Topographical Map

The Topo map, as it is called in the Atrium, depicts three important times and places in Jesus' life.  The first is when the Angel Gabriel announces to Mary in Nazareth that she is to be the mother of God.  The symbol of a flame representing the Holy Spirit is glued on the control chart in Nazareth.   The second moment is Jesus' birth.  The children learn that Bethlehem was in a mountainous area and the Holy Family needed to climb from Nazareth to Bethlehem, a hard journey on foot.  A star is used for the birth and glued on Bethlehem.  The last is the place Jesus dies in Jerusalem shown as a cross.  These symbols are made of leather and painted. Sculpy clay or foam board would have been a good choice as well.  Also, a good map showing these various regions was needed as a model for accuracy.  Of course, the elevations are guessed at but the children like to feel it and think about it, which helps with their meditation.

There are corresponding stick pins with these same symbols in the small box to the left in the picture.  The children take the pins, which are paper clips and stick them in the holes for the correct city to match the important event.  The holes were made with a drill using a very small bit.

This map represents an ancient map of Israel and surrounding areas.  However, the children are fascinated by the mountains and the bodies of water.  They learn that the Dead Sea, the Jordan River and the Sea of Galilee are all places where Our Lord preached as an adult and where he spent most of His life.  The Mediterranean Sea is the large body of water you see.

To create this work I found a large tray at Walmart and turned it upside down as I wanted the deeper side to create the mountains and to frame the map.  I used joint compound which I bought at Ace Hardware.  It's a pretty pastey material but I formed the mountains with it and it dried hard after five hours or so.  I let it sit all night to make sure all the moisture was gone before I began painting.

 I used poster board to create the control map and painted it to match the topo map inside the lid my husband made for me.  He actually covered it in leather and engraved "The Holy Land" on top.   This is usually presented right before the Nativity Narratives and the children really like it and go back to it again and again.

Presentation in the Temple

I really enjoyed working with this one.  I kept it pretty simple.  The hardest part was to cut the arches out with the jig saw.  I found the molding for the top and sides of the arches at Michaels and glued them on, then painted them.  I wanted the floor to look marble or granite and so used different colors mixed together.  So it was a very simple design but does the job.  I had seen where someone had made a tiny crochet basket for their doves.  My husband made this cute little dove cage with wire.  He really gets into the detail.  It makes it so much fun sharing and doing these projects with someone.  I made the doves along with the four figures out of Sculpy clay from Walmart.  I had done the same with the Baby Jesus but it got so dirty from the children's loving hands that someone replaced it with this plastic one from the Autom catalog.  I've painted it and it looks like the other figures now.   So much nicer and the perfect size and fit.
 
Noami Sogan, another catechist made this beautiful temple.  Would you believe that she got her pillar columns at the cake section in Joannes! We use her temple in our atrium because it is deinitely the nicest I've ever seen.