Pretend you are on the trail with the Corps of Discovery. Write several journal entries describing the adventures and discoveries along the way from your perspective. Include human interest details and anecdotes from camp life based on the actual accounts of the journey. Draw maps and pictures of what you see on your cross-country trek. Dye your paper in tea and bind your entries into a journal, making an old-fashioned cover design for an authentic antique look and feel to your project.
Write a series of articles giving the highlights of the two-year journey of Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery. Include encounters with Indians, mishaps in camp, scientific discoveries, major geographic milestones, important decisions and so on. Assemble your stories into a special edition newspaper with pictures describing the entire two-year journey to Oregon and back again.
Give your visitors a taste of the type of food Lewis and Clark ate along the trail with this delicious stew recipe from Janis Herber's book, "Lewis and Clark for Kids." Roast a butternut squash and peel. Cut into bite-size chunks. Saute onions and garlic in butter. Add the squash, corn, canned white beans, thyme, milk and broth. Bring to a boil and salt and pepper to taste. You may also add meat chunks for the times when hunting allowed them to add beef or poultry to their diet.
Dried food supplied much of the Corps of Discovery's diet because of the sheer quantity of food needed to feed a party of that size over such a long period of time without the benefit of modern storage and preservation methods. Try offering your guests a tasty dried treat while you dress up in authentic costume and tell stories of your adventures on the trail. Make a fruit puree and spread it on a cookie sheet. Dry it at 100 degrees Fahrenheit for about 12 hours until it has a leathery consistency. Roll it in plastic wrap after it cools.
Lewis and Clark's mission included making careful records of the great diversity of newly-observed animals that they ran across during their trek west. Visit a wildlife preserve and look for animal tracks. Make a plaster cast of several types of tracks. Talk to a wildlife officer to help you identify the tracks. Set up a guessing game for your social studies display that challenges your guests to match animals with your tracks.
Because of rough terrain and heavy use, Lewis and Clark's Corps of Discovery spent much time repairing and replacing their shoes. Saving their army-issue boots for formal occasions, leather moccasins quickly became the footwear of choice. Try making your own pair of moccasins to display at the social studies fair. You can find patterns online at Native Tech or in Native American crafts books. For extra challenge, you can make a pair of buckskin pants and jacket to match and model your ensemble.
It was impractical for Lewis and Clark to carry along absolutely everything they would need for a party of 33 men on a two-year journey. Many items were manufactured along the way as needed, such as beeswax candles to provide light on dark nights. Make your own candles by rolling a wick in a sheet of beeswax and pressing the open edge onto the body of the candle to secure it. You can set up a hands-on display by providing wicks and wax sheets to allow your visitors to make their own beeswax candles to take home.