Disclaimer: I received a FREE copy of this product through the HOMESCHOOL REVIEW CREW in
exchange for my honest review. I was not required to write a positive review nor was I
compensated in any other way.
Last month, we were offered the opportunity to use and review a product from Home School in the Woods. 
We really enjoyed doing a history study from them six or eight months ago, and the children were fairly enthusiastic about doing another project now. I gave Mr. Sweetie, Mr. Imagination, and Little Miss the choice of two Lap-Paks, one about Knights and one about Benjamin Franklin. They decided they would like to do the Knights K-2 Lap-Pak, so that’s the one we requested. We’ve been working on the projects in it ever since receiving our download. We haven’t quite finished, but almost. We put the lapbook together yesterday, and got a start on coloring the picture for the cover.
There are 12 different little projects to do for the lap book. Each one gives more information about knights. The first project talks about the feudal system in general and how it was organized. There were also projects about the knights’ armor and weapons, and how a king knighted a man (that one was very fun!).
Each project required printing from one to five pages, each on its own PDF, on either white or colored paper or cardstock. I was thankful to have a supply of these on hand from the last time we did a similar-style study! Each project was a little different. Most of the projects have some sort of flaps to lift in order to read information underneath, and a couple of them have several small pages stapled together. One project involved drawing a coat of arms for yourself or your family. Mr. Sweetie remembered seeing a coat of arms that related to our family in a book we have about the Middle Ages, so he based his on that—fun! 
Two of the projects used paper fasteners to make moving parts, and another has a little “puppet” to show a tournament happening.
This project is a really fun supplement to a study of the Middle Ages. It was something different to do in our school days. We learned a fair amount about knights, and in such a way that the children will remember what we learned. They did get pretty tired of coloring pictures by the end; there is a lot of coloring involved. I had them work on coloring while we read aloud, and that helped. This project was good for developing fine motor skills, and, as one of my boys learned the hard way, it is good for learning to follow directions! I had to reprint one or two projects because they weren’t done correctly.
Pros—fun way to learn
easy way to do a little art
very little preparation time required
all printing is black and white, with one page per PDF
Cons—lots of coloring, which my boys struggle with
quite a few pages to print
Will we do more of these projects if they are offered to us? Yes, indeed! We would love to do the Benjamin Franklin lapbook next! Would I buy one? Yes, to use as a supplement to a study we’re doing. These projects are well-thought-out and easy to work into our school days. And by the way, if you’re interested in how the elections work in the United States, this publisher has a Lap-Pak about them. Check out this page if you want to know more about it. Also, if you are curious about lapbooks, I found a very informative blog post about them, here. Click on the link below to see what 79 other families experienced with various products from Home School in the Woods!
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