Thursday, July 17, 2014

18 Timeline Games and Activities for Classically Catholic Memory or Classical Conversations

Posted by The Cotter Family
For all 18 weeks of CCM last year I came up with a different timeline game or activity for the kids to complete. I've compiled them here for your convenience.

(And I made my first Canva design to go with it. Um, yes, I have some learning to do, just ignore the blue stuff on the bottom.)


Catch Phrase

Play Catch Phrase with your timeline cards. For the phrases, have the players pick up a card from a pile in the middle of the circle when the disc comes their way. You can play with teams or work together to guess all 8 cards before the timer runs out. This is a great review game if you put multiples weeks in the pile!


Disappearing Timeline

Write down the entire timeline on a white board and have your students read it out loud. Then have them close their eyes while you erase one or two words. When they open their eyes have them read the timeline again, stating the missing word from memory. Do this over and over until the board is blank and the students have to recite all eight cards from memory.


Word Search

Give your students a word search with no word bank. Tell them clues for the words they need to find, such as "Leif _______ and the ______" (Erickson, Vikings). You can put together a word search for free at A to Z Teacher Stuff.


Bean Bag Toss

Tape the timeline cards to the floor and label eight bean bags (or bean animals) from 1-8. Have the students toss the bag labeled "1" to the first timeline card. When they successfully get the bag to land touching the first card then have them move on to the second bag and the second card and so on.


Missing Card

Lay the cards out in order on a table. Have one student close their eyes while another student removes one card from the sequence and squeezes the cards together so that the missing card is not apparent. The first student opens their eyes and determines where the missing card belongs and identifies the name of the card. In this case "The Alamo, the Republic of Texas, and the Mexican War" is missing.


Scrabble Challenge

Beginning with the first card of the week, have the students pick one word from the card and built it with scrabble tiles. Then have them pick one word from the next card and attach it to the first card's word. Continue in this fashion until one word from all eight cards have been added to the board. Finally, have them recite the timeline using the tiles for clues.


Tube Towers

Write the eight timeline cards on eight toilet paper tubes and have the students build a tower out of them in the correct order. While building, the tower will fall down several times, which gives them more practice in committing the order to memory. Brilliant, I know. This makes for a fun co-op game if you make two sets and have the kids race to see who can complete the tower, in the correct order, without it falling over, first.


Charades Meets Blind Man's Bluff

Have a student draw a timeline card and hold it up to their forehead so that everyone can see the card but them. Those who can see the card then act out the card until the student with the card on their forehead accurately guesses the card.


Sequence

Inspiration for this game comes from round two in Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego. Cover the backs of each of the cards with a 3x5 card and then place them all face down. Have the students take turns trying to flip over the cards in the correct sequence. If they turn over a card that is not the next card in the sequence, then their turn is over. Once someone can complete the full sequence without missing a card, they win.


Hangman

This game is like hangman, but instead of each letter getting a blank, each word gets a blank. Only letters that begin a word are written down. Below you see "Charlemagne Becomes Holy Roman Emperor". This game is best for cards that don't involve dates.


Card Hop

Place the cards around the room and have the students hop on them, in order, over and over again.


It's in the Bag

Place each card in a paper bag and then have the students alternate turns trying to find the first card in the sequence. Once the card has been found, removed the bag from the line and start looking for the next card. Do not tell the students which card they are looking for, rather once they find the card that they think is correct, have them check the back of the card to see if they are correct. If they are wrong, have them put the card back and try again.


$10,000 Pyramid

This game is a modified version of The $10,000 Pyramid. Begin by placing six of the cards facedown in a pyramid formation. Have one student turn the bottom left card over and describe the card to another student (who cannot see the cards) using only one word descriptors. (The real game uses phrases, but that's too much like the Catch Phrase game.) When the other student guesses the card correctly the first player moves to the next card. The team has 60 seconds to get all 6 cards. This is a great way to review old cards!


Crossword Puzzle

You can create a crossword puzzle using the timeline phrases at Worksheet Works.


Hide and Seek

Hide the cards around your house or backyard. Once all of the cards have been found have the kids put them in order. Younger kids love it when you hid things... it's like Easter.


Gone Fishing

Give a student a fishing pole made from a piece of string, stick, and magnet ring. Attach a large paperclip to each timeline card and spread them out in a "pond". Have the student catch the cards in order. If they catch a card out of sequence, throw it back in the pond.


Pictionary

Use the timeline cards to play Pictionary! I really don't think I need to explain this one.


Word Scramble

Create a timeline word scramble using the word scramble maker at Worksheet Works.


What games do you play with your timeline cards?

Be saints, it's worth it!
Lisa
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Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Journey Across America: Mississippi

Posted by The Cotter Family
This post is part of a 50 state Journey Across America. For information on the basics of this project check out this post.

The Books:
We began by reading M is for Magnolia and then Bean used the information she learned to make a notebook page for her United States scrapbook.

For Mississippi picture books we read Freedom Summer and Growing Seasons. 


We also taught the kids about Mississippi using the Our United States of America: Catholic Social Studies textbook.

The Food:
Was there really any contest for our Mississippi food? Of course we made Mississippi Mud Pie! We used an easy recipe from food.com and made it even easier by using a pre-made graham cracker crust.


The Craft:
In honor of The Great Mississippi River Balloon Race, we made a hot air balloon mobile using instructions from Sew Homegrown. We didn't paint them like she did... I know the cuteness factor just went down, but this mobile is still hanging in Bean's room, so it's okay.


Our Journey takes us to Illinois next!

Be saints, it's worth it!
Lisa
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Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Journey Across America: Indiana

Posted by The Cotter Family
This post is part of a 50 state Journey Across America. For information on the basics of this project check out this post.

The Books:
We began by reading H is for Hoosier and then Bean used the information she learned to make a notebook page for her United States scrapbook.

For picture books we read The Floating House and Log Cabin in the Woods.


We also taught the kids about Indiana using the Our United States of America: Catholic Social Studies textbook.

The Food:
For a quick snack we had some Orville Redenbacher popcorn, because Orville was born in Brazil, Indiana.


We also made Indiana Bread Pudding from The United States Cookbook. The book selected bread pudding for it's Indiana recipe because Indiana is a leading producer of eggs. This was an easy recipe for the kids to do without much adult help!


The Craft:
Indianapolis is home to the Indy 500, so we made some race cars! I found these cute toilet paper tube cars on a hungarian blog. While I couldn't read the directions, the blogger took detailed pictures so I was able to figure it out! We also watched the highlights of a recent race on youtube. 3 to 3.5 hours compressed into 16 minutes... perfect.


Mississippi is up next!

Be saints, it's worth it!
Lisa
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Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Ideas for July Feast Days and Celebrations

Posted by The Cotter Family
Here are some of our favorite traditions for the month of July. This is by no means an exhaustive list, rather it's my way of creating a resource that I plan to revisit each year for myself! I hope you can find it beneficial as well!

Month of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus

Other Ideas:
July 1st: Bl. Junipero Serra

Other Ideas:
July 4th: Independence Day


Craft: Declaration of Independence: DLTK-kids

Other Ideas:
  • Decorations:
July 11th: St. Benedict

Other Ideas:
July 14th: St. Kateri Tekakwitha

Other Ideas:

July 26th: Joachim and Anne


(Red and green are St. Anne's colors.)

Other Ideas:
Be saints, it's worth it!
Lisa
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Tuesday, June 10, 2014

The Good Shepherd's Garden Party: Week 7

Posted by The Cotter Family
Inspired by Jessica and Charlotte we have an Easter tradition in our home of celebrating the entire Easter season with the Garden of the Good Shepherd. The program consists of a daily prayer time in which you add a scripture inspired sticker to your garden. By the end of Easter season your scene is filled with reminders of Jesus, the good shepherd, and heaven.

This is our 3rd year having a weekly garden party at the end of each themed week. For dinner on Saturday we incorporate each sticker into our meal and talk about what we've learned from our nightly prayer time. It's a favorite tradition in our home and one that keeps the season of Easter alive.

Week 7: The Heavenly Zoo

This is it! Our final garden party for 2014. It's probably the most random of the parties, but hey, what can you expect when the theme includes four inedible birds?


Day 43: The Water


Perhaps the easiest symbol of all. There is water in there. We drank it. Check.

Day 44: The Deer


As a side dish, if you'll let me call pretzels a side dish, we had deer antler pretzels. 

Day 45: The Lion


For our main dish I made a lion pizza with pepperonis.

You can also buy lion bars! I picked some up at World Market to go with our other chocolate dessert.

Day 46: The Beehive


My beehive drink dispenser made a perfect holder for the water and served as the symbol for the beehive.

Day 47: The Peacock


I can't remember where I found these peacock feathers, but we used them to decorate the table. You could also make a cute peacock fruit platter!

Day 48: The Pelican


Our pelican was represented by a picture of a pelican, because I couldn't think of any food that could be used for the pelican. We placed him next to the phoenix tail shrimp so he could snack on them.

Day 49: The Phoenix


And here's the phoenix tail shrimp... sort of. Really I should have deep fat fried raw shrimp in a batter, but I didn't, because I want to see my children's children.

Day 50: The Dove


And to finish it all off, Dove dark chocolate. Look at how the wrappers are the liturgically correct color of red for Pentecost! I think Nestle had that in mind when they chose red for dark chocolate.

50 days, 50 prayer services, 50 symbols. It's sad to see Easter season pass, but what a memorable one we had!

Be saints, it's worth it!
Lisa
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Saturday, June 7, 2014

Journey Across America: Louisiana

Posted by The Cotter Family
This post is part of a 50 state Journey Across America. For information on the basics of this project check out this post.

The Books:
We began by reading P is for Pelican and then Bean used the information she learned to make a notebook page for her United States scrapbook.


I found some Cajun versions of several children's classics for us to read during Louisiana week. Check out Jacques and the Beanstalk, Petite Rouge, Three Little Cajuns, and Little Pierre (not based on a classic... it was just okay, definitely not our favorite) for a fun twist on some known tales. And to be boring and educational like, you can be like me and make your kids read Louisiana Purchase.

We also taught the kids about Louisiana using the Our United States of America: Catholic Social Studies textbook.

The Food:


Options for Louisiana food are nearly endless, but we aren't a family who loves cajun food, so we went with beignets, because we are a family who loves donuts. You can make them from scratch, buy boxed mixes, or make them from frozen dinner rolls. We did the frozen dinner rolls, because it's the easiest of the three options :). Check out Shower of Roses' recipe!

The Craft:

For our craft we made Mardi Gras masks. I found the supplies at The Dollar Tree, but if it's not Mardi Gras season, you can find them at Michael's.

Indiana is our next stop!

 Be saints, it's worth it!
Lisa
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Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Journey Across America: Ohio

Posted by The Cotter Family
This post is part of a 50 state Journey Across America. For information on the basics of this project check out this post.

The Books:
We began by reading B is for Buckeye and then Bean used the information she learned to make a notebook page for her United States scrapbook.


Picture books for Ohio included Lentil (one of our all time favorites!), One Giant Leap (Neil Armstrong was born in Ohio), and Warm as Wool. American Girl Kit is set in Ohio, so you can read her stories this week as well.

We also taught the kids about Ohio using the Our United States of America: Catholic Social Studies textbook.

The Food:


Tasty buckeyes were an easy pick for our Buckeye state food. They look like buckeye nuts, but aren't poisonous... just addicting. Kids can pull these off with minimal help!

The Craft:


In honor of Neil Armstrong, we made astronauts out of toilet paper tubes with this free printable from DLTK. Such a cinch!

Louisiana, we are coming for you next!

Be saints, it's worth it!
Lisa
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Tuesday, June 3, 2014

The Good Shepherd's Garden Party: Week 6

Posted by The Cotter Family
Inspired by Jessica and Charlotte we have an Easter tradition in our home of celebrating the entire Easter season with the Garden of the Good Shepherd. The program consists of a daily prayer time in which you add a scripture inspired sticker to your garden. By the end of Easter season your scene is filled with reminders of Jesus, the good shepherd, and heaven.

This is our 3rd year having a weekly garden party at the end of each themed week. For dinner on Saturday we incorporate each sticker into our meal and talk about what we've learned from our nightly prayer time. It's a favorite tradition in our home and one that keeps the season of Easter alive.

Week 6: Oh! What a Beautiful City


Day 36: The City's Gates


For the city gates I had Bean put together some grape gates by putting three grapes on several toothpicks and then forming them into arched gates. It would have been cool to make 12 gates, like described in Revelations!

Day 37: The Temple
 

Shirley Temples made for a perfect fun drink to go with our dinner.

The kids asked why the drink is called a Shirley Temple, so I showed them a video of On the Good Ship Lollypop after dinner. They had many questions, such as "Wait, is this a scary movie?", "Is the plane going to crash", "Is it really safe for her to be walking around the plane?" I guess I should have just stuck with "She was a child actress". :)

Day 38: Hallelujah

 
Musical entertainment was provided by Handel Messiah, Hallelujah Chorus. 

Day 39: The Thrones
 

And decorations consisted of embellished thrones for all. (Courtesy of Bean.)

Days 40 and 41: The Bride and The Groom

 
I made bride and groom chocolate covered strawberries for our dessert. They are always a fan favorite.

Day 42: The Crowns
 

Finally, for our main dish I made a chicken pot pie to represent the crowns. I had hopes that the crust would hold it's shape like below, but it fell flat in the oven. Chicken pot pie is Bean's favorite meal, so no one complained and it's still round like a crown.


Only one more week to go!

Be saints, it's worth it!
Lisa
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Sunday, June 1, 2014

Solemnity of the Ascension

Posted by The Cotter Family
For the Solemnity of the Ascension today we had a picnic, which is a long standing tradition in many parts of Europe.


It's also a bonus if you can have that picnic atop a mountain, because Christ ascended from a mountain.


We have a lot of those around here, so that wasn't hard to do.


(He's either pretending to be Lewis Meriwether or looking for Christ in the clouds, you choose.)

For our meal I pulled out some traditional and symbolic fare.


During the middle ages it was traditional for people to eat birds on Ascension Day because Christ flew to heaven. Rather than cook a whole bird, we had chicken sandwiches. In Italy it is traditional to eat grapes because Christ is the first fruit of all men.  So, we ate grapes. And for dessert we had vanilla pudding, which represented the white clouds that Jesus ascended into.

And now we interrupt this blog post for a cute photo of a baby.


After dinner we ventured out for a little "adventure hiking" as Pal calls it.


Everyone was throughly exhausted by the end of the day, and that's how we know we had a successful outing.


Be saints, it's worth it!
Lisa
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