We were blessed to be able to host a small International Fair at our house (due to low turnout canceling the location our homeschool group had arranged). We had a great evening of fellowship and the kids got to share all they had learned over the past few weeks.
We chose to learn about Sweden (where my grandfather came from). After doing a preliminary search online, I found a few topics to cover...and handed them off to each of the kids. My 14yo dd took over St Lucia's Day and Christmas Traditions...and all the baking. My 12yo ds took over learning about Vikings (yes, they were in southern Sweden too). And my 10yo and 8yo dd's did the other holidays and general information about Sweden. Here are a few pictures from the evening...
You can see some of the things we did in the pictures above. We wove Swedish paper heart baskets for teh Christmas tree. My younger dd's made purses/bags that we saw in a book of a child wearing a traditional Swedish outfit. I sewed some "costumes" for the kids...the St. Lucia gown for the oldest daughter (of course), 2 identical Swedish traditional dresses for the other girls, a Viking outfit for my oldest son (which was actually just some cool ribbon trim sewn onto an oversized men's henley shirt from Walmart...and (don't tell anyone or my ds will die from embarrassment) a pair of women's slippers that looked like viking boots...fur and all...and my younger ds's were both supposed to be the Jul Tomte, the Swedish traditional Christmas gnome, but we couldn't convince the 3yo to dress up, so we only had one...and he was so cute.
I love sewing their costumes...and it takes me something like this to actually do any kind of sewing whatsoever. There are too many other things to distract me other times. I am embarrassed to say that my oldest dd has a quilt I have still not started quilting that I promised her for Christmas LAST year. needless to say, I need to pull out my machine more often. Oh well...I digress...
we found out so may cool things about Sweden that I did not know before. And the kids did their own lapbooks in addition to the display board..and a few of them made Jul Tomtens (You can spell it Tomte, Tomten, or Tomtar...don't know which is correct...but it's pronounces "Yool Tahm-tuh" from what I recall my father saying). The kids also found a Dala horse picture to color (traditional Swedish woodcraft/artwork) and my 12yo ds made a Viking ship out of Legos. It was so cool...The oars were sticking out the "holes" on the side of the ship. I was rather impressed with his creativity. My oldest dd also made her own St Lucia candle crown out of a styrofoam ring and Christmas holly garland. She did a great job, don't 'cha think? ) The kids also made PepparKakor, traditional Swedish Christmas Cookies, and Lucia Buns...which turned out a bit dark on top, but they were delicious anyway. We also made a wheat sheaf decorated with red ribbon, and found a Jul Bok online (pronounced "Yool Bahk" to the best of my recollection...traditionally the Jul Tomte rides the Jul Bok, a straw goat, to give good children Christmas presents on Christmas Eve) for our display...and to use as a decoration now.
The kids also completed two lapbooks for our Project. One on Vikings and the other on Sweden. There are some pictures below. I didn't think to open the mini-books so you could see what they did, so it's kind of "boring", but there are actually lots of pictures and color inside. If I get a chance, I'll take a few more pics and post them...
Viking Lapbook...
Sweden Lapbook...
And there you have it...I honestly have to say..this has been the best project my kids have done...and while it wasn't "complete" by any means, I am happy with what they've learned.
When I was taking pictures the next morning of their display...
...Look closely at the Jul Bok (straw goat) under the table.
...Here's a close-up...
...Someone had" shot" the Jul Bok with a Nerf dart gun...Someone is SOOOOO not getting any Christmas presents from the Jul Tomte. hee hee What a great night... I think my favorite part of the night was not so much what the kids had learned, but the fellowship that we had with the other families. They all had a ball...
I have just finished a "play" passport..that means you can PLAY with it...it is not meant to be an official document. This would make a great addition to your culture/geography studies. I made it so that it is similar in nature to the new US passports, but instead of using US landmarks and images, I used landmarks from around the world. It can be used by anyone...not just those living in the United States. :-) I have uploaded it at my YAHOO! group (Homeschool Treasure Trove ~ Click on the "X" on the Treasure Map to right).
I have also uploaded it to MediaFire so you can download it there as well. Here is a little "teaser" of some of the pages...
I am intrigued by the ClusterMap I put on the sidebar of my blog. It's so interesting seeing the different places that people who stop by my page are from...so I am going to try something out of the ordinary. If you stop by, please leave a comment (anonymously if you wish) telling where your from. It doesn't have to be specific...If you're in the USA, your state, if you're "abroad", your country. I can't wait to see how many Countries and States we can "collect" here!
Welcome to my blog...Why "gidget"? Well...my husband tried to teach me how to surf before we were married. I was lousy at it, but he called me his "gidget" and the name stuck.
Why "Treasure Trove"? I love sharing about my sweet little "treasures"...and God has blessed me beyond measure....and no, I didn't mean that to rhyme.
) The kids also made PepparKakor, traditional Swedish Christmas Cookies, and Lucia Buns...which turned out a bit dark on top, but they were delicious anyway. We also made a wheat sheaf decorated with red ribbon, and found a Jul Bok online (pronounced "Yool Bahk" to the best of my recollection...traditionally the Jul Tomte rides the Jul Bok, a straw goat, to give good children Christmas presents on Christmas Eve) for our display...and to use as a decoration now.
This would make a great addition to your culture/geography studies. I made it so that it is similar in nature to the new US passports, but instead of using US landmarks and images, I used landmarks from around the world. It can be used by anyone...not just those living in the United States. :-) I have uploaded it at my 
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