Since Marco Polo's father and uncle stayed in Venice for four
years after their first trip to the East before they set off again, we
thought we would spend a little bit longer in Italy to learn more about
the country, as well as to better prepare ourselves to embark on the epic
journey.
The undercoat took a day to fully dry. Next, I laid out all the materials I could find for Tiger to start decorating his masks: sequins, ribbons, craft precious stones, feathers, yarn, crepe paper, craft aluminium foil....etc.
This post is linked up to:
1) History and Geography Meme #70
2) Virtual Refrigerator
3) Homeschool Mother's Journal: April 19, 2013
4) Collage Friday - Delight Directed Learning and a Super Morning Routine
5) Homeschool Review
6) Hobbies and Handicrafts - April 19
7) April Culture Swapper
8) Look What We Did!
9) Weekly Wrap-Up: The One After the 2:1 Conference
10) Creative Kids Culture Hop #3
11) Hip Homeschool Hop - 4/23/13
It is also featured in Homeschool Review and
We learned about a specific type of theatre in Italy called commedia dell'arte.
It is very similar to the English Punch and Judy puppet show where there is a standard set of characters. In fact, according to Wikipedia, Punch and Judy evolved from commedia dell'arte.
After watching National Theatre's introduction above, we decided to watch an actual Italian version that introduces each character and the relevant theatrical masks each wears:
I bought two pre-made masks from a craft shop and asked Tiger to choose one mask to be decorated as a theatrical mask, the other was to be a Venetian carnival mask. For ideas and inspirations on how to decorate the carnival mask, Tiger googled "Venetian carnival mask" and looked through the search results.
Once he was happy with his research, he started to paint each mask with an undercoat:
The undercoat took a day to fully dry. Next, I laid out all the materials I could find for Tiger to start decorating his masks: sequins, ribbons, craft precious stones, feathers, yarn, crepe paper, craft aluminium foil....etc.
Then off he went.
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| Theatrical Mask |
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| Carnival Mask |
1) History and Geography Meme #70
2) Virtual Refrigerator
3) Homeschool Mother's Journal: April 19, 2013
4) Collage Friday - Delight Directed Learning and a Super Morning Routine
5) Homeschool Review
6) Hobbies and Handicrafts - April 19
7) April Culture Swapper
8) Look What We Did!
9) Weekly Wrap-Up: The One After the 2:1 Conference
10) Creative Kids Culture Hop #3
11) Hip Homeschool Hop - 4/23/13
It is also featured in Homeschool Review and
Oh, I love how those turned out! With a degree in theatre, I found this post of particular interest!
ReplyDeleteYou're the first person I know to have a degree in theatre. Very cool, Phyllis! Tiger is fascinated by many aspects of theatre work too.
ReplyDeleteI particularly like the carnival mask. It would be perfect for a masked ball!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun activity as you study Italy. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteKerry Beck
http://HowToHomeschoolMyChild.com
I love it! I'm so happy that you link up each week, Hwee.... I learn a lot from you!
ReplyDeletelovely to link the theater with craft ideas.
ReplyDeleteI love your mask, we started making ours while studying Brazil. I will have to show my kiddos yours for some inspiration!
ReplyDeleteGreat idea to have him make his own mask!
ReplyDeleteThat looks like a fun hands on project.
ReplyDeleteWhat wonderful masks!
ReplyDeleteThank you for all your kind comments, ladies! There is so much scope when it comes to decorating masks, and a lot for fun too!
ReplyDeleteI love Tiger's masks! What a fabulous hands-on activity. The carnival mask reminds me of the Classical Kids CD "Vivaldi's Ring Of Mystery", the story of which is set in the Venice Carnival (albeit somewhat later in history!)
ReplyDeleteWe have that CD but I didn't make the connection. Thank you for the tip, Lucinda! I might just squeeze that in. :-) We're in a bit of a hotchpotch at the moment so it's just about Italy in general and not limited to the Middle Ages.
ReplyDeleteHave you heard of the book - Lion of St. Marks? It's a story of Venice during the 14th century. We haven't studied this time period yet, but have the book for when we do. Since I haven't read it I don't know if I would recommend it or not, but I think it was on a book list for Ambleside Online or one of the other literature based homeschool curriculums.
ReplyDeleteI've not heard of the book, Julie, but will look into it. It sounds very relevant to what we're studying. Thank you very much for telling me about it. :-)
ReplyDeleteSuch creativity. I am following you at Look What We Did.
ReplyDeleteThanks for a fun post.
Blessings
Janis www.janiscox.com author of Tadeo Turtle
Thank you for your very kind comment, Janis!
ReplyDeleteHow fun!
ReplyDeleteTheatre... Mardis Gras. He is set for mask-making and you have inspired me.
I think I'll use this in my art classes next year.
Blessings,
Emily
I'm glad you are inspired to use this idea with your art class, Emily. Thank you for stopping by!
ReplyDeleteHi from HHH!
ReplyDeleteOh how I love that photo of all of the supplies! What possibilities. Their masks are beautiful.
jeannine: waddleeahchaa.com
Hwee...this is great. Thanks for linking to Look What We Did. I have featured you today at the Homeschool Review.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Savannah! :-)
ReplyDeleteAmazing masks! I am especially impressed with his patience in doing all of the steps! Thanks for linking up at the Culture Swapper!
ReplyDeleteThe masks are beautiful! I'm pinning this so I can do it this with my son. Thank you so much for linking at the Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop #3.
ReplyDeleteThank you for stopping by, Ikgmita and Frances. I hope you'll have a fun time doing this activity with your own children too. :-)
ReplyDeleteThank you for linking up to the Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop! I love how you reinforced your study by making masks - they turned out beautifully!
ReplyDeleteOOO! I like the idea of the mask painting. It would be a lovely way to introduce my kids an aspect of their Italian heritage :0)
ReplyDeleteCongrats! You have been featured in the CKC Blog Hop! http://discoveringtheworldthroughmysonseyes.blogspot.com/2013/05/creative-kids-culture-blog-hop-4.html
ReplyDelete