Safe House Lanterns

We are using the Homeschool in the Woods Time Travelers History Series Civil War to guide us on our rabbit trail of learning about The Civil War in the US. We used the Explorers study from the same series last spring during our World Exploration unit so I knew I wanted to give this one a try. Plus, I was able to see the the finished product at the LEAH Homeschool Convention in Rochester in June. Amy Pak does a lot of fun work and if you order through the Schoolhouse Store, then it's free shipping. She's only a day of mail away from me! Bonus.

We prepared a couple days ahead of time by filling the cans with water and freezing them. On lantern day we gathered the materials- a template and rubber bands, a towel, a hammer, and a nail...oh and the cans!

All the kids had a try by themselves and did really well.

Even J4 took a turn with the hammer. I helped hold since I couldn't find the light duty hammer.

All done! As soon as we get some new tea lights, we'll light them up.

All of the kids' pretend play right now is Underground Railroad related. They are building safe houses and compartments like crazy. And every time I turn around someone is hiding and running somewhere with a sack on his/her back.