Khan is Coming! {Irving Arts Center, Irving}


Yes, the Genghis Khan is coming to Dallas!

Well, maybe not *the* Genghis Khan, since he's been dead for around 800 years, but the amazing Genghis Khan exhibit is coming to the Irving Arts Center from June 1 through September 30, 2011. It features the largest collection of artifacts from Khan's reign, ever shown in a single event.

From the Irving Arts Center:
The story of Genghis Khan the conqueror, the myth and the man is told through a stunning and highly interactive world-tour exhibition. Genghis Khan: The Exhibition follows the life of a poor, illiterate child as he becomes one of the world’s greatest conquerors and leaves a lasting imprint on modern-day culture. More than 200 artifacts including gold jewelry, weaponry, silk robes, currency, tomb treasures and more are displayed alongside video-screens, hands-on activity stations and role-playing kiosks to create an educational and historical experience for visitors of all ages.
As a homeschooling mom, I couldn't let this opportunity pass. I went through our materials (and thanked my lucky stars that Faith has been working on some Middle Ages materials this year) and browsed Irving Art Center's Educator's Page for some study guides as we began to put together a mini-unit on Khan, culminating with a trip to the exhibit.

For Faith, I brought out two of our books--Story of the World Volume 2: The Middle Ages book and Usborne World History: Medieval World. In SotW, we reread the chapter on Genghis Khan (The Mongols Devastate the East) and worked on the accompanying map to understand where we were in the world. We covered the pages on the Mongols in Usborne as well; the illustrations helped explain the whats and wheres of the khans. I scanned the Genghis Khan coloring pages from SotW so both kids had one to color and we utilized the vocabulary sheets from Irving Arts Center to prepare for understanding the exhibit. I plan to print the Quest for Knowledge before we actually head to the exhibit and work through some of it with Faith.

Faith and I also loved the Keen on Khan facts on the Arts Center website. Our favorite reason to be keen on Khan? You might be related! Nearly .5 percent of the world’s male population can trace their heritage back to Genghis Khan’s family. That’s nearly 16 million men!

For Ben, he tagged along a bit with Faith on the books and coloring pages, but lost interest in the heavy facts. Instead, I headed over to Enchanted Learning to find some more age appropriate China information for him. He did a simpler mapping sheet and more basic vocabulary, along with a booklet about pandas (he's in kindergarten, it's still China-related!).

Next week, we plan to head to Irving Arts Center to check out the exhibit and finish up a bit more of our mini-Khan unit. We're also hoping to take in one of the Genghis Khan special events, especially the Family Khan Days. F&B love a good art project! Their summer camps look amazing too, definitely something to consider.

This post is sponsored by the Irving Arts Center, host of the Genghis Khan Exhibit. I was provided with tickets to the exhibit and compensation for my time. All opinions expressed are my own.

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