Home Education - Art & Craft
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Making Chainmail
Recently the children had the opportunity to be introduced to the art of making chainmail. They were so taken with this they have set up their own chainmail production line. First Carpenter manufactured a ‘gizmo’, using a piece of metal the thickness they wanted for their links. Tie wire is wound around the ‘gizmo’ about thirty times and then cut. (Gloves recommended for this part) Then every fifth link is opened with pliers and links are joined together. The ‘bug’ caught every child and the shed became a regular factory. It is time consuming work but rewarding. An afternoon’s work produces this string for Einstein, and this for Carpenter.
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Learning All The Time
The holidays have given my boys and younger girls time to build some incredible K’nex creations. They have spent hours and hours building, and learning;) The cement mixer is my personal favourite, the mixer on the back spins as the model is pushed! How amazing is that? A car. A motorbike. An aeroplane. And the king of all, the group effort a very large robot!
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Paper Making
Recently we studied China and during that time read a picture book The Cloudmakers by James Rumford Princess was particularly taken with this book, it tells the story of how, many, many years ago men from Kazakhstan were raiding over the border of China. During one such raid a grandfather and his grandson were swept up in the raid. They were to be sold as slaves until it was stated that they could make ‘clouds.’ They were given 7 days to prove they could, using their hemp sandals the little family set about making paper. There follows a detailed and amazing account of the process. They were successful and went…
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Roman Projects
Now I have found my camera/computer cord I thought it time to share the hands on projects the boys undertook when we studied Early Church/Roman History Einstein made a centurion’s helmet which was a difficult task for him as making items such as this is not his natural forte. I found that if I worked with him every step of the way he managed and was very proud of his end result. If you visit the above link you shall find detailed instructions on how to make the helmet. Their result was far more elaborate than ours but I was just so pleased that Einstein completed this project. Michelangelo was…
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Gum Nut Babies
Back in November we decided to try our hand at making Gum Nut Babies We gathered our gum nuts from under the gum tree in the front yard and with some felt and pipe cleaners we set to work. First we bent a pipe cleaner in half and then we added the gum nut ‘head’. We then twisted another pipe cleaner, this one has to be cut down to size, around the first pipe cleaner just under the head. We then sewed little outfits out of felt for our ‘babies’. We thought the end product rather cute and it was lots of fun to make. If you would like to…
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Craft of the Week Club- Week 11
When Sarah at Plainsong came up with the idea of having a Craft Club designed for ‘craft challenged mums’ I thought I’d found my niche. In honour of the Month of the Most Holy Rosary we designed a rosary poster. Materials needed are: Scrapbook sheets or posterboard. Paper punch (circle shape)and cardstock or crepe paper Glue Toothpicks and cotton thread Holy Card or ‘google image’ To begin the craft you need to punch out 59 circles with the paper punch. If you don’t have cardstock you can use any colour paper, we preferred blue and turned the circles over to the white for the ‘Our Father’s’ For the little fingers…
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Redwall Abbey
For a number of years now the dc have been avid Redwall fans. Not only do we have the entire set of Brian Jacques’ books but they are collecting ‘extras’ as they each want their own set. A couple of years ago their friends also caught the Redwall bug. One holidays, friends decided to host a ‘Redwall Feast’. Excitement was high as we outfitted everybody in costumes. We included characters such as Rakkety Tam, Martin the Warrior, Tess the Churchmouse and Prince Charming made a lovely Log-a-Log. Bows were made and archery skills were sharpened. Many a visit was made to the Redwall Kitchen for recipes. We made a Hot…
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Painting with Our Feet and Hands
One of the children’s fondest memories of past crafts is painting with their feet and hands! Last week they begged me to re-visit this craft.
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Craft of the Week Club
Sarah at Plainsong has started a Craft of the Week Club. It is a fantastic idea for the craft challenged mum. Every week a generous mum shares a craft aimed at the under 9s. The craft is not too complicated, generally made from ready made materials in your home, with a fantastic result. Mary at Our Domestic Church started the club off with ‘foil fish’, these fish are really worthwhile viewing, we went to Our Domestic Church for instructions. Our fish didn’t turn out quite as spectacular. (do they ever?) but the children were very happy with the result, which after all is the important point, is it not? (Yes,…
