This week, we continued our study from Road Trip USA (by Confessions of a Homeschooler) with the state of Delaware.
The children are really getting adjusted to the PowerPoint presentations and fell in love with the videos of the horseshoe crabs they could access by clinking through an included link. (Did I mention before that I include special links within my PowerPoint shows where you can access the state song and other fun items online?)
Aside from their odd fascination with the horseshoe crabs, they really enjoyed the suggested craft of constructing a suspension bridge. Did you know that Delaware is home to the second longest twin suspension bridge in the world? If you live there, I bet you did, but it was news to this Alabama girl, and I must add that this was the first time I have ever constructed a bridge. Driver beware!
One day before, we made the trusses for the bridge from popsicle sticks and regular school glue.
I also cut strips on cardboard about 8 inches long and two inches wide. There were four strips total (since I was cutting apart a box) so I had to tape two pieces together.
The day of construction, we grabbed a flat surface, a sheet of blue construction paper (for the water), some yarn, a few paper clips, our trusses, and cardboard roads.
Next, we placed the road through the trusses and secured them to our flat surface with mounds of playdough.
The kids were ready to play but this is a suspension bridge. Must. Add. Suspension.
This part is not easy to put into words so hang with me…
The children and I placed paper clips on the tops of our trusses as well as along the sides of the bridge. You need one clip on the road in the center between the trusses and then one clip before and after the trusses. Repeat the pattern on both sides on the road.
Weave the yarn through the paper clips, tying the ends to the first and last on the road.
After your yarn runs parallel down the length of the road, you need to attach lengths of yarn from one side of the road, under the road, to the other side. We did this about eight different times, equally spacing the support down the bridge.
Then, you are ready for vehicles.
The children loved playing with this and it held together a lot better than I had anticipated.
You might be wondering where the other two children were. They were napping. Did you really think this would be possible with a preschooler and a baby in tow?
Ruble did get to play when he woke and wouldn’t you know it! That smart boy went and grabbed a toy boat to make a ferry. So cute!
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I love this idea! Must try it with my children. Thank you for sharing.
Wow, yours turned out better than mine! Ours wouldn’t hold a car without falling down LOL!
HA! I kept thinking, “Geez. When Erica sees this, she is going to laugh at how horrible this turned out!”
If we weren’t Canadian, we’d be using Road Trip too! Thanks for sharing what you’re learning and how you’re using it! So fun! (visiting from Hip Homeschool Hop)
LOL. You could always use it as world geography. 😉
Thanks for stopping by!