Colonial Life Unit Study and Lap Book
This year we are making Lap Books to go along with each of our six Unit Studies for American History. Our second Unit was based on Colonial Life. While the girls were working on their Felicity Lap Books, the boys were busy making their own Lap Books with printable mini books from the Colonial Life (Time Travelers History Study Series) CD.
Resources and Books for Unit Two:
You can print our Unit Two Plans/Booklist here.
Core Text
- From Sea to Shining Sea (Chapters 4-5)
- From Sea to Shining Sea Worksheets
Additional Books read by the Boys:
- Jamestown, New World Adventure
- James Towne: Struggle for Survival
- The Pilgrims of Plimoth
- Three Ships Come Sailing
- A Lion to Guard Us
- Who’s That Stepping on Plymouth Rock?
- . . . If You Sailed on the Mayflower in 1620
- Pocahontas
- The Thanksgiving Story
- Squanto, Friend of the Pilgrims
- “I Want to be a Christian!” Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha (Glory Stories)
- Kateri Tekakwitha: Mohawk Maiden (Vision Books)
- If You Lived In Colonial Times
- Saint Isaac Jogues: With Burning Heart
- St. Francis Solano
- Benjamin Franklin
- What’s The Big Idea, Ben Franklin?
- Ben and Me: An Astonishing Life of Benjamin Franklin by His Good Mouse Amos
- Ben Franklin of Old Philadelphia (Landmark Books)
- Benjamin Franklin: Young Printer (Childhood of Famous Americans)
- The Courage of Sarah Noble
- Madeleine Takes Command (Living History Library)
- The Padre on Horseback: A Sketch of Eusebio Francisco Kino, S.J. Apostle to the Pimas (The American West)
Coloring Books and Activities:
- Colonial Days: Discover the Past with Fun Projects, Games, Activities, and Recipes (American Kids in History Series)
- Life in Colonial America
- Indian Tribes of North America Coloring Book
Timeline Entries:
- 1607 Jamestown Established
- 1549-1610 St. Francis Solano
- c. 1595-1617 Pocahontas
- 1580-1681 – John Smith
- 1620 Mayflower – Pilgrims land at Plymouth
- 1621 The First Thanksgiving
- died 1622 Squanto
- 1607-1646 St. Isaac Jogues
- 1645-1711 Fr. Eusebio Kino
- 1656-1680 Blessed Kateri
- 1706-1790 Benjamin Franklin
- 1713-1783 Bl. Junipero Serra
- 1773-1838 Nathaniel Bowditch
I asked the boys to choose 5-10 from the list above to add to their History Through the Ages Record of Time timeline book during this unit. The listings in bold are the ones that they choose to include this year. Here are a few pictures:
Additional Activities:
- Make a Hornbook to include in Lap Book
- Build a Diorama of a House
- Create a Jamestown Replica
- Go on a Field Trip to a Water-Powered Grist Mill
- Assemble a Colonial Life Lap Book
Colonial Life Lap Book
The Front Cover
Inside View #1
The dark yellow center page/flap addition contains the following three mini books:
Plantation Crops Layer Book
Rice, Cotton, Indigo, Sugar, and Tobacco
Flax to Linen
Round Book of “Bees”
On the Left Flap:
The Pharmacopoeia
What would you find on a Colonial farm?
On the Right Flap:
Inspirational Catholics of Colonial Times
Illustrated by Rascal
Illustrated by Captain
Instead of using the suggested “The Great Wakening: Men of Faith” we created our own mini-book with 4 inspiring Catholics that traveled to America and lived during Colonial Times: St. Francis Solano, St. Isaac Jogues, Fr. Eusebio Kino, and St. Kateri.
Hornbook Craft and Pocket
Inside View #2
Houses of the Early Settlers
Make a Dye Chart
The Center of Actual Lap Book Folder contains a pocket titled Clothing of the Colonist.
The boys created overlays using transparency paper, and gluing on the different layers of clothing worn by Colonial Men, Women, Boys and Girls.
This Colonial Woman has four different overlays, each one adding another layer to her outfit!
The boys were especially intrigued by the “pudding” worn by colonial toddlers! “While learning to walk, toddlers wore a “pudding,” a soft pillow around their waist to protect from falls.”
The boys finished this unit in January and have since moved on to Unit Three. They have been studying the American Revolution – one of their favorite time periods! I know I haven’t answered all the questions I was asked after my last Lap Book post… I’ll be back sometime this week with a few answers.
Those are amazing! My oldest is 4, so we haven't done lapbooks yet. I've been wondering what they were like. Thanks for the in depth look.
Jessica, this is so wonderful! Your boys have done such a beautiful job on their lap books! I love how you've put together your history units, too. I've had a hard time finding a history course that "fits" our family & am thinking about putting together units of our own for next year (we're working through ancient history now). Good resources have been the hardest for me to track down. I'll be bookmarking this post for sure 🙂
Love your dye-project, too! Looks like your children had a lot of fun while learning!
I love history! Those are incredible lapbooks – great job to your boys! We like lapbooks here as well but I find it's a lot of work to try and get mine to focus on the whole process and not just the end result. Maybe they need to get older?
Hi Jessica, you do such a great job teaching your children about a subject and then tying into the Catholic Faith. I love that part on your son's lap book that included the "inspirational Catholics" during Colonial Times. Fabulous!
Does he history CD include all the lapbook components as printables? If so, wow, what a great resource! Your boys did such a neat, detailed job on their lapbooks – how fun it will be for them to look back through them over the years!
I was looking at that same timeline book recently, so I wanted to ask how you like it… does it include enough space for every century? Is it in a 3 ring binder so the pages can be taken out or more can be added as necessary? Do you have one for the whole family, or does each child have his own? I'm planning to begin a book of centuries with my oldest in the next few years, 3rd or 4th grade, I think…
I posted a few answers to your questions, along with some pictures, here: Lap Booking {and Timeline} Questions Answered
what time in history do you plan to do next year?
We will probably spend the first half of the year completing American and Modern History before going back to Ancient Times.