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Summary and Objective
Students will understand that in colonial America there were different resources available from which to to make toys.
Teaching Plan
Step 1.
Gather students in circle. Ask students to share what they know about the Pilgrims. Begin a K-W-L chart so that students will have the opportunity to expand on this discussion.
Step 2.
Read Sarah Morton's Day - A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Girl by Kate Waters and Samuel Eaton's Day: A Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Boy by Kate Waters and Russ Kendall. These books will introduce the students to colonial children and how they lived.
Step 3.
Class Discussion - How to you think children long ago obtained their clothing and toys? (This will provide an opportunity to make sure students understand that long ago children could not go to the mall to purchase a doll or a dress.) Discussion will include information that there were stores to buy ready made goods such as cloth and other necessities.
Step 4.
Let’s pretend. If you were a colonial child and wanted a doll what would you make it with? Remember, we need to think about what was available then. Create a list of items that students share such as rags, wood, yarn, etc. Pass out pictures from the website listed above. Questions that may be asked include: What are these dolls made out of? What are their arms made out of? Their hair? Their clothing? Notice the face. What do you think they used to show their facial features? Do they look fun to play with? Do you think they took good care of them? How did they play with them? What did they do with them?
Step 5.
Gather materials necessary to make a doll. In my case I chose to make a small sock doll (directions in Step 6). Make sure to have sufficient materials so for all students.
Step 6.
Toys
Let your students show their creative ways with doll-making. During colonial times, dolls were made of all sorts of things. They were made from pine cones, corn husks, rags, and even socks...It is lots of fun to make sock-dolls with your students. Each child will need: one small sock, two rubber bands, rags for stuffing, glue, scissors, buttons, ribbon, and assorted material. The students will need to cut off the old sock right above the heel. They will then stuff the sock with rags. Then they will need to pull the bottom of the sock together and close it with a rubber band. To form the neck, they will need to squeeze the sock a few inches from the end opposite the rubber band. Then they will secure a rubber band over the section being squeezed to separate the head from the body. Then they can glue he button eyes and material for clothing.Please let students know that rubber bands were not used in colonial times. However, it may be easier for students to use rubber bands than to tie off with yarn or ribbon (and mention that ribbon was probably fairly expensive and not used when making dolls in colonial times). Students could also use permanent marker to draw faces on instead of gluing material. Students could use yarn or other materials to create hair.
Step 7.
Additional activity if time permits: have students bring in dolls from today. Compare dolls from Colonial America to dolls from today. Have student think about what they could use today to make a doll that was not readily available in colonial times.
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