Hernan Cortes and an Aztec Feast

The kids have been studying about how the Spanish conquistador Hernan Cortes took over the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan (now called Mexico City) and brought the fall of the Aztec empire in the early 16th century.  They've learned a lot about Aztec life and culture and decided to have an Aztec feast to honor them.

Corn was a major crop of the Aztecs.  The kids decided to make homemade corn tortillas which is one of the many ways the Aztecs would have used their corn.

Ingredients:

2 cups masa harina

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/2 cups hot water

Rachel mixed the masa harina and salt.  She added the hot water and mixed it all together.  Then she let the dough rest for about 30 minutes.

She formed little balls of the dough and placed it on a cutting board that had been sprinkled with some masa harina.  Then she rolled out the dough.

She cooked them in a cast iron skillet for a few minutes per side.  We used them to make chicken tacos for dinner.  They were so delicious.  These corn tortillas taste better than any we've ever bought at a store and they were fun to make.

Another thing you can do with these corn tortillas is to fry or bake them to make your own tortillas chips!  Avocados were another crop of the Aztecs so we made some homemade guacamole to go with corn tortilla chips.  Our favorite is the Williams-Sonoma guacamole recipe.

The kids had fun mashing up all of the ingredients in the molcajete.  A molcajete is a mortar and pestle carved from volcanic rock and it was what the Aztecs used to grind their corn into flour.

With our bellies full of chips and guacamole and chicken tacos, the kids wanted to make one more course of Aztec food - Xocolatl, a Mexican hot chocolate.  There are lots of recipes out there but we melted chocolate chips, blended with warm milk, then added some cayenne pepper and cinnamon.  The kids topped theirs with marshmallows.  Yum!

Great Ideas Journal (Leonardo DaVinci Activity)

The kids have loved learning about the amazing ideas of Leonardo DaVinci.  One of the things they found interesting was that he was constantly writing down his ideas in journals.  They could be random ideas or sketches.  They were partial thoughts...not plans for a complete invention.  We talked about how we all get neat ideas for things but then never go back and finish thinking them through or doing anything about them.  Having a journal to put down your great ideas on paper is a fantastic way to encourage creativity and inventiveness.

So the kids made their own Great Ideas Journals.  Leatherwork was a common art form in the Renaissance times so I picked up some leather book cover kits at Tandy Leather.

The book cover kit is all put together and ready to go but it allows for creativity in decorating and customizing the look of their journals.  First you use a damp sponge and moisten the leather.  This makes it softer and easier to use the leather stamps.  We have lots of leather stamps and a mallet so I let the kids do their own thing with those.

Nicholas made a border around his then wrote "Great Ideas" in freehand on the cover.

He added some swirls on the cover as well.  Then he used a leather stain to really bring out the beautiful color of the leather.

Here is his finished journal cover.  I bought some plain sketch books for their journal.  They just slide into the pockets on the inside.  The journals can be replaced when they get full and they can still keep the same leather cover.

Rachel used a more tropical theme for her journal.  I love the sea shells and hibiscus flowers together.

She added a title and a few other decorations to her cover and then stained it as well.

Here are a few ideas from Rachel's Great Ideas Journal.  A huge multi-level tree house.

I like this idea below.  It is a robot that does her homework for her.  I think it might could be adapted to do housework too so I'm really encouraging her to pursue that idea a little further!

A journal is a great way for kids to get their thoughts on paper.  Kids should be encouraged to use the journals however works best for them.  Some kids might choose to draw sketches of their ideas to tinker or plans for the future, Others might want a journal with lined pages to write out their thoughts and feelings in words.  However they choose to use it is fine.  And they don't need a fancy leather cover.  A cute notebook from the dollar store works great too.  They can decorate the cover with markers and stickers and make it personal.

The {Somewhat} True Tale of Robin Hood

Nicholas just completed performing as a Merry Man in The Somewhat True Tale of Robin Hood at the Actor's Conservatory Theater.  This was his 6th main stage production at the ACT.  This show was a little different than usual.  The ACT historically has always produced musicals but this show was a regular play.  Nicholas especially enjoyed this one because he doesn't like the singing and dancing required in musicals.  He just wants to act!

This show was especially fun because we have just completed our studies of the middle ages for Tapestry of Grace where we studied the legend of Robin Hood.  We read aloud the book and I even found a DVD at our library of the 1938 movie, The Adventures of Robin Hood, starring Errol Flynn.  I love old movies and the kids laughed out loud at this one.

My kids love dressing up in costumes, even when they are just hanging around the house doing their school work.  The ACT encourages kids to come to see their shows in costume so Rachel went to the show dressed as Lady Marian and she wore her medieval times princess costume.

The next production at the ACT will be Elf Jr.  Be sure to get your tickets at www.getintotheact.org.  It is a great way to introduce your kids to live theater.

Tapestry of Grace: Davinci's Polyhedrons

We are learning about Leonardo DaVinci in our studies of the Renaissance.  He made some of the first true illustrations of polyhedrons as illustrator in Luca Pacioli's book The Divine Proportion. 

So we had a brief review of geometry and particularly polyhedrons.  We watched a You Tube video on Divine Proportion and DaVinci's use of perspective in his art work.

I also found some fun paper templates for polyhedrons at Enchanted Learning.  I printed each one on different colored card stock.

The kids just cut them apart and glued the tabs together.  It was a fun hands-on way to see the different shapes and they were able to actually count the number of sides that each shape has.

Tapestry of Grace: The Age of Discovery and the Compass

We have been studying the Age of Discovery in Europe which began in the early 15th century with Portuguese explorers looking for a sea route to India.  They were hoping to find a sea route for the purpose of merchant trade because the land route had become overtaken and dangerous. 

The explorations to find a sea route to India began with Prince Henry the Navigator.  He developed a new ship called a caravel that was lighter, swifter, and more easy to navigate than the largest ships that had been used up until then.  Bartholomew Diaz was the first explorer to travel south along Africa's eastern coast and around the southern tip into the Indian Ocean.  Christopher Columbus, of course, tried to find a western route to India and ended up discovering America.  Vasco de Gama finally completed a sea journey to India via the southern tip of Africa in 1498.

The explorers all used various tools for navigation.  They used the stars, astrolabes, quadrants, and of course, a compass.  We pulled out one of our compasses and headed outside. 

I had the kids use the compass to navigate around the neighborhood.  Nicholas has his own compass and has taken classes on navigation so this was mostly an activity for Rachel.  She loved it and wants to keep my compass now.

Even after she had completed my navigation exercise, Rachel continued to walk around using the compass to help her determine the direction she was heading.  It was a fun way to bring the study of navigation to life!

After using the compass to explore the neighborhood, we decided to make our own compass.  It is really very simple.  You'll need a thin layer of cork, a needle, a bar magnet, and a bowl of water.

The kids slid the needle over the magnet about 50 times.  You have to do this in one direction.  Don't slide it back and forth.  Now your needle should be magnetized!

Put the magnet on top of the cork and place it in the water.  As long as it can spin freely, and not bump into the side of the bowl, the needle will turn to point North!

We talked about how compasses helped navigators throughout history but I also got to talk to her about the science of magnets!

Rachel was just amazed with this project.

I also posted this project on Kids Activities Blog several years ago when Nicholas studied these early explorers.  It's always a fun project!

Tapestry of Grace Co-op: Building Castles (part 2) and Chess

We have learned more about castles this week.  The kids especially enjoyed an awesome pop-up book that I found!  It's called Castle: Medieval Days and Knights.  It has great descriptions and fun pop-up pieces on every page!

This page shows all of the different rooms found inside a castle and the keep.

Of course, my kids would like the room where the guying is going poop the best!  I feel sorry for the guy downstairs that had to clean this up.

We read that being a knight wasn't all about fame and glory.  It was a dangerous job too!

I really love the great pop-up scenes in this book.  Look at this king's feast where he is knighting someone.  Isn't that cute?

At co-op this week, the grammar students finished up their castles.  There was lots of messy paint so you know Rachel had a great time!

Ta-da!  The royal palace of Rachel painted in silver and turquoise, her favorite (although not realistic) colors.

For the dialectic students, I taught them how to play chess.  It is a great game for this time period.  It involves all of the medieval characters like pawns (peasants), castles, knights, bishops, kings, and queens but it also involves strategy like that which would need to be used in fighting an enemy during this time.  We have one chess set but two awesome friends loaned me sets so I had 3 sets total for the 5 kids to play with.  Nicholas played against me for the first round.

He was so intense and focused as we played.  We should really play this game more often.  There are lots of articles about benefits of playing chess like problem solving skills, mental acuity, emotional intelligence, and more.

I really played my best but Nicholas enjoyed winning the game.  We will have to have a rematch!

Before we were done with our chess games, the littles came in and watched for a while.  They couldn't wait for the big kids to be done so they could take their turn at chess too!

Ancient Greece: Ships, Minotaurs, and Labyrinths {Tapestry of Grace}

The Ancient Greeks believed in polytheism meaning they believed in many gods and goddesses.  Zeus was at the top of the god chain and there were various levels of other gods and goddesses below him.  These man-created mythologies make for some fascinating stories that have really stood the test of time.

As a child, I recall going to the library many times and checking out D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths.



I loved the stories and colorful illustrations.  I can't tell you how excited I was to see this book on our reading list for this week.  I took the kids to Pizza Hut for lunch to use their free pizza coupons from the Pizza Hut Book It! reading program.  I read the Greek myths to them while we ate.

In about 800 B.C. the Greek poet Homer wrote, The Iliad and The Odyssey, two classic epics that turned Greek myths into full stories.  I was excited to introduce Nicholas to these stories.  Tapestry of Grace recommended the following book for the Dialectic level of study so Nicholas has been reading this....



A few of the other books we've read this week include:









For our co-op time, we discussed the many Greek islands and the importance of ships used for travel, trade, and warfare.  We followed these directions on making a popsicle stick paddle boat.  This project is simple and just uses popsicle sticks, glue, and rubber bands.

Rachel made her boat all by herself completely according to the directions.  She wound up the paddle on the rubber band, and placed the boat in the water.  The stored energy in the rubber band was released and the boat propelled forward!

Nicholas saw the project directions but decided to amp his creation up a bit with two paddles! (Please excuse the scraps of paper glued to his boat. I had them work on paper to keep the glue off the table but didn't think about all of the paper that would then stick to their boats.)

His boat moved across the water but he decided that it was being slowed down by its size and weight.  Back to the drawing board he went!

Here is boat design number 2.  Small, light weight...and very fast!  I'm so proud of how he always takes an idea and expands upon it, adding his own twist and ingenuity.

Next he tried an altered version of his original two paddle boat.  This time the paddles were in line with each other instead of side by side.

What a fun project this has been!  I love that my kids are able to take their time and go deep into fun projects like this.  Who knew that this simple history activity would turn into Nicholas testing out his theories on propulsion, energy, buoyancy, friction, etc.

Next we reviewed the myth of the Minotaur of Crete. The story goes that King Minos was given a beautiful white bull by Poseidon, god of the sea. The King was expected to sacrifice the bull in honor of Poseidon but instead he hid the bull and sacrificed a less perfect bull. Poseidon was so angry that he punished King Minos by causing the creation of the Minotaur, a half bull, half man. The Minotaur ate humans so King Minos has an intricate labyrinth created to contain the beast.

We learned that a labyrinth and a maze are not exactly the same thing. Unlike a maze that has an entrance and an exit, a labyrinth has only an entrance and ends at the center point. A labyrinth also does not have dead ends and tricky turns like a maze.

The kids made their own labyrinths out of cardboard box tops by gluing strips of cardboard as walls.

Nicholas even used a little battery operated mouse toy to run through his labyrinth!

Note: This post contains affiliate links to the books on Amazon.  If you purchase one of these books through these links then I will receive a small percentage that goes back into paying for this blog.  It does not affect the price you pay for the book in any way.