Making History Come Alive

School is boring, right? That is what many kids think anyway. But it doesn't have to be boring at all, especially history. It can be fun and exciting. You can make the world of history come alive for you children by incorporating crafts and hands on projects in the history curriculum. It's not nearly as difficult as it sounds.

Make History Come Alive for Your Kids or Classroom

When you incorporate crafts and various projects into your history curriculum, you put many of the senses into play. Instead of just using vision, by reading a textbook, or hearing, by listening to the teacher talk, you include other sense as well. This further drills into the student's brain the concepts you are trying to get across. And what children wouldn't remember Ancient Egypt if they actually built a pyramid or Ancient Rome if they made togas? Read on to discover some fun craft ideas for your class or home school to bring history to life.

Scrap Book It

Use notebooks and scrap book material to create a visual history lesson. This can be so much fun. Have the kids create a newspaper production ad use various print methods, such as block printing, to make your newspaper. Use your digital camera to take photos of local residents of the country. (HINT: Your kids in costume). Make photo layout pictures that represent the country, culture or major events you are studying. When you are done you will have an amazing work of art.

Crafts From a Long Time Ago

Do some research and find out what type of artisans and craftsmen lived in the time frame you are studying. It could be stone carvers, wood crafters or weavers. Different eras represent different types of arts and crafts. Once you have done the research, try and make some of the crafts for yourself. A good example of this is using rose petals to make beads from the Middle Ages. Other examples would include such things as carving sculptures from Ancient Egypt, Rome or Greece; making pottery; weaving cloth during the Middle Ages; dyeing cloth in the colonial days; and spinning yarn from the pioneer days. The ideas are endless and if you can't think of any on your own a quick trip to the library will give you plenty of places to begin.

Make a Model

Another terrific way to incorporate crafts into your history is to make models of famous buildings or structures that you are studying. The kids could make a Viking ship, a model of the Pyramids, Pharaoh's chariot, a model of the Eiffel Tower, or they could build a Medieval Castle. Again the options are simply endless.

But a warning! Don't be surprised if your kids want to spend large amounts of time on these projects - they love these types of things and isn't that what learning is all about?

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