Lesson Plans, Crafts & Activities

Check out these super ideas from your library colleagues, and you'll never have a dull day all summer.

• Petra, Lost City of Stone: Educator's Guide and Activities
  www.amnh.org/education/resources/exhibitions/petra/educators.php
  This site, from the American Museum of Natural History Petra exhibit (now closed), provides detailed instructions for 11 activities exploring all aspects of archaeology. Examples: Make your own sifting screen, Make a scale drawing, Shoebox Archaeology, Do your own dig, Making mosaics. A fantastic site.
• Petra, Lost City of Stone: Additional Resources
  www.amnh.org/education/resources/exhibitions/petra/resources.php
  Another great site from the American Museum of Natural History. What does cultural research involve? How are objects studied and conserved? What do you do on a dig? This site draws from the AMNH's vast anthropological and archaeological resources to answer these and other questions about studying the human past. Includes numerous archaeology-based activities and articles.
• Texas Beyond History: Teaching Archeology - Lesson Plans
  A great online site with downloadable archaeology lesson plans. Most have a focus on Texas, but some are more generic.
  www.texasbeyondhistory.net/teach/lessons.html
• Stratigrafy - Map and Excavate a Jello Mold (in PDF)
  www.texasbeyondhistory.net/teach/images/Jello-Mold.pdf
• Good ideas for lesson plans, crafts and more:
  http://members.aol.com/MrDonnLessons/Ideas.html#Archaeology
  Paint clay pots, put the together in a bag, break them, mix the pieces and bury, and have the kids dig them out, match them and put them back together.
• Mr. Donn's Ancient History Page: Archaeology
  http://members.aol.com/donnandlee/index.html#arch
  
• New Deities: Ask the class to come up with a list of some of the animals that live in your state. Record them on the chalkboard. Then have the kids create new gods and goddesses using the heads of your local animals. Brainstorm a list of topics that their deities can "stand for," such as friendship, schools, fun, etc. Challenge them to make their animal choices match the attribute they represent: for example, an owl-headed god of schools (wise as an owl), a dog-headed god of friendship ("man's best friend"), a bee-headed god of work (busy as a bee).
• Decorative Decodes (Be an Archaeologist): Have students write (with black permanent marker) their full names in any order (middle, last, then first - or however) on a sheet of white typing paper using hieroglyphic symbols. When finished, stain the papers in tea water and mount them on black construction paper. Give the kids the next week to decode all the papers and figure out whose was whose. (See Egyptian Heiroglyphics and Cartouche craft) --Macia, Huntington Branch Library, Shelton
• Paint flower pots to replicate ancient pottery
• Create "ancient" clay coiled pots
• Shoebox Archaeology - put a mystery item in a shoebox, seal it up, and have the kids try to guess what's in the box, much like an archaeologist must do with a mummy.
• Have the children make a time capsule from the year they were born, and bury it in their yard. --Easton PL
• Have children empty the contents of their wastebasket into a bag. Bring the bag to the library. What would the contents of your basket tell an archaeologist about you? --Easton PL
• Young Adult participants will go on an actual local dig with Newtown's Town Historian and Archaeologist. Younger patrons will participate in a simulated dig at the library. --Alana Meloni, CH Booth Library, Newtown
• For group craft projects, situate various craft stations throughout the room. Each craft station will focus on a different Ancient Civilization - Egyptian, Greek, Norse, etc. --Huntington Branch, Shelton
• Make paper mache dinosaurs. --Weston PL
• "Excavate" chocolate chips from chocolate chip cookies. --Dawn Higginson, Oxford PL
• Create fossilized animal footprints in plaster of paris, and have kids match footprints to animal names.
• Deborah White, Pequot Library in Southport, discussed "The Caves of Lascaux," famous for their prehistoric cave drawings discovered by 4 teenagers in 1940. Visit www.culture.gouv.fr/culture/arcnat/lascaux/en/ to learn more.
• Simulate a dig at the beach. --Deborah White, Pequot Library, Southport
• Make a Pith Helmet: Version 1 (construction worker hard hat); Version 2 (pith helmet) --Joanne Grumman, Bethel Library
• Egyptian hieroglyphics activity: Children can spell out their names in hieroglyphics, onto the cartouche (example only - size as needed). You can hang cartouches on the wall, and have a contest to see who can decipher them. --Marcia Austin, Huntington Branch Library, Shelton
• Artifact Bingo - Cards and Tokens
  www.texasbeyondhistory.net/teach/images/Artifact-Bingo.pdf
• Book Bingo --Jack Rose, Design Images
• Dinosaur Mobile: Provide an assortment of dinosaurs cut from paper. Children can decorate then and then hang them from a clothes hanger to make mobiles. --Martha Simpson, Stratford Library Association
• Dinosaur Noodle Skeleton Craft - Display several pictures of dinosaur skeletons. Provide an assortment of dry macaroni in various sizes and shapes to represent bones. Let each child glue some ÒbonesÓ onto a piece of construction paper to make a dinosaur skeleton of his own design. --Martha Simpson, Stratford Library Association
• Making Fossils - Fill a Styrofoam tray with clay dough (see dough recipe below). Let children press shells, bones, seed pods, or other objects into the clay to form impressions. Allow clay to harden and form "fossils." Supplies:
  1 cup flour
  1/2 cup salt
  enough water to make it pliable
  Mix together all ingredients. Stir well. Add food coloring. Store in a plastic container. --Martha Simpson, Stratford Library Association
• Crystal Gardens - Start this as a display project at the beginning of the SRP and watch them grow during the summer. Supplies:
  6 tbs Salt
  6 tbs Liquid bluing
  6 tbs Water
  1 tbs Ammonia
  Combine salt, bluing, water and ammonia. Pour over small pieces of rock or coal in a shallow GLASS or CHINA bowl. Drip food coloring on top if desire. Crystals will begin to grow soon. Add water occasionally to keep crystals growing. Place dish on tray or wooden board as crystals grow over sides of bowl. --Martha Simpson, Stratford Library Association
• Stalactites and Stalagmites:Start this as a display project at the beginning of the SRP and watch them grow during the summer. Supplies:
  Two glass jars (Baby food or small mason jars will do)
  Water
  Epsom salts
  String (long enough to fit in both jars)
  Small weights (metal washers will work)
  Plate
  How To Make It: Fill the two jars with warm water. Mix in Epsom salts until no more will dissolve. Wet a piece of string and tie a weight to each end. Drop one end of the string into each jar. Put a plate between the two jars with the string hanging over the plate. Check your 'cave' daily to see if Stalactites and Stalagmites are forming. Notes: Stalactites hang on tight to the ceiling of a cave. Stalagmites are very strong and stand up on the floor of caves. --Martha Simpson, Stratford Library Association