Ancient History Lessons

Make Cuneiform Tablets
Don't forget to take pictures for your notebooks!
Use sugar or gingerbread cookie dough to create "clay" tablets. Allow children to press triangles into the dough using the end of a chopstick or other blunt object. Bake and eat!

"Hammurabi's Code Says" Game
The player who is chosen to be it stands in front of the other players and begins giving commands such as "Hammurabi's Code says stand on one foot." "Hammurabi's code says touch your nose." As long as the command begins with "Hammurabi's Code says," the other players should follow the instructions. But if the player who is it gives a command such as "Stop hopping" instead of saying "Hammurabi's Code says stop hopping," the command should not be obeyed. Any player who follows the instructions must "suffer the penalty of the law" (AKA they are out.) Play continues until there is only one player remaining. That player becomes it and the game starts over again!

Early Egyptians Unit
As posted on my blog in February of 2006.

Did you know that people used to grind up mummies and use them as medicine? Ugh! Today, as part of our study of ancient Egypt, we mummified an apple/orange pharaoh and the kids were gobbling down the orange "innards" as we scooped them out. Personally, I think that's taking the analogy a little too far, don't you?
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This is our second week in Egypt and we are having so much fun. We have made snake-headed throwing sticks from wooden spoons, played senet, had an Egyptian market, and started on our mummy. We also wrapped one of the kids up in t.p. so he looked like a mummy.

We will also be doing painting, learning to draw like an Egyptian, making Egyptian clothes and jewelry, making pyramids, and doing Egyptian math and studying Egyptian fractions. We are reading The Cat of Bubastes by G A Henty and many other good books. We will also be reading some books on modern Egypt and studying about the Coptic church. If I am feeling brave, we may even make rhubarb papyrus. We plan to do an Egyptian feast at the end.
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After three weeks in Egypt, I decided it was time for us to move on. Today was spent finishing up projects and notebook pages. We made our bracelets, headbands and collars and put on "kohl" (black eye make-up) and our one black wig and posed for a group photo with some of the projects we've made. This will go in our school yearbook.

Our "feast" was a great success. We had fish and fowl (cornish game hens), both liberally seasoned with garlic and onions; lentils, also heavy on the onions; and wheat and millet flat bread spread with roast garlic. We also had cucumbers, melon, dates, figs, and grapes. And (root) beer to drink. Our breath was something to fear, but it all tasted delicious. An old Keith Green song kept running through my mind . . . "eating leeks and onions by the Nile. Oh, what breath! We're dining out in style .

Greece Projects
As posted on my blog in February of 2006.

Our first project was painting amphoras. We used black acrylic paint on terra cotta flower pots. There are some amphora coloring pages online here and here. I also saw a project using scratch art to make a paper representation of an amphora. (You color really hard with red crayon, then cover with black tempra paint, allow it to dry, and scratch your pattern onto the pot.) I think if we study Greece again sometime, we will try this.

We also made mosaic placemats using colored paper and laminating envelopes. We were going to make frescos, but we never got around to it. But we did build a papercraft model of the Parthenon and the Lighthouse of Alexandria!

We made jewelry by glueing a coil of hemp cord flat onto 1 1/2 inch circles of cardboard, painting them with gold paint, and glueing "jewels" in the centers. These were glued along lengths of cord for necklaces. Bigger circles with smaller jewels glued around the (top) outside edge were used for belt buckles on thick gold ribbons.

Celtic Oat Cakes
16 oz. oatmeal
3/4 cup flour
2 t. baking soda
2 oz. butter, melted
1 t. salt
water

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine dry ingredients. Add butter, mix well. Boil water and stir as you add it gradually to the oat mixture until you have a firm dough. Turn dough onto a board which has been sprinkled with flour and a little oatmeal. Roll until dough is 3/8 inch thick. Cut into 24 circles with a a biscuit cutter.or the open end of glass. Place circles on a greased baking tray and bake for about 15 minutes. Cool before serving. Eat plain or with butter, honey, or cheese.

Build An Ancient History Notebook
Notebooks are a great place to store all the coloring pages, narrations, maps, and activity pages you complete. You can also add pictures of projects you make. Visit my notebooking page to learn more about this fun way of learning!