Posts Tagged ‘Homeschooling’

Modern History: 1950’s Party

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2015

modern-history:1950s-party

If you are studying modern history, you might want to throw a 1950’s party! You will want to grab some poodle skirts from a local costume shop (or at a yard sale!) Match those pink poodle skirts with white or pink shirts, and you will have a 1950’s look. The men can wear white T-shirts and jeans. They can slick back their hair with jell, while the women can wear a pony tail or two. Ribbons can be wrapped around the pony tails.

If you have a 1950’s diner where you live, you can go out for a hamburger and a malt. Back when I lived in California, I took my dad to the local 1950’s malt shop. Unfortunately Eastern Washington does not have a 1950’s diner, but you could create a similar ambience in your home.

If you want to make your dining room into a malt shop, that can be fun. Back when I was in college, my friends threw a 1950’s-themed murder mystery party, and the entire downstairs was transformed. Use your imagination.

How to Make a 1950’s Jukebox Cake

1950s-jukebox-cake

If you are throwing a 1950’s birthday party, you will want to have a cake. My dad loved the 1950’s, so I made him a jukebox cake for his birthday. I started with a long rectangular pan, and I baked a chocolate cake. I rounded the top part of the cake, and I frosted it with chocolate frosting.

Next I mixed some white vanilla frosting with some food coloring to make yellow, red, and gray frosting. I put each in a ziplock bag and cut off a hole in the corner to place the icing where I wanted it. I make an outer arc of red and an inner arc of yellow. I flattened it out with a table knife.

I made a red rectangle with yellow bars across it for the speaker. Then I used gray frosting for the bottom of the arcs and the bottom part of the jukebox. I cut two Peppermint Patties to place on the top and middle of the cake in the configuration shown in the picture. I used red M&M’s as embellishments.

When we lit the candles, it looked like the jukebox was lit up from the inside!

1950’s Music

You can find plenty of 1950’s music on YouTube, and you can play it in the background of your 1950’s party. One of the most famous songs of the 1950’s was “Rock Around the Clock” by Haley and the Comets. Watch the fun 1950’s dancing and the styles of clothing back then:

Have fun throwing your very own 1950’s party!

LEGO Tanks of World War II

Monday, August 31st, 2015

LEGO-tanks-of-WWIIThis post contains affiliate links. I was compensated for my work in writing this post.

While studying World War II, my kids built some LEGO tanks! They had such a fun time looking at pictures of tanks and trying to get the correct shape. The tops of the tanks swivel, as you can see in the YouTube demonstration below. The green tank has a hatch where soldiers can enter the tank. If you have Robotic LEGOs, you can use the track for the bottom of the tank. If all you have is regular LEGOs, you can make a track like the green tank, using black LEGOs.

We are using All American History, Volume II this year for our American History studies. We also read The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom to further understand the Holocaust of World War II.

blitzkrieg-in-lego-wwII

Besides LEGO tanks, you can also make other LEGO scenes from World War II. During the Blitzkrieg in London, the German planes dropped bombs on the city, demolishing the entire city and leaving it in ruins. As you can see in the YouTube video, the airplanes are 3-dimensional, coming out from the scene, dropping their bombs behind them. The white buildings have black smoke rising from them.

lego-atomic-mushroom-cloud

My son decided to make a LEGO atomic mushroom cloud out of white LEGO bricks. Just look at a photo of an atomic explosion, and you will see how to construct the mushroom cloud. There is a larger mushroom top and a smaller mushroom top about half-way down, tapering sort of like stair steps.

lego-concentration-camp

My daughter made a concentration camp out of a LEGO base that was gray. There was a gas chamber in one corner. A LEGO man is beating a couple of Jews, and two more men are shooting two other prisoners.

Here is the video demonstration where I show you our World War II LEGO creations:

Making scenes out of LEGO bricks will help kids to understand World War II while creating from their imaginations. The LEGO tanks were especially fun to make!

1920’s Party

Monday, August 24th, 2015

1920s-partyThis post contains affiliate links. I was compensated for my work in writing this post.

If you are studying the Roaring Twenties, why not throw a 1920’s party! You can dress up in helmet-shaped hats and wear beads with your dress. Have the men wear a black shirt with a white tie to represent a gangster from this time period.

We are using All American History, Volume II this year for our American History studies, and we are going through the different decades of the modern era. To actually feel like you are there, it’s fun to have 1920’s-style decorations. For example, for our centerpiece, we had a glass vase full of beads, with white ostrich feathers sticking out.

1920s-party-decorations

1920’s Party Invitation

For our invitation, I found a picture of a gramophone, and I cut out a silhouette in black card stock paper. I glued that to some purple card stock paper, writing the party information on the inside of the folded card.

1920s-invitation

1920’s Gramophone Cake

The cake was similar. I made a gramophone cake by frosting a chocolate cake with purple frosting. I outlined a gramophone with chocolate frosting, piping it on through a Ziplock bag with a corner cut off.

1920s-gramophone-cake

1920’s Music

We played some 1920’s music in the background of the party to create the ambience. Here is some 1920’s music you can play:

Old Family Photos of the 1920’s

We looked through some old genealogy pictures to find family members who lived during the 1920’s. It brings this time period in history home because this decade wasn’t so long ago after all, if grandma’s mother lived at that time!

genealogy-1920s

1920’s Headband Craft for Kids

We made a 1920’s headband craft. We started with a ribbon that I found in the curtain section of a craft supply store. We used hot glue to add embellishments like feathers, buttons, broaches, or tassels.

1920s-headband-craft-for-kids

Watch this video demonstration to see how I did these fun 1920’s activities:

LEGO Trench Warfare

Wednesday, August 19th, 2015

LEGO-trench-warfare

While studying World War I, my children decided to build LEGO trench warfare. We started with a green base and built up the terrain by using mostly green LEGO bricks. After building up the terrain as tall as you can, put the LEGO men down into the trenches. The good guys can look up over the trench while fighting against their enemies.

LEGO-WWI

One edge has one trench, and the opposite edge has another trench. There can be holes in the trenches to look out at the enemy.

There should be a plain between the two sides. The plain in the middle has land mines and barbed wire, so have the soldiers run carefully not to set off any land mines. If a land mine is set off, make a small explosion with gray LEGO bricks.

trench-warfare

Machine guns were also stationed behind the trenches, and they would mow down the enemy when they were charging. This is war. It’s tragic and gruesome, and it’s a part of history. This hands-on activity is one way to understand World War I.

If you are doing a unit study on trench warfare, you might also like Trench Warfare Creative Writing.