Archeology Dig

Our first history lesson together this year for US history started with learning about how we learn about the past.  Hmmmm, there really is no way to make that sentence less awkward is there?
So, we conducted an archeological dig.  First I saved a couple of 3 liter bottles (I almost think this would work better with a big flat tub, but that’s up for debate).

Then we gathered lots and lots of small items to go into two different dig sites.  The first had all sorts of small toys and little things, and the second had lots of kitchen utensils, silverware and the like.

Then we had the kids dig through the layers and find what was in the  different layers.  If my kids were just a little bit older I would have forced them to document the layers, but they were struggling enough with drawing what was in the bottle I didn’t want to totally ruin the experience.

My thought was if we used a big flat tub, we could lay it out in a grid pattern instead of observing layers, we could observe the grid.

After pulling it all out they drew what they found.

The older kids after a very short discussion all agreed their dig site was a toy shop.

My kids argued for a while.  One of them thought it was a restaurant, another thought it was a kitchen, and the last one thought it was a home.  Finally they each (with some help) wrote the place they thought they had found.

All in all they really enjoyed this dig site.

And, did you notice!  I actually remembered to do a messy project OUTSIDE!!!!!  I was so proud of myself.

You have to take the little victories.

Now head on over to All Things Beautiful to see some more posts about history.  Then head over and check out Journey to Excellence for Study America Saturday.