Visit Our Mysteries of History Fair Project!

This week brought so much fun and learning that there was little time for blogging!  Among other things, we were out and about at field trips, meet ups, classes and a Mysteries of History fair!

When the children first heard about the fair a couple months ago, they picked their topics right away.

Nina decided on "Who was Dr. Joseph Warren's informant?"

Luke chose, "Who shot the "shot hear 'round the world'?"

And Jack chose to help his siblings.

Thus it was that our living room exploded with piles of library books and audios, and we found ourselves traveling to Lexington and Concord one lovely fall day.

  
Through the weeks, the children immersed themselves in all things Revolutionary, including D.I.Y costumes!  (Luke's and Nina's D.I.Y costumes, that is.  Jack went for the easy knight costume.)

Then, about a week ago, they began to put their display together, asking for my help with parts of it, but designing most of it on their own.

Luke's panel included a super-sized flap book with some of the theories about who might have shot the shot heard around the world.

Nina's side included a pull-out book of some of the historical figures connected to Dr. Joseph Warren.  She proudly explained who each of these figures was to those who asked her.

All three children designed their own games -- a project fair tradition that began with our first homeschool fair, an Endangered Species one.

When we played Luke's at home, we realized it was a bit more complicated than it seemed and may need a Version 2.

 

But that did not stop Jack and I from enjoying it at the fair.  Some others played it, too.

Jack's game was more straightforward.  

We enjoyed it before, during and after the fair.

We had a lot of fun with Nina's too!

Besides the tri-fold board and games, the kids' display included a few of the books we'd used as resources and models made by Luke and Jack to help explain what happened at North Bridge at the start of the Revolution.

Nina made a small booklet about spies and laid out some photos of our Concord and Lexington family field trip. 

Luke had wanted to make flapjacks, but I was out of corn flour.  Nina then recalled that the Colonial people enjoyed popcorn, so she and Jack popped some up to share.  That popcorn was such a hit that only a few kernels remained minutes into the fair.

Two things that did not disappear the entire night were proud smiles and loads of sharing.

By the time the children dashed up for their participation certificates, they had learned a bit about the Bermuda Triangle, the Bridgewater Triangle, the Lost City of Atlantis, Area 51, Roswell, Big Foot, the Loch Ness Monster, Mysteries of the Mona Lisa, Stonehenge, Lizzie Borden, the Mary Celeste and more.

Meanwhile, I was again impressed by how children from preschool age to high school age created and shared such a wide variety of unique projects and, then, interacted with one another with enthusiasm and respect.  Homeschool fairs bring so much fruit!

Want to host your own fair?   

Feel free to use the 8 Easy Steps I shared at Upside Down Homeschooling in late October and have reshared here on this blog.

We have a Cultures Past and Present Fair and an Art Fair coming up later this year.  We've done an Endangered Species one, a History one, a Nature Explorers one and a Geography one.  What fairs have your enjoyed?