how to create the self-portrait template)

Step 3. Using a blank sheet of paper, first demonstrate how when complementary colors are used next to each other in dots, when you stand back, the color appears to blend a bit.

Step 4. Model how to paint your own self-portrait using Q-tips and complementary colors.

Optional Activities:

1. Create your own art piece using pointillism. Sketch the ouline on a piece of white construction paper and paint it using dots of complementary color. Try not to leave any white left on the page.
2. Use Coloring page as a base for your art. Use Q-tips and paint to add the dots of color.

Closure

Many of the children will take quite a long time to finish with their art. This is great because it really shows how long pointillism took.

Georges Seurat was only able to complete seven large paintings in his lifetime because his style, pointillism, required such an intense amount of work and time.

Students can share their artwork with the class or put their art into their own art book. See how to make books for learning here.

Applying What We Learn: Ways to extend Art History Learning

Play a game (Go Fish Impressionists is a great game *NOTE: 2 cards have nudes, I removed them)

Make your own board game or card game.

Visit a Museum (virtual or in person)

Hold an Art Exposition and invite friends after you complete your art

Make food from the time period and host a luncheon- discuss art

Recreate famous pieces of art from the time period you are studying and take pictures

Dress up in attire from the time period you are studying

Complete the worksheet about art history.

Add Artists to a History Timeline Book

End Note: This Lesson was completed in one day over about 2 hours. It is a part of a 12 week mini-course titled “Art History for Kids”. All lesson activities are placed into the child’s own Art History Introduction book. I have made all of the information pages for each of the artists. These are available for purchase as are the other lessons (coming soon).

Best Books to Teach Art History to Children

One More Art History Tip for Teachers/Parents

Sometimes art prints can be expensive… However, I have been able to find lots of old art books at yard sales, thrift stores, and library sales. I often cut out pictures for the artists that I want to teach about to my kiddos.

Because the quality of the art is amazing when it is from a book (a bit better than when I print in myself), I often display the art around my house and do Charlotte Mason style “Art Picture Studies” with them.

SO… Always be on the lookout for those 50 cent old art books that you can cut up and use for art prints!!!

Which Artist Comes Next in Art History?

Vincent Van Gogh! He was another Post-Impressionist, and quite unpopular in his time. He shows us how the use of color and brush stroke can convey emotion and feeling. Come explore this innovative artist in the next lesson where we recreate, step-by-step, Starry Night (coming soon).

Make your own Art History display board.

Prior to each class, I would arrange my art history board with various art pieces as well as the artists self-portrait. I would include art from other artists of that time period so the children could see the similarities and differences.

How Did Your Georges Seurat Inspired Self-Portrait Turn Out?

Let me know in the comments below.

Sharing is caring! Be sure to share this Pointillism lesson with others that you know

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“This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase using this link. Please see my disclosure for more details.”

What is nature journaling?

Nature journaling is the practice of writing or drawing the observations that are made when outside. These observations can be plants, rock forms, animals, weather, or anything else that happens in nature.

In the early 1800s, they led the exploration of the west. This included the newly purchased Louisiana Territory and all the way to the Pacific Coast. All along the way, they kept very detailed journals so that they could share with President Jefferson of the animals, plants, and landscapes they had seen.

Today Nature Journaling has gained a lot of popularity in homeschooling. It is something that I do regularly with my children and I know a lot of other families do it as well.

For more information on Lewis and Clark, check out the website AmericanHistoryforKids.com.

Check out some more of the original images of the Lewis and Clark Expedition Journals on Yale’s Website.

So, let’s make learning more memorable and add creativity to our day by creating our own vintage style journal and filling it with the things we discover on our journey through history (or life in general).

Creating your own vintage style journal is the perfect way to record and document your observations of the world and in any lesson that you are learning about. Moms, you can make your own as well.

Here are the Directions (simple and easy) to make your own Vintage style Nature Journal

Side Note: This activity is particularly delightful if you are a coffee lover like me. Your house, fingers, and paper will smell like delicious coffee

What you will need to make your own Vintage Nature Journal:

For the Journal:

brown paper bag

computer paper 8.5 x 11 inch

string or rope

8.5 x 11 inch piece of thin cardboard (this could be optional-depending if you want a hard back cover or not)

cold coffee (preferably strong)

towel (an old one that you do not care about)

paper towels or cotton balls

scissors or hole punch.

For the “ink”:

black paint

water

small container

feathers for writing (optional)

Karhood Quill Pen and Ink Set – Feather Calligraphy Dip Pen with Wax Seal Stamp Kit and 5 Nibs (Red)

TommoT 100 Pcs 6-8 Inch Natural Large White Goose Feathers for Dream Catcher Crafts and Clothing Decoration

Winsor & Newton Calligraphy Ink, 30ml (1-oz) Bottle, Black

HP Printer Paper | 8.5 x 11 Paper | Copy &Print 20 Lb | 1 Bulk Pack – 750 Sheets | 92 Bright | Made in USA – FSC Certified | 200030R

Amazon Basics Multipurpose, Comfort Grip, PVD Coated, Stainless Steel Office Scissors, 3-Pack, Purple, Green & Gray

Instructions:

If your kids are anything like mine, they love to get into the mess of making crafts. So let them get messy. Clear off your kitchen table (or any area where you don’t mind there being a mess). Cover it with towels (towels that you DO NOT care about because coffee will stain) or you can cover it with a newspaper.

Let’s Get Started Making Our Journal!

1. Rip the edges off of your paper to give an old look.

2. Lay out several white sheets of paper on the towels.

3. Get your cup of cold coffee and dip cotton balls or paper towels into it. Rub the coffee all over one side of the paper. Be sure to put extra coffee on the torn edges. It will make them darker.

4. Liberally apply coffee to the other side of the white paper

5. Allow about an hour to dry. Depending on humid the air is where you live.

6. While the paper is drying, cut a piece of brown paper bag that is approximately 9.5 inches by 12 inches.

7. Wrinkle the brown paper bag by crumbling it into a ball, opening it up, crumbling it into a ball, over and over and over. You want the texture of the brown paper bag to be like a worn leather.

8. Check your “stained paper” to see if it is dry. If it is, stack it up and fold it in half (hamburger style).

9. Either cut holes along the fold of the paper or use a hole punch

10a. Cut corresponding holes along the fold of the brown paper bag

10b. If you want to have a hard cover book, you will glue the brown paper bag around the piece of thing cardboard and fold in half. Cut holes along the fold.

11. Using the string, bind your pages and cover together. Tie a knot to finish it off.

Use Your Lovely vintage journal and have fun!

My kids not only wanted the Journal inspired by the journals of Meriwether Lewis, they wanted more journals so that they could write stories, and draw their own pictures (nothing connected to what we were learning, so we made more (LOTS more). I found that I was going through making lots of rounds of stained paper.

Mapmaking skills

These journals are a great way to practice mapmaking skills. We have purchased a couple of books on mapmaking that have inspired us to create interesting and unique maps.

Go outside and really explore.

Books we use for inspiration:

Map Art Lab: 52 Exciting Art Explorations in Mapmaking, Imagination, and Travel (Lab Series)

Fantasy Mapmaker: How to Draw RPG Cities for Gamers and Fans

Nature Anatomy: The Curious Parts and Pieces of the Natural World

The Laws Guide to Nature Drawing and Journaling

Merriam-Webster’s Student Atlas – Features full-color physical, political, & thematic maps

Nature Journaling

You can create a journal specifically for nature journaling or field trips to record findings and things learned. These little vintage journals are so fun to nature journal in. It does not matter the age of the child. They are small enough and light enough to travel with.

Check out this Nature Journal resource: Law’s Guide to Teaching Nature Journaling

You can even use thicker art paper instead of computer paper that way your child (or you) can water color or draw in them with markers.

The most important thing to remember is to make this fun and create wonderful memories with your kids

Once my kids finish filling in their vintage nature journals, I will update this post with additional pictures!

Side Note for Moms.

You can always create one of these for yourself so that you can journal and get creative! My good friend makes journals from junk and they are just marvelous and inspiring. You can get inspired or buy one by clicking here.

Sooooo…. Did your children enjoy creating their own vintage journal? Will you make your own? Do you like to journal? Let me know, let’s chat!

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With everything being virtual right now because of Covid-19, putting together ways for your child to display their art creations needs to be creative. That is why I started using YouTube for my creative and artistic child. This allows my child to share their art with their family, friends, and other artistic kiddos!

Want to know how to create a virtual art expo for your artistic child on YouTube? I will give you step by step information on how to do just that.

Important YouTube note:

This is just my preference and how I view YouTube: I do not like showing my child’s face on YouTube, so I never showcase my child, just their art.

Also, I do not allow my child to be the one to check comments or view anything without me first doing so. I have had inappropriate comments made on my child’s art videos, which is sad.

I NEVER allow my child on YouTube without me first checking and then sitting by their side. YouTube can be used for good, however, sadly there is a lot of bad uses as well. PLEASE take caution. You can even set your videos to PRIVATE (which I sometimes do as well) and share them only with your specified audience.

What you need to make a YouTube Art Video:

This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase using this link. Please see my disclosure for more details.

iPhone or iPad (you can use any camera, however I will be using iMovie to edit the video, so you will need to use a different editing tool if you use something other than apple products.

a stand (I got mine from the 99cents store!!)

Paper

Art supplies

Your child’s creative and artistic mind

a YouTube channel (super simple to set up if you have an email account

Decide whether your videos will be private or public—A VERY IMPORTANT DECISION!!!

Steps to Make Your Virtual Art Show Using YouTube

Step 1. Allow your child to choose what they will draw. They need to be in the mood for this. (Never make your child to draw when they are not in the creative mood.)

Step 2. Once they have decided on what they will draw, set up their station. Pick a nice quiet place in your home with lots of natural lighting.

Step 3. Gather all their supplies: Art tools, art paper, etc.

Step 4. Set up the stand on a table and attach your iPhone to the stand.

Step 5. Make sure that the camera is turned around and that the drawing space is centered on the art paper.

Step 6. I put the camera on time-lapse, but you don’t have to.

Step 7. Record your child (only their hands) drawing their art piece.

Step 8. Periodically check the phone to make sure it is still recording and that the art is still centered. Sometimes our kids move the paper around, so check this often.

Step 9. When they are finished, stop recording, and take a picture of their finished art. You will use this final picture as their YouTube thumbnail.

Step 10. Upload your video into iMovie.

Step 11. Allow your child to choose from the free music available on iMovie and add it to their art video.

Step 12. Save video and upload it to your YouTube channel.

Step 12b. I do not have YouTube loaded on my phone, so I email the final video product to myself and do the YouTube work on my PC. Or I share it with dropbox.

Step 13. Add a fun title and decide whether you want your child’s video to be PUBLIC or PRIVATE. THIS IS IMPORTANT!!!

Step 13b. Choose that the video is for kids for added safety.

Step 14. Share with Friends and Family!

Here is another example of my child’s art process videos:

Creating a Virtual Art Expo on YouTube Final Thoughts

YouTube is an easy platform to share your child’s art with friends and family (even the whole world). However, it is a platform that needs to be carefully monitored. We have successfully been able to share our child’s fun and creative art with others, inspiring other kids to be artists. We never allow our child to go on YouTube without one of us parents sitting by their side and we never allow our child to view comments made by others without us first seeing those comments.

I would recommend you set your video to “PRIVATE” and “Just for kids”

There have been times where we have only allowed her videos to be private, and other times where we have allowed them to be public. Again, we have decided to never show our child’s face. This is a decision you must carefully make for you and your family.

We have had a lot of fun watching the videos ourselves as a family, being proud of the gift of art that God has given to our child. Grandma and Grandpa also love being able to see videos that are sometimes too long to share via text or email.

Have you made any videos of your child’s art process?

What types of art have you posted on YouTube?

Can you share any tips on making videos?

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You Can Design a Science Curriculum Tailored to your Elementary School Age Child

Keep in mind that science in the younger years should be focused on exploration and excitement. This is an essential component of the Charlotte Mason philosophy. Children are naturally curious about the world so you need to provide abundant learning opportunities for them. A great way to do that is to have access to beautiful living science books that cover a variety of topics. Also, be willing to go outside and explore. This will allow your children to fall in love with the natural world around them!

How do I Design My Own Science Curriculum Based on My Child’s Interests?

If you are anything like me, you struggle to fit your kids into a box of pre-packaged science curriculum. I have decided to be the creator of my children’s science education. Now I know that not everyone wants to take the time to do this, but for those of you homeschool moms who are able, you first need to be open minded and flexible. You can put together a fun science curriculum that works with your child’s interests.

You can put together a FUN science curriculum that works with your child’s interests.

What Made Me Change My Mind-from textbook to Living Picture Books:

When I started homeschooling my kids, I was a firm believer in the need to use textbooks to teach science to my kids (I was coming from a career as a public School educator). It didn’t go so well, though. Trying to get my young children to sit still while I read from the science textbook was nearly impossible.

Thankfully, I had the opportunity to start teaching classes once a week at a learning center. The purpose of these classes was to provide enriching learning opportunities-not what I was used to as a public school teacher. Using my background in curriculum instruction, I designed a buffet-style class around unique and rare animals as well as mysterious places. I called it “Mysteries and Marvels in Our World.”

The class introduced newly discovered creatures, unique creatures, and mysterious places to the children. For example, we learned about the Crooked Forest in Poland, the Cone Snail, Bombardier Beetle, and so many other amazing places and animals. The kids (and me too) were in awe of what we were learning about. It quickly became super popular and I was able to teach it 3 semesters in a row and each semester it was full. I loved that class for so many reasons. One of the main reasons I loved it was because it taught me that I could teach about so many subjects and content areas using these fun creatures and interesting places. Kids learn best when they fall in love with what they are learning. Who doesn’t love the adorable Blobfish?

The Blobfish was one of the first unique animals that we learned about. I had never even heard about this animal until I did the research for the class curriculum. It quickly fascinated me. Using this creature as a “learning base” we covered habitat, density, depth, geography (where it lives using maps), food chain, art (we had to draw it :-), classification, and so much more.

So I figured I could plan out my science curriculum for my own children in that same way. And that is just what I did and you can too.

Now I organize and plan out my own children’s science curriculum (as well as history- but that is another post and I integrate other subjects that they are learning. I even enjoy occasionally creating worksheets and activities that better suit my children’s interests. I am working on a tutorial that teaches other moms how to do that and will update a link to this post once I finish it (this will be especially for my fellow creative mamas!)

What is great about this strategy is that it also saves time in my homeschooling day. I don’t have to teach each subject separately. I can integrate reading, phonics, writing and so much more with core subjects like science and history. It also works for multiple ages.

Children LOVE Animals- Especially Unique and Interesting Ones- You Can Use that as a Hook!

This is a coloring book that I put together for my kids to go with the unique creatures we were learning about.

Creative Science- Learning about unusual creatures to cover a variety of science standards as well as other content areas.

Like I mentioned earlier, rather than teaching about animal habitats and adaptations as their own separate lessons. You can use content your child will be interested in and build their learning around that. First, go over the science topics and standards you want to teach over the year or semester for your child, then choose something that your child is super interested in. For example, you can choose an animal that your kids love. Use this animal as the “learning base” and make their education connected to what they enjoy.

Here are a couple of books that I used to teach about unique and creative creatures

Planning Out Your Year

When I plan for science for the year, I choose a couple of topics. I first talk to my kids and get an idea of what they are interested in. I take that into account, but I also know that there are some topics I will choose for them and I know that once they are exposed to the new topics and we learn about them in a creative and fun way, that they will fall in love with them. I use this planner to help guide what I teach my kids and make all the subjects connect as best as I can. It also helps me to focus on why I teach the way I teach.

You can also use this book by Rebecca Rupp called “Home Learning Year by Year”. It is a fantastic resource to help you organize and plan out your years of homeschooling.

Connected and Cohesive Learning

While what I am about to cover is often more work for the parent or teacher, it is important that your child’s learning be connected and cohesive. Connected and cohesive learning is when cross-curriculum learning goes on. Allowing subjects to cross in your child’s learning such as history, science, reading, phonics, and even math. When learning is disjointed, it not only takes longer to complete your school day, your child is left with thinking that each subject is separate. This is unfortunate because in learning science, you can teach writing, phonics, grammar, history, etc.

I have created a Homeschool Unit Study Planner where you can plan your own unit studies based on your kids interest. See the post and access your Planner by clicking here.

But Shouldn’t I use a textbook?

I do not use textbooks to teach my kids science. I will leave that for Middle School and High School. However, I do purchase science textbooks to help guide me when necessary, such as a when we are learning about human anatomy. I believe it is important to use beautifully illustrated living picture books to teach science to young children, however. Either going to the local library or investing in new and used books online or at the thrift store is essential to exposing amazing content to your kids. Here is a youtube video where I explain the five ways to build your homeschool library on a budget.

Textbooks in my opinion shouldn’t be used as your primary teaching tool. They are often dull and dry and lack beautiful engaging content (not always, but usually that is the case). Quality picture books and other living books that teach science content are much more appropriate for younger children.

Here are just a couple of science picture book that I like, however you can check out a more complete list here or scroll down to see picture book lists by subject area.

I am a BIOLOGY NUT!!!! I could study biology every year with my kids. Last year I designed a biology curriculum for my kindergartner and second grader. While I used the textbook personally, how I taught each topic to my children was through living picture books. I followed a set of topics that I wanted to cover over the year, however I tried to engage my child’s interests whenever possible. And we slowed down when they came to a topic they were fascinated by.

We purchased a high powered microscope and began to learn about the microscopic world. We went on field trips that connected our learning even further. Opportunities for digging deeper into subjects will come often. For us it came when we arrived at the Kingdom Protista during our learning about the classification of living things. We purchased amoebas, paramecium, and euglena. We watched them move around under our microscope. Then we sketched them into our nature journals. Now that was memorable learning!

I created this printable for my kids to record their microscope observations. It is available on TeachersPayTeachers.com

Side note: Nature journaling can be done with the microscopic world too. Things unseen are fascinating!!!

If you are able and interested, investing in a high quality microscope is a great way to get your children interested in the microscopic world around them. I use an Amscope microscope, which is an amazing brand.

Some Microscope Essentials if you are interested:

Quality Living Picture Books are a GREAT Way to Teach Science Content to Your Child

This year we are continuing our life science learning. My kids who are now first and third will be delving into anatomy and physiology. I have a textbook for my own reference. A textbook allows me to have a better understanding of what I want to basically cover even some of the technical words we may come across. The textbook is NOT for my kids, however. The goal of my science instruction is to provide a buffet style education. I offer the content and we slow down and explore when their is a high interest. We checkout or purchase books that correlate to the topics we are covering and then do hands-on activities and labs.

We are also going to do a brief overview of Chemistry this year (my daughter asked for this because to her chemistry means experiments). I have planned it into our school year, but I may be a bit over zealous. I was able to find a basic chemistry textbook to guide me as I plan out my children’s lessons, however, we will be using living science picture books to learn the concepts as well as LOTS of hands-on learning. I will let you know how it goes

Use Real and Technical Words When you Teach or Talk About Science

It is always tempting to simplify the vocabulary from science. I admit, some words are tough. We wonder if our child can even understand them. While at first your child may look at you puzzled when you say a difficult science word. With repetition in context, your child will begin to pick these more difficult words up. I have been using the scientific technical words since the beginning.

I have a funny memory of being in the hospital after having my son and my daughter, who was two at the time pointing at the doctor and saying “stethoscope”. It left the doctor shocked and he even asked her to repeat what she had said. I just thought it was so cute to hear her cute little voice saying it.

From the beginning I used real technical words to interact with my children about our surroundings. I don’t do it so they sound smart (remember Charlotte Mason encourages a humility in learning :-). Rather, I firmly believe that they are capable of using the real words that we all use daily.

Here Are Some of My Favorite Homeschool Planning Books

Get Creative

When teaching science get creative! Make lapbooks or fun books so that your child can document their learning. Check out this list of ways to get creative with science:

• dioramas
• stories
• newspapers
• news report for TV
• lapbook
• book
• art piece
• stop motion video
• song
• making their own board game or card game
• blog

You will notice that with each of these activities you can integrate your writing standards, reading standards, art, History, and so much more. At the end you will have an amazing contribution to your child’s learning portfolio. Let your child help pick out the best way to show their learning and allow some time for creativity.

SLOW DOWN and Let Children Take Their Time

Often textbooks chunk subjects into separate time blocks: 6 weeks for plants, 6 weeks for weather, etc. This is not how children’s minds learn. They need to be given their own time to explore and dive deeper into subjects that they find interesting. The goal is to make them fall in love with learning!

Where Do I Find Activities and Labs That Go With My Science Curriculum?

I like to research activities that I think my kids will enjoy. Pinterest is a great resource for homeschool science activities. It can be overwhelming however. Check out my Pinterest Board.

I am currently putting my Mysteries and Marvels Curriculum together so that I can share it with the world- well at least for those who love animals:-). Once that is ready I will post it.

Great Websites With More Fun and Creative Science Ideas

Creative Educator This site is full of fun ideas that you can integrate into your science teaching.

Home Science Tools is a fantastic resource for science activities. They are all about hands-on learning.

Check out these tips to build your homeschooling library on a budget:

How do you teach your children Science?

Have you found a curriculum that fits your kids? Have you found a textbook that your kids enjoy or that is useful to you as the educator?

Do you design your own science curriculum? What tips can you offer a homeschooling mom to help with teaching science to her children?

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When you have a super creative child or when you want to encourage your child to be creative, making your own card game or board game is a fun way to learn while having fun. It reinforces whatever concept you are learning.

What Subject Will Your Card Game Review/Teach?

We had just finished learning about the classification of living things in science. We Talked about the 5 kingdoms and decided to focus on the Kingdom Animalia. Animals are just about every kids favorite thing to learn about. Here is what you can do to incorporate making board games:

First, we learned about our subject. For this card game we read the book Animalium: Welcome to the Museum by Jenny Broom and “A Class of their Own: Animals” by Shar Levine and discussed the different classifications of animals. We checked out books from the library and watched a couple of Youtube videos as well.

Second, we brainstormed ways that we could make a game out of what we have learned. Because my daughter had been playing a variety of Go Fish games lately, inspiration for her was easy. We decided to make different card categories in sets of six. She picked the following classes of animals: Reptiles, insects, mammals, birds, and fish; then for each class of animal, she gave six different examples and drew a picture of the creature. The concept of animal classification was learned and reinforced using this fun activity.

What will you need?

Finally, you will need to purchase either a set of blank playing cards, a blank board game set, and sharpies so that your markers don’t smear on the cards.

We have played her game several times now and it is actually quite fun. It is nice to see my daughter’s smile as we play her game. I think we will try making a board game next.

So, will you try to encourage your child to create their own card game or board game? If so, which one and how will you create it? What subject will you reinforce with a card game?

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Recently, I had a friend ask me about my daughter’s card making “business”. My daughter is 8 and she has become known as a pretty good greeting card maker. She is artistic, so when the opportunity for an entrepreneur fair came up, we signed her up. “Cutesy Cards” is her business name (she came up with that one on her own :-)). This got me thinking that I could integrate writing instruction into greeting cards.

Writing hasn’t always been the easiest subject for me to teach. The use of workbooks and writing lessons that were out of context has often made writing my daughter’s least favorite subject in school. I knew I had to approach writing in a more creative way if I was going to get my younger children to enjoy learning how to write. That is why we started to incorporate writing with a purpose. I take age appropriate writing standards and integrate them into simple writing lessons. Making greeting cards is one of the creative ways that I teach writing.

This post contains affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase using this link. Please see my disclosure for more details.

Making greeting cards is a great way for your child to learn creatively and maybe even make some money.

Most recently my daughter made a “Lord of the Rings” inspired birthday card. It featured the beloved Gollum holding his ring saying: “My Precious wishes you a happy birthday.” My friend commented that the card was her favorite part of the gift.

Making greeting cards not only teaches my daughter about being an entrepreneur, it allows her to write with purpose. It also teaches her that it is important to bless and encourage others using our talents and gifts.

Why Should Your Children Make Their Own Greeting Cards?

Making greeting cards with a purpose allows you to hit certain teaching standards in a way that is authentic and organic. Your children are learning with out using a “curriculum”. Standards such as penmanship, brainstorming, writing a draft, captitalization, spelling, creating greetings, doing research, etc. are covered using this technique. You can even focus on a read aloud that you are going through. My children had been listening to “The Lord of the Rings” by J.R.R. Tolkien on CD. That is what inspired many of my daughter’s cards at first.

More inspiration:

For her good friends birthday she decided to go with a rabbit theme. In this “writing with a purpose lesson” we covered the difference between hopping and hoping, adding ‘ing, spacing, writing a greeting, and penmanship. The greatest part was that my daughter had so much fun and was filled with joy at her final product.

You can even make funny greeting cards using science or history concepts. For example, if you are learning about the cell in anatomy, you can draw a picture of different cells found in your body and then write: “Have fun CELL-abrating your birthday!” This is a fun way to encourage your kids to think out of the box, come up with ways to use concepts they are learning to make a greeting card or birthday card. You can always search for inspiration online as well.

What if my child is not that great at art?

Online drawing tutorials are another option if your child’s strength is not art. We love Art Hub for Kids and Draw so Cute for inspiration or drawing lessons in general! You can use these websites for guidance with fun art ideas!

What to do With Your Child’s Greeting Cards?

I now shop at my daughter’s card shop whenever I need a birthday card or greeting card and she gives me a pretty good deal. I can’t beat $1.00 a card (that is mom’s special price); and the reactions I get from our friends and family are priceless.

You can also encourage your child to sell their cards at fairs or online. There are so many platforms where your child can try to sell what they make. It is so rewarding when your child sees a true purpose for their work. And what a great way to start teaching about financial principals in business. See my daughter’s greeting cards in my Etsy store here (coming soon). You can purchase one, or just look for fun ideas.

SO, what do you need to create your own greeting cards? Here is my essential list of items that your child needs:

1. Blank greeting cards. We like the ones below because they are thick enough to use markers and you can also throw them into your printer to copy onto them. They are also the best priced per card that we have found.
2. Markers to illustrate. My daughter likes having the option of fine tip for precise coloring and a broader tip for filling in larger areas.
3. Nice black marker to trace and write with. We use Prismacolor pens, they are amazing!
4. Creative slogans. I like to search whatever topic that I am using for creative slogans. The sillier, the better.

This is a Great Time to Send Some Encouragement

Even though things are getting a bit more normal due to Covid restrictions being let up, there are still many people who are stuck in their homes or in hospitals. You can create cards to encourage some of the people that you know who are lonely. What a great idea and purpose to make our writing about something that matters.

Steps to Follow When Making Cards

Following these simple steps will ensure a positive card making experience.

First, brainstorm the type of card you want to make.

Second, write a draft on a separate sheet of paper of what your child wants to write on their card.

Third, always start with a pencil tracing of your idea on your card. Encourage your child to draw and write lightly that way you can erase and mistakes on your final product.

Finally, trace your work with a black pen. If you want to make multiple copies of your cards, don’t color it quite yet. Make sure you photocopy your card design onto multiple cards, then color them after using your good quality markers or colored pencils.

Pass out or mail your cards to friends and family. If your child wants to sell them, look for free entrepeneur events or create one yourself and invite friends and family. Also, look at different online platforms such as Ebay.com and Etsy.com to help your child sell their creations.

Let me know how your child’s cards turned out. Did your child enjoy creating their cards? Did they pass some out, did they sell them? I am so excited to hear about your Creative Learner!

Check out theses other creative Homeschooling ideas!

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