Continent boxes finally ready
There is a new addition to the geography center, finally! This is a project I have been putting off working on for quite a while. But I made it my #1 priority this weekend and finally got it done.
Here are our continent boxes:
After much internal debate about what kind of box would be just perfect for holding all of the things I wanted to put in them, searching in vain for just the right boxes, I finally just gathered an odd assortment of boxes I already hand on hand, and re-purposed them for the job. I tore my hair out had a lot of fun coming up with appropriate decorations for them, using paint, various decorative papers, cut-out magazine pictures, and assorted junk embellishments, and in the end I think they turned out pretty cute. Best of all I didn’t have to spend a dime as it was all stuff I had on hand!
Here are Africa with a wild animal print theme and South America with a tropical rain forest theme:
(btw all of the boxes have a picture of the continent on top in the Montessori colors)
Here is JBug’s favorite, Australia:
Here is Asia. This box already had the floral print and I just added the decor to the top. I left a couple of empty spots for Superboy to add some of his Kanji:
Here is North America:
And Europe (I like how this one turned out-so chic!):
I don’t have an Antarctica box yet, but I didn’t want to hold the other ones back until I got it ready.
Here is a peek at the contents of one of the boxes:
Lotsa cool stuff in there! Keep in mind some boxes have more stuff than others. I am just putting stuff in as I come across it, adding a bit at a time. I have a good bit of stuff for NA, Europe, and Asia (though the Asia box as you can see is very heavy on China). Not so much for Africa, SA, and Australia. There is at least a book and pin map for each box, plus some cards with photos of landmarks. I am working on a few other things as well.
And what is that treasure box on top of the shelf??? Did you notice that???
Well…that is my next project and the subject of another post!
Filed under: Curriculum or Lack Thereof..., geography, montessori
This is TOTALLY cool! Really, really cool. Can’t wait to see what’s in the treasure box. Isn’t it great how Montessori materials even pull in adults?
Those are GORGEOUS! You are the queen of creative home school moms.
So can we see all the stuff that’s in those boxes so far?
I love, love, love these. I think they are so much nicer for having been decorated than having them all be the same. What a great use of what you have around.
Thank you for sharing that. I have been trying to put some together for my boys but have been struggling a bit. I love your ideas I may have to “borrow” them LOL!
I love these!!!!!!! Thank you for sharing them. I hope I can attempt to make them this year.
Love these, Theresa. We’ll have to do something similar.
This is one Montessori idea I’ve been really drawn to, I think Marianna and I could have so much fun with these, but the space required!!! Some things just aren’t as cool in binders.
These look great — what fun for the kids. And you! So creative!
I love them. Wow. It makes me want to set up a Google Reader just to share it with everyone. I may try this. Just this week we have been learning about Egypt. I have this idea that at 3 all Citcat needs to understand is a word association with a country. For instance, for Egypt she know mummy, taming cats and the Nile River. I think the boxes could at least house items for association.
You inspire me. I’m not always great at following through, but still…you’re inspiring.
I love how hands-on this all is. I had done the same years ago with plastic shoe boxes, but this is visually gorgeous. ONe thing that was a big hit was to add traditional recipe cards to each box. The kids loved cooking to a theme!
Great job on those! You have so much creative energy!
Amazing job! What a great idea to decorate the boxes! I just keep looking at the pictures- they are like works of art!
These are so neat Theresa! I love all the geography stuff you and Meredith have been sharing.
Wow – those are absolutely fantastic. I wish I had the time to put so much care and detail into anything these days. Your boxes are so much better than anything you could have bought in a store…. I’m still in awe.
[...] Treasure Boxes While creating my geography unit study lens, I stumbled across a blog post at LaPaz Home Learning telling about the Continent Boxes she had just completed. Finally, I knew what to do with all the [...]
[...] Treasure Boxes While creating my geography unit study lens, I stumbled across a blog post at LaPaz Home Learning telling about the Continent Boxes she had just completed. Finally, I knew what to do with all the [...]
[...] creating my geography unit study lens, I stumbled across a blog post at LaPaz Home Learning telling about the Continent Boxes she had just completed. Finally, I knew what to do with all the [...]
[...] Continent Boxes Finally Ready from LaPaz Home Learning [...]