Taking a bunny trail in our Marco Polo Unit Study to talk about the Terracotta Warriors was a fun way to spend the morning as we debated whether or not Marco Polo really visited all the places he claimed.

Too, though we have been adding to our homeschooling supplies when we moved here, we still didn’t find any clay yet.
That is okay because salt dough is pretty cheap and you can make just about anything out of it besides salt dough maps.
So I got our trusty recipe shown in the picture above and followed the salt dough recipe found at the hup page by Jimmie Lanley too and we were in business.
Tiny researched a few of the free websites on line to see how the Terracotta Warriors were made and then he made his version of a warrior.
This is an activity he can do by himself too, which I loved.
Afterwards, he used some tempera paints we did find here and gave his warrior a color he thought he would have been when they were discovered.
Pretty fun and a pretty easy activity for this unit study!
Table of Contents
Marco Polo Unit Study–Terracotta Warriors and Free Resources
Too, I have some free resources today that will help to round out your unit study.
On line resources have become really important to us since we couldn’t bring all of our books when we moved here to Ecuador.
So I have taken some time in putting together some of the more helpful links and hope you find them helpful too.
Helpful Lessons Plans and Background Information
- Wonderful article with a visual that shows how the Terracotta Warriors were made
- On the Road with Marco Polo
- Pretty cool infographic timeline about Marco Polo. Be sure to zoom in if the image is small.
- Check out the activities Highhill homeschool did for their co-op on China
- Mapping the Italian City- States Map Activity
- Great info at Heritage History about Marco Polo.
Free Teacher’s Guides
- Teacher’s Guide by Calliope for Marco Polo. 5 pages. I love this guide because it gives you ideas for extra activities with a little bit of background information.
- Teacher’s Guide on Life in Medieval Europe.. This is a very helpful guide along with a timeline and activities to do and has information about what was going on in Marco Polo’s life during the medieval times in Europe.
- Teacher’s Guide about Terracotta Warriors.
- Teacher’s Guide on Medieval China. 47 pages. Even though this free guide is based on a DVD, the ideas in it are still great with background information and to spark another topic you may want to learn about.
- Teacher’s Guide Age of Exploration. . This has helpful information on several explorers, but also background information about Marco Polo.
Other Free Printables
Over at the homeschool den, Liesl has some great free printable notebooking pages about Marco Polo and Genghis Kahn notebooking pages.
Over at 123 Homeschool 4 Me, Beth has an early Explorers Unit and free Marco Polo lapbook.

YouTube Marco Polo
The Mongol Empire “Kublai Khan” History Channel For a middle school to high school student because it’s not cartoonish, but more factual type of presentation. Appreciated by an older student.
Wait for it! Crash Course on the Mongol. Fun! From younger to older will enjoy this lively presentation.
Watch the building of a yurt in fast time.
Free Coloring Pages Marco Polo
I listed a few coloring pages here too for those of any age, K to Gray, that like to color. That includes me. Am I the only one that prints a page for myself and color with my kids? It’s so relaxing in a way.
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Free Country Report

Grab my free country report on the country of Mongolia from my geography page to add to your notebook or study. This is a fun and quick report for a middle or high school student to do.
Though not free, there are lots of great books to choose from for any age. Tiny loved the easy Junior Explorer book because it was a great read in a day or two.
Hugs and love ya,

Marco Polo Unit Study, Lapbook, and Hands-on Ideas







Thanks for sharing at Share it Saturday, I’m highlighting you post on today’s link up 😀
Jennifer Altman recently posted…Week 24 in Review
Hi Jennifer,
So very welcome. Thanks for the feature and especially for hosting each week. Love your party!!!
Wow! This is a fantastic resource for Marco Polo studies.
Thank you for stopping by the Thoughtful Spot Weekly Blog Hop this week. We hope to see you drop by our neck of the woods next week!
Jill recently posted…E.H.M. February 2015 Monthly Meal Planner
We are enjoying our study of Marco Polo. Such a great unit study for hands-on learning.