Hands-On History Activity Paks

by Amy Pak

Home School in the Woods

Hands-On History Activity Paks primarily center around Lap Book™ activities, but they also feature opportunity for illustration and handwriting practice plus other activities that vary depending upon the topic. (Please see my reviews of other Lap Book products under "Creative Learning" if you are not familiar with the concept.) These Paks provide hands-on learning opportunities that supplement most any basic curricula studying the selected topics.

Two Activity Paks,The Old Testament and Artists, are available as I write this review, but I expect more will be coming. Both products are a collection of PDF files that can be viewed and printed on either Windows of Mac computer systems. You are free to copy pages for use with your family, but not for classroom groups. (Contact the publisher for classroom rights information.)

The Old Testament Activity Pak begins with the days of creation then hits highlight events in the Old Testaments such as Noah and the Flood, the Ten Plagues, and The Fiery Furnace, up through an activity summarizing the major and minor prophets. There are 15 Lap Book activities, all ultimately combined to create one large Lap Book.

In addition “The Old Testament Tribune” provides opportunity for creative writing as students use pre-printed forms with headlines and “prompts” to write about various events in the Old Testament. The completed forms are assembled into a lengthy scroll.

Students might also use the forms provided to practice penmanship (cursive) or copywork with the selected Proverbs. Those who don’t need the penmanship practice can use the versions of the forms that have Proverbs already written. Whatever the handwriting choice, all students can create their own illustrations of each proverb in the space provided on each form.

While all PDF masters are in black-and-white, you might print some of these on colored paper or card stock. You might also have students use colored pencils to color in some of the illustrations.

The Artists Activity Pak is a bit different from the Old Testament Pak. Students create a Lap Book on “Artists of the 16th-20th Centuries” with all the component projects that comprise the Lap Book. Students learn about 33 major artists, art media, art movements, and artistic styles. While there are fewer Lap Book projects in this Pak, many of the activities are more involved than in the Old Testament Pak.

Among them is the “Paint Like the Masters” project that has instructions for 10 actual art activities using various art media to learn painting and drawing techniques.

Students also create and play the “Art Gallery” game to become familiar with some of the master artworks, and they create and use “My Personal Art Sketchbook” to practice drawing.

Amy Pak’s own wonderful artwork is used throughout the Activity Paks to make all the projects very visually appealing. Watch for future additions to this excellent line of products!

Note: Activity Paks are available via either via CD-ROM or downloads from the publisher's website.

9780981552316,9780981552323