Colonial Day in First Grade

What a day!  It was exhausting, but I wouldn’t have changed one second of our day today.  For this activity, I set up stations in the classroom for the students to rotate through.  In years past, we would have a huge grade level event in the school Commons area.  Parents would come in to man the stations while 100 First Graders rotate from location to location.  As a team, we thought it best to switch things up this year and to host the activities in our classrooms.

Don’t Try to Do It All Yourself!

One of the first things that I did was to plot out what stations I wanted to have.  Next, I thought through what items I would need in order to carry out the activities for each station.  Then, I solicited my parents.   Confession… I often purchase all of materials for activities myself.  I am trying so very hard to stop that practice.  Teachers, we are spending too much money out of our own pockets.  You can even say, out of our own homes.  We really should solicit help from our families.  So, this time I did!  I sent an email to my families.  Let me tell you… The response was overwhelming and instantaneously!  I couldn’t believe it.  One parent showed up my classroom door the next morning with a bag full of goodies.  Thank you, families!!

Stations for Colonial Day

Station # 1  Writing with Quills

Materials Needed:  Arts and Craft feathers (I bought a pack of 20 from the Dollar Tree), black paint, white paper cut into squares, and containers to hold the paint.

Station # 2  Writing on slate boards (like chalkboards)

Materials Needed:  Black construction paper cut into smaller pieces (halves or quarters depending upon the size of the paper and chalk)

Station #3   Cleaning Pennies

Materials Needed:  dirty/old pennies, vinegar, salt, containers to hold the vinegar and salt, and paper towels or small cleaning cloths

Station #4  Making Butter

Materials Needed:  small, plastic containers, heavy whipping cream, tape, and bread or crackers (I used Saltine Crackers)

Station #5 Grinding Spices

Materials Needed:  cinnamon sticks, nutmeg, and a pestle and mortar (which I did not have, so I used a Ziploc bag and a wooden spoon)

It truly was a great day and a wonderful experience for everyone.  The students were excited about all of the activities, they loved eating “homemade butter”, and the time together is always treasured.  Colonial Day in the classroom was doable, manageable, and successful!