Category Archives: Homeschool Coop

Lego Adventures at Homeschool Coop: Space Exploration

I have enjoyed teaching courses to kids at homeschool get togethers, church, 4H, and parks for many years. Sometimes these meetings are bible studies, other times they are classes held a local Homeschool Coops or Community programs.

On this day, I taught a Lego Adventures Bible Story class. We had a great time of learning, activities, and growing our faith. The kids learned about the fourth day of creation, when Father God created the Sun, Moon, and Stars. They also learned a little bit about man’s attempts at space exploration, man’s theories about space, and the differences in asteroids and comets.

I used a wonderful book called Purposeful Design to teach this class. I made a binder of lessons to go along with the book and also used a few printouts and coloring pages I gathered from free sources online. For props to teach the class, I brought a bible, earth in space puzzles, space flash cards, lots of Legos, space exploration mini figures, and I made a space exploration discovery bin. I brought enough items x 2 so that I could divide the class into two teams for a friendly competition too.

Space Flash Cards

For our bible learning, we studied the fourth day of creation. This is when Father God created the sun and moon and stars and put them in the firmament we call “space”, and created time and seasons (seasons are not just a change in the weather, but God designed them to be special appointments with Father called seasons when we have special feasts known as holidays or holy days) on the earth.

“God said, “I command lights to appear in the sky and to separate day from night and to show the time for seasons, special days, and years. I command them to shine on the earth.” And that’s what happened. God made two powerful lights, the brighter one to rule the day and the other to rule the night. He also made the stars. Then God put these lights in the sky to shine on the earth, to rule day and night, and to separate light from darkness. God looked at what he had done, and it was good. Evening came and then morning—that was the fourth day.” Genesis 1:14-19

The kids learned several vocabulary words and terms. I provided them with crossword puzzles, question and answer sheets, and coloring pages that related to their vocabulary words.

Sun, Moon, Stars, Asteroid, Comet, space shuttles, space pod, rockets, rocket fuel, space ships, satellites, space center, astronaut, gravity, rover vehicles, robotics, science experiment, space exploration, planets and their moons, Earth, Saturn, Mars.

Team Competitions:

We divided into two teams. Each team was given the exact same team kits. Each kit contained, an Earth in Space puzzle, space exploration props, black construction paper, and a box of random Legos.

We had two competitions also. The first was putting together a puzzle of the earth in space. The second competition was building a space exploration diorama and space exploration vehicle to explore Father God’s creation in the firmament.

At the end of the competition, we had a time of “Show and Tell” where each team gave a brief explanation of what they created and how it would be used based on what they had learned.

After our lesson, we went outside for some friendly games.

It was a great time and the kids had a lot of fun.

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Lego Adventures At Homeschool Coop

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David and Goliath Lego Adventures at Homeschool Coop.

We had a great time learning about robotics, physics, faith, and retelling a story using Legos at homeschool coop.

I chose the bible passage of 1 Samuel 17 for our lesson. This bible passage is about David going to visit his brothers who were in the Israelite Army. They were on the front lines in a battle against the Philistines. The Philistine Army had a warrior named Goliath. He was a giant of a man standing very tall and he was very strong and covered in metal plated armour, and no-one could defeat him in battle. He often said bad things to the Israelite Army and made fun of their God. He challenged them to a fight and if they could defeat him, his army would be their slaves, but if he defeated the Israelite who fought him, then the Israelite Army would be the slaves of the Philistines. David overheard this challenge and the horrible things Goliath said against God. David saw that everyone in the army was afraid, but he was not afraid and knew God would help him defeat the enemy of Israel and the enemy of God. David accepted the challenge to fight Goliath. He trusted in the Lord to help him. He chose five flat stones from a river bed and put one of the stones in his sling, swung it around, and let the stone go into the air. He had learned to fight off animals like wolves, lions, and bears that tried to attack his flock of sheep so he was very good with the sling shot. The stone hit Goliath in the forehead and killed him. David had trusted in God to deliver him from Goliath, and he defeated the enemy of Israel and the enemy of God.

The kids used Lego’s to retell the story. We also set up a robotic Goliath with Lego WeDo. The Goliath robot is built with Legos, pulley gears, worm gear, lever, motor, axle, and movable joints. The kids programmed the computer software program to tell Goliath to stand up and to sit / fall down. They can time his movements and change the speed, as well as program sound effects. They had Goliath stand up and growl his threats to the Army, programmed the sound of David, and his stone hitting Goliath, and then also programmed cheering by the Army after Goliath is hit with the stone and falls forward. It is really neat how you can program sound effects to go along with the robot’s movements.

Everyone took turns manipulating the computer software and retelling the story with Legos. They also take apart the giant and rearrange the location of motorized lever attachment to learn how placing this in different positions, and rearranging the software commands caused the giant to move (or not move). They could re-engineer the set up and try out different ideas. They also completed a coloring page about the battle between David and Goliath and a vocabulary word puzzle.

We also did some physics science in the gym. We used rubber bands for sling shots. We used a large basket placed several feet away on the floor as the target. We took different kinds of balls (cotton, pompoms, foam, and rubber) to learn what materials would be more accurate to hit a target. The kids learned about trajectory, mass, stored energy, kinetic energy, and how to aim at a target. They learned that the more dense their ball was, and the further back they pulled their sling shot, the better and faster the object was able to hit the target. The kids also spent time playing in the gym. They played basketball, tag, hide and seek, and raced each other all around. The gym is such a great place to do a variety of learning, skill building, and physical activities.

Logos are a great teaching / learning tool that can be used in so many fun ways. I love teaching and learning with Legos. I have taught Lego and Robotics Academy Club and several workshops with homeschool and 4H kids in North Carolina for several years, and I have missed it terribly since moving last summer. I hope in the near future I will be able to host Learn It Build It workshops again in the community, and also start a Lego and Robotics club again and perhaps eventually have teams that can compete in First Lego League. But right now, started a new class called Lego Adventures and I am blessed the local homeschool coop has invited me to teach these great kids, and we can learn about science-technology-engineering, and robotics, and use bible stories to build their faith in the Lord. Be sure to check back each month for more Lego Adventures.

Be blessed!

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Apple Pie at Homeschool Coop

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My kids had a great time making homemade apple pies at the homeschool coop! They love to see friends and play games, but baking has a special place in their heart. They absolutely love to cook (not clean up dishes though), and I think baking is their favorite. When they heard we were going to bake apple pies, the were so excited, it is all they talked about for days.

They washed and peeled lots of apples. They peeled the apples with both a hand peeled, and a machine peeler. For the hand peeler, they stood over the sink and their peelings dropped away as they scraped the peeler against the skin of the apple. This was a lot of work, and fun to do with one apple, but their arms quickly became tired to do very many this way. The machine peeler does three actions all at once as the children turn the handle. It peels, cores, and slices the apple into long spiral slices and is called an Appel Peeler Corer Slicer. It gets right to the point! It seriously cuts the work of preparing apples into an easy task of just putting the apple on and turning the handle!

The kids learned to make homemade pie crust from flour, water, and shortening. They blended these together with a hand-held cutter. As they pressed the cutter into the flour mixture, it broke it down into itty bitty pieces like small crumbs. Eventually the whole thing works into a soft ball of dough almost like play dough.

Next the kids rolled the dough out on the counter with a rolling-pin. They placed extra flour on the surface of the counter so the dough would not stick and was easy to flip and turn to roll again.

When the dough was thin enough, they placed the dough over their pie pan and cut away the excess that hung past the edge of the pan. Then they learned to crimp the edge of the crust to make it look pretty and also to prevent shrinkage.

Next they filled their pie shells with sliced apples, cinnamon, sugar, vanilla, salt, and butter. They rolled out more pie dough, and cut it with a pizza cutter into strips. They topped the pies with strips of dough and made designs. Some made a lattice design, others made their initials of their name, or some made hearts and others made butterflies, and one also topped their crust with a crumb topping and more cinnamon and sugar. They could design the top however they wanted too.

The pies baked in a hot oven at 375 degrees for about 35 to 45 minutes until they were golden brown. All of the pies turned out beautiful. Each one had a unique personal touch made by the kids.

I loved seeing and smelling all of these pies baking at once. Thankfully we had two ovens available to bake all of these pies so they could finish about the same time.

While the pies baked, the kids got all hot and sweaty in the gym. They actually took turns peeling apples, making dough, making pies, etc and the kitchen adjoins the gym, it so the kids played in the gym off and on between turns in the kitchen. This worked out perfectly! Man I wish I had a gym at home adjoining the kitchen! Just imagine all the pies and exercise we could get done! Ha, ha! I could go for a double oven baking area too!

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Fall Tile Art At Homeschool Coop

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Creating personalized seasonal art is a great activity to do as a homeschool project. We participated in this project for homeschool coop. My kids had a blast learning how to make Fall Tile Art and will treasure these creations for many years to come.

To make the Fall Tile Art project, you will need to cut out pictures with a fall theme. This is fun for kids to do and gives the project a personal touch because they chose their own special pictures. We cut out our pictures from fall themed paper bags, but you could also use magazines, wrapping paper, or print them off the internet, etc. You will also need ceramic tiles, modpoge, small felt cushions that stick on one side and are soft on the other, and a sealant.

Next have the kids place a rough draft of their pictures on their tile so they can see where they want to place them or if they want to change the arrangement. Once it is stuck in place, they won’t be able to change their mind, so now is the time to decide where they want to place their pictures.

Next have the kids remove the pictures from the tile and place them in the same arrangement on the table. Then have the kids brush modpodge all over the tile. Next place the pictures back in place. Then they need to brush the tiles again a second time, with modpodge and gently brush over the top of the pictures. Set the tiles somewhere to dry. It took our tiles about an hour for the modpodge to dry. We let the kids play games in the gym and exercise while the tiles dried.

When the tiles were dry, we added small cushions to the four corners of the back side. The cushions are made of felt and are very soft. If you don’t have cushions, you could glue or stick on a piece of felt too. Finally we applied a clear spray sealant over the tile. For safety (breathing, etc), the sealant was sprayed onto the tiles by an adult outside in an open area. The sealant will help these masterpieces resist moisture and last a long time.

The tiles are lovely to display, and could be given away as wonderful homemade gifts too. They can be used to decorate your home for whatever season you chose as your theme. You can display them flat, or hung up. The cushions on the bottom should help protect your furniture from scratches, or you could display these in a picture easle, plate display holder, or hang them on the wall. To hang them on the wall you will need to ad a picture mount of some kind. If you wanted to keep your expenses down, you could hotglue on a soda can tab as a picture mount and it wouldn’t cost but a few pennies for the hot glue you use.

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Botanical Art At Homeschool Coop

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We made the coolest Botanical Art project at Homeschool Coop. This is such a great project to do with kids. You can frame these, and hang them on your wall, or give these as gifts, or even use them to create other art projects with. Or you could make really super-duper cool homemade wrapping paper too.

We did this art project outside. You need to be outdoors or in a well ventilated area for this project as the spray paint has a strong odor and also can get blown around by wind. It is a good idea to take turns and not have too many kids spray painting at once and be sure they are spaced a little distance away from each other. Adult supervision and safety measures should be taken with a project like this.

The kids picked out colored paper. They also picked out various plants and flowers they wanted to use.

They laid out newspapers on the ground and set their colored paper on the newspaper. Then they placed their plant of choice on the paper, and spray painted over it. After a minute or so, they carefully lifted off the plant from the paper and the result was a beautiful reverse silhouette of the plant.

I love these beautiful masterpieces the kids made! I hope to get them framed for the wall in the near future.

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Weiser Academy

Homeschool and Family Life Adventures

Category Archives: Homeschool Coop

Lego Adventures at Homeschool Coop: Space Exploration

Team Competitions:

Lego Adventures At Homeschool Coop

David and Goliath Lego Adventures at Homeschool Coop.

Apple Pie at Homeschool Coop

Botanical Art At Homeschool Coop