Throughout this school year we’ve been celebrating Mexican holidays & doing crafts to go along with them. Recently we celebrated Cinco de Mayo.

I was really hoping we’d be able to finish off our year with a trip to Mexico. I’d love to see Chichen Itza & other Mayan ruins. But, that didn’t happen. Bummer.

But, we did create some fun crafts.

Double Headed Serpent Mosaic

Years ago we went on a cruise through the Mexican Riviera. On the ship was a version of the Double Headed Serpent. So when I saw the mosaic craft at That Artist Woman, I knew it was one we were going to do.

I cut the serpent shapes out of stiff cardboard.

The kids used tempera paint on the entire serpent. This doubled as “grout” on their mosaic.

I must admit the other thing that drew me to this craft was that it required egg shells. I’m always on the lookout for ways to use eggs. I had recently colored eggs to place in the background of a few photos of our new chicks. This was a perfect way to use up those shells.

The kids used watered down clear Elmer’s glue to adhere the colored egg shells.

Farm Girl & Farm Kid1 chose to use buttons as their eyes. Farm Kid2 cut out circles from index paper.

The mouth & teeth were cut from white index paper.

Mosaic Masterpieces

Other Crafts Inspired by Mexico:

Papel Picaco

I checked out a book from the library to look at for our papel picado craft.

We used tissue paper and scissors to create designs from the book.

We strung them all together on string & hung them in our house.

Sombrero

I saw a photo on Flickr and loved the craft. So, we put together our own version.

I created a hat template out of index paper. Then, the kids traced the template onto old file folders & cut them out.

I got out a pile of crafting goodies for the kids to use as they wanted. Farm Kid1 decided to use the shavings of a colored pencil for decoration, which I thought was an original idea.

Then they cut out an oval & drew on a nose & mouth. I love that the eyes are covered.

Fun Crafts = Fun Times

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To hold all their papers and crafts from our study of Mexico, the kids made quick and easy lapbooks.

The lapbook is made from two index folders taped together. A third index folder was cut to make pockets, which were taped to the full index folders.

We kept it pretty simple. The cover has the Mexican flag glued to it and stamped letters to spell Mexico.

Inside the lapbook holds a variety of items we worked on throughout the year, including the double headed serpent mosaic.

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On the 5th of May the kids did not work on their regular curriculum. Instead, we had a Mexican themed party day.

I took the items in the pocket chart out and replaced them with Mexico related things. My mom gave me the map with info on it, which was a placemat from a restaurant. The photos, money, and dress up dolls came out of our North American Continent Box.

I read Tomie dePaola’s Adelita to the kids. It is a Mexican Cinderella story.

As a comparison, I also read Cinders by Jan Brett. This book is a Chicken Cinderella story, which of course, we loved. We also discussed Disney’s version of Cinderella.

This was a win, win, win conversation. I love Jan Brett, I love Tomie dePaola, and I love Disney.

For lunch we had one of my favorite meals: chicken tacos, with Spanish rice and beans. I even pulled out the hand painted dishes we bought in Mexico many moons ago.

We ate homemade churros after lunch.

Spanish bingo has been a huge hit on our Mexico days, so we played it again. Bingo prizes were leftover pencils & erasers.

The kids also made a few crafts that day.

It’s a lot of work to put together a theme day, but they are so much fun.

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To go along with our study of Mexico, we spent January 6th learning about Three Kings Day. It is 12 days after Christmas & celebrates the three wise men bringing their gifts to baby Jesus. We don’t typically celebrate this day in our family, but many Latin Americans do so we explored it.

Kings Bread

We started the morning with our version of Rosca de Reyes, or Kings’ Bread.

Making bread is easy, but I needed something even easier that day. So, I used cinnamon rolls from a tube. I placed them in a crown shape & hid an almond in one of the rolls. The almond represented baby Jesus.

Traditionally the person who finds baby Jesus in the bread is supposed to host a party on February 2nd. Instead, I gave the kid who found the almond a 3 Kings Day Bar.

Gold, Frankincense & Myrrh

Representing the gifts of frankincense & myrrh I used a scented warmer in the school room. I don’t typically use a warmer and the kids enjoyed the new smell that day.

Representing gold were chocolate coins.

Spanish Word Bingo

Just for fun we played Spanish Bingo. The template is from the Scholastic Monthly Idea books.

Silhouette Craft

The kids made a craft I found at Crayola. It is very similar to a silhouette craft we made a couple years ago.

They began by painting their background with watered down paint, then adding salt to the wet paint. The salt soaks up the color and leaves “stars” in the sky.

While the paint was drying they cut out wise men & camel shapes out of black construction paper.

Next, they painted a simple foreground. And finally, they glued their silhouette shapes to the painted paper.

This was a fun day expanding our knowledge about both Christmas & Mexico. These hands-on days are my favorite way to school my children.

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Our final stop on our trip around the world was the deciduous forest of Europe.

Wikipedia describes a deciduous forest as:

 forests that are dominated by trees that lose their leaves each year. They are found in areas with warm, moist summers and mild winters.

School Room

For this weeks biome display I had the boys go to their room and find animals that could be found in a deciduous forest.

Deciduous Forest Pocket Chart

Left: Farm Kid1’s deciduous forest postcard.

Right: From the Russian tundra to the deciduous forest of Europe is about 3960 miles. We marked it on our map.

Other

Left: We watched the Seasonal Forests episode of Planet Earth.

Right: This weeks art project was based on the yearly cycle of a deciduous tree. Farm Kid1 started out by drawing one tree shape with branches. Then, I made 3 more copies of the tree. Now he had 4 trees – one for each season. Next, he used a pencil eraser to dot leaves on the trees. After the paint dried he glued his trees in order & titled his artwork.

We rummaged through our continent box filled with all things European.

To finish off the week we visited the World Forestry Center to learn more about deciduous forests.

Links to our Continents & Biomes:
North America – Temperate Rainforest
South America – Tropical Rainforest
Antarctica – Ice Cap
Africa – Sahara Desert
Australia – Coral Reef
Asia – Tundra
Europe – Deciduous Forest

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Our final continent box is full of all things European. Europe has so many different cultures & many got left out of our box. Hopefully I will continue to find fun things to add to this box.

Envelopes holding examples of animals, landmarks & art styles in Europe. The flag wheels are from Enchanted Learning.

Left: About 10 years ago the hubby & I traveled to England for a week. I added a few of the coins I saved to the continent box.

Right: During our trip to England we took one day to explore Paris. France uses the Euro. I included a few of those coins as well.

In the box are also postcards that my mom had & pics I took on our vacation.

Left: The booklet of French numbers is from Enchanted Learning. I also printed examples of Roman numerals & the Greek alphabet.

Right: The map workbook was from the Dollar Store. I bought the book on the Louvre during our visit. And, the book on Greece I got at Barnes & Noble during one of their buy 2 get 1 free event.

Papers and activities printed from:
Education.com  •  Making Friends  •  Practical Pages  •  Paper Toys

Our Continent Boxes:
Africa
Antarctica
Asia
Australia
Europe
North America
South America

To learn more about our continent boxes click here.

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After visiting the great barrier reef on our trip around the world, we explored the tundra of Russia. I wasn’t feeling well the week before, so I didn’t have much in the way of extras for this week. But, it didn’t matter anyway. Farm Kid1 felt crummy all this week so we only did the basics for this unit.

Google defines a tundra as:

a vast, flat, treeless Arctic region of Europe, Asia, and North America in which the subsoil is permanently frozen

School Room

As I said, we didn’t do much on this unit – including in the display. I added two books, that’s it.

Biome chart with tundra information

Left: We measured that it was 6600 miles from the Great Barrier Reef to the Russian Tundra.

Right: For the postcard, Farm Kid1 chose to draw a herd of musk ox.

We looked through our box on Asia. But, it had nothing related to Russia or Siberia which is where the tundra is located.

Hopefully we have a better virtual visit next week when we explore deciduous forests.

Links to our Continents & Biomes:
North America – Temperate Rainforest
South America – Tropical Rainforest
Antarctica – Ice Cap
Africa – Sahara Desert
Australia – Coral Reef
Asia – Tundra
Europe – Deciduous Forest

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Here’s a peek into the goodies in Asia’s box.

Flag wheels from Enchanted Learning.
Same as in the other boxes – envelopes with landmarks, animals, money & art.

Photos & a postcard from family & friends.

The Chinese counting book is from Enchanted Learning. I found the Japanese numbers & characters through a web search.

Papers and activities printed from:
Education.com  •  Making Friends  •  Practical Pages  •  Paper Toys

Inside the box

Our Continent Boxes:
Africa
Antarctica
Asia
Australia
Europe
North America
South America

To learn more about our continent boxes click here.

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Here is Australia’s continent box. It has the same basic things as my other boxes. I’d like to add a boomerang, some vegemite and a Wiggles & Crocodile Dundee movie.

Top Left: Our landmarks flash cards came with two from Australia.

Bottom Right: Art Styles envelope. The art I chose to highlight are the xray style, petroglyphs, bark painting, rock art, body painting & dot art.

My mom collects postcards. The one pictured in the bottom right of the photo is one she received from somebody traveling to Australia.

Papers and activities printed from:
Education.com  •  Making Friends  •  Practical Pages  •  Paper Toys

Our Continent Boxes:
Africa
Antarctica
Asia
Australia
Europe
North America
South America

To learn more about our continent boxes click here.

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The next stop on our trip around the world was the Great Barrier Reef in Australia studying the coral reef biome. I especially loved this week because many years ago I used to scuba dive & this brought back many fun memories.

Google defines a coral reef as:

a ridge of rock in the sea formed by the growth and deposit of coral

School Room

Our coral reef display
There are a few books and Disney’s Finding Nemo DVD. I also added a couple personal treasures the hubby & I have collected on our tropical vacations.

Biome pocket chart with coral reef info

Left: The front of Farm Kid1’s postcard. I love that he drew a diver.

Right: Fish stamp Farm Kid1 drew for his postcard.

Farm Kid1 loves exploring our continent boxes. This is what Australia’s box looks like.

We have done a few silhouette projects. Farm Kid1 wanted to do another one for his coral reef craft.

Other

I love Wyland! He’s an amazing artist and a marine conservation activist. His paintings are Beautiful, with a capital B. His sculptures are fantastic. We went into his gallery once while in Waikiki. I couldn’t afford much in there, but I did buy his Artist of the Sea book.

A funny coincidence
I brought home a book from the library without really looking through it first. It had the word reef in it, so I checked it out. Farm Kid1 & I had just finished admiring Wyland’s book when I started reading Riddle of the Reef to him. And I’ll be danged, one of the characters in the book was Wyland himself. It was a fun coincidence.

Before we had kids, the hubby & I were fortunate enough to go on a few diving vacations. Farm Kid1 & I looked through 2 of my diving scrapbooks. These photos are from one my all time favorite diving moments. During a night dive in Bonaire we witnessed coral spawning (that’s the blurry stuff in the photos). This is not something you see everyday. It was definitely a rare treat that I won’t forget.

Our Bahamas trip was a fun book to look through with Farm Kid1. The number one reason is that Farm Kid1 loves these pics of his dad near a barracuda. Dad earned a few more cool points with these pics. And second, there is a fun story involving Farm Kid1. We booked this trip with some diving friends many, many months in advance. This wasn’t an ordinary vacation, we spent a week out at sea on a fairly small motorized sail boat. As life would have it, I ended up being 8 weeks pregnant with Farm Kid1 on this trip. So not only did I not get to dive, but I was also extremely sick from the morning sickness combined with the rocking boat. I did get in a couple good snorkeling adventures though. The pics in this photo were taken by a friend of ours & my dad.

One day I would love to make it Australia both to explore the land and the great barrier reef.

Links to our Continents & Biomes:
North America – Temperate Rainforest
South America – Tropical Rainforest
Antarctica – Ice Cap
Africa – Sahara Desert
Australia – Coral Reef
Asia – Tundra
Europe – Deciduous Forest

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