Figures In Motion

I received this complimentary product through the 

Homeschool Review Crew.

Figures in Motion is a creative way to help bring history to life by the use of articulated puppets of famous people throughout history. My daughter is currently studying history from Creation through the early 21st Century. We have been using Famous Figures of the Middle Ages & Renaissance during our studies. The book contains 21 famous people along with a short biography of each person. Each cut-out paper doll comes in two versions: one colored and one black and white. The paper dolls are printed on wood free card stock. For longer lasting dolls it is suggested that you laminate the pages before you cut out the dolls. You will need an 1/8" round hole punch and mini brads. These can be purchased on the website or at your local craft store. Included at the beginning of the book is also a page entitled, Famous Figures of the The Middle Ages & Renaissance Reading List ~ Read-Aloud and Books for Independent Readers. This page includes a long list of books including titles and authors of books suggested to accompany this time period. These is also a "How to Use This Book" section. Figures in Motion is recommended for ages 6-12. 

 

What famous people are included:

• Justinian I
• Theodora
• Charlemagne
• Leif Eriksson
• William The Conqueror
• Richard The Lionheart
• Genghis Khan
• Francis of Assisi
• Marco Polo
• Suleiman The Magnificent
• Joan of Arc
• Johannes Gutenberg
• Christopher Columbus
• Isabella I
• Leonardo Da Vinci
• Michelangelo
• Martin Luther
• Henry VIII
• Elizabeth I
• William Shakespeare
• Galileo Galilei

After cutting out the dolls there are letters and either the word front or back notated on the back of the doll. This lets you know how to put the doll together. As you can see in the picture below it is very easy to put the figures together by following the positional directions. 

You simply use your hole punch to punch out the white circles on the figures. Then you take your mini brads and place them through the holes and secure them on the backside. 

Here is William the Conqueror all finished. 

Here is my daughter placing the mini brads.

Starting to assemble William the Conqueror. 

Making sure to hit the holes perfectly. 

Here is the posable Charlemagne figure all put together. 

Here is the brief biography for Charlemagne. 

After reading to this point you may be thinking, but how is this really going to help my child? How can making and playing with puppets help my child?

• Encourages creativity and imagination
• Reinforces history lessons in an engaging way
• Sparks an interest in history through play
• Provides tactile activities for kinesthetic learners
• Develops speaking and dramatic presentation skills
• Enriches learning and generates excitement
• Stimulates curiosity about the past
• Improves fine motor skills

Be sure to check out what my Fellow Crew Members had to say about Figures in Motion. We all reviewed various historical era's. They have multiple books covering famous figures from history including: Ancient Times, Early Modern Era, American Revolution, Civil War, and Queen Esther. They also have Coloring eBooks. And for the kiddo in your house that loves dinosaurs they also have a Dinosaurs on the Move book. I think that Figures in Motion is a great hands-on learning tool. When young children play, and create while learning they tend to retain more of what they are learning. You can even get a FREE King Tut puppet. 

Social Media

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/figuresinmotionbooks/ 
Twitter: https://twitter.com/FiguresInMotion 
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/figuresinmotionbooks/ 
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/figuresinmotion/_created/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCwr8ROHgSkGmCrutlMg76KQ

ARTistic Pursuits

I received this complimentary product through the 

Homeschool Review Crew.

 

Beginning Level, Art Core 1, Drawing With Graphite Pencils is just one of the many wonderful art curriculum that can be found through ARTistic Pursuits. ARTistic Pursuits offers art instruction to homeschoolers from preschool through high school. With that said, many adults find ARTistic Pursuits to be a great option for learning art as well. The book come with both text and video instruction utilizing DVD and Blue-ray disks. It contains 36 projects. You can also opt to purchase an online version of the course. 

The materials needed for this course are:

• 4 graphite drawing pencils
• 1 Prismacolor white colored pencil
• 1 vinyl eraser
• 1 sketch/drawing pad
• 4-8 sheets of black construction paper
• scissors
• glue stick
• black marker

There are 4 types of lessons included which are:

1. Art Material Video Instruction
2. Creativity: Building a Visual Vocabulary 
3. American Art Appreciation and History
4. Master Lesson

Below in the art that my children did I will briefly explain each type of lesson. 

Creativity Lesson - Shape is an Element of Art

"These lessons guide learners to observe the topic in their own environment, make connections to real-world experiences, and create a work of art from their observations and ideas."

Master Lesson - Apply the Element of Space

"Learners create a work of art as they apply all that they've learned 

about the topic throughout the unit. They use a variety of references such as still

life objects, landscapes, portraiture, and photographs while selecting subjects of personal interest, taste, and choice."

Creativity Lesson - Value is an Element of Art

Creativity Lesson - Texture is an Element of Art

Master Lesson - Apply the Element of Shape

Art Appreciation Lesson - American Artist and History

"Learners are shown how the topic is used in a master work of art. 

They discover facts about artists and the times they lived in before 

applying their new observations to a work of art that they create." 

The art appreciation lessons are very informative and interesting. For each of these lessons students will learn about an artistic form. One artist highlighted is Cecilia Beaux, Man with a Cat; 1898. In the painting the artist uses value changes show what form is like which can be seen in the folds in the man's clothing. It gives a brief synopsis of the artist. It also gives a brief synopsis of the time surrounding when the artist lived and what was going on in history. Then, like all lessons it has the student complete their own art. The description of what the student is to do is written in blue. 

Creativity Lesson - Form is an Element of Art

Master Lesson - Apply the Element of Texture

Art Material - Space

"Learners see how to use their art materials in a 6 to 10 minute video 

lesson. then they try their hand at the materials, applying what they've learned, 

as they work from direct observation."

Here is my youngest daughter listening to one of the instructional videos. My youngest daughter was not a huge fan of the videos. She gets EASILY FRUSTRATED and EASILY GIVES UP when something gets too hard, especially something that she is not good at. She has a couple of older siblings and one in particular that is an amazing artist and so she tends to shy away from art. Just like her older sister she kept on saying, "Seriously, like I could do this! She makes it look SO EASY!!" My youngest daughter works better with a step-by-step instructional guide in a book. I guess a work around would be to take snapshots of the videos and have her look at the progression of the examples. With that said, one of my other children loved the videos and found them helpful. 

Let's walk through a video lesson.

When deciding on the position of your object it is very important to 

choice the correct angle. In this picture you are simply focusing on

the tip of the tail.

In this picture you have a picture of a mohawk squirrel. 

This is a great angle of the squirrel for drawing. You can see the full tail,

its ear, its facial features, as well as its hand and foot. It is a great profile. 

You start out with simple shapes.

You then start to add in a bit of detail. 

You then form you body of the animal around your shapes.

After that you erase your shapes. 

You then begin adding the details and shading. 

You want to make the marks in the direction that the hair on the animal

would naturally grown. 

Steps utilized in this lesson:

Position To See

Draw

Use Shapes

Make Marks

Fill In Spaces

I would recommend any of ARTist Pursuits curriculum. We have used many of their art curriculum throughout our homeschooling years. Art is not an easy subject to teach, especially if you are like me and cannot even draw a decent stick figure. I have enjoyed using ARTistic Pursuits along with my children over the years as well. I actually sat and watched and drew along with my daughter during this review period. I find drawing to be quite relaxing. I sometimes actually impress myself. Be sure to see what my Fellow Crew Members had to say about this curriculum as well as many of the other ARTistic Pursuits curriculums that were reviewed. 

Social Media

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ArtisticPursuitsInc
Twitter: @ARTisticPursui1
Instagram: @artisticpursuitsinc
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCk75eIpDhZUqbr1On5xEQJQ

Bold Made

Bold Made is a spin off, of the classic Old Maid game that we all grew up playing. Bold Made features influential women throughout history. There are 10 categories, each with a different color: Inventors, Writers, Musicians, World Leaders, Artists, Aviators, Supreme Court Justices, Scientists, Astronauts, and Activists. In the instruction booklet you can read all the bios of the included women such as: Jane Austen, Anne Frank, Maddalena Casulana, Georgia O’ Keeffe, Amelia Earhart, Marie Curie, Harriet Tubman, and Malala Yousafzai. Bold Made is targeted for ages 7 and older. It takes approximately 15 to 30 minutes to play the game. The game is for 2 to 4 players. The goal of Bold Made is to be the first player to either collect 3 sets of 4 Bold Women or end the game with the highest score! What is unique about Bold Made is that each category is represented by a different color and has a category icon and name at the top of the card. Wild Cards can be used in place of Bold Woman Cards but cannot be used as sets themselves. A matching Wild Card could be used to grow your set to 3. The infamous Bold Made Card can be used as a Wild Card for any Category! This card is a silhouette of a woman in gold with a background of a rainbow of the colors that represent the ten categories. And of course, there are Action cards such as Take 2, Recruit, Replay, and Block. Overall, Bold Made is definitely a great upgrade to the original Old Maid game. For the much younger child, Bold Made can be used as a matching game. It goes beyond just a game in that it teaches children about influential woman in our world. Woman who made a difference. 

Disclaimer: I received this for review in exchange for my honest opinion. 

Confetti Eggs