I've started buying and collecting the supplies for Norah's history projects. We've chosen one or two projects for each chapter of The Story of the World, Volume 1: Ancient Times.

Notice the dragon, the Sphinx and the pyramids. Those are extra. They aren't recommended in the activity guide, but they were very affordable, so I decide to add them. We will do the dragon when we study Ancient China, the pyramids and the Sphinx when we study more about Ancient Egypt.

Notice the fake apple. That will be painted gold and labeled "For the Most Beautiful" to go along with our chapter on the Greek gods. I don't know the story yet, but I think Zeus must have caused some trouble with that apple. The activity guide actually recommended making an apple out of paper mache. I just skipped the mess and effort and bought a fake apple that I don't mind Norah painting gold.

Notice the terra cotta pot. I'll draw a traditional Roman design on it with a permanent marker and the help of images off the internet, then smash it with a hammer and Norah will have put it back together with fast drying glue, pretending that she's an archeologist.

The yarn is for more than one project, actually. One project we're using yarn for will be to make Roman hair piece. Romans used to wear hair pieces to make their hair look thicker like some people do today.

The brown bags, plastic eyes and craft foam will be to make Medes and Persian puppets so Norah can put on a puppet show retelling all she learned in that chapter.

I can't afford to buy everything I need for the whole school year this month. That's no big surprise, really. I've already spent a small fortune on our textbooks and another small fortune on science project supplies.

So I am planning carefully and I will make another order in November to get the rest of the history supplies that we will need later in the school year (like the Great Wall of China puzzle). But I am happy to say that what I have managed to get us thus far will get us through the next twelve or more weeks of our history book, so that is good.

Collecting all the project supplies ahead of time has been really rewarding. It is causing me to focus less on the stress of doing so many crafts with Norah since I am handling all the tedious work and planning now and I it is allowing me to focus more on the fun of what we get to do this year. I am not very crafty but seeing everything in one place is actually making me excited about the stuff we will get to make this year in history!