Columbus Day Maps

Over the years, I have really come to love Columbus Day!  Because our children get the day off of school, I've had the opportunity to do crafts with them on this day that help us learn about the voyage and mission of Christopher Columbus...and play with friends, and besides that, get absolutely nothing done.

Last year we made our handprint boats that later were used in our Book of Mormon Party.

We've also made boats that really rock, shown here (although these were supposed to be Mayflowers, but could work for Columbus Day too!)

Even though we've moved, we're still hanging on to our old neighborhood pals.  We had these ones over again today.  My how they are all growing up!

Today, we made these primitive-looking maps depicting Columbus' voyage from Spain to "The New World."  The idea came from here.  

The book that we always read on Columbus Day is "The Voyage of Christopher Columbus, In His Own Words."  It's a cool pop-up book that I got for free from someone years ago. 

The kids all fell in love with it immediately, but I had to keep it out of their reach for so long, because they were so little and the pages were breakable.  Every page pops-up and you can interact with it.  Pretty neat.  Ours needs a little TLC now though.

So, why "celebrate" Columbus Day in an age when doing so has become sort of politically incorrect?  I don't know.  I didn't set out to do so, but I guess for me personally, knowing that the Lord foresaw Columbus' voyage and showed it to Nephi in the Book of Mormon many hundreds of years before his birth was a first step in my curiosity about the man. 

Plus, I grew up learning what I'm afraid our children are not taught, that this explorer was amazing, stubborn, gifted, brave, tenacious, and above all things faithful and believing and gave the Lord credit for the many spiritual and educational gifts that made his discovery possible.

So, how do we sort out what is fact and fiction about this man whose reputation has become larger than life?  I like what is said in this Ensign article called "Columbus and the Hand of God" by De Lamar Jensen...It debunks myths both good and bad and is definitely worth a look!

Happy Columbus Day!