Monday, October 3, 2011

How to Make Dead Sea Scrolls


Haven't you always just wanted to make Dead Sea Scrolls?




I'm really loving The Mystery of History Vol. 2 this year.


Today we studied about the Dead Sea Scrolls.  They were found in 1947 by a Bedouin shepherd boy.

One of the activities to choose from was to make a replica of a scroll.  The younger 2 boys jumped at the chance, the older 2, not so much. But that's the beauty of homeschooling right?

I gave them each a piece of card stock and our Bible Verse for the week. Might as well get that one in their heads by writing it too. It's handwriting, history, art, and memorization all in one. Did I mention the beauty of homeschooling?



 We decided to copy and paste the Hebrew version on to Lukie's  paper.




Taking it a step further, Logan (10) decided to plug the verse into google translate in GREEK, and proceeded to hand copy the verse in Greek on the flip side of his paper.  I love the ingenuity of this kid.  (So now we added "foreign language" to our list)


They then had to squish up their paper into a ball and then flatten it out again.


Next we made tea. Nah, it wasn't tea time. We need the tea to stain the paper. (Although we do all love a good cup of tea.)  Boil a couple cups of water and add 3-4 tea bags. Steep and let cool.

Dunk the paper in the tea for 4 minutes or so, remove with tongs and allow to dry overnight.




Now it looks nice and old.



Next, you want to burn the edges of the paper, preferably outside, when it's not drizzling and use a long match.

Speaking from experience here.


We rummaged around in our craft drawers and found a piece of leather string to tie it up with.





I think it looks pretty "Dead Sea Scroll-y"

The Lunch Lady

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