Scythian History Co-op. Week 7: Feast

Week 7: We went out for a Scythian feast.

The Scythians were nomadic people who lived off their horses. The ate horse, drank horse milk and even occasionally drank horse blood. Well we like to finish off each session of the history co-op with a feast, but............ There is a Himalayan restaurant near us, and so the group decided it was close enough.

 It was very good and a nice treat for the kids.

For more hands-on history activities please click on one of the groups below.
Celts
Vikings
Scythians
Ancient China

Pipe Cleaner Critters

Twisted Critters are a great craft project for little ones. My 5 year old can make most of the critters by herself following the picture instructions in the book. If you don't have the book, but have some pipe cleaners - no problem. Just type pipe cleaner art into google search and click on images for tons of ideas.

* I did not receive any compensation for this recommendation. I'm just a homeschooling mom who has found many products that I like. If you're interested in the products I recommend on this blog I want to make it easy for you to find them.

** I am an Amazon associate and receive a small portion of the sales on orders made after clicking in from this site, which I promptly spend on homeschooling books and supplies for my children.

Speed! - Patterns in the Cards - Two Speed

This is the first in a new series of posts. - Patterns in the Cards - I created the fun card game Speed! to teach multiplication. It uses skip counting to teach children to multiply and how to multiply faster. The series of Patterns in the Cards blog posts are meant to show some simple activities that can aid in number sense development using the Speed! cards.

I plan to go through each deck of Speed! cards with you searching for patterns. When we are through with all the decks then the real fun begins. -Combining decks and looking for patterns - I hope you are ready to join me on this fun, visual math journey.

Since this is the first week we can start out easy.

Two Speed
Lay your cards out like this. What patterns do you see?

Here are the patterns I found with my son.
1. Ones digit is the same looking down the columns.
2. Tens digit is a 0-0-0-0-1 and then a 1-1-1-1-2.

Do you think these patterns would continue if we added more cards?

They do!
Did you find any more patterns? Can you lay your cards out differently and find more patterns?

When you are done with this activity get out Three Speed and get ready for next week. Hint: Lay out your Three Speed Cards in a 3x3 grid with the 30 card left over to find cool patterns.

Storage for Knitting and Crochet Needles

With two knitter/crafters and one following suit I have been collecting knitting and crochet needles. I buy the ones I need, and pick up used ones at thrift sales whenever I see them. My collection was getting out of control, and so I sewed a case with lots of pockets for my needles.

For storing I fold down the fabric lid and roll it up into a cylinder. How do you store your knitting needles?

Scythian History Co-op. Week 6: Burial Mounds

Week 6: We made Scythian burial mounds.

The Scythians believed in an afterlife and buried their dead in mounds with many objects they would need. Jewelry, clothes, combs, tools, horses, saddles, riding gear, tamgas, helmets, armor, weapons, shields, hammers, axes, bow, arrow, and spears have all been found in burial mounds. Statues of horses and other objects have been found on the tops of many mounds.

Frozen Scythian Burial Mounds

A burial mound was created placing various objects into a bowl with colored water. The bowl was then frozen since most Scythian burial mounds have been found frozen in Kazakhstan.

Pretending to be archaeologists, the kids had to figure out how to thaw out their mound without damaging the contents. Archaeologists pour water on the mounds and that is what the kids decided to do. Inside their mound they found tools, horses, jewels and arrows.

Scythian Burial Mounds

First, a paper mache dome was constructed using a ball to give the mound it's form.

The mounds were painted to look like earth.

And statues were created for the tops as these have typically been found on domes.

To read more about our history activities click on one of the cultures below.
Celts
Vikings
Scythians
Ancient China

This post is linked to:
Adventures in Mommydom
All Things Beautiful
We Made That Wednesday

First Ever Speed! Coupon - And the Winner Is.........

A big thank you to Kim at Starry Sky Ranch for hosting this Speed! giveaway. Click here to see if you are the winner. Everyone else can use the first ever Speed! coupon. - $2 off.

Type in the code 2YJWWG7P in the gift cards and promotion codes upon check-out at amazon to receive $2 off. The offer is good until 12:00 noon on Saturday 3/24. Don't use the one-click order option as this will cause the screen with the gift cards and promotion codes box to be skipped.

Caterpillar Spelling

After reading Snowman Spelling on Marla's Motherhood Musings and Word Family Stick Men on House of the Rising Sons, I was inspired to create these caterpillars with my daughter. The en part of the body is glued together and the head can be replaced with m, d, t, h or p to make men, den, ten, hen and pen. She knows her letters and their sounds and is on the verge of reading. She had fun creating them and was thrilled to be able to spell a few new words.