Colonial Crafts in 1995
Traveling back in time was easy with over thirty parents, teachers, aides, principal,
specialists,and curriculum coordinates all helping.
Our three fourth grades had three separate hours, during one week in January,
when the students could choose to do authentic colonial crafts.
Colonial Activities
- Quilting
-
- Stenciling
- Paint was scarce in colonial times.
Stenciling used only a little paint.
It became a popular way to decorate bare walls and furniture.
- Cross stitching
- They created a colonial sampler
- Cooking
- Authentic colonial recipes were baked and shared with the
rest of the fourth graders
- Corn Husk Dolls
- A toy Colonial mothers made from kitchen scraps
- Apples
- Mulled cider from apples, and making an apple head doll,
and other apple crafts
- Tin Work
- The children made 2 tin lanterns out of tin cans
- Horn Books
- Making a replica of the only books most children had in order to
learn to read and count. They also made their own quill pen and mixed the ink.
- Colonial Games
- These were active and quiet games that the group eventually taught
to their class.
- Quilling
- Creating a picture with curled paper.
- Silhouettes
- Similar to the kind in Rev. Clark's study at the Hancock Clark house
- Reverse Painting
- A craft done on glass
- Weaving
- The children make individual looms out of craft sticks and wove a belt.
In addition, the Librarian, Ms Polhamus, who is a weaver, showed them
drop-spinning with a potatoe, using dark and light wool right off a lamb.
- Colonial Gifts
- Pomander ball, pine needle pillow, papyrotamia
- Dyeing
- Collecting and making dye out of natural materials,
and dying skeins of yarn to do finger weaving
- Printing
- Using a small hand printing press with individual type,
they printed signs, and sayings of the times.
- Braiding
- They made a hot pad or rug
- Pottery
- They created a bowl and cup that was fired, but not glazed.
- Toys
- Simple creations of the period
Written by
the Poor Class
Natural dyes
Dyes from flowers
Printing
Drop spinning with Ms Polhamus
Charlotte@PoorHouse.Lexington.MA.US