Oil Pastel Stained Glass Windows

 

 

The other day I went into Big Lots looking for pillows. Cailey had complained that hers was too flat. While I was browsing through the store my eyes landed on a set of oil pastels for $4!! YIPPEE!!!! I had to grab them!! Cailey and Colin had never worked with them before!

So, I get home and I am thinking about art projects for history this week. We are still studying the Middle Ages. Then it hit me! Cathedrals! Stained Glass! Oil Pastels!! PERFECT!!!

Yesterday I Googled medieval cathedrals and let the Cs look through the beautiful pictures. Then we read about how they were made.

After that I showed them how to use the pastels and set them free to work on their “windows”.

 

 

 

Cailey created a beautiful butterfly window. She had such fun with this. She is such an artsy girl anyway.  She could spend hours drawing.

 

 

Colin’s is a knight! I had to correct The Hubby very quickly…. He was calling it a monster. GASP!! Couldn’t let Colin hear that!! 😉

Colin is 6, and as many little guys, he has a very short attention span. He has no patience for projects that take too long, no matter how much he enjoys them! LOL  I always try to encourage him to finish the projects, but I don’t push.

 

 

HAVE FUN LEARNING AND CREATING!!!

Make a Medieval Tapestry

 

 

 

So, I’ve been racking my brain to think of ideas for our Middle Ages unit that are NOT run of the mill and I think I may have hit on one!

Yesterday we made our own tapestries!! Well,  sort of…. We did break out a loom or anything like that. We did it OUR way. 😉

I dug out a couple of scraps of fabric that were sitting on top of one of my fabric boxes and decided they would work just fine.

Then I hunted down the dowel rods that I knew were here SOMEWHERE!

After that I hunted high and low for yarn or twine… ANYTHING to hang them with!! I got lucky and found some string.

When we got to our Middle Ages study I showed Cailey and Colin different pictures of medieval tapestries and explained how they were used.

Then I sat them in front of the fabric scraps with their paints and brushes and let them go.

 

This is what they came up with.

 

 

 

Colin went with a shield and knights.

The lighting for this pic was terrible and using the flash only made it worse! LOL

 

 

Cailey went with a unicorn and rose vines.

 

After the paint dried, I put a ton of glue at the tops and wrapped them around the dowels. Then I added the strings to end.

Viola! Medieval tapestries!!!

You could always have your child try their hand at a bit of embroidery.

 

HAVE FUN LEARNING!!!!!

 

Make Your Own Shield and Sword

We are a week into studying the middle ages and having a TON of fun with it!!!!

We drew motte and bailey castles, read books, watched videos and now we’ve made our own shields and swords!

I started out by cutting the shield shapes from thin cardboard, like the long, flat boxes that 24 packs of soda come in.

Then I stapled the handles to the back, once again using the same thin cardboard, but from the sides of the boxes.

Next I made the paste! I sort of eyeball the paste when I make it but I use a little flour, Elmer’s Glue (almost 2 bottles) and water. For one child or smaller projects I would make about 1/2.

 

 

Then they started layering!

 

 

 

Once the shields were dry (the next day), we glued aluminum foil to the front and back, making sure to cover the handle as well.

 

 

After that, they painted them.

 

 

For the swords I used cardboard from one of our moving boxes and just cut out the shape.

Then we used paper mache on them as well.

 

Next came aluminum foil and construction paper.

Finally, they decorated the hilts with glitter glue.

 

 

Here is Colin’s finished sword!

 

They had so much fun making them and have been battling it out ever since! LOL

 

HAVE FUN LEARNING!!!!

 

 

What We’ve Been Up To (Besides FREEZING!!!)

We have been SO busy and SO cold!!! Single digit highs for the south?? INSANE!!!! Our sliding door on the van was frozen shut for DAYS!! It finally opened yesterday afternoon!  Thank goodness!

So, just what have we been up to???

 

 

We went to the mall last weekend. Cailey and Colin loved the indoor carousel!

It’s a bit different for us here. It takes almost an hour to get to a mall!!! WHAT??? Crazy!!!!

We then headed over to the huge used book store. Unfortunately someone decided to have a massive meltdown so he and I ended up sitting it out in the van. SIGH….. I did manage to snag some great freebies from the free box, though!

 

 

We have been studying the weather. Cailey and Colin drew the water cycle.

 

 

We made a wind vane!! An actual working wind vane! LOL It was accurate and everything!

 

 

 

We also started our middle ages unit. We were going to make actual dirt, grass and wood models of motte and bailey castles but the GROUND IS FROZEN!!!!!!  So they drew them instead. 😉

 

 

Yesterday we started making papier mache shields and swords. I’ll be posting the finished products soon! 😉

 

What have you been up to???

 

Middle Ages Unit Study

Yesterday was crazy busy here. Both girls had appointments at the eye doc. Both girls will be getting new glasses. SIGH….. Seems their vision is getting worse. BOTH OF THEM!!! Deanna is going back to bifocals and Cailey’s astigmatisms are getting worse. SO not good news!!!! I had hoped to have a new tutorial up for you today but it looks like that may have to wait until tomorrow or the next day. In the meantime, check out this unit study!

Most of the units I put together can be used for elementary through middle school and some could be stretched to high school, as well. I usually try to throw in some things for younger kids, too. I know that most of us are teaching a few ages at once! LOL

BOOKS –  

Most of these can be found at your library, cheap on Amazon OR on Paperback Swap (my favorite book site).

DK Eyewitness Medieval Life 

DK Eyewitness Knight

DK Eyewitness Castle

Castles, Pyramids and Palaces

In the Time of Knights

The Great Castle Search

Ms. Frizzle’s Adventures – Medieval Castle

Castle

Discovering Knights and Castles 

Knights & Castles : 50 Hands on Activities to Experience the Middle Ages

Knight : A Noble Guide for Young Squires

Magic Tree House – The Knight at Dawn

Magic Tree House Research Guide – Knights and Castles

Days of the Knights – Eyewitness Reader (Level 4)

Measly Middle Ages – Horrible Histories 

Terrible Tudors – Horrible Histories

You Wouldn’t Want to Be a Medieval Knight

You Wouldn’t Want to Be Sick in the 16th Century

You Wouldn’t Want to Be in a Medieval Dungeon

Saint George and the Dragon

Time Warp Trio – Knights of the Kitchen Table

Mary, Bloody Mary

Beware, Princess Elizabeth

Nine Days a Queen

Catherine, Called Birdy

The Whipping Boy

The Adventures of Robin Hood

Ghosts of the Tower of London

Beware the King

The Door in the Wall

The Ravenmaster’s Secret 

 

 

 

KINDLE BOOKS – 

If you don’t have a Kindle, don’t worry! You can add the app to your computer or cell phone for free! We have it on our desktop, laptop and my iPhone! LOL My e-reader is a Nook. 😉

Medieval Kings of England – free for Prime

Medieval – Picture Book – free for Prime

Knights! – Kids Look and Learn – free for Prime

Knights! For Kids! Learn to Read! – free for Prime

Castles – Picture Book – free for Prime

Discover Series – Castles – $2.99

 

The Elizabethan Renaissance Unit Study – free for Prime

 

 

 

 

FREE PRINTABLES – 

Knights and Castles Lapbook – Homeschool Share

The Plague Lapbook – Homeschool Share

Connections – Middle Ages – Homeschool Share

William Shakespeare Lapbook – Homeschool Helper Online

Notebooking – Homeschool Helper Online – scroll down

Notebooking – HS Launch

Knights – Activity Village

Tudors – Activity Village

Castle Coloring Pages – Activity Village

Shakespeare – Activity Village

St. George – Activity Village

Knights – DLTK-Kids

Castles – DLTK-Kids

Medieval Coloring Pages – Coloring.ws

Middles Ages Study and Lapbook – Squidoo

Medieval Coloring Pages – Squidoo

Medieval Pack – Royal Baloo

Knights Preschool Pack – Homeschool Creations

Knights Notebooking – Last in Line

Medieval Pack – 3 Dinosaurs

Notebooking – Notebooking Fairy

 

 

 

OTHER PRINTBLES and DOWNLOADS –

 

Medieval Castle Curriculum – Hands of a Child – $7

The Middle Ages Curriculum – Hands of a Child – $8

The Renaissance Curriculum – Hands of a Child – $7

The Norman Conquest Curriculum – Hands of a Child – $9

The Anglo-Saxons Curriculum – Hands of a Child – $9

 

The Middle Ages – Unit Study – Currclick – $3.50

 

Simple Schooling Middle Ages – Currclick – $7.50

 

Timeline Add-Ons: Middle Ages – Currclick – 50 cents

 

Make Your Own … ABC Book About the Middle Ages – Currclick – $1.99

 

Who’s Who in the Middle Ages Booklet – Currclick – 25 cents

 

History Scribe – Medieval Times – Currclick – 96 cents

 

Medieval Life: Fedualism and Beyond Unit Study – Currclick – $3.50

 

Daily Life in the Medieval World – Currclick – $3.60

 

 

 

 

ONLINE RESOURCES – 

 

Middle Ages Coat of Arms – Crayola

Learn About the Middle Ages – Squidoo

Middle Ages Freebies – Squidoo

Music in the Middle Ages – Squidoo

The Middle Ages, Renaissance and the Reformation – Squidoo

Medieval Feast and Field Trip Ideas – Squidoo

Knights & Ladies Lessons – Squidoo

Magic Tree House The Knight at Dawn Study Guide – Squidoo

Learning About the Middle Ages Through Crafts and Stories – Squidoo

Knights & Castles Theme – Our Montessori Home

Medieval Castles

Mini Siege Engines – Instructables.com

Middle Ages – Infoplease.com

Middle Ages for Kids

Middles Ages – Kids Konnect

Middle Ages – A to Z Kids Stuff

Skipton Castle

Chillingham Castle

Castles, Knights and a Medieval Village Unit – Our Busy Homeschool

Medieval Life

Castles

Middle Ages – BBC History

The Renaissance Connection

Tudor Britain

Middle Ages – Online books – Heritage History

Medieval Crafts – A Book in Time

Middle Ages for Kids – Mr. Donn