TOS Review: Homeschool in the Woods Activity Paks

If there's one thing that has slid almost totally off the radar since our family expanded to include the pre-preschool set, it's crafts. Now, I was never a great crafts mom, I'l be honest. Science experiments? Yes. Art projects? Sure. Random messy play? Absolutely.

But crafts--and by that, I mean those projects-for-projects-sake kind of handiworks--have always been a rare effort for me. Maybe it's because I never especially enjoyed them myself as a child. Maybe it's because my home is already awash in a sea of blue crayola-ed styrofoam cups with little paper Peters attempting to walk across the water. Maybe it's because I always have the sneaking suspicion that there are bigger fish to fry in the ocean of academia. Maybe it's because my children seem quite willing and able to cook up more than their fair share of crafts when left to their own devices for any length of time.

Whatever the reason, I just don't do that many crafts with my kids. Add this to my list of failings as a homeschool parent.

I have done a handful of very successful lapbooks, however. And it was this minor victory that gave me a sense of "I can do it!" when I first laid eyes on the Homeschool in the Woods Activity- Pak. It's a hybrid, I told myself. It's a lapbook, only ... not. Don't worry. We can get through this.

Complete disclosure: I have yet to fully "get through" the New Testament Activity-Pak. There is simply too much stuff. What we have done, though, has been enjoyed by all. Beautiful artwork, fun concepts and easy assembly. Included in this huge project pack are the following topics:

1. The Lineage from David to Jesus
2. The Birth of Jesus Christ
3. Miracles of Jesus
4. The Beatitudes
5. Fruit of the Spirit
6. The Parables of Jesus
7. The Last Supper
8. The Crucifixion
9. The Ascension
10. Pentecost
11. The Resurrection
12. Prophesies Fulfilled
13. The Twelve Disciples
14. Paul’s Missionary Journeys
15. “The New Testament News”
16. The Armor of God

There's a poster for your children to make. A newspaper, scroll-style. Beautiful maps to color. A neat study of Paul's journeys told through postcards. A triptych to assemble.

In other words, a lapbook hopped up on one too many caramel macchiatos with whip.

We've been slowly meandering our way through the Activity-Pak, and enjoying it as a low-key addition to our normal Bible studying. We're probably half way through the activities at this point, which puts me in a bit of a bind: my children know that there's an Old Testament Activity-Pak available, and I'm thinking that they're thinking they'll get to do it.

So much for not being a crafty mom.