Category Archives: Book Projects
Pinkalicious Party
Today my girls had a PINKALICIOUS party at our local public library. It was an all girl party and every girl was dressed all in pink! First we read the story by Victoria Kann. Then everyone danced and twirled to … Continue reading
Percy Jackson and The Lightning Thief Book Report
We like to share things that our kids do at our homeschools so that you can see what the real work from real kids looks like and to give our kid’s confidence a boost as their work is published. We’d … Continue reading
Wheels! Book Project
Garrett, five, did this book project last week. He read Wheels! by Annie Cobb. For his project he thought of other places we use wheels, places not mentioned in the book, and he made his own book. First he drew … Continue reading
Canterbury Tales for Kids
The Canterbury Tales were written by Geoffrey Chaucer in England toward the end of the 1300′s. Less than fifty years earlier the Black Death had swept through Europe, killing perhaps a third of the population, the peasants of England had … Continue reading
The Night Before Christmas
Every year we read several versions of “The Night Before Christmas,” the classic poem by Clement Clarke Moore. It’s really interesting to read the same poem over and over, but with different interpretations by various illustrators. Today we read a … Continue reading
Snowmen At Night–The Rest Of The Story
One of our favorite wintertime books is Snowmen At Night by Caralyn and Mark Buehner. We love the roly poly pictures including snowmen with their parts knocked off, snowmen tumbling down hills, and snowmen being dragged home after a rough … Continue reading
Book Project: The Gingerbread Man
We continue to have school time and do lots of learning activities throughout December, but we also spend a good deal of time focusing on the holidays and just enjoying the time we have as a family. We lighten our … Continue reading
Book Project: Harry Potter, and a Wizard Wand Tutorial too!
Keep reading for a tutorial on how to make these amazing wizard wands! Any of our long time readers know what huge Harry Potter fans we are. Michelle lovingly calls her homeschool Copher’s School of Mishaps and Mayhem (a wee … Continue reading
Book Projects: Ali Baba
We’re learning about the start of Islam in history and in geography we’ve been learning about the Arabian Peninsula. We read several books on these topics and then the boys chose The Tale of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves … Continue reading
Making A Case For Fairy Tales
All people should spend time engaged in classic literature. It stretches our minds and causes us to analyze issues, think about themes, and see the world a little bit differently. I generally base my book judgments on whether or not … Continue reading
Double Setting Box
Recently I had both of my big kids make double setting boxes for a book project. They learned what the setting in a story is, and then when they read a book from one of our favorite young reader series, the … Continue reading
Penguin Craft
My kids and I read a book on penguins and then made this craft. You need paper, crayons, pens, or paints, glitter, googly eyes, colored construction paper, scissors, pencils, and glue. The glitter and the paints are optional, depending on … Continue reading
Puppet Play Book Project
Photo from Ready, Set, Read I’m always on the lookout for fun book projects, and came across this great idea from Ready, Set, Read. She tells how young kids can create puppet shows based on picture books. What I love … Continue reading
Swan Craft
Make a swan from a paper plate and paper. First fold the paper plate in half. Then cut hand prints out of white paper. Staple the hand prints to the back side of the paper plate to make a tail. … Continue reading
8 Fun Book Projects and 8 Great Books
Tired of boring old book reports? I got as tired of reading them as my kids were of writing them! Try a Layers of Learning-style book project instead… 1. Imagine YOU are the author of the book you just read. … Continue reading
Sleeping Beauty
Fairy Tales can be a great jumping off place for meeting educational goals with your kids. Begin by telling the kids the story of Sleeping Beauty. There are many great versions out there. For a basic and complete anthology of … Continue reading
Book Project: Stone Soup
We just read Stone Soup by Anne McGovern. I adore this version of the classic story. The language was so charming that I couldn’t help but read it with a bit of an old fashioned English accent. The characters came … Continue reading
Book Project: The Candy Shop War
The Candy Shop War, by Brandon Mull, is an excellent read. Some kids in a small town discover a new candy shop in town, a magical candy shop! They begin going on secret missions for the shop’s old woman owner … Continue reading
The Prince: How to Maintain Your Power At All Costs
Niccolo Machiavelli, an Italian, wrote a book called The Prince. It is dedicated very ingratiatingly to Lorenzo Di Piero De Medici. Machiavelli outlines, very confidently, how a ruler should behave in his or her role over their people. He argues … Continue reading
Book Report Cards
Kids are always the ones getting the grades; it’s time to turn the tables and let them do the grading. This printable form is a book report card. Instead of a typical book report, kids can fill out the report … Continue reading
Character Wanted Posters
WANTED posters make terrific character sketches (even if your character isn’t a bandit or a criminal-type!). Kids get a chance to write a description of both the appearance and personality of their character. They also write where you might expect … Continue reading
Book Project: The Blind Men and the Elephant
The Blind Men and the Elephant is an old traditional story that has been told countless times across many cultures. The story goes that 6 blind men came up to and elephant and discovered what it was like, relying only … Continue reading
List of Book Projects
I love having my kids do book projects instead of just book reports. Each week I let them choose their own book and their own project. Fairly often they want help from me on deciding just what to do. I … Continue reading
Book Project: Where the Wild Things Are
Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak is one of my all time favorite children’s books. It’s been sitting on my shelf since before my son was born, just waiting for his arrival so I could share it with … Continue reading
Pairing Fiction and Non-Fiction Books
I love pairing fiction with non-fiction books when I read to my kids. I usually start by reading the fiction book. For example, “Frog and Toad Are Friends” is a classic tale of two silly friends who converse and have … Continue reading
Book Project: Book Reviews
Unlike most of the book projects we suggest, this particular one will work for any book, and for almost any age, elementary through high school and even beyond. Choose any book you’ve read and write a book review on it. … Continue reading
Book Project: Hansel and Gretel
For a book project this week we read several versions of Hansel and Gretel. I asked the kids how the stories were the same, and how they were different. It’s amazing how many changes we found in each new version. … Continue reading
Animal Farm
There are some books that nearly everyone reads. Animal Farm by George Orwell is one of those. It’s read universally for its important messages. It’s your job as a parent/teacher to get that message across to the kids. I’ve been … Continue reading
Book Project: Rainbow Fish
We read Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister. This is one of those classic children’s books you can’t help but love. Between the amazingly beautiful pictures, sweet story, and the through and through great message, you’re destined to want this one … Continue reading
Giving Blankets and The Giving Tree
When I think about all the things I most want my kids to learn, math, reading, science, literature, and history are only the beginning. What I really want most is for them to learn to be GOOD people, people who … Continue reading
Book Project on Bridges
Every week the kids choose a book they’ve read and do a book project on it. It’s been awhile since we’ve posted any, so I’ll explain again what a book project is all about. Basically, it’s a book report minus … Continue reading
Teaching Tall Tales
Teaching tall tales to kids is really fun because it’s one time that you get to encourage lying!! Tall tales have been around for centuries, but they really became popular in the early 1800′s in America. They are sometimes called … Continue reading
Book Discussions With Teens
By the time kids are in Middle School they need to be not just absorbing facts, but analysing them as well. A great way to help them do this is to discuss books and ideas with them. Teach them to … Continue reading
African Folk Tales
Folk tales are a great way to learn more about a culture from either a historical or modern perspective. Here’s a project using an African folk tale from Nigeria, called Anansi and Turtle. It’s a moral tale somewhat like Aesop’s … Continue reading
