My children had a fabulous time with this Statue of Liberty Unit Study.
We started by making a Statue of Liberty model. We bought a large hunk of white self-hardening clay. I took it out of the box and placed it on wax paper on top of a cutting board. I sliced it with a butcher knife into four pieces, one for each of my children.
At the table, I placed wax paper for easy clean-up. You will be banging your head against the wall if the self-hardening clay dries like cement straight onto your table, so be sure not to skip this step.
Each child should have a picture of the Statue of Liberty, to help the child draw the shape onto the front of the hunk of clay, using a plastic sculpting knife. You should cut away the clay that you don’t want. It comes off like butter. If the head looks flat like Frankenstein, you can always add more clay and fix it. If you want to erase a line, just rub your finger over it.
After getting the main shape, start adding details. Add the torch, the arm with a tablet, and the pedestal at the bottom of the statue. Then add the finishing details: the spikes coming out of the crown, the facial features, and the folds in the clothing. When you are finished, let the clay harden for two days. Take a look at how much fun my kids had with this activity:
We read the book How They Built the Statue of Liberty so that the children could understand how it was constructed. Step by step drawings helped the children see how the statue was assembled.
Here is a printable model of the Statue of Liberty, from Paper Toys. Be sure to print it on white card stock paper and watercolor light green paint on it before cutting it out and gluing it together.
Here is a free printable book full of activities from the National Park Service:
Here is a virtual tour of the Statue of Liberty:
Here is a short video tour of the Statue of Liberty:
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