You will love these Olympic-themed party ideas, from food to backyard games and lots of kid-friendly crafts! Who else is super excited about the Olympics starting? We cannot wait! Especially since it's now been 3 years since the last Olympic games. As a family, we decided that we're going to have an Olympic-themed party for the opening ceremonies, and my kids are already brainstorming ideas. There are so many fun ideas that we found, we just had to share with you guys. Which one of these ideas is sticking out to you? I want to make them all! This isn't
Try out some of our teaching ideas as part of a themed day about Ancient Rome.
If you follow us on Instagram or Facebook you'll see that we spent Sunday afternoon making a model of a roman amphitheatre for one of Theo's homework challenges. And he took over my Instagram stories for the day with a follow along tutorial of how he made it. It was SO fun! And I'm pretty sure we've got a future Blue Peter presenter in the making ;) So we wanted to put together a blog post tutorial too, just like our solar system one, in case it's any help when you need to make a roman amphitheatre. Because who doesn't need a roman amphitheatre in their lives?! We used: - some thick cardboard sheets - glue gun & glue - acrylic paints - a plate to draw around - a scalpel (for grown ups only) Theo did A LOT of research beforehand into exactly what type of model he wanted to make, and what he wanted his amphitheatre to look like. He LOVES this kind of thing! He started by drawing several circles around our plate on the cardboard. Luckily we have lots of these big sheets of cardboard at the studio leftover from when our wrapping paper gets delivered. But any thickish cardboard would work. We needed eight circles for our amphitheatre but you could use more or less depending on how tall you want it to be. I cut each one out using a scalpel. Theo did have a little try with the scalpel, while I held his hand, but he's a leftie and found it really difficult. So I did the tricky cutting. Once each circle was cut we made them into donut shapes with larger centre holes as we went. The bottom circle has the smallest hole and we each one about 1cm - 1.5cm bigger than the one underneath. So you want the outside of the circle to be the same size, but the inside to get smaller - hope that makes sense! These make the seats. Whilst I was cutting the circles Theo painted the base using acrylic paints. He wanted a sandy base so used yellow, orange, and cream paints, with some green splashes for grassy areas! - a top tip we found for painting sandy texture is to dab your brush onto the base rather than paint with strokes. So your dab dab dabbing to create a mottled texture. Once all of the circles were cut we got our trusty glue gun out and glued them together. Theo and Matilda are both really confident using a glue gun (all that wand making has paid off!). He started with the smallest ring at the bottom and then glued each one on top. Then he glued this whole structure to the base. To make the outer wall of the amphitheatre we cut a long strip of the same cardboard and Theo drew the shape of the wall he wanted - with one taller side. A really good tip for helping the wall to bend around your circular seats is to scalpel some vertical lines at regular intervals. Cut through about half of the depth of the cardboard, so it doesn't slice fully through. Keep the cut sides as the outside, and then you'll find it bends round really well. Theo drew some arches into the taller side of the wall and I cut them out. We thought this gave it an authentic tumbledown feel! Once they were cut we glued the wall around the outside of our circular seats. This was a little tricky and we took our time. We found gluing it in small sections worked best. We thought that the combination of the arches and the vertical slices gave a really good look to the outside wall. The slices worked really well! Theo drew some lower arch shapes around the wall to give a bit more detail and a more authentic look :) Once the amphitheatre was all put together we added a few details. A lion, of course! We just printed this and glued it onto some thin card before gluing it to the base. And Theo insisted on putting the gladiator on the steps outside of the amphitheatre - because why would he want to be inside with the lion?! Well exactly Theo! So there you have it. A pretty effective but really very simple to make roman amphitheatre. Theo absolutely loved making it and he learnt so much. Filming the process for his Instagram stories takeover worked brilliantly too, as he really thought extra hard about every step of the process so that he could explain it on camera. One of his 'grown up' career options is to be a set designer for films. I think he's off to a great start don't you?! If you have any questions do send them through - Theo is loving your messages and comments :) x ✂️ For more brilliant school project and craft ideas for children head to our Reuse & Recycle page. ✂️ Or have a browse of our Pinterest boards for even more school project, craft, and play ideas.
Learn about life in Ancient Rome with FREE printable history readers about the powerful Roman Civilization that ruled Europe for 1,000 years.
The Roman game of Rota was popular with Roman soldiers as long as 2000 years ago. It's easy to play, and unlike tic-tac-toe, it's not liable to end in a tie! Here's what you need to know.
School Spirit - School Themes for the Year
As we have studied ancient civilizations of the Fertile Crescent, Egypt, Europe and Asia this school year we have done various projects rec...
In our study of Ancient Rome, Josh and Megan enjoyed learning how to build a model of a Roman road. Brianna was in charge of the salt dough map, so I let Josh
Practice Roman numerals from III (3) to MMMV (3005) in this easily adaptable mini game. Includes a total of 80 cards plus a bonus Roman numerals poster!Simply make one or more copies of the cards, shuffle, pass out evenly to all players, and play like the classic "war" game -- or use two copies for ...
The ancient Romans were well-known for their impressive art and architectural feats. Sculptural portraits of famous rulers, gods/goddesses and other important cultural figures pepper this ancient civilisation's art history, while buildings including the Pantheon have become iconic reminders of Roman glory.
Roman Food evolved over time from its ancient Roman origins. Click for more facts & worksheets to download and utilise today.
As we have studied ancient civilizations of the Fertile Crescent, Egypt, Europe and Asia this school year we have done various projects recommended by our Story of the World Activity guide. Most of the projects aren't quite as big or time consuming as the Chicken Mummy, but they have been great for providing a bit of insight into the ancient world. Many projects have involved recipes, stories, games, clothing, writing and art of ancient civilizations. ~ This spring we have spent a good deal of time studying the Romans. We took advantage of having Daddy home and Grammy and Grand-Dad here for Good Friday to complete a project on how to build a Roman aqueduct and road. We had a good time with these two projects, but I am glad we tackled them with all the extra adult hands! ~ The Romans were the first people to use cement in their building projects and roads. As such, we began by mixing sand dough which served as a homemade cement. We were able to use it for our "Roman Archway and Aqueduct" as well as our "Roman Road." We began by mixing the ingredients outdoors and then heated it over the stove indoors to complete the mixture. The Romans built archways as water-conduits to bring water from river and mountain resources into their cities. So once we had mixed the cement we flattened it out and used our archway pattern (provided in the SOTW activity guide) to cut out the arches we needed for our aqueduct system. After cutting the arches out, we stood them up and stabalized them before baking and hardening them. The archways deposited the water into holding tanks (yogurt cup) and the water was then distrubuted throughout the city in a piping network (straws). Not surprisingly the kids had a great time pouring water in at the top of our aqueduct and watching it flow down into our holding tank and out the straws. This project really brought home to the girls how difficult it would have been to build full scale archways and aqueducts as much time as it took as to build this mini one! While the end product doesn't look quite as cool, I actually thought building the Roman road was an even better demonstration of ancient engineering at work. Roman roads were know for their quality especially in comparison to the roads built by other ancient civilizations. We began building our Roman road by using a styrofoam container which represented a ditch the Romans would have dug to begin their road(s). Next the Romans placed a layer of sand in the bottom of the ditch Next they placed small rocks, cement and finally large rocks to provide a smooth surface to travel over. What was especially interesting about this project was the recommendation to do each layer half as long as the previous one so that at the end you could see all four levels of the road at the same time. This project again really helped the girls understand and remember the process ancient people used to build something we think of as commonplace today. When we discussed Rome several weeks later in our co-op class we took this project in with us and Reagan was easily able to explain the process used by the Romans to build roads to her classmates. Thank you Grammy, Grand-Dad and Daddy for all your engineering assistance!
Ebi-kun has had an interest in ancient Rome and gladiators recently so we decided to make some Roman coins. We used a basic salt dough and...
Dayspring Baptist Church, Waco, TX Several years back for Vacation Bible School our church took our children on a trip through the 1st Century city of Rome where we learned about Paul and the Underground Church." In the process we created a lot of Greco-Roman Décor, and found a lot of inspiration both from groups who had done this program and the similarly decorated Athens Holy Land Adventure. I wanted to pass on the great ideas we learned about for others who might be doing the same programs, a piece of Greek or Roman theater, or a wedding or party with this theme. You will find some creative and inexpensive decorating ideas below. 3 Dimensional Columns Columns are essential to Greco-Roman décor, and three dimensional columns are, I think, the most stunning way to go. Where to Buy 3D Columns We invested in two large 12' cardboard columns (pictured above) and have used them over and over for different Holy Land VBS (not just Rome, but for Pharoah's palace in Egypt, and the Synagogue in Nazareth and Galilee). Large columns like these can make for a very dramatic effect. You can find similar ones at Stumps Party Supply. For shorter columns you can find a nice selection at Oriental Traders for a good price, but be warned to leave lots of time for delivery (shorter columns are also not difficult to make, which of course is even cheaper...see below for various methods). If you do not have a good place to store columns for use in future years, you may want to consider renting columns from a local wedding/event service. Poster Board Use Poster Board and Pizza Boxes This one seems super simple and inexpensive! A pizza place might be willing to donate some clean, unused boxes (especially if you also bought lunch for volunteers there)! You could use corregated cardboard for a ribbed texture and a little more support (our columns for our intro picture were made like this, with foam "crests" in stead of pizza boxes. Make them With Cardboard Tubing You can use carpet tubes (what carpet comes rolled around) for thin columns. Places which sell carpet are often happy to donate these. For thicker columns you can buy construction tubes (also known as building tubes, cardboard concrete forms, and Sonotubes). You can find these individually at home improvement stores, but from what I've seen they only smaller ones (48" long or shorter). There are several manufacturers that sell longer full column length ones, but generally only in bulk. You could possibly contact a local construction company and see if they would sell or donate some in smaller quantities. Use Building Tubes, Pots, and Plaster Decorative Faux-Stone Column - Shorter but very realistic. I've seem people use plastic pots with molded edges for some very decorative molding...same idea though. Use Building Tubes, Pool Noodles, and Foam Board DIY Network shows you how to make faux stone columns...very realistic looking. Pool noodles are a more pricey material, but if you can buy them out of season (at the end of summer, early fall clearance sales) they cost less. Very Realistic, Structural Method With Tall Building Tubes The blog Tootsie Time shows how she made permanent columns for her home. They are beautiful. Use Textured Wallpaper to Add Ridges Once you have a base (see above) you can use textured wallpaper to add ridges. I got this idea from Jennifer Hosler. She used Easy Textures Paintable Wallpaper (Pattern No 99424F) to cover a carpet tube column. I didn't find that exact one but I found a similar style by another brand here. "Warren" Method of Constructing Columns Kate Taylor Warren and her husband shared the following method they came up with to make columns like you see above. Inside each column is a 90" heavy cardboard carpet tube. Each has a 2-3 foot wooden fence post fit snugly inside and screwed to a 20" board as a horizontal base. The part of the column you see is five sheets of under-wallpaper insulation cut in lengths that circle around to make a 20" diameter cylinder. A construction stapler was used to staple them to the carpet tube in the back. The material they use, found in a DIY store where wallpaper is sold, consists of a very thin layer of polystyrene bonded to a layer of heavy brown paper. It pops out easily to hold its shape when circled and stapled, and is easy to paint. Kate Warren and her husband are in England, so I'm not sure whether the same material is available here in the States, but it would be worth checking into. They measured the "stripes" on the individual sheets and marked them so they could be painted before assembly on the carpet tube. This was an easier and safer way to paint--no climbing ladders and trying to get straight lines painted. The columns are set on squares of stryofoam (called polystyrene in the UK). The cornice (or pediment) is not resting on the columns but is suspended from the ceiling. Otherwise it would be rather unstable. Pool Noodle Columns Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church in Houston, TX Photo by Marian Seidel You can find full step by step instructions on how to make pool noodle columns here also (though it was for a more permanent feature, so had some steps you could skip for VBS). Here's some in-process pics shared by Marian Seidel of Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church in Houston, TX. (She's still in the in process phase so I don't have final pics right now). 1. You start with cardboard carpet roll tubes for a base. 2. Cute pool noodles in half lengthwise with exacto knife (to make two parts like celery sticks, not two shorter pool noodles). 3. Put foam into noodle like you would put cheese whiz on the celery stick, and press onto roll. 4. Use 3 nails, one at the bottom, top and middle to secure. 5. Trim as necessary. (Save pieces...see #6) 6. Make a stand (sorry, I don't have instructions on how to make stands, but you can see some examples there. I believe there is a stick or in the middle that you just drop the carpet tubes onto). Use extra pool noodle pieces and/or foam to stuff into carpet tubes to stabilize. 7. Paint TIP: If you're planning this long in advace you can save money if you buy pool noodles out of season (at the end of summer, early fall clearance sales). Corrugated Plastic Columns You can use sheets of corrugated plastic (PVC Roofing) either to make freestanding columns, or to wrap around posts and other features. While pricey, this method has the benefit of being weather resistant, so is great for outdoor features. You can find this type of sheeting at most hardware stores. You can see one of these types of columns in the background of picture to the right. Thanks to Rebecca Edwards for this picture. Dayspring Baptist Church, Waco, TX Another church used these to make the following.... Photo and instructions by Ruthann LaMoreaux Litchford HOW TO MAKE COLUMNS/PEDIMENT The pediment is the triangular roof on top MATERIALS 12 ft white pvc roofing panel (corrugated plastic), cut in half to 6 feet; Heavy duty scissors or snips (1) 4x8x2 foam insulation board, white (1) liquid nails tube (& caulk gun) (1) roll white duct tape (1) bread knife or box cutter (4) Wooden Chop Sticks TO MAKE COLUMNS 1. Cut panel into (2) 6ft pieces using heavy duty scissor or snips and duct tape into tubes. 2. Score and snap insulation board into squares for column bases - for each base I cut (1)13x13" & (1)11x11" & (2)6" circles. Use liquid nails to adhere these into a stack. 3. Once dry assemble column onto one base and slide a second base on top. 4. Using remainder of insulation board score & snap a large triangle along with enough framing to surround it. (The one pictured used 6ft wide base x 2 ft high triangle. Bottom framing board was 11" wide to sit securely on column topper. Side framing pieces were 5 or 6" wide.) 5. Miter the corner edges with a knife/cutter. Liquid glue it all together. Dry 24 hours. 6. Use a poster or any signage you want to fill in the center. 7. Place pediment onto columns and push chop sticks through into column base for attaching. Score, snap, glue, chop stick. Done. TIP: How to Create Depth If you are making a colonnade on a stage you can create depth and and add an illusion of a larger scene by starting with taller columns and then using descending smaller columns, set at an angle like the picture on the right... continuing the colonnade with a backdrop with painted columns at the back. In the following picture you can see the angling technique (though I don't know whether their columns decended in size). (I got this idea and the drawing in this section from cdevries, who writes a number of wonderful articles on theater design. It was from a section on 3 More Ways to Improve Your Theater Set about creating depth. The picture above is from Faith Baptist Church. Used with permission.) 2D Colums Picture by Mindy Love Harper Flat paper columns are simple and inexpensive. You can draw them on butcher paper or posterboard (for thicker, more reusable affect) or order pre-made ones online. I love how Trinity Presbyterian Church of McKinney, Texas used simple paper columns and a roof to frame the doorway to "Paul's House." While it takes a little drawing skill, it doesn't look unreasonably hard, and yet is very effective in transforming this from just another room to a house in Athens. And, if you prefer to avoid drawing/painting it yourself, here are several paper column options I found online (click pictures to find on Amazon)... Semi-3D Columns For a semi-three dimensional look try one of the techniques below. Foam Board Columns Dayspring Baptist Church, Waco, TX We carved foam board with a hot knife and painted the indentations grey to make these columns. Then we put them up in front of some pretty party paper to cover up a wall sculpture you see peeking out of the top there. I believe the paper we used was flat, but the only paper with the same design I was able to find now online was this corrugated version (which is probably more expensive than what we used, but would offer more stability). Cardboard Column "House" Photo by Michelle Robeson La Flamme This structure was made out of a VERY LARGE box. It has plaster on it which gives it the column texture. I like that a person could actually get IN this columned house. View More Column Decor See More Rome VBS Posts This post includes a few Amazon affiliate links through which I can earn a commission. Anything earned through this post will be donated to charity. More info here. Shared On Throwback Thursday
A printable mini guide about Roman Architecture. Two pages packed with info to help you identify the most common Roman buildings.
School DT Projects: Model Roman Catapult: A while ago, I started making projects for teaching in school which were manageable, fun and educational. The first project we made was this model Roman catapult. Since making it, a number of teachers and students have asked for instructions for h…
This Roman numerals poster will look GREAT on your math bulletin board and will help your students learn the Roman numerals!
A printable mini guide about Roman Architecture. Two pages packed with info to help you identify the most common Roman buildings.
Take a look at the classroom display photos below, which are all based on work completed in History lessons. Could you use some of the ideas below as
Download this Premium Vector about Roman column set, greek pillar ancient architecture, greece antique doric, ionic, corinthian columns., and discover more than 141 Million Professional Graphic Resources on Freepik. #freepik #vector #greekcolumn #greektemple #romancolumn
Roman arches and monuments Graphic History of Architecture by John Mansbridge
Romans loved jewellery and solid gold bracelets and rings were often worn by women. Bracelets in the form of snakes were very popular and it was thought th
This is a very simple way to experience the amazing Roman Arch. We used the book "Primary Physics" which we bought at the ...
Free essays, homework help, flashcards, research papers, book reports, term papers, history, science, politics
As we studied Ancient Rome in our homeschool, I looked for fun ways we could use food/snacks to further our learning. I love doing this because we already eat every day – so adding a food activity doesn’t take much extra time out of our day. I was searching on Pinterest and came across a […]
The arming of Roman Soldiers and Gladiators. Caesar Imperator. The triarii, impediti, eques, centurio, the phaleratus, the military tribune.
Struggling to teach kids Roman numerals? Find a few tips on how to teach Roman numerals to children, along with some reasons why teaching Roman numerals to young children is a great idea. You will also find a refresher on Roman numerals in general.
Dayspring Baptist Church, Waco, TX Several years back for Vacation Bible School our church took our children on a trip through th...
If you follow us on Instagram or Facebook you'll see that we spent Sunday afternoon making a model of a roman amphitheatre for one of Theo's homework challenges. And he took over my Instagram stories for the day with a follow along tutorial of how he made it. It was SO fun! And I'm pretty sure we've got a future Blue Peter presenter in the making ;) So we wanted to put together a blog post tutorial too, just like our solar system one, in case it's any help when you need to make a roman amphitheatre. Because who doesn't need a roman amphitheatre in their lives?! We used: - some thick cardboard sheets - glue gun & glue - acrylic paints - a plate to draw around - a scalpel (for grown ups only) Theo did A LOT of research beforehand into exactly what type of model he wanted to make, and what he wanted his amphitheatre to look like. He LOVES this kind of thing! He started by drawing several circles around our plate on the cardboard. Luckily we have lots of these big sheets of cardboard at the studio leftover from when our wrapping paper gets delivered. But any thickish cardboard would work. We needed eight circles for our amphitheatre but you could use more or less depending on how tall you want it to be. I cut each one out using a scalpel. Theo did have a little try with the scalpel, while I held his hand, but he's a leftie and found it really difficult. So I did the tricky cutting. Once each circle was cut we made them into donut shapes with larger centre holes as we went. The bottom circle has the smallest hole and we each one about 1cm - 1.5cm bigger than the one underneath. So you want the outside of the circle to be the same size, but the inside to get smaller - hope that makes sense! These make the seats. Whilst I was cutting the circles Theo painted the base using acrylic paints. He wanted a sandy base so used yellow, orange, and cream paints, with some green splashes for grassy areas! - a top tip we found for painting sandy texture is to dab your brush onto the base rather than paint with strokes. So your dab dab dabbing to create a mottled texture. Once all of the circles were cut we got our trusty glue gun out and glued them together. Theo and Matilda are both really confident using a glue gun (all that wand making has paid off!). He started with the smallest ring at the bottom and then glued each one on top. Then he glued this whole structure to the base. To make the outer wall of the amphitheatre we cut a long strip of the same cardboard and Theo drew the shape of the wall he wanted - with one taller side. A really good tip for helping the wall to bend around your circular seats is to scalpel some vertical lines at regular intervals. Cut through about half of the depth of the cardboard, so it doesn't slice fully through. Keep the cut sides as the outside, and then you'll find it bends round really well. Theo drew some arches into the taller side of the wall and I cut them out. We thought this gave it an authentic tumbledown feel! Once they were cut we glued the wall around the outside of our circular seats. This was a little tricky and we took our time. We found gluing it in small sections worked best. We thought that the combination of the arches and the vertical slices gave a really good look to the outside wall. The slices worked really well! Theo drew some lower arch shapes around the wall to give a bit more detail and a more authentic look :) Once the amphitheatre was all put together we added a few details. A lion, of course! We just printed this and glued it onto some thin card before gluing it to the base. And Theo insisted on putting the gladiator on the steps outside of the amphitheatre - because why would he want to be inside with the lion?! Well exactly Theo! So there you have it. A pretty effective but really very simple to make roman amphitheatre. Theo absolutely loved making it and he learnt so much. Filming the process for his Instagram stories takeover worked brilliantly too, as he really thought extra hard about every step of the process so that he could explain it on camera. One of his 'grown up' career options is to be a set designer for films. I think he's off to a great start don't you?! If you have any questions do send them through - Theo is loving your messages and comments :) x ✂️ For more brilliant school project and craft ideas for children head to our Reuse & Recycle page. ✂️ Or have a browse of our Pinterest boards for even more school project, craft, and play ideas.
Roman Food evolved over time from its ancient Roman origins. Click for more facts & worksheets to download and utilise today.
Practice Roman numerals from III (3) to MMMV (3005) in this easily adaptable mini game. Includes a total of 80 cards plus a bonus Roman numerals poster!Simply make one or more copies of the cards, shuffle, pass out evenly to all players, and play like the classic "war" game -- or use two copies for ...
