my fathers world

Permanently Frozen

- Mama 2 Comments

In Kansas, sometimes it seems that the frost will never go away. It seems like, when it’s still snowing in May, the ground will stay hard, and the moisture will never sink into the ground. But then, just days later, we end up getting sunny, stellar weather, and the hard ground softens with warmth and rain, the temperatures getting back to normal.

There are many parts of the world where this isn’t the case, though! In Siberia, for example, there is a thing called “Permafrost,” where the ground never fully unfreezes. Even though the top of the ground will soften during the warmer seasons, deep down, it stays frozen, hard, and impossible to soak or build down through. When we were studying Russia, we encountered this fact, but we never fully understood how this would affect life.

Luckily, we encountered this great experiment in our My Father’s World curriculum that gave us a better visual representation of what permafrost looked like, and it used simple household materials: a bowl, Jell-O, dirt, and ice.

Start by making Jell-O! Any flavor will work, including the unflavored, but we just happened to have some Cherry Jell-O on hand. You’ll want to prepare it in a glass or otherwise clear bowl so you can see the effect it creates!

Once it’s set, it’s all ready to go!

Cover that perfectly good Jell-O with a layer of dessert (if you’re smart, unlike us, you’ll make a second set of Jell-O before getting to this step… because you’ll sit there craving it through the whole lesson!)

Once you’ve got a good couple of inches of dirt, you’ll want to top that with some ice!

Now that you’ve got the ice on there, you’ve got a fairly decent representation of Siberia. It’s time to sit back and wait.

You see, the Jell-O represents the permafrost. The dirt is, well, dirt. It represents the ground in Siberia. And finally, the ice is the frozen tundra, which will thaw and melt, and you’ll see how the permafrost affects it.

At first, from a side view, you’ll notice nothing is happening. There will be an ice layer, a dirt layer, and a permafrost layer.

As the ice melts (as though spring and summer are coming!), you’ll notice that the ground gets soggy…

…but the sogginess doesn’t permeate or soak into the Permafrost (Jell-O) layer at all!

Eventually, your ice will totally melt! Summer has arrived!

But look… it still never fully permeates the permafrost! There is always that layer there– meaning the ground will be very soggy.

So what does this mean for people who live in Siberia? For one, paths are really muddy! But the worst part is that muddy ground like that will obviously provide a very unstable surface to build on. It means that many of the older homes are uneven and sinking into the ground. Newer buildings must be built up on stilts that sink far into the ground, allowing them to stay sturdy and stable, so they don’t sink or fall into the ground. It can cause some major problems when you spend time dealing with all of the water on the surface or extra mud.

Permafrost is a difficult concept to figure out or explain sometimes, but this is a great, visual way to show how permafrost works, and the effects that it has on structures and surfaces in Siberia.

 

DIY Brazilian Carnival Masks for Kids

- Mama 5 Comments

Recently in our trip through Exploring Countries and Cultures from My Father’s World as part of our homeschooling lessons, we “visited” the country of Brazil.

Brazil is near and dear to our heart because of our exchange students… in fact, Jeffrey and I have a brother from Brazil! It was so exciting to get to learn more about the country, and while we were there, we decided to make some fun masks for Carnival!

To start, you’ll want to make sure that you have tissue paper, paper mache paste (we like the combo of glue and water!), and some base masks. We found a 3 pack of masks for less than $2 at Hobby Lobby.

We started by re-using some tissue paper from my tissue paper clouds that hung from the ceiling of my Rice Krispie party. We decided that, since we needed white tissue paper anyway, that it would be better to re-use our paper from a previous project than to purchase new paper.

Those strips of tissue paper were then dipped into our paper mache mixture. We typically use a mixture of glue and water, but, of course, you can use any kind of paper mache mixture that you prefer for this project. If you use a flour paper mache mixture, though, be sure that you store your masks very carefully to avoid any bugs or animals getting into it.

Press the excess liquid off of the tissue paper, and then…

Lay it on the mask, smoothing out air pockets and bubbles. The tissue paper will allow you to paint with watercolors on the mask, since the mask surface is too slick for traditional watercolors. It also adds some stability.

Continue until the mask is entirely covered. Consider a second layer to be sure you’ve gotten all the spots taken care of, and make sure to smooth out the strips as much as possible.

Let those masks dry completely. Overnight works best, if you can wait!

While you wait, take some time to read about Carnival and what it really means.

Carnival is held 46 days before the Easter, marking the beginning of the Lenten season, and ends at the beginning of Lent. It’s considered a big feast and major celebration throughout Brazil. Carnival often includes major parades led by samba schools, which have great rhythm and festivity, as well as costume. These are for the public to view. In other areas, there are smaller parades that encourage the public to participate! Different music and costume are found in different cities of Brazil, so the Carnival experience is different from state to state.

Because Carnival is such a huge part of culture, aside from the Carnival-related businesses, things almost shut down completely so everyone can enjoy Carnival, with activities going on almost 24 hours a day for the entire week.

But why the masks? Well, when Carnival first started, it took inspiration from some of the activities in Europe, where masks were common. They are used to disguise the appearance. You can regularly see the party-goers wearing masks, which come in two basic styles. A full-faced mask often exaggerates facial features or may even take on an animal form. These are beautiful, but often heavy or hot, so only the most dedicated carnival-goers tend to wear those.

The other alternative is the one you see here, the half mask. It’s a great way to get in on the fun of wearing a mask, without it being too hot or heavy!

Now, it’s time to PAINT!

Standard watercolor paints work well on the paper mache surface, but use whatever paint you have on hand or prefer working with.

Use the motif and colors that you like, or take a look at Carnival Masks online to get some ideas. We decided to just paint ours using our imaginations.

Let the paint dry completely once you’ve finished, and then feel free to add other embellishments, like glitter, feathers, beads, gems, and more! We decided to go with glitter and beads for ours!

Didn’t they turn out great?

Carnival as we know it actually started as a Portuguese tradition. In Portugal, it was a time called Entrudo, where everyone threw mud, water, and dirt on each other. But modern tradition actually started later, in the 1800’s, when a cobbler started having parades with his family and friends. Later, more organized parades got started, and by 1870, they started wearing masks and costumes!

The Samba schools actually didn’t start until 1928, so it is a relatively new start to a celebration that got it’s roots in the 1600’s. Not only do the influences come from European celebrations, but they also have some heavy African influences.

You can celebrate Carnival, too! While traditional Brazilian Carnival preparation starts as soon as the previous Carnival ends, you still have plenty of time to plan for Carnival 2013! Carnival will start February 8, 2013, and will end on Fat Tuesday, February 12. And, you can check out my Carnival pinterest board for awesome ideas for your very own Carnival celebration at home. While you’re there, be sure to follow me on Pinterest for plenty of great ideas for kid’s crafts and food ideas.

 

 

SNAP!

Mexican Paper Flowers

- Mama 6 Comments

Recently, we got done with a great unit on Mexico. This year, Jeffrey is going through a curriculum from My Father’s World called Exploring Countries and Cultures. We love the program, especially having so many exchange students in our lives, because it reinforces some of those cultural principles we’ve already been blessed enough to learn, while introducing many new cultures to us.

Our Mexico unit was a fun one because, while we’ve had many students from Spanish speaking countries in our lives, we’ve never actually had a student from Mexico, so even though it’s a close neighbor, Jeffrey has yet to have it play a direct role in his life. During our unit study, we learned about Cameron Townsend, who was a major pioneer in translating the Bible into many new languages. Jeffrey also worked on a report and powerpoint about Mexico, and learned many new things about the similarities and differences between Mexico and the United States.

While studying Mexico, we had a great opportunity to make Mexican Paper Flowers, a traditional craft that has been a part of Mexican tradition for over 200 years!

Paper crafting actually came to Mexico from the Philippines, and sometimes tissue paper is called papel de China (paper from China) or papel de seda (paper of silk). Many Americans know about Pinatas, which use tissue paper in bright colors, but these pretty paper flowers are another great craft using these papers!

Paper flowers were popular back when Spain ruled Mexico, before the 1800s, but back then the paper flowers were smaller and they weren’t brightly colorful like the ones we so often see today.

They used to be used in churches and homes, and were often white or cream in color, but when candles were used frequently in churches, the paper was so much of a fire hazard that churches ended up banning the flowers completely! After that, they became a lot less religiously-related, to the point that the flowers were considered “secular,” and from there, they ended up getting much brighter, too, using bright and exciting colors like the ones we chose for our craft project.

Paper flower artisans didn’t just stop with one type of flower, either… most of them started to look to nature and copy the shapes and styles of flowers like carnations, zinnias, and more! Many of the artists had skills passed down from their grandparents and parents to teach them the craft today, and the trade is very much woven into some artisans’ family history.

Start making your own Mexican paper flowers by stacking six sheets of tissue paper on top of each other. You can go with bright colors, like we did, or you can use a monochromatic scheme (all white or all black might be cool), or even try it with pastels, metallic tissue paper, or even newspaper; however, if you use newspaper or other thick paper, you may want fewer than six sheets, due to the extra thickness.

Fold your stack of papers accordion style, just like this.

Cut the folded papers in half– this gives you two paper flowers for the price (and effort!) of one! If you don’t cut them in half, they’re a little too big to really work with, but if you start with smaller paper to begin with instead of a full sheet, then you shouldn’t have any problems if you decide not to cut it in half. We are working with full sheets in this tutorial, so cutting it down helped us have a more manageable flower size.

This gives you two straight edges on each flower, like this…

Trim the edges down to points, like this…

Alternately, you could trim off the point I have there to make a different style point (more like an arrow) or you could round the corners, depending on the style you’d like. Use a string, a twist tie, a pipe cleaner, or some staples to attach the middle of the flower together, so you can fan out the sides easily.

Fan out the sides. If you see someone trying to take your picture out of the corner of your eye while you do so, make a ridiculous face in the process so they end up only having this photo of this step to put on their blog.

Goofball.

Once you have it fanned out, you can use some more staples or small pieces of tape to keep the sides together while you fluff out the layers. This is optional, but we decided on a little tape for each layer to keep it together.

Fluff the layers up. Crinkle them a bit. REALLY dig your fingers in between the layers and pull them up, being careful not to tear the paper too much. Fluff them up nice and fluffy, almost to a ball shape.

Here are four of our finished paper flowers. You can fluff them up more, if you’d like, but we decided ours were just how we wanted them!

These crafts aren’t just for fiestas, either, or for homeschool projects. You can literally use these at any party, just as long as you make them in the colors of your party. They’ve become very popular in weddings, and they look great at baby showers, birthdays, or any other fun party you can think of.

In Mexico, you often find them decorating homes, graves, altars, and parties. Tourists sometimes find these flowers to greet them when they arrive at a hotel, and in some regions, these flowers are even popular on cakes! It’s up to your imagination what you do with them, and since the color scheme is so open to customization, the sky really is the limit. Hang them from the ceilings, make small ones with pipe cleaner stems to put in a vase, tack tons of them to the walls as a backdrop.

Mexican paper flowers became popular in part because they’re much cheaper than actual flowers, and they look really pretty. No one has to know how easy they were to make, either… your secret is safe with me.

However you use them, these are a perfect way to honor Mexican tradition and artistry with a fun project that is easy for even young kids to work on.

Project adapted from A Trip Around the World, as part of our study from My Father’s World: Exploring Countries and Cultures.

 

SNAP!