Crafts: Shark Painting

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We love painting in our homeschool. So, I am always looking for new ways to incorporate painting into our homeschool day. For this shark-themed craft, I decided we would do something similar to the Father's Day painting we did a few years ago. We created the shape of the sharks as negative space so they would stand out on our paper when we were finished painting.

Materials 

• Painting paper
• Paint in a variety of colors 
• Sponge brushes or cotton balls 
• Something to hold the paint for dipping the sponges/cotton balls into the paint 
• Paper for cutting our shark shapes
• Tape 

Steps 

1. Gather all your materials. 

2. Cut out two or more basic shark shapes. 

3. Tape the shark shapes onto your painting paper. 

4. Use sponges or dot paints to paint on and around your shark shapes. 

5. After the paint is dry, remove the shark shapes to reveal the outline of your sharks. 

6. Hang up your new artwork. 

How is a Shark Designed? 

While waiting for your shark to dry, talk about the design of a shark with your children. They have special features which enable them to be fierce predators of the sea. There are over 1,000 species of sharks and rays, so you will have plenty to choose from to discuss. 

Sharks are different from other fish as they have boneless skeletons. They have cartilage in its place to help provide support. The fact that they don't have bones but cartilage also enables them to stay afloat easier as they are lighter. 

The lighter body also helps them in swimming. They are also streamlined to help them move through the water. So many sharks have a torpedo-like shape. They are probably one of the most agile creatures in the sea. 

Fins 

With the variety of sharks, there is also a variety of fins on those sharks. They have a large dorsal fin that helps provide balance. Some have a smaller dorsal fin on their back too. Sharks may also have pectoral fins that help with steering. 

Learn More 

Make another shark-themed craft! Choose from a paper bag shark puppet or a paper plate craft. 

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Puzzles are Great Fun! A Review of the Human Heart Floor Puzzle

 

I received a COMPLIMENTARY copy of this puzzle from Genius Games in exchange for my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review, nor was I compensated in any other way. This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page. Thank you.

Puzzles are great fun! Our children, especially our daughter, really love completing puzzles, but sometimes finding ones that they can complete on their own that are quality, enjoyable, and even educational is not an easy task. They are not ready for 500- to 1000-piece puzzles, but so many of the 100-piece and up floor puzzles are babyish, or they are not well made. That's why it was a pleasure to review the Doctor Livingston JR. Human Heart Floor Puzzle, courtesy of Genius Games.

We had previously reviewed the Dr. Livingston JR Human Body Floor Puzzle and our children really loved it. We were able to incorporate it into our science studies and learn more about how they work, including reviewing the different systems. 

In this puzzle, our children put together the human heart. The 100-piece floor puzzle shows the arteries, aortas, ventricles, valves, and more at 6x magnification making it a centerpiece for science studies. There is also an anatomy reference guide that labels everything for you and your children. 

The colors are bright and clear. The puzzle pieces themselves are well made and should stand up to being put together and taken apart many, many times. The box itself is also wonderful because it is sturdy and has a Velcro close. It is easy for our daughter to open and close as she completes the human heart puzzle on her own.

Whether you are using a secular or Christian homeschool curriculum, the human heart puzzle would be a nice addition to your anatomy lessons. Not only is it fun but it is also educational. I think it would also be valuable for co-ops. You could have the children put it together as a team or merely have it on display for viewing and labeling of the different parts of the human heart. 

Both our younger children, aged seven and nine, enjoyed this jigsaw puzzle. Our son compared it to the Dr. Livingston's Anatomy Jigsaw Puzzle: The Human Thorax we completed with our oldest when he was in high school. He said it is like that puzzle but easier. "It is a handleable size." 

Our daughter said it is a good idea to do the puzzle because it teaches people what the heart looks like. She said, "It is fun to make your own heart." And she often asks if she can put the puzzle together while I am completing homeschool tasks with her brother. 

I would recommend this 28-inch by 22-inch floor puzzle to families with children ages six and up. While you may not use the anatomy reference guide with your younger children, it is a great inclusion for when you will be studying the human heart as they get older.

Genius Games has also released the human brain and the human body floor puzzles. I hope that they continue to release more anatomy puzzles for younger children as they will make for great additions to science classes for years to come.

Do you want to get 20% off any of the puzzles offered by Genius Games? Use the promo code: KIDSPUZZLES. 

Blogging through the Alphabet: M is for Magruder

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Confederate General John Bankhead Magruder (May 1, 1807-February 19, 1871) was known for his manners and his theatrics. Thanks to his tactics during the Peninsula Campaign in 1862, the Union did not advance as quickly as it could have onto the Confederates. He would serve in the military for three different nations, but outside of the American Civil War history, he probably is not as well known as other Confederate generals like Lee and Jackson. 

Career Military Officer 

Magruder was a career military officer. He served in the military of three different nations: the United States, the Confederacy, and the Imperial Mexican Army. After graduating from West Point as a second lieutenant, he would go on to serve in the Mexican-American War as so many future Civil War soldiers would do. He fought at Vera Cruz, Cerro Gordo, Contreras, Molino del Rey, Chapultepec, and Mexico City. 

He left to join the Confederacy when Virginia, his home state, succeeded on April 17, 1862. He was given the job of protecting the capital city of Richmond. He would direct the building of fortifications in the Virginia Peninsula and play a role using military deception. 

Magruder's Theatrics 

In April of 1862, there were approximately 13,000 Confederates under the command of Magruder. To delay Union General McClellan and his men, Magruder marched his infantry in circles outside of Yorktown. He also had his artillery fire from a variety of places to give the impression that there was more than he actually had at his disposal. "Prince John" Magruder wanted to give the idea that he had more men than he actually did and he succeeded!

Side note: He was called "Prince John" because of his manners and social graces. 

McClellan reacted just like Magruder had planned. He dug in for a siege because he thought there were more Confederates near Yorktown than there actually were at the time. McClellan believed he was in a much more difficult position than he actually was. This all delayed the Union movement during the Peninsula Campaign. 

There was a repeat performance at Chickahominy in 1862. Magruder was in charge of 27,000 men holding the line east of the city of Richmond. He instituted a few different techniques to help give the illusion that there were more Confederates again. The infantry lined up in attack formation and made small attacks on the Union defenses. He also had his officers call to imaginary regiments. Even though the Union was in good shape and they could have attacked on June 27, 1862, they didn't. Magruder was successful again in his theatrics. 

Even though he was successful in slowing the Union forces during the Peninsula Campaign, Magruder's performance was criticized and he was sent west. There were some problems during the Seven Days Battles, and it is debated how much Magruder deserved the criticism. Lee reassigned him to the District of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona in 1863. He would spend the remainder of the American Civil War in the Western Theater.

Ruse de Guerre 

Magruder's tactics included using military deception of as the French call it: ruse de guerre (ruse of war). There are two ways we can define ruse de guerre. As either military deception or using creative or clear means to achieve a military goal. 

We've seen this idea throughout history from the use of the Trojan Horse to Alexander the Great marching his men back and forth to give the impression that they didn't know where to cross a river so they could surprise attack. During World War I, the British flew the American flag on some ships to avoid German submarine attacks. Prior to WWI, the Japanese lured the Russians out of Port Arthur during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904. These are only a few examples from military history. As you can see these tactics have played a key role throughout all of history. Magruder was among some of the best military minds when he engaged in his theatrics. 

Read more about Magruder and his actions in the Seven Days Battles here: Emerging Civil War. 

Images from U.S. History Images. 

Dice, Decks, and Boards: Challenge Your Mind With Horse Academy

 

I received a COMPLIMENTARY copy of this game from Timberdoodle in exchange for my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review, nor was I compensated in any other way. This post contains affiliate links. For more information, please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page. Thank you.

Games are a great way to challenge your mind. There are many ways you can keep different skills fresh no matter what kind of game you are playing. Games help us: 

• Build critical thinking skills
• Practice cooperation, collaboration, and learning to win or lose with grace 
• Keep reading and/or math skills in use
• Use logic
• Practice problem solving 
• Work on planning
• And more! 

Some games are better equipped to help you and your children work on these skills and ideas than others. For example, while the popular -opoly games may help us learn and practice how to lose graciously, games like Horse Academy can help build cognitive skills like spatial insight, planning, and problem-solving. As it is a one-player game, it can also help with patience if there is more than one who wants to work on the challenge at one time.

What is Horse Academy? 

Horse Academy is a one-person puzzle game from Smart Games where players need to create a path for their horse to jump over obstacles in a specific sequence to reach the exit gate. The box contains

• 1 game board 
• 1 exit gate 
• 10 puzzle pieces with obstacles and paths
• 1 horse with a rider
• Booklet with 80 challenges
• 1 sticker sheet with instructions on where to download timesheets 

There are five levels of challenges: 

• Starter
• Junior 
• Expert
• Master
• Wizard 

You look at the challenge to pick out the pieces you need and find out where to place the start and finish pieces (except at the wizard level where they don't tell you the starter or end position). Your horse follows the path in the order laid out in the challenge without changing course. There are some additional specifications regarding turning, order, and color in the booklet. 

Our Thoughts on Horse Academy 

At first, I was a bit confused, but I found once we started trying to solve the challenges, it was easy to get the knack of this one-person puzzle game. I did not give our daughter too much instruction once she got started. We ran through a couple of the challenges together, and then I went to help her brother with another one-person puzzle game from Timberdoodle that he is helping us review.

When I asked our daughter what she thought of this challenging puzzle game, she told me that it would help people learn about horses. She said, "the puzzles are not difficult. They are fun. They are not too hard." She also gave the advice that "you have to stay on the road. Make your horse jump over the fences. Some paths are wriggly and shaky. Like challenge number 10."

I really liked how she took quickly to Horse Academy and worked through the challenges without even realizing she was using critical thinking skills. Her mind was being challenged but she did not know it. She just saw it as having fun. 

The pieces are hard plastic and fit well together on the game board. It all fits neatly in the box too which is wonderful for storage and organization. I really appreciate games that go back into the box easily. 

As a homeschooling mom of two elementary-aged children, I like having one-person games that focus on cognitive skills. While working with her brother, our daughter can have fun while building her critical thinking skills. 

I would recommend Horse Academy to families of both homeschooled and non-homeschooled children. It is a great game for those times when a child needs to amuse themselves. It is part of the 2022 Third-Grade Curriculum Kit at Timberdoodle which seems like a perfect fit to me. Our daughter is going to be in second grade and while she can do the easier challenges, I think the higher-level ones will be a bit too challenging without help. 

Interested in More Products from Timberdoodle 

Read my reviews of Battle Sheep in Building Critical Thinking Skills with Games, Me: A Compendium, in Documenting Memories with your Homeschooled Children: A Review of Me: A Compendium, or the Tiger Art Crystal Card Kit in Art in Our Homeschool: A Review of Tiger Crystal Art Card Kit. 

Crafts: Create a Shark Filled Ocean

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When you hear the word, "Shark," what do you imagine? Are you seeing a terrifying creature jumping out of the ocean to attack any animal in sight? Or are you fondly remembering a fun trip to a touch tank at your local aquarium? 

Sharks are often considered one of the most fearsome animals in the world. Yet not all sharks rank among the top scary ones. After all, there are over 400 different species of sharks in the ocean. They can't all be scary.

Even though there are 50 species of sharks that are considered potentially dangerous to humans, they don't regularly go around attacking humans. There are some easy tips you can apply to stay safe when swimming in waters frequented by sharks who may pose a threat. You can read ten tips at National Geographic or eight safety tips at Australian Geographic. 

For your craft, you can decide upon a variety of sharks. For example, you could draw and cut out one of the following types: 

• Basking Shark
• Bull Shark 
• Great White Shark
• Hammerhead Shark
• Mako Shark 
• Nurse Shark
• Whale Shark
• Thresher Shark 

Materials

• Two paper plates 
• One paper fastener 
• Blue paint and/or markers 
• Paintbrushes 
• Scissors 
• Shark cut-out (you can draw this or download clipart to print out) 
• Glue stick  

Steps 

Gather all your materials for your shark craft. 

Cut a quarter of one paper plate. 

Paint both paper plates with various shades of blue. 

Allow your plates to dry. While they are drying, draw and cut out your shark.

After your paper plates are dry, glue your shark onto the paper plate that is NOT cut. Position the shark so that part of it will be seen through the slice of the cut paper plate. You can add more than one shark if you wish. 

Attach the cut paper plate to the top of the whole one with the paper fastener. 

Now turn your top paper plate so that the shark disappears behind the waves. 

 

Want to learn more about sharks? 

SchoolhouseTeachers.com has several courses that your elementary-aged student or high school student can learn about sharks and marine life in general. In All About Animals, our first or second graders will read through a variety of colorful eBooks to learn about different wild animals. In Under the Sea, your child will read about dolphins, whales, rays, crabs, and the shark! Realistic drawings and photographs highlight the different species of sharks and share the different parts of the shark body. 

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Create your own shark paper bag puppet!