Great Ancient China Projects: You Can Build Yourself

Read through the whole book and so excited to get started with my kids on making some of the projects. We will be using this book along with our homeschooling curriculum when we start to study China. I was looking for some fun activities and craft ideas to go along with our study of China's history and I was so pleasantly Surprised that the book also contained the history along with the project. Although the book is geared for children ages 9-12, when they can independently read and choose what they would like to do, the projects would also be fun to do with your younger children. The writing style is so engaging that when I picked up the book to look through I didn't put it back down until I was completely done reading it!

Learned stories related to Chinese inventions.

My family likes this book a lot! The information it shares is great! The project ideas are great but some can be a little more complex in items you need to go buy or steps to take. Some of the things we have done were time consuming and still didn't turn out too great - like our yurts. But overall the book is very well done!

The customer service is very good and responsible. Thanks a lot！The book is great.

Written in engaging kid friendly language. Excellent supplement to a stale textbook overview of an amazing civilization. Activities do not require hard to find items.

Great book :)

This is a very thorough and unbiased book for teaching ancient China with the added bonus of hands on activities to reinforce the concepts. This book can be integrated into every subject.Here's what is covered:Timeline from Shang Dynasty to Mung Dynasty (1600 BCE-1644 CE) with highlights from each time periodIntroCh. 1 Cities and Architecture includes the Great WallProjects: mini-yurt and feng shui houseChapter 2 PaperProject: make your own paperChapter 3 Writing and Education includes ConfuciusProjects: movable type and making your own ink from berriesChapter 4 Warriors and WeaponsProjects: terracotta army including how to make an animation of them and kiteChapter 5 Jade and SilkProject: jade bi jewelryChapter 6 Merchants and Trade includes the Silk RoadProjects: suspension bridge and relief mapChapter 7 Explorers and Sailing includes Zheng HeProjects: compass and Chinese junkChapter 8 Healers and Medicine includes acupunctureProject: learn T'ai Ch'iChapter 9 Farming includes wheelbarrow and trace harnessProject: bronze foundryChapter 10 Food includes fortune cookies and tea ceremonyProjects: moon cakes, egg noodles, tea and ice creamChapter 11 Time and Space includes Chinese calendar and Su Song's water clockNo projects in this chapterChapter 12 Music includes bells, orchestras and theaterProjects:Chinese string instrument and puppetChapter 13 Chang Heng's SeismographProject: seismographChapter 14 Numbers includes decimals and negative numbersProjects:abacus, tangrams and paper snowflakes

This is a great book for children, with a wealth of information about ancient Chinese culture and history. It is probably most appropriate for children between 8 and 13. Younger children would need to be strong readers or could enjoy this book by reading and doing the activites together with a parent - a great way to absorb the contents of this book for parent and child alike! Weinberg's illustrations are essential to the playful nature of each chapter. Each chapter focuses on an aspect, invention, tradition, or object from Chinese history, and each includes side bars and boxes of "words to know" and an explanation of relevant Chinese characters. The book has a lot of text but is also very visual - making for a deceptively rich presentation. I believe a strength of this book is that it does not simplify things to the point of talking down to the child reader. The activities provide just enough information to spark a child's imagination and don't squeeze out all the fun by providing step-by-step "must be done this way," cookbook directions (except for the recipes, of course). That said, there are a couple of activities where an additional illustration or two would have helped, but this is a minor criticism. I imagine that most children will finish this book having gained a useful body of knowledge about Chinese culture and a heightened curiosity for more.

This is great for some practical ideas for children to make that have connections with ancient china - paper, kites etc.