Frolicking Freckles Summertime Vintage Style Series~ 1940's~

Well, we are finally getting settled into our new home and our normal routines after the long five months we were without our own home. Due to staying with others, we never quite felt we could continue on our normal routine path since there was so much going on and things I will not discuss here. Anyways due to stress and other things beyond our control, Freckles missed quite a bit of school.   She was reading and writing regularly, but the normal stuff wasn't getting done. Thankfully she is home schooled and we have the opportunity to catch up this Summer. That is just what we are going to do. So, back to school..."Summer School" that is.... to catch up. And, yes she will still have some fun this Summer, I wouldn't deprive her of that. We will be going on some field trips as we need to venture out a bit and learn about our new area...The Bay area. And, she will be going on her first Summer Camp trip. I decided since I am a visual,  hands on, unit study kind of Mama who loves history too...And I have a visual, hands on, unit study kind of daughter who also loves history...That I would pull together a unit type study on a couple of our favorite eras. The 1930's~1940's. 

Freckles came out the other day in a blue shirt and red banana on her head making this gesture with her arms, declaring "We Can Do It". I just about died laughing and grabbed the camera. This is just what inspired this Summertime Vintage Style Series. So...Follow along if you would like. We will start off a little backwards with the 1940's, since Freckles inspired this whole thing...And well, Independence Day is just around the corner, so I'm feeling a bit patriotic. Later we will move into the 1930's.This series of the 1940's will include crafting, cooking, baking, sewing 

and a resource list to help you dive into the era a bit more.

Here's a little crafty photo booth idea for you:

Make a Rosie Riveter poster~

I took a picture of Freckles just like the pose of the Rosie Riveter poster. Then I took it into Pic Monkey and colored around it and added the text. If your daring and know how to do this in Pic Monkey or Photoshop, then by all means have fun and be creative. Okay some of us may not be savvy with the computer....so here's what you can do instead: Dress up in a blue or white button up shirt, roll up the sleeves, add a bandanna, make a photo booth back drop on a wall or use a big sheet...( yellow would be nice, but not necessary.) Now make a big speech bubble from blue construction paper and painting "We Can Do It" with white acrylic paint. Attach this to the wall or a big sheet. Take a picture, crop it and have it printed...You can then use it for a scrapbook about the 1940's or a memory album. Or... You could always have your child draw

 a poster with colored crayons, markers or colored pencils.

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Note* This is not a project that I intend to encourage feminism. I believe in the 1940's there were women who had to work because their husbands had to go to war and women who wanted to support the war effort. They didn't have much of a choice back then. Keeping food on the table and caring for families was hard. I am also not against the woman who chooses or has to work in this day and age. 

This is not about my personal political beliefs. 

Rosie The Riveter was an American Icon and surely

 could be used as a lesson in our history. 

Eat Watermelon

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A favorite Summertime pastime is eating watermelon. We bought this lovely yellow watermelon from Sprouts and thought we would cut it up, while Freckles enjoyed some reading time at the kitchen table. Freckles is almost 13 years old...And still enjoys the American Girl series. We highly recommend the Molly American Girl book series, which will give you glimpses into the time of 1944. 

Visit Molly's World 1944 here.

Freckles also enjoys the book called Welcome to Molly's World, which is filled with pictures and information that will benefit any 1940's study as well as World War II. You can also find Molly's cookbook for cooking projects on Ebay or Amazon.

She also likes watching The American Girl Molly movie. 

We love the visuals of how it would have been back then.

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Some extra resources:

World War II For Kids

Great World War II Projects

World War II An Interactive History Adventure

Songs that got us through World War II

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Hope this will help kick start some Summertime fun.

 Keep your eye out for the next installment to this series.

 See you later.