Activity
Colonial Period: A Dear America Activity
Through various online activities, students learn what life was like in the U.S. during the Colonial Period of the 1600s and 1700s.
Grades
3–5
Activity Type
- Activities and Games
Scholastic’s “Dear America: Colonial Period” project offers students an engaging look at how the Colonial settlers lived during the 1600s and 1700s. Reading and interactive activities include:
- About the Era, an article on why settlers came to America, the hardships they faced upon arrival, how Native Americans helped them survive, and what life was like for Colonial children. A Colonial Period Timeline offers a chronological frame of reference.
- Explore the Scrapbooks shares the interactive fictional scrapbooks of two young Colonial girls. By clicking through and reading the journal-like entries, students get a “personal view” of the time period.
- Whiteboard-Ready Slides share images from the Colonial Period.
Plus, related student activities include:
- 30 recipes for students to try, including Indian Pudding and Meat Pies from the era.
- 22 arts and crafts, from Leather Embossing to Bead-Making
- An article on clothes worn in the Colonial Period, plus paper doll printables that students can print and mix and match!
- “A Room In Time” interactive activity lets students play house by clicking and dragging objects to create a typical room from the Colonial Period.


Dear America Teaching Guide
Make history come alive for your students with these resources for teaching the Dear America series, covering the Colonial Period, the Revolutionary War, Westward Expansion, the Civil War, the Turn of the Century, the Great Depression, and World War II..
GRADES
3–5, 6–8
