This trunk contains hands-on materials for students to better understand the Colonial Era through all their senses.
Everything comes packed securely in a large trunk.
Lesson Plans included:
Archeology Simulation Activity (directions on disc)
Teaching Literacy Through History - Elementary and Middle School Focused
Teaching with Primary Sources
Reproduction of the famous teapot included!
Officially Stamped playing cards full of Aesop's Fables
The stamped packaging has been opened on one end so that you can access the cards. They are printed in the old-fashioned style, so students will immediately notice the differences in spelling, etc.!
More Games:
Jacks
This set contains both a wooden ball and a modern rubber ball (which makes it much easier to play the game). Rules can be easily found online, along with videos. Here's one: https://gathertogethergames.com/jacks
But where's the board? You have to figure that out yourself! It was easier to have a bag of markers than to carry around a box with a board inside. How would you set up a game?
Bird Whistle
This ingenious little clay toy really does sound like a bird when you fill it with water and blow on the pipe.
Bilbo Catcher
Money:
There are two different designs to help you challenge yourself on this hand-eye coordination toy.
Coins
Paper money
Each colony was printing its own money, and not in the common denominations we think of today. More opportunity for math lessons here.
Compare and Contrast! What was similar and what is different?
Yes, glasses have been available for a long time. These are sunglasses.
How do you make sure you smell nice? Sometimes people will say that folks in the past were all dirty and stunk, but there were plenty of ways to stay clean and fresh. One was wearing scented powder - especially if you wore a wig!
Lavender Powder
How do you get food? Not from a big grocery store with foodstuffs from around the world!
The thumb watering jug is a fun problem-solving activity in having students try to guess how it was used to water plants in the garden. This is a great time to connect in the science of water and air pressure.
Don't show students how it works until they've tried to figure it out on their own!
Here is a reproduction of a great primary source showing how Mr. Prentis tracked his gardening.
What do you do with the food once you grow/raise/purchase it? Time for some cookery!
This book is another great primary source reproduction. Have students read a recipe and see if they can figure out what it is saying. Colonial Williamsburg has a channel on historic cooking on YouTube. https://youtu.be/ZvXZ3mbjwhQ?si=yVBGbNUk5P1R3GKq
What are some jobs that were common in the Colonial Era, but not as much today?
This is a great tie-in if you want to study Ben Franklin and the role of printing in the colonies.
Colonial Williamsburg also has a great collection of resources on jobs and daily life. One fun way to look at different 'people' of the time is to investigate caricatures. A 'Macaroni' is a great one to research as the basis for Yankee Doodle. A fun extension is to have students make caricatures of people in modern jobs, like YouTubers, etc.
This caricature is of an overly fancy French doctor. More information available here: https://emuseum.history.org/objects/12274/monr-le-medicin?ctx=a4adbdbc32994de38633eb6c2db2cfc83b01fb7c&idx=30
What about writing something down that isn't going to be published? There's no typing!
The ink powder and quill pen are best for display and discussion. If you want to do some actual quill and ink practice, I recommend starting with a much easier option and using a fountain pen or calligraphy markers. There's a reason people moved away from this method! It's quite a mess. Ink stains are removed by soaking the fabric in milk before washing - so this is a great place to talk about washing laundry by hand and the expense of clothing. Most classrooms had children use chalk and slates instead.
Education:
Boys and Girls had very different chores and expectations. This fan includes important lessons on how to behave properly.
This Hotch-Potch alphabet is another opportunity for compare and contrast. Learning your ABCs has always been an important part of reading, so how does this alphabet compare to one you might find in a modern classroom?