Synopsis
Discusses colonial life in America, depicts a year in the life of a fictional colonial family, and presents projects and activities, such as butter churning, candle dipping, baking bread, and playing colonial games.
| Details | | Publication Date: | 1997-12-29 | | Series: | American Kids in History Series | | Illustrator: | Bobbie Moore | | Edition Description: | Illustrated |
| Size | | Length: | 118 pages | | Height: | 8.5 in | | Width: | 10.5 in | | Thickness: | 0.2 in | | Weight: | 10.4 oz |
Publisher's Note
Over 40 fun, hands-on projects and activities from the days of colonial America
Spend a year with the Mayhews, a family living in the Massachusetts colony of 1732. Ten-year-old Nathan and his twelve-year-old sister, Sarah, are eager to share all the fun and adventure-and the hard work-of their daily lives. Along the way, they'll show you how to play games, make toys and crafts, and perform lots of interesting and challenging everyday activities.
Churn your own butter and whip up a batch of tasty Maple Cream treats. Write with a quill pen you can make yourself, learn how to dip candles, and play popular games like Jackstraws, Crack the Egg, and Sheep Over the Fence.
Colonial Days is filled with interesting historical information and fun facts about growing up in days gone by. Discover how different-and how similar-life was for American kids in history.
With this innovative look at the past, children follow Sara, Nathan, Benjamin and Anne Mayhew through the year 1732 in the Massachusetts colony. Along the way, young readers get to try the crafts, chores and games of colonial kids, like churning butter, dipping candles, making Maple Cream treats, and much more. These easy projects can be done with materials from around the house or the classroom. 80 illustrations.
Industry Reviews
Gr 3-5 Everyday life in Colonial America is presented through text, games, activities, and recipes. The introduction sets the historical stage and introduces the fictional Mayhews: mother, father, and four children, who live on a farm in the Northeast in 1732. As the seasons change, readers see them at work, at play, and at school. The Native American point of view is covered briefly by way of visits between the Mayhews and a family in a nearby Indian village. A sidebar at the beginning of each chapter lists the projects for that season. They include making a sundial, growing an indoor herb garden, dipping candles, and weaving a pot holder. There are directions for games such as quoits, jackstraws, and Iroquois snow snakes. Recipes are included for such delights as maple cream, blueberry slump, jack wax, and berry syllabub. Some of the activities are simple enough for kids to do on their own; others require adult assistance. Explanatory text alternates with instructions and other sidebars that provide brief history lessons. The materials needed are readily accessible in grocery, hobby, or craft stores. The line drawings are clear and helpful in understanding the text. Howard Bovet and Marlene Smith-Baranzini's The Book of the American Colonies (Little, Brown, 1996) examines different groups of people living in the colonies, such as different tribes of Native Americans, Quakers, Puritans, etc. Colonial Days is more specific in its setting and places more emphasis on activities than on history. Lucinda Snyder Whitehurst, St. Christopher's School, Richmond, VA
Lopate
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