My children and I are in the middle of a 4-week Ancient Greece study which has been nothing but marvelous!
Sparta and Athens, learning about a marathon, culture and daily life, mathematics and science contributions, and of course, the Olympics!
So I was thrilled to find out about a new Summer Games Chalk Pastel ebook from You are an Artist!
Perfect timing!
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We’ve read quite a bit about the Olympics and how the Ancient Greeks valued strength and bravery. My children and I have also researched a few of the actual races and events in which the Ancient Greeks competed.
So now our focus can shift a bit to what the modern day Olympic Games look like. Since the Summer Games are coming up in August, our focus has been on those events.
► What types of summer games will take place this summer?
► What events are similar to those in which Ancient Greek athletes competed?
► What summer games am I most looking forward to watching?
Of course we’ll concentrate a bit of time on Rio de Janeiro and it’s climate, geography, people, and customs, but that’s for a different day’s study.
Today’s chalk pastel is all about the Summer Games themselves!
Laurel Wreath Chalk Pastel
We decided to start out “easy” with a laurel wreath chalk pastel from the Summer Games ebook.
We always have the same routine when creating a chalk pastel:
- My children and I scroll through each possibility in the ebook
- We all decide on a scene to tackle
- I read the directions aloud as my kiddos create their masterpieces
It is so much fun to do it this way, altogether as a one-room schoolhouse!
While a majority of our learning takes place in this method, it’s always readily apparent to me when we are working on art together.
Such great memories!
This Laurel Wreath pastel was just the perfect starting place for our art morning. My youngest girls immediately recognized the laurel wreaths since we have talked about them several times over the past few weeks and seen quite a few pictures in our readings.
I was so proud of their work!
One of the many things I love about chalk pastels is that even my youngest (now 5) can easily participate with us. In fact, she’s been sitting at the table for our chalk pastel time since she was 3.
It’s the perfect art activity for the old and young alike!
Archery Practice Chalk Pastel
After working on our laurel wreaths, we hopped over to the archery scene in the Summer Games ebook. We were all drawn by the brilliant, bold colors!
My children used a piece of light blue card stock for this project so the white around the target would show up better.
And we were not disappointed, because this was the day’s favorite creation!
Each of my children had a unique perspective – they each chose to make their target sit differently on the page, and some arrows hit the bulls eye while some did not!
Chalk pastels lead my children and I down rabbit trails of great conversations.
Do you think the Olympic archers ever miss the target completely?
How heavy is the bow?
Does any country give out laurel wreaths today?
Chalk pastels add so much to a unit study, and I’m beyond thrilled we could spend our morning talking about the Olympic Games!
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The Summer Games Chalk Pastels ebook is on sale for 50% off starting today!
You can buy it at this introductory price of only $2.49 from April 15-18, 2016.
What a neat addition to your art appreciation time in your homeschool!
In fact everything in the whole You are an Artist store is 50% from April 15-18!
Grab this deal and have a whole year’s worth of chalk pastel tutorials to work on with your kiddos!
Spring Sentence Picture Match
Hello from Nana at Hodgepodge!
I so enjoyed your great work on the Summer Olympics! I could tell that you all enjoyed creating such wonderful works of art and learning about the upcoming Olympic Games! Know that this Nana is very proud that you used our book and had such wonderful pictures…and always remember: You are ALL artists!
Oh Nana! What a pleasure to read your comment! Thank you for taking a few moments to stop by – my kiddos were thrilled to read your note! 🙂