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Colonial Life After the Mayflower Voyage & Fun and Simple Candle New England Craft

September 23, 2023 | Leave a Comment
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We’re learning about life during colonial times and making a New England craft. Besides, life after the voyage of the Mayflower was not easy. Grab more ideas about the colonists here at Daniel Boone Facts For Kids About Colonial Life and Fun Kids’ Games (DIY Button Whirligig).

September 16, 1620, marks the day that the Mayflower set sail with 102 passengers for America.

While they left for a variety of reasons, some for a fresh start and some for adventures in a new land, one thing was true both in England and America, life was hard.

Too when they landed, they didn’t have the modern amenities that we take for granted today.

Colonial Life After the Mayflower Voyage & Fun and Simple Candle New England Craft

Many of the men who came were gentlemen.

They were not used to the back-breaking work of breaking up the land for farming and keeping a working farm going.

Table of Contents

Toggle
  • Colonial Life For Men and Women
  • 5 Facts about Colonial Life After the Mayflower Voyage
  • New England Craft Resources
  • How to Make Hand Dipped Candles
  • Colonial Times Hand Dipped Candles

Colonial Life For Men and Women

Men had to:

  • build houses,
  • work fields,
  • hunt for food, and hold the positions of
  • coopers, tailors, tanners, etc.

Women were responsible:

  • for the tedious work of housekeeping,
  • taking care of children,
  • cooking,
  • gathering,
  • and tasks like gardening,
  • mending clothes,
  • grinding corn,
  • making butter,
  • cheese,
  • soap, and
  • candles as well as many other tasks.

5 Facts about Colonial Life After the Mayflower Voyage

  1. The Pilgrims spent the first month and a half once they landed exploring Cape Cod, but most of them stayed onboard the ship while trying to decide where they would finally build their new colony- choosing what is now known as Plymouth.
  2. In the first winter in Plymouth 45 of the original 102 passengers of the crew died of sickness and harsh conditions.
  3. Plymouth is most famously known for being the site of the first feast in 1621 shared between the Pilgrims and Wampanoag peoples that lasted over 3 days. 
  4. For 30 years William Bradford served as governor of Plymouth and documented his experiences living there in a historic book that is considered the authority on pilgrim life in those times.
  5. The name Plymouth was chosen because it was the name of the port of departure- Plymouth, England.  The Plymouth Rock, which was merely a granite boulder, was placed at the location where they first stepped foot on land.
Colonial Life After the Mayflower Voyage & Fun and Simple Candle New England Craft

Additionally, add some of these resources to your study of the Pilgrims.

19 Colonial America Books to Read and to Be Read To

Grab some of these books and resources. You can use a book as a unit study spine to learn about Life During the Colonial Times.

Blood on the River: James Town, 1607

Twelve-year-old Samuel Collier is a lowly commoner on the streets of London. So when he becomes the page of Captain John Smith and boards the Susan Constant, bound for the New World, he can’t believe his good fortune. He’s heard that gold washes ashore with every tide. But beginning with the stormy journey and his first contact with the native people, he realizes that the New World is nothing like he imagined. The lush Virginia shore where they establish the colony of James Town is both beautiful and forbidding, and it’s hard to know who’s a friend or foe. As he learns the language of the Algonquian Indians and observes Captain Smith’s wise diplomacy, Samuel begins to see that he can be whomever he wants to be in this new land.

Paul Revere's Ride

 Longfellow's tribute to the famous revolutionary hero begins with the stirring cadence that American schoolchildren have committed to memory for over a century. Now illustrator Ted Rand brings these vivid and beautiful lines to life as dramatically as the poet's immortal message inspires."The clatter of hooves seems to echo in Rand's evocative paintings of that famed midnight ride...."

Daughter of Liberty (The American Patriot Series, Book 1)

The thrilling saga of a nation's founding begins...Eastertide, April 1775. In the blockaded port of Boston the conflict between the British Regulars and the Sons of Liberty rapidly escalates toward a fateful confrontation. Caught in the deepening rift that divides Whig and Tory, Elizabeth Howard is torn between her love for her prominent parents, who have strong ties to the British establishment, and her secret adherence to the cause of liberty. By night she plays a dangerous game as the infamous courier Oriole, hunted by the British for smuggling intelligence and munitions to the patriot leaders. And by day she treads increasingly perilous ground as she flirts ever more boldly with British officers close to her parents to gain access to information the rebels desperately need.Elizabeth’s assignment is to pin down the exact time the Redcoats will march to capture the patriots’ hoarded munitions. But she hasn’t counted on the arrival of Jonathan Carleton, an officer in the Seventeenth Light Dragoons. To her dismay, the attraction between them is immediate, powerful--and fought on both sides in a war of wits and words. When Carleton wins the assignment to ferret out Oriole, Elizabeth can no longer deny that he is her most dangerous foe--and the possessor of her heart.

Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation

While much has been written about the men who signed the Declaration of Independence, battled the British, and framed the Constitution, the wives, mothers, sisters and daughters they left behind have been little noticed by history. The late #1 New York Times bestselling author Cokie Roberts brings us women who fought the Revolution as valiantly as the men, often defending their very doorsteps.

Drawing upon personal correspondence, private journals, and even favored recipes, Roberts reveals the often surprising stories of these fascinating women, bringing to life the everyday trials and extraordinary triumphs of individuals like Abigail Adams, Mercy Otis Warren, Deborah Read Franklin, Eliza Pinckney Catherine Littlefield Green, Esther DeBerdt Reed, and Martha Washington—proving that without our exemplary women, the new country might have never survived.

Betsy Ross

 Folk-art style paintings and a simple text mark a retelling of the life story of Betsy Ross, including her work running an upholstery business and, according to legend, her designing of the first American flag at the request of George Washington.

Carry On, Mr. Bowditch:

Readers today are still fascinated by “Nat, an eighteenth-century nautical wonder and mathematical wizard. Nathaniel Bowditch grew up in a sailor's world—Salem in the early days, when tall-masted ships from foreign ports crowded the wharves. But Nat didn't promise to have the makings of a sailor; he was too physically small. Nat may have been slight of build, but no one guessed that he had the persistence and determination to master sea navigation in the days when men sailed only by “log, lead, and lookout. Nat's long hours of study and observation, collected in his famous work, The American Practical Navigator (also known as the “Sailors Bible"), stunned the sailing community and made him a New England hero.

A Lion to Guard Us

Featuring a heroine with faith, courage, and a great deal of grit, this acclaimed historical fiction novel portrays the realities faced by three children hoping to find a new home in an unknown land.

Amanda Freebold doesn't know what to do. Her father left three years ago for the new colony of Jamestown in America, thousands of miles away. But now that her mother has died, Amanda is left to take care of her younger brother and sister all alone back in England.

As the new head of the family, Amanda finally decides to take her brother and sister to America to find Father. The ocean crossing is long and hard, and the children don't know whom to trust. But with her father's little brass lion's head to guard them, Amanda knows that somehow everything will work out.

Colonial Craftsmen: And the Beginnings of American Industry

The vanished ways of colonial America's skilled craftsmen are vividly reconstructed in this superb book by Edwin Tunis. With incomparable wit and learning, and in over 450 meticulous drawings, the author describes the working methods and products, houses and shops, town and country trades, and individual and group enterprises by which the early Americans forged the economy of the New World.

In the tiny coastal settlements, which usually sprang up around a mill or near a tanyard, the first craftsmen set up their trades. The blacksmith, cooper, joiner, weaver, cordwainer, and housewright, working alone or with several assistants, invented their own tools and devised their own methods. Soon they were making products that far surpassed their early models: the American ax was so popular that English ironmongers often labeled their own axes "American" to sell them more readily. In the town squares a colonist could have his bread baked to order, bring in his wig to be curled, have his eyeglasses ground, his medicine prescription filled, or buy snuff for his many pocket boxes. With the thriving trade in "bespoke" or made-to-order work, fine American styles evolved; many of these are priceless heirlooms now―the silverware of Paul Revere and John Coney, redware and Queensware pottery, Poyntell hand-blocked wallpaper, the Kentucky rifle, Conestoga wagon, and the iron grillework still seen in some parts of the South. The author discusses in detail many of the trades which have since developed into important industries, like papermaking, glassmaking, shipbuilding, printing, and metalworking, often reconstructing from his own careful research the complex equipment used in these enterprises.

African-Americans in the Thirteen Colonies

Using many photographs, this is a simple overview of the part played by African Americans during the formative years of the colonial period. The freedom sought by so many Europeans who came to America was not shared with many Africans & their descendants. The brief descriptions in this book tell of slavery as well as the limited freedoms of free blacks. Phillis Wheatley, Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable, & Benjamin Banneker are among those briefly profiled. Index. Part of the Cornerstones of Freedom series.Bowker Authored Title code. Using many photographs, this is a simple overview of the part played by African Americans during the formative years of the colonial period. Presents a brief history of Afro-Americans and of slavery in seventeenth and eighteenth century America.

Seventh and Walnut: Life in Colonial Philadelphia (Adventures in Colonial America)

A native of colonial Philadelphia describes the famous citizens, landmarks, and daily life of his town

The Farm: Life in Colonial Pennsylvania (Adventures in Colonial America)

An indentured servant looks back on his five years of service on the farm of a Pennsylvania German family in the 1760's.

The Dish on Food and Farming in Colonial America (Life in the American Colonies)

Travel back to a time when: People believed vegetables made you sick. Slaves were forced to grow and harvest crops for masters. Step into the lives of the colonists, and get the dish on food and farming in Colonial America.

Early Family Home (Early Settler Life)

Describes the life of early settlers, including the construction of a home, the clearing of land, folk medicine, candle making, quilting bees, weaving, and wedding parties

An Algonquian Year : The Year According to the Full Moon

Brings to life the seasonal cycles of work, play, and survival as experienced by the Northern Algonquians of pre-colonial America, from the icy cold of January's Hard Times Moon through the fertile autumn harvest moons.

The Witch of Blackbird Pond

Sixteen-year-old Kit Tyler is marked by suspicion and disapproval from the moment she arrives on the unfamiliar shores of colonial Connecticut in 1687. Alone and desperate, she has been forced to leave her beloved home on the island of Barbados and join a family she has never met. Torn between her quest for belonging and her desire to be true to herself, Kit struggles to survive in a hostile place. Just when it seems she must give up, she finds a kindred spirit. But Kit’s friendship with Hannah Tupper, believed by the colonists to be a witch, proves more taboo than she could have imagined and ultimately forces Kit to choose between her heart and her duty.

Almost Home: A Story Based on the Life of the Mayflower's Young Mary Chilton

Several of the characters in the story—Mary Chilton, Constance Hopkins, and Elizabeth Tilley—were actual passengers on the Mayflower. Mary Chilton was a young girl when she left her home in Holland and traveled to America onboard the Mayflower with her parents. The journey was filled with trials, joys, and some surprises, but when she reached the New World, she experienced a new life, new freedom, and new home.

Wendy Lawton has taken the facts of the pilgrims’ journey to the New World, and from this information filled in personal details to create a genuine and heart-warming story.

Constance: A Story of Early Plymouth

Runner-up for the National Book Award for Children's Literature in 1969, Constance is a classic of historical young adult fiction, recounting the daily life, hardships, romances, and marriage of a young girl during the early years of the Pilgrim settlement at Plymouth.

Sarah Morton's Day: A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Girl (Scholastic Bookshelf)

At sunup when the cockerel crows, young Sarah Morton's day begins. Come and join her as she goes about her work and play in an early American settlement in the year 1627.There's a fire to build, breakfast to cook, chickens to feed, goats to milk, and letters and scripture to learn. Between the chores, there is her best friend, Elizabeth, with whom she shares her hopes and dreams. But Sarah is worried about her new stepfather. Will she ever earn his love and learn to call him father?

If You Were a Kid on the Mayflower (If You Were a Kid)

Learn what living conditions were like aboard The Mayflower, what dangers the Pilgrims faced at sea, and much more.

In 1620, a group of Pilgrims left Europe aboard a ship called the Mayflower. They sailed toward North America, hoping to make a new home where they could practice their religion freely. Readers (Ages 7-9) will join Hope and Theodore as their set sail on a 66-day journey across the Atlantic Ocean.

Next, look at some England craft resources.

New England Craft Resources

  • Fold a paper Mayflower for decoration and to discover more about the ship itself.
  • Watch The Pilgrims and The Mayflower Compact to learn more about the journey and settling a new colony.
  • For older kids, The Pilgrims on PBS is a more in-depth video.
  • How To Make An Easy Ink pot & Quill Pen with Berry Ink.
  • Make soap.
  • No sew rag doll.
  • Mayflower Craft And Science Activity
  • Cardboard Tube Pilgrim Hat Craft

Colonial Life After the Mayflower Voyage & Fun and Simple Candle New England Craft

Finally, look at how to make these hand dipped candles.

How to Make Hand Dipped Candles

You will want to designate two containers for these candles, you won’t want to use them again for anything else.

Also, instead of purchasing beeswax pellets you could melt down old candles or pick up cheap ones from Dollar Tree

You will need:

  • 2-4 cups beeswax pellets
  • 2 tall glass heat-safe containers
  • Candle wicking
  • Stick or clothespin
  • Ice water
Colonial Life After the Mayflower Voyage & Fun and Simple Candle New England Craft

First, cut a piece of candle wicking about 15 “in long, wrap it around a stick a couple of times, and let each end hang down, about 4”-5” apart.

Colonial Life After the Mayflower Voyage & Fun and Simple Candle New England Craft

Melt beeswax pastilles in a microwave-safe container, heat for one minute, stirring, and then continuing in 30-second increments until completely melted.

Colonial Times Hand Dipped Candles

It helps to use a container with a pour spout, a glass 4-cup measuring cup works well.

Colonial Life After the Mayflower Voyage & Fun and Simple Candle New England Craft

The height of your jar filled with wax will determine the height of your candle.

If you have two tall, narrow containers you can get a longer candle but you don’t need special supplies, you can use quart mason jars.

Pour melted wax into one of your containers.

Colonial Life After the Mayflower Voyage & Fun and Simple Candle New England Craft

Fill the other with cold water, you can add a couple of ice cubes to help chill it quicker.

Colonial Life After the Mayflower Voyage & Fun and Simple Candle New England Craft

Place jars right next to each other.

Dip the first inch of wicking into the wax, let it drip a few times, and then dip into the cold water.

This will help the wax harden up quicker, so you do not have to wait between dips.

Colonial Life After the Mayflower Voyage & Fun and Simple Candle New England Craft

Turn and dip the other hanging wick into the wax and then the water. Repeat a couple of times, this will give the end a little weight.

Colonial Life After the Mayflower Voyage & Fun and Simple Candle New England Craft

This is the quickest way I have found to dip these candles, doing two at once- dip one end in the wax as tall as you want to make your candle and the other into the water.

Pull them up, allow them to drip for a few seconds, and twist and drop them into the other jar.

Continue to do this over and over until it is as thick as you would like.

As the wax cools it may need to be remelted by placing it back in the microwave for 30 seconds.

Once the wax has hardened and dried, cut the wicking in the middle, leaving the wick at the end of the candle about ¼” long.

Are you working on a New England craft?

Colonial Life After the Mayflower Voyage & Fun and Simple Candle New England Craft

Leave a CommentFiled Under: Hands-On Activities Tagged With: american history, candles, colonial times, early American history, hands on history, hands-on, hands-on activities, handsonhomeschooling, history, history resources

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