Wise Men Still Seek Him

We invited some friends over for a day to learn about the Wise Men from the Nativity.

We started by going for a walk and pretending to follow a star.

And we came bearing gifts.

We came home to a snack of 3 wise men,

a star,

and gifts of frankincense, gold and myrrh.

Then we decorated cookies,

while my best friend, Lolo B, made camel hump wraps and Iranian Stew.

Yum!

We read some different stories about the Nativity and Wise Men.

Through the Animals Eyes is a unique perspective on the Christmas story, including animals that inhabited the Middle East during the time of Christ.

The book There Was No Snow on Christmas Eve is a great book that sparked discussion on Geography and weather in the Holy Land.

We studied the differences between camels from the Orient and the Middle East.

We tried lifting the same amount of weight as a camel holds

(and multiplied it by 20!)

After reading about camels, we spent some time playing a game wearing clothes that did similar jobs like a camel`s body does. (ie. backpack for carrying fat that turns to water as it travels, etc.)

Here is a camel, complete with protective eyelids to block out the sand

Then we had a race.

You had to dress up like a camel, in all this crazy get up, and then race to the other side of the room

Tired out from our camel races, it was time to retire to the craft table 

Where we made camels, wise men and crowns of splendor

  

Time for science!

We lit some incense and discussed fragrance and worship.

Then prayed for peace in the Middle East.

We learned about how to give gifts like wise men give.

Gold-things of value

Frankincense-gifts that encourage worship and devotion to God

Myrrh- things for your body (myrrh was used to embalm bodies)--soap, clothes, or HUGS!!!!

Perfume time. 

We crushed up pine needles for one jar of perfume, another for cloves and another of sap from trees.

We`ll see in a few days what it smells like.

There may have been some cookie decorating going on.....

And finally, we made some gifts of bath salts to give away to someone special.

It was a wonder-filled day of Nativity learning!