History Resources Archives - Tina's Dynamic Homeschool Plus

How to Teach With an Easy DIY American History Timeline (Pssst! Did you see the giveaway?)

January 26, 2018 | 2 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I was given this product for free. I was compensated for my time and for hosting the giveaway. However, paid for my time does not mean paid off. ALL opinions are my own and for sure I will always tell you what is on my mind. When I do accept a product it’s because I’m giddy to tell you about it. Read my full disclosure here. Now on to the fun stuff!

When my older two sons were in middle school we created a clip art heavy timeline with lots of coloring, cutting, and gluing. I’ve been looking for something which is not as craft intensive while still being challenging.

Until now, I couldn’t find an American history timeline curriculum which inspired me to want to do another one with my third son. Too, being an eclectic homeschooler, I want products which make it easy for me to teach in my style and in a way my son understands.

When I got The Giant American History Timeline from Sunflower Education, I was stoked to prepare another timeline in my simple diy fashion.

How to Rock History Using An American History Timeline

One of the things I find perfect about this two-volume bundle, besides not having to do time consuming coloring or crafts, is that each unit or timeline can stand alone.

We didn’t begin with The Giant History Timeline Book 1: Pre-Colonization-Reconstruction. We did spend the majority of time in The Giant History Timeline Book 2: 1870s-Present because Tiny was interested in modern American history. I loved the fact that we didn’t have to start at the beginning and could skip right to the parts that we found fascinating.

For years we’ve covered significant early American history events through our history lapbooks.

So, feeling like he didn’t really have a clear outline of major modern historical events, Tiny wanted to delve deeper into modern history.

Another downside to doing clip art based timelines or date only timelines which I found out after doing my first one is that no real connection is made between dates and key historical events. And timelines can quickly becoming boring if they’re not studied along with the events or the people.

Intriguing events and colorful personalities of significant people of the past and present is what brings history alive. That is another win for The Giant American History Timeline bundle.

Let me backup first and give you an idea of all the goodies in the The Giant American History Timeline bundle so you can see how it can be used as a stand alone unit study or to enhance your study of geography, famous Americans, or history.

Look at the historical time periods and units in each book.

The Giant American History Timeline Book 1.

Unit 1: Discovery and Exploration Prehistory-1606
Unit 3: The Revolutionary Period 1765-1783
Unit 5: Expanding the Country 1790-1860
Unit 7: Social Issues 1790-1860

Unit 2: Colonial America 1585-1776
Unit 4: Creating the Constitution 1781-1803
Unit 6: An Age of Advancements 1790-1860
Unit 8: The Civil War and Reconstruction 1850-1877

The Giant American History Timeline Book 2.

Unit 1: Industrial Growth and Technological Advancement 1870-1910
Unit 3: America and the World 1867-1910
Unit 5: The Roaring Twenties and the Great Depression 1920-1940
Unit 7: The Cold War 1940-1990

Unit 2: Big Business and Social Reform 1870-1910
Unit 4: World War I 1910-1920
Unit 6: World War II 1930-1950
Unit 8: The Civil Rights Movement Technology and Terrorism 1954-Present

Look at all the teaching perks in each book.

►Teaching notes which contain an overview of key events, suggested focus activities like when we listened to the inspiring I Have a Dream speech by Martin Luther King, Jr., instructions on how to create the timeline, points to teach critical thinking skills, and instructions on how to do the activity sheets.
►Six types of activity sheets which contain maps, primary sources, help for comparing and contrasting time periods, biography sheets, a voice from the past sheets and a fun time machine activity page.
► One of the parts I loved the best is the variety. In Book 1 there are 126 activity sheets and in Book 2 there are 125 activity sheets. That easily adds up to a huge amount of resources for kids of any age.

The hardest part for us was keeping to a few topics so that we could study it for any length of time.

We had so many choices of time periods, timelines, and topic ideas and couldn’t wait to start piecing the timeline together.

Since we moved into our new home, we haven’t really decided on a school area. It wouldn’t really matter anyway because Tiny has almost always taken to the floor to study something like this. He does best by using the floor to put his events in order and the The Giant American History Timeline gives excellent examples of how to connect the information and events to each other.It can be done by event, which is the one we loved, main ideas or sequence of events which is what we’re all familiar with.

Also, another facet of creating an easy diy timeline is storage.

You want your child to engage with the facts and the historical period he is learning, but you need a way for him to come back to them and study it.

However, since we don’t have a huge empty wall like a classroom, we are storing our timeline in a lapbook and doing one for each time period or unit we’re studying.

After researching and organizing the material he wanted to study, we reviewed key facts and then organized the material so that we could review in the future.Also, I shared with you how to turn a worksheet into an interactive minibook.

So, we applied that same folding technique to our mini-giant American history timeline.

One of the best things about using a lapbook besides great storage is that anytime he can take out the lapbook and memorize the significant events that match the dates.Then because this is a research intensive project, we added a pocket on the back of the lapbook to add the extra activity sheets that he did. This lapbook fits in well with the other American history lapbooks that we have done.

Did I mention that all pages are reproducible?

For some of the parts, we shrunk the pages when we printed. The other pages are just regular paper size but folded using my special technique that I mentioned earlier.

American History Timeline Activity Sheets

The Giant American History Timeline may be a good fit for you and your kids if:

►You have multiple ages you’re teaching, but want one sanity-saving resource.
►Your kids don’t mind a few hands-on activities like labeling and coloring maps, but prefer straight research on topics.
►You want a reproducible resource instead of a workbook.
►You’re thinking about a lapbook or notebooking style of timeline because of a lack of space.
►Your kids prefer to learn more independently without having day to day lesson plans.
►You prefer an overview and guideline for topics and events to create.
►You want flexibility in how you cover topics by choosing ones that interest your children.
►You want to use timelines as a stand alone unit study topic covering multiple historical topics.
►Your kids prefer more worksheet and notebooking style pages.
►You want something faith-free or more secular so you can add your own worldview.
►You want teacher helps with answer keys.
►You want one comprehensive resource for teaching American history.
►You want your children to learn independently.

Look at these other American history lapbooks you’ll love!

You Know You Want It! – Giveaway & Savings Discount

Follow Sunflower Education Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest
Discount Code: TIMELINE20 Discount taken at checkout for digital version. Click The Giant American History Timeline Bundle for 20% off.

Entry -Form

Begins: 1/22/2018 1:00 am EST
Ends 2/7/2018 3:00 pm EST
Winners: 10 winners

How to Purchase It.

►Product Name: The Giant American History Timeline.
►Website: Sunflower Education.
►Grade Level: Multiple ages resources, Grade 4 and up.
►Price: Digital Download: $24.95 Physical Book: 29.95

Hugs and love ya,

Hands-On History: Helen Keller Braille and ASL Activity

January 13, 2018 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Written by Shawna at Not the Former Things.

My eleven year old read about Helen Keller as part of his history curriculum this past fall. He was amazed that being blind and deaf was even possible, much less that she was able to learn to communicate, read and eventually, become a motivational speaker for our nation.

Last week, he brought it up again. Helen Keller’s diligence and perseverance is what impressed him. “She just never gave up,” he said, shaking his head a bit.

You see, my son is profoundly dyslexic and still struggles with basic reading. Although he has made a ton of progress, reading continues to be a constant struggle for my little guy.

It occurred to me that this connection he felt to the historic story of Helen Keller was influencing his perception of his own abilities. He felt so inspired witnessing the endless possibilities associated with Helen Keller’s grit and desire to learn.

Wanting to jump on this history and life lesson, I decided to layer in some additional learning by created this challenging, but fun hands-on activity.

Helen Keller Braille and ASL Activity

What You Need For This Activity:

Printables (included for your reference) – The Braille alphabet and the American Sign Language alphabet
Card Stock or Index Cards
Thumb Tacks or Push Pins

Step 1: After printing up the alphabet references, I asked my son to take a look at the patterns in the braille letter formations.

He studied them for a bit, and then I created a secret message for him in “braille” using an index card and a push pin.

Step 2: At first, he tried to run his fingers over the letters, but was not able to identify the letters, even when he used the reference sheet.

We talked about how difficult it would be to have to learn it all by touch, with no access to a cheat sheet.

Step 3: Then, he took the sheet itself and visually matched the dots to the reference. He was able to decode his message, and then created one for me to decode as well.

Easy Hands-on History Kid’s Activity

Step 4: After finishing our “braille lesson,” I grabbed a few coins.

As he closed his eyes, I placed each one in his hand and asked him to identify what coin it was, and any other writing or engravings on it.

Step 5: Now it was time to move on to the sign language alphabet.

He and I both spelled different words, using the sign language letters, back and forth to one another. We remarked how much easier it was than interpreting the braille lettering.

Step 6: Finally, we stepped into the world of Helen Keller.

He closed his eyes while I placed his hands on mine and finger spelled basic words. He did the same for me.

Step 7: The most impactful part of this activity was our recap. We discussed how it felt to have one sense removed, how difficult not being understood must be, and the amazing the story of Helen Keller.

This was a wonderful way for my son to actually experience what had fascinated him in his reading and I was so encouraged to have this level of conversation with him.

We were able to deeply discuss empathy and the power of perseverance – something not always easy to do with a middle school boy.

Best of all, we had fun!

Make history fun for your kids with these activities!

7 Educational Movies for Kids About Westward Expansion

December 8, 2017 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Whether you have visual learners like I do or just want to add a fun twist to your day while learning about westward expansion, your kids will love these 7 movies about westward expansion.

There are one or two that are documentaries and one or two of the movies that I really love which I feel are both entertaining and educational.

Also, we watched all of them on Amazon Prime which we love.

There are so many advantages to Amazon Prime that we’ve loved while homeschooling, but that is another thread. It has been worth the membership for our family.

Fun Movies About Westward Expansion

Pop some corn, grab the blanket, and enjoy these westward expansion movies!

Heads Up. Most, if not all of the movies I recommend here, we’ve watched.

Obviously, things can change over time. So always preview the movie before you let your children watch and if you see something that has changed to not family rated, let me know.

ONE/ The History of the Oregon Trail & the Pony Express.

This is much more documentary like but the pictures, maps, and narration is educational and has quite a bit of background information.

Here is the review from Amazon: Ride along with the pioneers who suffered hardships and victories to forge The Oregon Trail, America’s longest and most famous trail. Then discover little known facts about the legendary Pony Express riders and their part in the Civil War. Breathtaking photography, live re-enactments, illustrated maps and rare photos make these two award-winning historical adventures come to life for all ages.

TWO/ Sacagawea.

Out of all the movies, I think this was one of our favorites. It was narrated by “Sacagawea” but it was more movie like than documentary.

From beginning to end, it held our attention as it showed her life, talked about her marriage, and joining the Corps of Discovery. A beautiful way to tell this part of American history.

It mentioned a lot of the Native American people and showed what Lewis and Clark learned along the way about plants and animals.

If I had to choose chose one movie for a middle school kid, it would be this one. It covered quite a few topics.

Here is the review from Amazon. She was an expectant mother, but she endured every hardship these seasoned soldiers experienced. Without her the Corps of Discovery would have failed. This program re-enacts her journey in her words. Sacagawea will save Lewis and Clark time and time again on their expedition from negotiating for horses and show them which plants are edible.

THREE/ Ghost Town and America’s Historic Inns.

This one talks about how the the great California gold rush impacted American history.

It has nice older black and white pictures along with views of the modern places pioneers panned and mined. What is very interesting in how different people made their living from the gold.

Here is the review from Amazon: Indulge your sense of passion for history with two programs that offer a fascinating link into America’s past. Visit eleven Gold Rush-era ghost towns. Then, bask in the hospitality of America’s most storied inns, taverns, and hideaways.

FOUR/ The Wild West Uncovered.

This is a cool documentary about Virginia City after people flocked there and it flourished.

I loved seeing all the old pictures, the way they lived, and the history. Heads up: They do mention there was child prostitution by then, but no pictures. But it’s so cool to learn how the city grew in riches and with so many people of different backgrounds. I never knew the diversity that lived there.

Besides that, the pictures and relics they find and seeing the old saloons, some still intact, makes this a very informative movie.

Too, it was really interesting that Mark Twain wrote there before he was famous. This documentary is not baby-ish and could certainly be viewed by a high school kid too.

Here is the review from Amazon: Discover the real Virginia City. Hollywood has forged our vision of the legendary Wild West through Westerns like the TV show Bonanza. This vision of the west conquered by cowboys, miners and outlaws all hit by gold fever has filled our imagination. Mark Twain’s colorful writings of larger the life characters has also contributed to the picturesque perception of the Wild West and Virginia City.

FIVE/ How the Wild West Was Won by Ray Mears.

A beautiful documentary and certainly one that your high school kids will like alongside your middle school kids. Beautiful scenery and I love the fact it starts off with being in Washington D.C. and showing how Americans wanted to go west. He takes a different slant about the west by focusing on the mountains and terrain. Kept our attention the whole time.

Your girls will like it, but I think especially good for boys who may like learning about survivor skills.

Here is the review from Amazon: Bushcraft expert and survivalist Ray Mears explores the awe-inspiring landscape of that shaped the story of the Wild West. How did the mountain ranges, great plains and the deserts challenge westward expansion? Discover how extraordinary topography, extreme weather and ecology presented both great opportunity and even greater challenges for Native Americans and early pioneers of the Wild West.

SIX/ Wildlife of the West.

Beautiful images, scenery, and animals of the west bring this time period in history alive. And you can add a bit of science to this topic while watching this movie.

I especially love the fascinating facts about each animal that is on the side as you watch. I’m tempted to do some notebooking pages for each animal. (ha)

Here is a snippet of how it looks below. But, the movie could be paused so that your kids could write a few facts about the wildlife of the west because no doubt the animals would’ve been the same kind the earlier settlers encountered.Here is the review from Amazon. Experience the wonder of more than 2 dozen of the West’s most intriguing animals. Wildlife of the West takes you stream-side and mountain-side, to dizzying heights and stunning habitats.

Seven/ Manifest Destiny: The Lewis & Clark Musical Adventure.

This was goofy but had great music. But this movie musical would certainly appeal to a different learner who appreciated the humor, but had a lot of great facts while they’re singing and acting.

It’s too silly for a high school kid and some more mature middle school kids may not like the humor, but you could include your younger kids with this one if you had a middle school kid who loved movies with a spoof.

Here is the review on Amazon: This cult musical comedy turns the tale of Lewis & Clark into a romping spoof of American history. Follow the explorers out on the trail as they discover that destiny may be anything but manifest. With bold, stylized visuals and ten memorable songs — this is an adventure you’ll never forget.

I know you’ll find or two movies here to make your westward expansion unit study come alive!

Also, you may like these other helpful and fun resources:

Hugs and love ya,

Hands-On History: The Rosetta Stone and Breaking The Code

November 24, 2017 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Written by Shawna at Not the Former Things.

MYSTERIOUS CODE OF THE ROSETTA STONE

We have been studying ancient Greece this year, thanks to a mini-greek mythology obsession on the part of my youngest son.

Last week, my son asked how we are able to read all the ancient texts. “How do we even know how to read an ancient language if it isn’t spoken today?” he pondered. And so, this Rosetta Stone activity was born.

We started by researching exactly what is the Rosetta Stone is. We learned that The Rosetta Stone is written in two languages: Greek and Ancient Egyptian Hieroglyphs. We also learned that without it, we would know almost nothing about life in Ancient Egypt.

After looking at some pictures of it on the internet (thank you Google images), we set about making our own stone.

Hands-On Ancient History: The Rosetta Stone

What you’ll need for this activity:

Large white piece of construction paper
Gray washable paint (or, in our case, white and black mixed together)
Scissors
Glue
Markers
Ancient Languages Printable

To get started, we cut a rough-looking, large “stone” out of the white paper. We then cut several smaller stones as well.

Realizing our Set of 18 paints did not include a gray for stone coloring, we took matters into our own hands and mixed white with black until we got just the right look. Then, we painted all of our cut-out stones.

(At this point, my youngest suggested painting an actual rock from our backyard for the activity as well, so we added a little dirt and a few actual stones to the mix.)

After printing up the key for Ancient Greek and Egyptian Hieroglyphs, my son cut those out as well. Once the largest paper stone’s paint was dry, we pasted the printable key onto it and made our own “Rosetta Stone.”

The Rosetta Stone: Breaking the Code

This is where it got really fun! My boys each took one of the smaller, painted paper stones and used the key to create their own messages in hieroglyphs and ancient greek. Then, they swapped, and tried to de-code the ancient languages using the our own Rosetta Stone.

My youngest also did the same on his rock from outside, and although it was a little harder to read, we all agreed it was much more authentic!

Although I tried to encourage my boys to leave interesting historic messages for one another, the truth is, they had a lot more fun and got a lot more out of the activity when I backed off and allowed them to write whatever they wanted. (Think a little bit of little boy potty humor mixed with quotes from different cartoons and movies. At least the activity was relevant to their everyday lives!)

This was such an easy and fun way to learn and understand the importance of the Rosetta Stone. It was also a great way to get a little writing practice in, as my boys had to write the letters and words as they translated the ancient messages.

Overall, I continue to be impressed with how much a hands-on approach to history makes a difference in my children’s level of engagement and understanding in our learning.

And you can’t get any easier that coloring pages for studying history. Check out these fun coloring pages! There are some for Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece too.

Look at this list.

Page 3: Ancient Egypt Court,
Page 4: Ancient Egypt Spinning,
Page 5: Ancient Egypt Life of the Royals,
Page 6: Ancient Egypt Battles,
Page 7: Ancient Egypt The Nile,
Page 8: Life Along the River – The Nile,
Page 9: Metal Workers & Crafts of Ancient Egypt,
Page 10: Egyptian Hieroglyphics,
Page 11: Egyptian Queen Cleopatra,
Page 12: Aztecs Floating Gardens,
Page 13: Aztecs,
Page 14: Aztec Life,
Page 15: Mayans,
Page 16: Ancient Greece Wedding,
Page 17: Ancient Greek Galley,
Page 18: Ancient Greece Crafts,
Page 19: Ancient Greece Bank,
Page 20: Athens,
Page 21: Spartan Warrior and
Page 22: The Vikings.

Grab your fun copy below!

20 Ancient Civilization History Coloring Pages
$3.50 Add to cart

See more hands-on history ideas below!

10 Westward Expansion History Fun Coloring Pages

November 16, 2017 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Today, I have 10 Westward Expansion history coloring pages that enhance all the free unit studies here or ones that you’re planning.

WESTWARD HO HISTORY FUN COLORING PAGES

Sometimes the boys want to create their own covers for the lapbooks or notebooks from coloring pages.

I know with younger children, it can be hard to find history coloring pages based on everyday life. But these coloring pages work well with middle and high school too if your kid still loves to color.

I made sure they have no baby-ish looking clip art.

I have always tried to use museum quality coloring pages when the coloring mood did strike with my boys.

Also, instead of me adding titles on pages or naming the pages, this allows you to use the clip art/coloring pages any way you want to. Whether it is a cover page, notebooking page, journal page or just to enrich a topic. You have the flexibility.

HOW TO EASILY BRING HISTORY ALIVE

Here is what the 10 page download contains. I put a few key words to explain each picture on the page. This way you can use the coloring pages as title pages too.

Page 3: Native American on horseback,
Page 4: Lewis and Clark Trek,
Page 5: Lewis and Clark and The Piegan,
Page 6: Lewis and Clark Exploring Rivers,
Page 7: The Plains Indians,
Page 8: Pioneer Life,
Page 9: Moving West,
Page 10: Westward Ho,
Page 11: Settlers, and
Page 12: Fur Trappers and Mountainmen

Grab your fun copy below!

10 Westward Expansion History Fun Coloring Pages
$1.75 Add to cart

Also, these coloring pages go well with these free unit studies and lapbooks:

Hugs and love ya,

20 Ancient Civilization History Coloring Pages

November 11, 2017 | 11 Comments
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Today, I have 20 ancient civilization history coloring pages that match up to my units here on my blog. They were free for a limited time, but I think you’ll still want them.

Ancient Civilization History

Sometimes the boys want to create their own covers for the lapbooks or notebooks from coloring pages.

I have always tried to use museum quality coloring pages when the coloring mood did strike with my boys.

We have used various museum quality history coloring books through the years that have made a big difference in how my boys understood history in the early years.

I think clip art should be as real as possible and based on real events in history. They are not always easy to find. I wish I could draw my own history clip art, but you don’t want me to draw for you. Just saying.

Learning History Through Coloring

Anyway, I collect the clip art as I find it.

Here is what the 20 page download contains. I put a few key words to explain each picture on the page. This way you can use the coloring pages as title pages too.

Grab your fun copy below!

20 Ancient Civilization History Coloring Pages
$3.50 Add to cart

Also, you’ll want to download

Hugs and you know I love ya,

100 Easy & Fun Ancient Civilization Hands-on Projects

November 5, 2017 | Leave a Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Learning about history shouldn’t just be fun, but meaningful. And meaningful shouldn’t mean stressed out for you as you plan Ancient Civilization hands-on projects. My standard for hands-on is always the same – EASY.

EASY HANDS-ON IDEAS FOR ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS

Whether you’re studying about the Ancient Phoenicians, Ancient Sumer and Mesopotamia or Ancient Egypt and Greece, you’ll love this round up of 100 easy and fun Ancient Civilization ideas.

I’ve include the following Ancient Civilizations in this awesome roundup.

Ancient Sumerian and Mesopotamia
Ancient Phoenicia
Ancient Babylon & Assyria
Ancient China
Ancient Greek
Ancient Roman and
Ancient Vikings.

Also, I value my followers and always hold back special things just for them.

I would be delighted to have you follow me because this roundup is a subscriber only freebie.

Click on the graphic. Add your email. Look for the confirm email in your inbox because I don’t want anybody getting my newsletter that doesn’t want to. After you confirm in your inbox, you’ll receive this sweet roundup!

Unit studies can sometimes be intimidating to begin. I know, I fought creating one for years.

So, on my 10 Days of Diving Into Unit Studies by Creating a Unit Study Together, I show you step by step how to create a unit for a topic you choose. It’s not so hard if you have a pattern to follow.

Then, if you’re looking for more easy hands-on ideas, you’ll love my category Easy Hands-on Activities.

Another easy way to bring Ancient history to life is through fun coloring pages. These pages can be added to any unit study, lapbook or notebooking page or can be used alone.

Grab them below!

20 Ancient Civilization History Coloring Pages
$3.50 Add to cart

You may also love these other 100 Things roundup:

Hugs and love ya,

This blog hop is organized by iHomeschool Network, a collaboration of outstanding homeschool bloggers who connect with each other and with family-friendly companies in mutual beneficial projects.

Click the image below to visit all the other blog articles from the homeschool moms of the iHomeschool Network.

Hands-On Ancient Greece Study: Politics and Pottery

October 31, 2017 | 1 Comment
This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Written by Shawna at Not the Former Things.

My boys have been in love with the Percy Jackson books series for years now. It began with my oldest binge reading every single book and, soon after, my youngest was reenacting mythological Greek monster slayings.

Because they are older (ages 14 and 11) finding hands-on learning activities has been a bit of a challenge. The good news is, it’s totally worth it. I find my boys are not only much more engaged in the material, but also retain so much more when we incorporate hands-on learning activities.

Because they already have a natural interest in Greek Mythology and Ancient Greece, this hands-on activity has been one of our most successful to date.

Ancient Greece Study: Politics and Pottery

An ostracon is a piece of pottery, usually broken off from a vase or some other container. In archaeology, ostraca refer to small pieces of stone or pottery that have writing scratched onto them. Usually these pieces were broken before the writing was added – broken pieces of pottery were everywhere and easily re-used for writing. (Recycling in ancient times!)

In Classical Athenian politics, when the decision at hand was to banish or exile a certain member of society, the citizens would vote by writing the name of the person on a broken piece of pottery. If the citizens voted to do so, the person was exiled for a period of ten years from the city (this is where we get the term ostracism).

After convincing my boys that it was not an option to vote to ostracise one another, and reviewing the historic significance of ostraca, we set about making our own examples – complete with Ancient Greek writing.

Hands-On Ancient Greece Pottery Activity

For this activity, you will need the following:

A broken pot, or if none are available, air-dry clay to create your own ‘pottery pieces’
Tempura paint and paint brushes
A sharp instrument to carve letters (we used a ceramics tool, but many kitchen implements will also work)
Printable Greek Alphabet

Our first step was finding broken pieces of pottery. In our backyard, this is not difficult to do as my sons enjoy a wide array of outdoor activities that may or may not break things from time to time.

Just in case, we also used air-dry clay to quickly create our own, easier to carve, “pottery pieces.”

After the pieces dried, we painted the pottery lightly, and then sanded it to make it appear as if the paint had worn off over time.

It was then time to carve Greek letters onto our newly formed Ostraca.

Using the sample printable, my boys experimented with greek lettering. We discussed the differences between our own and that of the ancients.

When we were all finished up, the boys and I were pretty impressed with the outcome. Our pottery pieces really did look like something you might see in a book or museum.

To make it official, my youngest actually buried them and then dug them back up – not only to get them authentically dirty but to pretend to be an archeologist for the afternoon.

Overall, this hands-on activity worked well for us. The chance to learn a bit more about Ancient Greece and politics in a new democracy was certainly educational (even for me) and the pottery activity made it so much more engaging and fun!

To learn more about Ancient Greece with the kids, try these other hands-on Grecian learning activities!

How to Teach With an Easy DIY American History Timeline (Pssst! Did you see the giveaway?)

How to Rock History Using An American History Timeline

The Giant American History Timeline Book 1.

The Giant American History Timeline Book 2.

American History Timeline Activity Sheets

You Know You Want It! – Giveaway & Savings Discount

How to Purchase It.

Hands-On History: Helen Keller Braille and ASL Activity

Helen Keller Braille and ASL Activity

Easy Hands-on History Kid’s Activity

7 Educational Movies for Kids About Westward Expansion

Fun Movies About Westward Expansion

Heads Up. Most, if not all of the movies I recommend here, we’ve watched.

Hands-On History: The Rosetta Stone and Breaking The Code

MYSTERIOUS CODE OF THE ROSETTA STONE

Hands-On Ancient History: The Rosetta Stone

What you’ll need for this activity:

The Rosetta Stone: Breaking the Code

20 Ancient Civilization History Coloring Pages

10 Westward Expansion History Fun Coloring Pages

WESTWARD HO HISTORY FUN COLORING PAGES

HOW TO EASILY BRING HISTORY ALIVE

10 Westward Expansion History Fun Coloring Pages

20 Ancient Civilization History Coloring Pages

Ancient Civilization History

Learning History Through Coloring

20 Ancient Civilization History Coloring Pages

100 Easy & Fun Ancient Civilization Hands-on Projects

EASY HANDS-ON IDEAS FOR ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS

Click on the graphic. Add your email. Look for the confirm email in your inbox because I don’t want anybody getting my newsletter that doesn’t want to. After you confirm in your inbox, you’ll receive this sweet roundup!

20 Ancient Civilization History Coloring Pages

Hands-On Ancient Greece Study: Politics and Pottery

Ancient Greece Study: Politics and Pottery

Hands-On Ancient Greece Pottery Activity

For this activity, you will need the following:

My Middle & High School Geography Curriculum Luv & Career or College Help! (Oh Yes)

My Middle & High School Language Arts Luv (Because it works!)

Archives