Learning with Your Food

I'm starting to feel like I am getting in the swing of things when it comes to our home school. We are starting the day with math and reading which seem to be the hardest topics to get through. This has made a huge difference and given me the opportunity to take advantage of the baby's morning nap by getting some housework done (or the time to refill Joshua's bottomless bowl of cereal). I've been able to introduce a topic and then they work on it for about 90 minutes. 

The boys have been learning about maps and land forms as well as North America and places and cultures.  So today we invited some friends over and made a relief map out of cookie dough, icing and lots of toppings.

I baked two giant North America cookies this morning (before the boys woke up!).

 

 

They baked up a little chubby but we worked with it....

 

 

We started by explaining what relief and topographic maps are as well as what countries are in North America.  Then we went through step by step different land forms in North America (plains, mountains, lakes, rivers, etc...), using icing and chocolate chips to show different areas. We then talked about climate and weather patterns on the continent using sprinkles for rain and coconut for snow.

 

 

 

The best part was that all of the kids worked together and participated in the project. Lots of supplies ended up in their mouths!

 





 

The best part was eating the giant North America cookie!