The girls began reading the America Girl Box Set for Josefina a few weeks ago. Since these books are way above Lyndsey's reading level, Lauren does not comprehend as well when she is reading, and my voice only lasts so long; I purchased the audio version so they can just follow along in the books. Lauren was responsible for questions at the end of each chapter that I pulled from a Literature Study of Josefina that I found on Currclick.com. They both took sets on bookadventure.com for the 2 books that were online. They enjoyed playing with the paper doll set that I had purchased during the summer and acting out each of the chapters!
We did a few art projects to go along with our study of Josefina's World. The first was building a pueblo from adobe. The girls learned a lot of vocabulary for this American Girl Study!!!
Crayola Air Dry Clay is so fun the build with!!
I found the American Girl Memory Box craft kit at Michael's and online for them to paint.
"Papa had given her a little wooden box of Mama's. Josefina called it her memory box because in it she kept small things that reminded her of Mama, such as a piece of Mama's favorite lavendar-scented soap."
The girls each made a lapbook using mini foldables that they had made while reading each book. Most of the foldables were from homeschoolshare.com and the literature study that I had purchased at Currclick.com.
Lauren talked me into having another American Girl party like we had for Felicity at Christmas. Really, she did not have to whine much because I love to plan a kid party!!!!
Fiesta Time
The girls helped with some of the "authentic" food as part of their history lesson. They mixed and baked the Bizcochitos, spicy sugar cookies, just like Josefina had in the books! We found the recipe in Josefina's Cook Book.
They also made Empanaditas We made Apple instead of Pumpkin like the Josefina Cook Book suggested. We could not keep Colleen out of the dough! She even made an Apple Empanaditas for herself!
We added a few food things that would remind us of some of the stories we read.
"Then everything happened so fast it was a blur. The snake gave a menacing rattle. Mariana threw the rock at it and missed. The snake whipped its head around, shot forward, and struck Mariana on the arm with its fangs."
"Esteban and Mariana brought a wonderful gift. It was a melon that had been buried in sand since last fall's harvest to keep it fresh. When Josefina thanked her, Mariana said, "It's not much, but my heart goes with it."
I made the purse cake. It is not my idea AT ALL! I found the idea on Pinterest!
"She walked across, picked the primroses, and tucked the stems in her pouch. She let the yellow flowers stick out so that they wouldn't be crushed."
The house is all decorated, and the girls are dressed. Corynne even made a welcome sign for the party.
The food bar of tacos, quesadillas, and nachos is ready.
The Mexican Hot Chocolate is ready.
And the friends are here to eat...
Paint pottery...
Make bracelets with turquoise beads...
Eat a yummy cake...
And play games that Josefina and her friends used to play. This game is called The Rainbow.
