We've been big fans of Home School in the Woods ever since our first review of their Middle Ages Project Passport (we also reviewed the Time Traveler: American Early 19th Century, and Breeze's favorite, the Composer Hands-On History Activity-Pak).
This time, we're happy to review the Timeline Collection: A Collection of Historical Timeline Figures. This is a massive download with more than 1,260 figures that can be used in a myriad of ways. A helpful article on their blog also discusses how you can use the timeline in your homeschool.
The Timeline Collection is divided into several sets, grouped by time periods: Creation to Christ (Beginning - 100 AD); Resurrection to Revolution (0 - 1799 AD); Napoleon to Now (1750 AD - Modern Day); plus America's History (Explorers to 21st Century), and a bonus pack of about 72 figures which includes the Dedication of the Balangao New Testament in 1982 AD. This last event is of particular interest, because Balangao is in the Philippines, only about 200+ kilometers north of Baguio City, where we currently live.
In each period set, there are also different combinations of with or without text, and notebook or wall-sized. These are available either as PDF files, allowing you to print several figures pre-grouped into a single page; or you can access individual GIF files of each figure--resizing and grouping them according to your preference.
Each combination has its pros and cons. I decided to print out all the PDFs instead, since the girls and I hadn't quite figured out exactly what projects we wanted to do. However, now that we have a better idea of what we can do with all these wonderful figures, I think I will curate my own figures into themed PDFs in the future. I could also go by the categories that the individual images are grouped by, such as Ancient Greece, or Military Leaders, or even Disasters (Breeze, my younger daughter, would love this one!).
One of the best uses, of course, for the Timeline figures is for an actual timeline--on a wall, in a notebook, or in various lapbook formats. We currently use Sonlight for our history, geography and literature studies and their timeline figures are from Home School in the Woods so we are already familiar with this. However, I wanted the girls to be creative, and I was interested with what they could come with.
We wanted to do something more exciting. Finally Breeze (my newly-nine-year old who's finishing third grade) decided that she wanted to do a game. We like card games around here, so she decided she wanted to do something like Go Fish.
So I helped her cut out index cards into playing card size, and she cut out the figures. She then cut the figures and the descriptive text apart, and stuck them on individual index cards, labeling the figure. She came up with three themed decks: Rome; Biblical Events and People; and Rulers of the Ancient Civilizations.
Breeze is currently coloring in the figures, but we figured that we could still play. Raine (my 12-year old) joined in and we had a hilarious round of Go Fish History, complete with over-the-top British accents ("I say, have you a Nefertiti?") and near-wins. So far, we've played the Biblical Events and the Rulers decks. Rome is a really thick deck, so that may take longer.
Breeze is currently thinking of other themed decks, so it's a good way for her to put together all that we've been learning. Raine, on the other hand, is still coming up with a board game. I suggested a game ala Where in Time is Carmen San Diego, but I think I may do that myself.
As always, we're thrilled to do a review for Home School in the Woods and this the Timeline Collection: A Collection of Historical Timeline Figures is one of the most flexible products we've had that lends itself to so many uses.
Other homeschooling families have also tried other products from Home School in the Woods. Click below to read about their experiences.
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