SOTW Chapter 25: Alexander the Great

I missed a few chapters there . . . I've been planning to go back and write posts for all of the chapters (or at least all the ones for which we did projects), but our computer crashed a couple of weeks ago, and we hadn't backed up our pics (I know, I know . . .).  So, now most of those pictures are inaccessible unless my brother can work some computer magic in a couple of weeks when we go to visit, and I've learned my lesson!  Anyway, hopefully at some point I will be able to go back and add those posts, with or without pictures, but I'm going to try to keep current with what we're completing now.

So, chapter 25!  Connor has really seemed to enjoy learning about Alexander the Great.  There are 3 sections to this chapter, and we read and narrated each one, he colored the coloring page, and he completed the map work.  For additional reading, we/he read the beautifully illustrated Alexander the Great by Demi,

The Secret of Alexander's Horse by Tony Palazzo, and Alexander the Great: The Life of a King and Conqueror by Rob Shone.

Connor, who is quite the horse lover, really enjoyed the story of Alexander taming Bucephalus (his horse), so this chapter's hands-on project was a no-brainer: we made Bucephalus stick horses.

I was amazed to find that Home Depot really did carry broomsticks without the brooms like the activity guide said, although they're a bit longer than I'd like (small house + excited boys + long broomsticks = anxious mommy).  They were also inexpensive (less than $5).  I decided that copying the horse-head pattern from the book free-hand would be less hassle than taking it somewhere to have it blown up, and I was pleased with the results:

Then I used a box cutter to cut it out and used it as the pattern to make 3 more--2 sides for each head.

Connor painted his black (since Bucephalus was black), but Brennan decided he wanted a brown horse.  They both glued manes to one of their sides and then let them dry.

The next day, I used tacky glue to glue the sides together, leaving the bottom of the neck open to insert the broomstick.  When they were dry (we waited until the next day to be sure), we carefully pushed the broomsticks into the slots and added reins (clothesline rope we had on hand).

They turned out really cute.  They're still a bit hazardous around the house, though!