Have your students map Columbus' journey from Europe to the Americas. Provide children with printouts of a world map and talk about the path that Columbus and his fleet took to get to the Americas. Have them mark out the voyage on the map with a black marker. While mapping out the journey, discuss the methods explorers used to navigate, including stars and dead reckoning. During your discussion, explain to students that Columbus was supposed to find a route to India and ask students to offer explanations as to why the explorer ended up in a surprising location.
Encourage your students to pretend they are either Columbus himself, or one of the members of his crew and have them write a log that illustrates the experiences of the journey. Talk about the harsh conditions that were often experienced with such long seafaring travel. Have children write short entries, including dates from the time of the journey, that illustrate what they think the journey would have been like. They can assemble their entries into a book. Steep tea bags and have children press them onto the papers to give the logs an aged look.
Children can make models of the Columbus fleet: the Nina, the Pinta and the Santa Maria. Separate the cups from egg cartons and provide each child with a cup. Have them cover the cups with brown clay. Cut square pieces of paper and glue them to the ends of toothpicks. Poke the opposite end of the toothpicks through the base of the egg carton cups to create the look of the famous vessels.
Put on a class play to illustrate the historical voyage. Assign roles to students, including those of Columbus, King Ferdinand, Queen Isabella and deck hands. Have children create props and a setting for the play and encourage them to dress the parts. They can bring the famous historical story to life. An ideal time to put on this performance is around the Columbus Day holiday.