Blaschka Glass – A History of Glass Models

This is glass...

Some of the most amazing glass objects were created at the turn of the last century, not this one. Specimens and models of flowers and sea creatures so realistic you can hardly believe they were made of glass. These pieces were made by Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka, a father and son glass working team. Their work can be seen in the museums at Corning and Harvard as well as other places around the world. I stumbled on a video on You Tube that provides a history of Leopold and his son and their work. I highly recommend watching it if you love glass.

this is also glass...

When Harvard saw the flowers and plant life that Leopold had created he was commissioned to create models of sea creatures for the Harvard Museum. I am certainly not doing their story justice so I highly recommend you learn more about the Blaschkas. I know it has made me appreciate the glass technology I am allowed to work with.

and yes, this too is glass...

Read These Next

I don’t know why tropical animals feel like something you should learn about in the summer, because these tropical bird crafts and activities are great to do any time of year. Let’s take a look.

Homeschool Giveaways has a printable tropical birds copywork book kids can use to practice cursive or print writing. They also have links to more fun printable activities, mostly about parrots, toucans and cockatoos.

Homeschool Share has a printable lapbook all about parrots. This one is a lot of fun because it includes things like the pros and cons of owning a pet parrot and some parrot jokes alongside information about where parrots live, why they have hooked beaks and their lifespan, among other things.

Use colorful bird puzzles to reinforce number order with this free printable puzzle collection from Craft Play Learn. It includes five different bird puzzles that are each eight pieces.

And if you want to look at toucans in particular, check out this toucan study guide aimed at elementary students from Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus. This isn’t a free resource but it’s 31 pages all about toucans, their life cycle, anatomy, what they eat, role in the rainforest ecosystem, activities and more well worth the cost.

How about some tropical bird crafts? This 3D macaw parrot from The Craft Train is a great one, also not free but super cute and easy to make with the printables.

I Heart Crafty Things has a super cute parrot made with cardboard and card stock. If you hang it from the ceiling it will even spin.

Or try the cute cardboard tube parrots from Kids Craft Room, which kids will love to decorate (you could even use feathers if you have some). You can also make a parrot (or whatever other tropical bird you like) from a paper plate with these instructions from Crafts on Sea.

Read These Next

Have you read?