Try a Design Challenge for All Saints and All Souls Days

Would you like to challenge your children as you learn and play in celebration of All Saints Day?  Then, you might want to try the design challenge I will be using in our fifth Problem Solving with the Saints co-op class this week.

Before I share it, though, I'd like to catch you up with some photos from our St. John Paul II challenge.

Flashback to Mountains and Book Stands

For our Saint John Paul II challenge, the children had to make a self-standing "mountain" that was at least 27 inches tall using just these supplies.

When my children tried this challenge at home, they used rolling, folding, tearing, twisting and taping...

...then measuring...

...to make this:

 

At co-op, one team used rolling, tearing, and taping to make this:

All the children that tried the challenge hearkened back to what they'd learned during our St. Kenneth Build a Book Stand challenge:  Cardstock becomes strong in two cylinder shapes.

And, maybe in one...

Yes, even in one!

Even in a short one!

I just love to see the children applying what they've learned through one challenge to another.  I'll be curious to see how their past experience and new ideas play out for our All Saints Day challenge this week!

All Saints and All Souls Days Design Challenge Food for Thought

This week will be the only week during our Problem Solving with the Saints co-op course that we do not use a saint scrapbooking sheet.  Instead, we'll chat about All Saints Day and All Souls day using two favorite books.
  
{Disclosure: Some links which follow are affiliate ones.  Should you click through them and make any purchase, we may receive compensation at no extra cost to you.  Earnings go straight back into training happy hearts and sharing about it with you here.}

To introduce All Saints Day, we will read and chat about Jackie's Special Halloween, which I just reviewed this past week and fell in love with.

Later, to introduce All Souls Day, we'll read and chat about The Spirit of Tio Fernando: A Day f the Dead Story.

The All Saints and All Souls Design Challenge

After we read and chat about All Saints and All Souls days, I will offer the children the following supplies:

• 1/2 bag of marshmallows (or a small bag of cotton balls)
• 2 disposable drinking cups
• 10 paper clips
• 5 sticks of spaghetti
• 1 inch of tape
• 10 inches of string or yarn
• a ruler or tape measure (to be used for measuring only)

With these, the children's goal will be to suspend as many marshmallows or cotton balls) as possible above the floor or table as they meet these specifications:

Of course, our Lord wants all souls with Him as saints in heaven. Gather as many “souls” (marshmallows) as possible in the “heavens” (a place at least three inches above the table or floor.)

I cannot wait to see the creative solutions the children come up with!


More Ideas for Praying for All Souls

You can find five ways to observe November, the month of Souls in Purgatory by clicking through the photo below:

Try Other Problem Solving with the Saints Challenges
 
You might also enjoy clicking through the images below to see more of our co-op plans and to access free printables.

Forthcoming will be our St. Edward challenge from a few weeks ago and an upcoming Saint Charles Borromeo challenge.

In Case You've Yet to Find Our All Saints Day Party Challenges...

You might also like to click through the post titles or images below to find details and free printable challenge sheets for game challenges to enjoy at an All Saints Day party, in your home, at a co-op, or on specific saint feast days.

The Final 3 All Saints Day Game Challenges

3 All Saints Day Game Challenges

3 More All Saints Day Party Ideas

2 All Saints Day Craft Challenges and a Physical One

3 Skills-Based Game Challenges for All Saints Day

We always find that a combination of praying with the children, reading them stories, and engaging them in hands-on activities helps them internalize stories about the saints and their virtues. 

We would love to hear how your children best learn about the saints and how they enjoy the challenges we share should you try any. Please leave comments and links here or post photos to our Facebook page.

Saints in Heaven, pray for us.

Get Your FREE PRINTABLE St. John Paul II Notebooking Page and Try an Instant Design Challenge

This week at our homeschool co-op my Problem Solving with the Saints class will be focusing on St. John Paul II.

{Disclosure: Some links which follow are affiliate ones.  If you click through them and make any purchase, we may receive compensation at no extra cost to you.  Anything we earn goes straight back into training happy hearts and sharing about doing so with you here.}

Chat, Storytime, and Scrapbooking Page

We'll open our class by reading about St. John Paul II, hopefully with The Story of Saint John Paul II: A Boy who Became Pope, if I can find where I laid my copy of it.

While I read, the children will take notes or draw pictures on a simple Saint John Paul II scrapbooking/notebooking page that I made and am sharing freely with you today.  We'll also pause to chat about St. John Paul II and, perhaps, to take a movement break related to what we read.

As pictured above, notebooking page we will use has a photo of Saint John Paul II and lists his feast day and patronage.  It also has a map where students can color in Poland (and Rome).  I made this saint-specific page, because the more general notebooking pages that I had used in our first Problem Solving with the Saints class (which focused on St. Theodore Guerin) was well-received, but a bit challenging for the children in my class. 

Because my students are young, they found writing out details such as the saint's feast day and patronages difficult, and, truly, just seemed to want to decorate and draw on their scrapbooking pages.  Noting this, I decided to try a saint-specific page for  our St. Kenneth class with pre-printed details.  That went over well, so, now, each week, I am making new saint-specific pages.  Should you want the general page, though, please feel free to click through the image below to find a link to it.

The Challenge

Back to the Saint John Paul II class plan now...

After we read, chat, and notebook about St. John Paul II, I will lay out the following supplies per team:

• three sheets of newspaper
• one roll of masking tape or clear tape
• a measuring tape

I will explain that the number of newspaper sheets is symbolic and ask if the students can guess why the number three might be significant.  (The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit within the Holy Trinity.)

I will then suggest that the tape, too, is symbolic - if we stick to and honor the tenets of our faith, as St. John Paul II did, we can join Jesus in Heaven one day, too.

Finally, I will offer our challenge specifications:

St. John Paul II loved God and nature and felt that mountains were a special place to meet God.  Build a “mountain”(paper tower) using only three sheets of newspaper (to remind us of God – the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost -, who St. John Paul II loved so much). Your mountain must be self-standing and at least 27 inches high (one inch for each year Saint John Paul II was pope).

For further challenge, make your mountain even higher and see if it can stand without falling over for 84 seconds (one second for every year of St. John Paul II's life.)

The measuring tape can only be used to measure; it cannot be included as a part of the mountain.

I cannot wait to see what the children come up with.  I imagine their mountains will be much like the Towers to Point to Heaven that children made in a prior Read Aloud to Real Challenges Co-op Class that I taught, one of which is pictured above.

Want to Try Other Problem Solving with the Saints Challenges?
 
Click through the mages below to see two more of our co-op plans and to access free printable challenge sheets.

I will (hopefully!) be sharing the challenge we did for St. Edward here soon, too.

How about Some All Saints Day Party Challenges, Too?

You may also appreciate some of the All Saints Day Party challenges we have enjoyed over the pas few years.  Simply click through the post titles or images to find details and free printable challenge sheets.

The Final 3 All Saints Day Game Challenges

3 All Saints Day Game Challenges

3 More All Saints Day Party Ideas

2 All Saints Day Craft Challenges and a Physical One

3 Skills-Based Game Challenges for All Saints Day

If you try any of these challenges, I would love to hear how they go or to see photo.  You can post photos at our Facebook page.

St. John Paul II and all the saints, pray for us.

Enjoy a Make a Book Stand Design Challenge for St. Kenneth's Feast Day {Free Printable!}

**If you just want the free printable, scroll to the middle of this post.  If you'd like to see how last week's challenge went and to read the "lesson plan" for this one - which includes helpful links - read it from the start.**

First: a Flashback to Floating a Boat 

Last week, after my children learned about about St. Theodore Guerin, who took an arduous journey by ship across the Atlantic to become a missionary in America  I challenged their friends and them to Float a Boat.

They did an awesome job with their team work.

And met with total success using a minimum of materials.

Then, later in the week, I presented the same challenge to a co-op class that I am teaching: Problem Solving with the Saints.

The teams there had to use our motto, "try, try again" as this one (somewhat sinking example shows...)
 

However, the eventually met with some degree of success through redesigns, retests...

...and succeeded with all "passengers" safely aboard.

Because the teams in my co-op class are younger, I opted not to use the challenge sheets with them, but, rather, to simply offer them the challenge verbally.  I also opted not to time them.

Now: Onto St. Kenneth and Making Book Stands 

Continuing our saint-inspired designed challenges, my children and I (and, later, my my co-op class) learned about St. Kenneth  this week -whose feast day is October 11 - before taking on a Make a Book Stand design challenge.

If you and yours would like to take the challenge, too, here's our plan:

{Disclosure: Some links which follow are affiliate ones.  If you click through them and make any purchase, we may receive large compensation. Anything we earn goes straight back into training happy hearts and sharing about doing so with you here.}

St. Kenneth Chat, Story and Scrapbook Page

We'll open by asking if anyone can find Ireland, Scotland, and Wales on a map or globe.  Then, I'll ask the children what Irish saints they can name.  If no one names Saint Kenneth, I will, and will then explain that St. Kenneth was a monk in the mid 500's who founded the monastery of Agahanoe and served as its first abbot. He was also invaluable to missionary efforts in Scotland. Legend tells that a local stag would hold St. Kenneth's Bible with its antlers while he was praying as a hermit, and it is from this legend, that our design challenge will spring.  But, first, let's learn more about St. Kenneth.

To do so, we'll listen to (or read) Holy Spirit Interactive's short biography about Saint Kenneth and, then, practice/recite the Sign of the Cross, maybe even acting out the miracle when the pagan King Brude of Scotland went to strike St. Kenneth and his fellow missionary St. Columba with a sword, whereupon St. Kenneth made the Sign of the Cross, and the king's hand was suddenly paralyzed, saving St Kenneth and his colleague.

We'll also read "A Few Short Tales of Saint Canice" in Saints Among the Animals (which, with my own children, we might compare and contrast with the stories of "St. Cannaic and the Mice", "St. Cannair and the Sea-Birds", and St. Cannaic and the Stag" in Beasts and Saints, which also appear on CelticSaints.org.)

As I read, the children will be encouraged to create a scrapbook page about St. Kenneth by drawing images or taking notes about anything they want to remember about him, and noting that:

• He was also called Canice, Kenny, Canicus, or Chainnech.
• His feast day is October 11.
• He lived in Ireland, Scotland, and Wales.
• He is patron of the Diocese of Ossory in Ireland and of the shipwrecked.

I will also ask the children to draw an image St. Kenneth on their scrapbook pages or paste one on that I will print out from Wikipedia.

As we conclude our conversation and scrapbooking time, I will note, as found on JClub: A Catholic Place for Kids, that:

St. Kenneth knew how to make the best of a difficult situation. His good humor won him many friends and helpers in preaching the Good News. We can ask St. Kenneth to show us how to be as good and cheerful a friend as he was.

I will, then, ask the children for examples of how and when they have been (or could be) "good and cheerful". 

I may also throw in details about St. Kenneth that I have read about on OrthoChristian.com and Encyclopedia Britannica, before seguing into our design challenge - which, as I already mentioned, is inspired by the legend that a stag used to hold St. Kenneth's Bible while he prayed.

St. Kenneth Make-a-Book-Stand Design Challenge

 

Since Saint Kenneth was said to have used a stag and his antlers as a book stand, we will make our own book stands which will hold a Bible at least three inches off the table for 12 seconds. 

This challenge is inspired by a Book-Support Challenge shared as a pdf by Rogers Public Schools.

 
Just as was the case with our challenge related to St. Theodore Guerin, I want our St. Kenneth challenge to do multi-duty: to be used in my Problem Solving with the Saints co-op class, to help my children remember St. Kenneth's faithful reading of the Word, and to serve as an activity for the children's Destination Imagination Club.

Because Destination Imagination is not a faith-based initiative, I have created a challenge sheet that does not contain the St. Kenneth tie-in in the main printable portion, but, rather, only mentions it on the first page of the printable. 

If you'd like to try the design challenge, too, get your FREE MAKE A BOOK STAND INSTANT CHALLENGE PRINTABLE here!
 
I'd love to hear how it goes for you.  Please share a comment here or even show me a picture on our Facebook page. 

Looking Ahead to All Saints Day

My children and I are also beginning to think ahead to which saints they would like to dress up as and what game they would like to host at a local All Saints Day party, so we've been looking back at pictures and ideas from years past.  If you'd like some inspiration, we invite you to do the same by clicking through any of the images below:

The Final 3 All Saints Day Game Challenges

3 All Saints Day Game Challenges

3 More All Saints Day Party Ideas

2 All Saints Day Craft Challenges and a Physical One

3 Skills-Based Game Challenges for All Saints Day

St. Kenneth, and all the angels and saints, pray for us!

Enjoy a Float a Boat Design Challenge for St. Theodore Guerin's Feast Day {Free Printable!}

Happy Feast of the Guardian Angels! 

We seem to be enjoying a string of feast day celebrations with living room floor picnics, having celebrated:

St. Michael and the Archangels' Feast Day...

St. Jerome's Feast Day...

St. Therese's Feast Day...

and the Guardian Angels Feast Day...

Tomorrow, we'll be changing things up, though, and celebrating with a design challenge instead of a meal or snack as we learn about a new-to-my-children saint:  St. Theodore Guerin.

I am excited to teach my children about this saint and to try out a design challenge that I have created to tie into her feast day as a test for a Problem Solving with the Saints course I will be teaching at a local co-op. 

{Disclosure: Some links which follow are affiliate ones.  If you click through them and make any purchase, we may receive small compensation.  Anything we earn goes straight back into training happy hearts and sharing about doing so with you here.}
 
The plan for the first lesson of the co-op follows.

Communion of Saints Chat
 
Chat about the Communion of Saints while coloring a printable from Catholic Inspired. 

Story and Scrapbook Page

I meant to order Saint Theodora and Her Promise to God, but failed to do so in time, so I will simply tell the children some basics about St. Theodore Guerin's life gleaned from Franciscan Media's Saint of the Day explanation and other internet sources.

As I tell St. Theodore Guerin's story, the children can make a scrapbook page about her, noting that:

• her Feast Day is October 3.
• she came from France and lived America.
• she is Patroness of Archdiocese of Indianapolis.

Of course, they can add other details about her, too, and include a photo which I will print out from Wikipedia.


Design Challenge

Finally, we will recall how St. Theodore Guerin was willing to take risks and get things done to follow God's will. Part of doing so required her to leave her home country to come to America by boat.  Thus, our challenge will be to build a boat that can hold six “sisters” (pennies)  for five or more seconds without leaking, sinking, or tipping over.

FREE Printable

My plan for tomorrow differs a bit from the one above that I will use at co-op, because I want the Design Challenge to do double-duty: to help my children remember St. Theodore Geurin's willingness to take risks and work hard as well as to serve as an activity for this year's Destination Imagination Club.

Because Destination Imagination is not a faith-based initiative, I have created a challenge sheet that does not contain the St. Theodore Guerin tie-in in the main printable portion, but, rather, only mentions it on the first page of the printable.  Of course, I will discuss the tie-in with my children after club.


Before club, we will (I hope!) complete all of the other portions of the plan above, thus learning about a new saint!

If you'd like to try the design challenge, too, get your FREE FLOAT YOUR BOAT INSTANT CHALLENGE PRINTABLE here!
 
I'd love to hear how it goes for you.  Please share a comment here or even show me a picture on our Facebook page. 

Looking Ahead to St. Francis's Feast Day on October 4

This week will also bring the feast day of St. Francis on the 4th.  If you'd like ideas for that, be sure to click through the following images for more ideas, including a problem solving challenge.

Sts. Theodore Guerin and St. Francis, pray for us!