the whole world in our hands

i was inspired by

one charming party's homemade globe idea 

and thought we'd give it a go.

it was not a project for the faint of heart.

it took several days to complete and there were a few times the kids lost interest.

and, truth be told, there were a few times i got pretty frustrated with it myself.

BUT! now we have a globe that we get to study and learn all about.

these kids are always asking about various places, how far away it is, who lives there, etc. 

like ellie's random, current obsession with "the Ashanti peoples" as she calls them. or jack's hunger for information on the american indians. we always turn to the internet. i thought this might make things a little more hands on for them to visualize and, come on, 

who doesn't love a globe?

mixing the paper mache

and applying

we did three layers. i would suggest doing at least one more. ours is a bit flimsy and it even dried a bit lopsided on top, which ticks me off :)

then two coats of paint

 and painting, cutting out, gluing, and mod podging our continents and oceans in place