Showing posts with label Columbus Day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Columbus Day. Show all posts

Monday, October 10, 2011

Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492......

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not the most 'crafty' person. I just don't have the knack for coming up wtih some of these crafty ideas. But, I also know that some of the lessons I remember best during my school career involved hands-on projects to help drive them home.
 (like the huge teepee we made out of paper sacks in 3rd grade to learn about native american symbols and drawings
 - see my brain isn't completely gone) :)
So, today was a great opportunity for a project and I'm so thankful for the internet. What a great source for these kinds of things!

 
I read a short story to Wyatt (and Jonah as he played with cars in the floor) about Christopher Columbus. Then I had a timeline of the ships voyages so we plotted the route(s) on the globe.
After that we began making our boats: Nina, Pinta & Santa Maria
Painting is always a hit. I'm pretty sure we could include paint in anything and it would be fun instantly. Jonah helped too. :)
Here's a couple of pictures of the masterpiece:

This was really a very easy project. (my favorite kind)
Items Needed:
Egg Crate
Paint (acrylic) & Brushes
Toothpicks
Paper for the sails
Clay or Playdough

Cut apart the egg crate into 3 'shells'. Paint them with any color paint you choose and
set them aside to dry.
Take 6 toothpicks and break 3 of them in 1/2 so you then have 3 full toothpicks for the large sails and 6 halves for the smaller sails.
Cut peices of paper into squares. (6 peices will need to be a little larger for the big sails)
Cut 18 smaller peices for the smaller sails.

Lay out the peices of paper and put a small line of glue on the paper/sail then lay a toothpick on it and sandwich it with another peice of paper for the other side of the sail.
Repeat this with all of the paper/toothpicks until you have 6 small sails and 3 larger sails.
Once the glue dries and the paint dries, put a small glob of clay or playdough in the bottom of each boat. Insert the toothpick into the clay for the sails to stand upright.
Ta-Da! You have a Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria!