Art History Card Game

Meet the Chapmans, a family that has captured my heart. Amanda and I met in a homeschool preschool group a few years ago; she was the first person to tell me about Classical Conversations! We have grown very close this past year, and I am honored to have her in my life. 

Like every family, the Chapmans have had struggles, and I'll let Amanda share more on that in a minute. But despite all of the medical problems in their precious family (her son was just declared legally blind in one eye, and her sweet daughter has had numerous eye surgeries herself), the Light of God has been shining brightly through their lives. If I could pick one word to describe Amanda and Brett, it would be

brave.

Just like the classic hymn, they have decided to follow Jesus wherever He leads them. And the Great Physician, our Healer, our Comfort, our wise and mighty God has led them to adopt two special-needs children in China.

Brave and faithful.

Please welcome my friend Amanda:

I have always known that I wanted to adopt.  I don't really remember how old I was, but as a little girl I remember lying in my bed at night thinking that one day I would adopt a little girl from China.  I never knew a family that had adopted, or really remember seeing a whole lot of information on adoption, but God placed that deep desire in my heart as a young girl.  Fast forward many years and Brett and I meet at college.  We dated most of college and knew that we would marry one day.  I remember talking to Brett about wanting to adopt one day and he was all for it!  We married in 2001.  In 2004 we went on a mission trip to Mongolia and worked several days of that trip in an orphanage.  Our hearts fell in love with those children who had no family of their own.  It was at that time that we knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that God was calling us to one day adopt.  We thought that we would have our biological children first and then adopt.  In 2006 our son was born.  In 2008 our daughter was born.  We prayed and thought God was telling us to have one more biological child, and then we would adopt after that.  In 2011 we found out we were pregnant with twins.  WOW!  That caught us off guard, but we were excited for what God had in store for our growing family.  But as it turned out, we lost both babies just after Thanksgiving that year.  Through the tragedy of losing two children, God really spoke to our hearts and we knew that HE was calling us to adopt.  And to adopt not only one child, but two children!  After months and months of praying, we felt that God said the time was "Now" and the country was China.  

As of October 2013, we have approval to adopt a precious 4 year old girl (she turns 5 at the end of October).  We are still waiting to hear who our sweet boy will be.  We are hoping to travel in February 2014 and will be getting both our littles at the same time.  We cannot wait to bring our children home and share with them the love of a family and the love of Christ. Adoption is a beautiful picture of us all being adopted by God.  

"Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west.."   Psalm 43:5

"I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you."   John 14:18

The art cards are finished, and I'd like to honor my friend by turning them into a fundraiser to help her bring her children home. God has been gracious to provide most of the money already, and my prayer is that He will use these 'five loaves and two fish' to help with the rest. The cost is $3, the cost of a cup of coffee. Please consider purchasing this game to help support and encourage the Chapmans.

Here's what's included in the Art History Card Game:

• Chronological list of art movements throughout history
• 62 art cards with information about the piece, artist, and movement on the back, color-coded by art period
• Bonus game! With Art Movement Scramble, you can memorize 25 art movements in history!
• You'll also be blessed by knowing that your $3 went to help bring home the Chapman children. :)

Ready to get it?!

Click here to visit my TeachersPayTeachers store and get your copy.

And please don't be scared off by the cutting and laminating involved in getting the cards put together. Take it slowly, ask your kids to help if they're old enough, and just know that once they're done, they're done! With these cards and the Mona Lisa book, I, personally, can cross Art History off of my list. Woot! I'll also post a video soon of  the Art History Song, which has helped my kindergartner memorize all 25 movements in the card game. Pretty cool!

Update: Click here to see the song on YouTube! And click here to see the hand motions that go along with the song! Click here to see how we're using the art cards in our home.

Finally, I highly recommend you also pick up a copy of The Annotated Mona Lisa, Second Edition, by Carol Strickland, PH.D. This was my main resource for the cards, and I list the exact page numbers of where to find more information for each work or artist in this book. This great book is also used in CC's Challenge level!

It feels so incredibly good to have these cards finished, but it feels even better to be helping a friend. Again, please join me in helping to bring the Chapman kids home from China. Click here to get your copy of the Art History Card Game!