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hands on history

How to Teach With an Easy DIY American History Timeline

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

When my older two sons were in middle school we created an American history timeline.

It was 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.

How to Teach With an Easy DIY American History Timeline. If you’re looking for a curriculum resource to easily teach American history by using a timeline, you’ll love this one. Not only do your kids cover major historical topics but learn about famous people and events. Because it’s reproducible you can use it for all of your kids. Click here to grab this great resource!

 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.

 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!

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 which I share right here on my site Tina’s Dynamic Homeschool Plus.

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.

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.

How to Teach With an Easy DIY American History Timeline

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.

Benefits of The Giant American History Timeline

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.

How to Teach With an Easy DIY American History Timeline

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.

How to Teach With an Easy DIY American History Timeline

Also, I shared with you how to turn a worksheet into an interactive minibook.

How to Teach With an Easy DIY American History Timeline

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

How to Teach With an Easy DIY 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.

How to Teach With an Easy DIY American History Timeline. If you’re looking for a curriculum resource to easily teach American history by using a timeline, you’ll love this one. Not only do your kids cover major historical topics but learn about famous people and events. Because it’s reproducible you can use it for all of your kids. Click here to grab this great resource!

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!

How to Purchase It.

Hands-On History: Helen Keller Braille and ASL Activity

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

I have a fun hands-on history Helen Keller braille activity.

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.

Hands-On History: Helen Keller Braille and ASL Activity. If you’re looking for a fun and easy way to incorporate a hands- on idea for language arts and history while studying about Helen Keller, your kids will love this Braille & ASL activity. Click here to make it!

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

Hands-On History: Helen Keller Braille and ASL Activity. If you’re looking for a fun and easy way to incorporate a hands- on idea for language arts and history while studying about Helen Keller, your kids will love this Braille & 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
Making Braille Letters with Kids

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.

Reading Braille with Kids

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.

Making the ASL Activity

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.

Decoding Braille with Kids

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.

Learning the ASL Alphabet

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.

Hands-On History: Helen Keller Braille and ASL Activity. If you’re looking for a fun and easy way to incorporate a hands- on idea for language arts and history while studying about Helen Keller, your kids will love this Braille & ASL activity.

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!

How to Get the Free Braille & ASL Printables

Now, how to grab the freebie. It’s a subscriber freebie.

That means when you sign up to follow me, you get my emails in your inbox and you get this freebie.

1) Sign up on my email list.

2) Grab the freebie

.3) Last, look for all my emails in your inbox. Glad to have you following me!

Make history fun for your kids with these activities!

Written by Shawna at Not the Former Things.

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

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

We’re learning about Rosetta Stone Code breaking today. Also, you’ll love my two Ancient Greece Lapbooks. Go here to Fun Ancient Greece Homeschool Unit Study and Lapbook and Free Awesome Ancient Greece Lapbook and Fun Hands-on Activities to grab both free lapbooks.

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.

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

“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.

And 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.

Also, add some fun history books and resources to your day.

FUN HANDS-ON ANCIENT CIVILIZATION RESOURCES

History should be hands-on and find history resources can be hard.

I’ve gathered up some here.

13 Ancient Civilization Hands-on Resources and Books

Add some of these fun resources to your unit study or study for the day of Ancient Civilizations.

MYSTERIOUS CODE OF THE ROSETTA STONE

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
Rosetta Stone Ancient History Activity

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

Hands On Rosetta Stone Activity

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.

Hands On Ancient History Code Breaking

(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.)

Rosetta Stone Code Breaking Activity

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.”

Rosetta Stone Making a 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.  

The Rosetta Stone: Breaking the Code

Then, they swapped, and tried to de-code the ancient languages using the our own Rosetta Stone.

Rosetta Stone Hands On History

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!

Ancient History Code Breaking Activity

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!

Also, you love the activities by Home School in the Woods for learning about the Ancients.

See more hands-on history ideas below!

Hands-On History: The Rosetta Stone and Breaking The Code. If you're studying Ancient History, your kids will love making this AWESOME easy hands-on activity to learn about the Rosetta Stone. Click here to make it!

Written by Shawna at Not the Former Things.

9 EASY and Fun Hands-on Ancient Greece Kids Activities

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Today, I rounded up 9 easy hands-on Ancient Greece kids activities because I know the value of hands-on when it comes to learning.

You know my obsession with easy hands-on activities. I’m not the bomb mom for easy hands-on activities, but I try.

Because I never felt like the bomb mom I pushed myself out of my comfortable worksheet approach and never regretted one moment of it.

9 Easy and Fun Hands On Ancient Greece Kids Activities. Click here to grab them!

Sure, some kids activities I planned were complicated, but I learned from that.

I don’t always have to have over the top, knock your socks off, time sucking kids activities. Easy is perfect for us.

Too, most kids learn best from hands-on activities.

Yes even the ones who claim they’d rather read it in the book. And no, it’s not a waste of time.

I have a few kids that tried to tell me that.

9 Easy and Fun Hands On Ancient Greece Kids Activities. Click here to grab them!

Instead of forcing complicated hands-on ideas or projects, I created many easy ones to add just a sprinkle of fun to our unit studies.

Reading is an additional activity for learning and although it’s probably the one we use the most, it’s not the one my kids remember the most.

Yep, it’s the easy hands-on activities my kids do that brings us together and helps them to remember significant points about different civilizations.

Most of the Ancient Greece kids activities I rounded up today require very little supplies and most can be found in your house.

First, look at these fun books about Ancient Civiliztions to add to your study about Ancient Greece.

13 Ancient Civilization Hands-on Resources and Books

Add some of these fun resources to your unit study or study for the day of Ancient Civilizations.

Also, I have this cursive and free Greece copywork poetry.

EASY HANDS-ON ANCIENT GREECE KIDS ACTIVITIES

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!

9 EASY and Fun Hands-on Ancient Greece Kids Activities

Finally, look at these 9 hands-on Ancient Greece kid’s activities.

Ancient Greece Kids Activities

1. Play Stomachion Like Archimedes {Explore Geometry}

It just requires a few things and instead of printing off the puzzle pieces.

Go here to Ancient Greece Unit Study.Play Stomachion Like Archimedes {Explore Geometry}.

2. Create An Ancient Greek Theatre Mask 

Drama included performances of tragedies, which often told stories of the mythical past, and comedies, in which performers poked fun at politicians, famous people, and even the gods.

Go here to Ancient Greek Theatre Mask – Easy Hands-on History.

3. Do Surface Tension Science

These activities are geared for middle school, but a high school student that has a science aversion would be engaged too. While studying the ancient civilizations, grab these ideas for an Ancient Greece hands-on science unit study.

Go here to (Hands-on Science) 3 EASY Activities.

4. Ancient Greece Go Fish Game

There’s not a better way to start back to our Ancient Greece unit study than playing a game.

Go here to Free Ancient Greece Go Fish Game.

5. Make An Ancient Greece Chariot

Craft this easy chariot from things you have around the house already. Go here to Make An Ancient Greece Chariot.

6. Craft this Fun Ancient Greece Pottery Piece

An ostracon is a piece of pottery, usually broken off from a vase or some other container.

Go here to Hands-On Ancient Greece Study: Politics and Pottery.

7. Grab this Free Ancient Greece Lapbook

History lapbooks can make history come to life because they’re interactive.

Go here to download this Free Ancient Greece Lapbook.

8. Snack Like They Did In Ancient Greece – Make Baklava

Learning that the Ancient Greeks rolled out pastry real thin and made Spanakopita (spinach pie) or Baklava, we decided to try out a new recipe.

Go here to Snack Like They Did In Ancient Greece – Make Baklava (Delicious).

9. Do a Refraction Science Experiment

We were reading about Ancient Greeks studying refraction and did this fun activity.

Go here to Ancient Greece Unit Study. Hands-on Activity 1. Refraction.

Learning sticks when you’re able to include even one or two easy hands-on history activities to any topic you study. I hope you try one or two!

10 Westward Expansion History Fun Coloring Pages

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This post may contain affiliate links. For more information, please see my full disclosure policy.

Today, I have 10 Westward Expansion coloring pages that enhance all the free unit studies here or ones that you’re planning. Also, you love my page BEST Westward Ho Unit Study and Lapbook!

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

10 Westward Expansion History Fun Coloring Pages. If you're studying about The Oregon Trail, Lewis and Clark or Westward Ho, your kids will love these pages. Click here to grab them!

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.

WESTWARD HO HISTORY FUN COLORING PAGES

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. If you're studying about The Oregon Trail, Lewis and Clark or Westward Ho, your kids will love these pages. Click here to grab them!

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

Hugs and love ya,