Half a Hundred Acre Wood

Christian homeschooling integrating Classical and Charlotte Mason principles

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About six months ago, we came across two of the most amazing free websites for building paper models: Papertoys.com and Thetoymaker.com – all you need is to print, cut, fold and glue. Having boys that love to build things (and being that way myself), we’ve already incorporated many of the paper toy models we’ve found at Papertoys.com into our learnings.  The first we attempted was the Neuschwanstein Castle, which we completed as we studied the Medieval Period (see our previous post).  Though it looks complicated, it was one of the simplest that we’ve completed thus far because it is bigger than many of the others and thus easier to fold, AND it includes very detailed instructions.  Stephen did much of the cutting, and I helped with a bit of the folding.

In a joint effort, Stephen and David put the smaller pieces together…

 

…to create our masterpiece.

 

This was a great project for the boys to do together once all the small pieces were glued together. This is by far our favorite of all that we’ve completed to date.
Shortly after we completed this one, we worked on Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre as we started studying the Renaissance (see previous post).

 

This one was tough, as it was very small – the folds were tight and we ended up with quite a glue mess trying to fit it all together.  But, it was still neat to use this as a springboard as we memorized that “during the Renaissance Period…Shakespeare was a famous playwright…”  We studied the history of the Globe Theatre and other neat facts about it – great experience, despite the fact that it was a tough one to do.  Unfortunately, this was not one where David or Levi could really help much.
As we studied the Renaissance Period, we also talked about the age of exploration and completed the Santa Maria before heading to see The Nina when it was at port in Chattanooga.  (To see what it was like to visit The Nina, go to our previous blog post on the Renaissance Period.)
Now, because Gary was home, this one was a family project, but I have to admit there were a few tense moments trying to get this one together. I mean, just look at the sheer joy and delight on everyone’s faces here:
Nevertheless, it was a great learning opportunity and made the trip to the Nina even that much more exciting.  It was also a great prop to have during their weekly presentations at our Classical Conversations tutorial.
And that brings us to the last one that Stephen wanted to build with Daddy.  It was a model of the Ocean Star, which is an offshore jack-up rig museum in Galveston, TX.  Because this ties in with Gary’s career, it was a good father-son project.  Gary kept trying to walk away from it to get a break, and Stephen kept trying to work on it even without him. Eventually, it was completed, but it was also a difficult one to put together.

 

 

 

David was our family edifier and encourager through all of these paper projects, and he is so proud to have played such a big part in these masterpieces.
We have also completed some of the skip counting paper toys from the Toymaker, but we’ve not had a chance to build a project together just yet.  But it is on our to-do list when we return back from a trip to visit family in Oklahoma.  I mean, it has a trebuchet model, math toys, gift boxes, jigsaw puzzles, games, spinners, and SO MUCH MORE!  I can’t wait to highlight what we’ve created from this site in a future post.
We’ll see you again when we get back from the state where “the wind comes sweeping down the plain” (especially this time of year!).  Till then, “Y’all take care now, y’here?”


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