Off With Her Head!

I always find it funny what strikes a kid's fancy or captures their imagination. A couple of weeks ago, we studied King Henry VIII of England and the beginnings of the Protestant Reformation in England. Of course, what fascinated the girls was Henry's six wives.

The girls can tell you all six of their names, in order, and what happened to them. If you have a burning desire to know the fate of each ill-starred queen, just memorize this little ditty:

Divorced, beheaded, died;
Divorced, beheaded, survived.

They can also tell you why he divorced or beheaded each one of them (although I tried to make it as PG as possible). None of this was anything I had planned to delve into this deeply, but I had a book of Henry VIII paper dolls
that was intended for Brynna, the 6 yo. There is text in the book about each woman, as well as dolls and extra dresses. Well, all four of the older girls wanted in on the fun.
They have been doing little else for the last two weeks. They have made entire wardrobes for each doll, and playact the stories (in which they are all afraid that if their dresses don't please the king, they'll lose their heads).
In fact, because there aren't enough different dresses for each of the queens - in their opinions - they make copies of the dolls then cut their heads leaving the dress the dolls are wearing. They then cut tabs on this dress and voila! a new dress for Catherine Parr, or whoever.

I'm afraid colonization of the New World might seems a little tame now - too few beheadings of queens with dazzling gowns!