Magic and Mayhem

Anna did a horse lapbook the other night, all in one night. She really had fun and we both learned a lot.

I printed out various things that I found online doing google searches for horse images and horse facts for kids. I found some really neat stuff that Anna didn’t want to use, like a chart of horse skeleton evolution over the years (they were originally very small and were eventually bred to be bigger and stronger over the years by man). She proclaimed that sheet “disgusting” because it was bones. LOL This from a little girl who proudly bagged up the deer skull she found in the wetlands!

Some of the parts of the lapbook include a page where she labeled all the parts of a horse, a page showing all the face markings and what they are called and one with leg markings, lift the flap trivia questions, a coloring page, information like the horse family (equus) and how much they sleep (2 1/2 - 3 hours a day, more in summer than winter), a photo of the world’s smallest horse (Thumbelina), an explanation of the three types of horses (ponies, light and draft), stapled lists for each group of the breeds and characteristics, and a little blurb about Mr. Ed.

It was interesting seeing how differently my girls approach lapbooks. Victoria takes eons to finish hers, making sure everything is perfectly planned and absolutely centered and perfect. Annalee has no time for such nonsense. LOL She zipped through everything and was done. It was hard for me to take off my teacher hat and not correct her (Don’t you want to slow down and write more clearly? You’re going to run out of room if you write that big…). I want her to continue to enjoy the process, though, and have ownership over her lapbooks. I have always hated to see parents who micromanage their children’s art or school or sports, taking over and bossing and nitpicking. I’m so glad I shut up and let her do her own thing! She loves it and is proud of it, and I really am too.