Craft and Activity Books not to miss

[Pat]

One of the first things I buy after I get my TOG manual are the craft books for the year. I am craft impaired and I must plan them out way in advance.

So which craft books are absolute must haves? Books that you and your children have loved every project?

[DanaCinTN]

Hi Pat,
What ages are your children, and are there certain units that you'd prefer to do projects for? ...Also, please be aware that there are nearly always a few projects that don't require a separate book.

Blessings,

[Pat]

Well they are 8 and 11. This year with Year One I had both UG and D. They are also boys.

I am pretty open about the kind of projects as I am in the planning stages, but I would like to hear from people using any of the levels of the craft books about books that are just bursting with good and easy(ish) crafts and hands on projects.

[Ali in TX]

Pat did you ever get an answer to your question? I have the same question. In the curriculum it suggests that if your buying one for unit one to buy Days of Knights and Damsels which is for the LG. I am still unsure which to buy. All three look good. I am hoping someone will give their experience with any of them.
Ali

[Pat]

Originally posted by Ali in TX:
Pat did you ever get an answer to your question? I have the same question. In the curriculum it suggests that if your buying one for unit one to buy Days of Knights and Damsels which is for the LG. I am still unsure which to buy. All three look good. I am hoping someone will give their experience with any of them.
Ali

I asked on another board when I didn't get answers here. Everything but the Colonial book with the worksheets got good reviews.

I have now gotten the craft books and am working on my craft plan for next year. Of the three in the first unit I would choose to not get the Knights and Castles Book first. The whole Kaleidoscope series is the least good I think of TOG's craft books. The next one I would drop would be the Hands on History of Middle Ages. It has some good stuff and older level text, but for pure crafts the Knights and Damsels book shines. Also that D level book is out of print and the privateers have bought them all up and are now selling them for $100; it's nice but not worth that.

If you are on a budget, you might consider skipping the books in the next unit which I think are both less valuable than those in this unit (Leonardo and the Art/drawing book).

[Ali in TX]

Dear Pat,
Thank you for your insight. I will get the Days of Knights... I too am planning our Year 2 plan for the fall. Have you looked at the budget tips at the end of each week? I noticed that for Unit 3 and 4 a single history book is suggested for all children if a family is wanting to save money. I am curious if each student will be able to complete his history assignments(accountability and thinking questions) from this one book. I posted this question on the history spot and haven't heard anything yet. Any ideas?
Ali
(ali@nctv.com)

[Pat]

Originally posted by Ali in TX:
Dear Pat,
Have you looked at the budget tips at the end of each week? I noticed that for Unit 3 and 4 a single history book is suggested for all children if a family is wanting to save money. I am curious if each student will be able to complete his history assignments(accountability and thinking questions) from this one book. I posted this question on the history spot and haven't heard anything yet. Any ideas?
Ali
(ali@nctv.com)

Ali,

I have not gotten to looking at history books yet. I do crafts first because they are my weak point so I make sure I am twice as organized with my plan for them.

However, I would not get caught up in worrying about the Thinking and Accountability questions. If your child doesn't know one because his or her book doesn't have the answer the guide will have given you the answer and you'll be able to teach them the point if needed.

As long as the overall main themes are brought out (at the appropriate level), don't worry about every detail. No one knows everything about everything except God.

[Trivium Academy]

We're doing paper crafts instead of using the suggested TOG craft books. For weeks 20-21, we're using The Pilgrims, the Mayflower and More by Donald M. Silver (Grades 1-3).

for weeks 23-25, 27 we're using Colonial America (grades 3-5) by Donald M. Silver

Here's a picture of our Jamestown Map project
http://triviumacademy.blogspot.com/2008/04/presenting-jamestown.html

We love these! No supplies and we mess up, we just photocopy it again.

[Pat]

Okay Jessica, that looks hard despite the book's title. Just how hard was it to make?

[Trivium Academy]

Not hard at all, I cut everything out, and the kids colored it. I'm a streamliner so we used tape instead of glue to put it together. We built a Medieval Castle earlier this year and that was a two day project which I ended up finishing so I knew this was more on dd7's level.

This week we'll be making a Mayflower Voyage map that allows the Mayflower to move from port to port. We're also building the Mayflower with inside views (very nice complement to The Three Pilgrims) and we're going to do a garden comparison with the Wampanoag & Pilgrims, a cooking comparison between the two as well and the week will be finished with a Harvest Feast (Thanksgiving) Fun Fact Scroll.

There are many more activities in the book, The Pilgrims, the Mayflower and More but I wanted to keep with each TOG week. This week is probably going to be our heaviest craft week, doing one or two a day when we usually only do history 2x a week but dd is excited to do it.

I cut everything out yesterday for this week's projects. I think we watch 1 or 2 episodes of Property Ladder (lol!) while I did it. What was neat is that while I was cutting the kids (dd7 and ds3) did their own little projects, dd7 made ds3 a tiger mask, and ds3 was practicing cutting out shapes all without instruction or direction. They just wanted to do what Mom was doing.