Teaching about the American Revolution wouldn't be complete without tracing the steps of history to the Revolutionary War and the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Teachers can provide students with a reading passage about the American Revolution and then ask the kids to make a timeline of the important dates in the history of that period, including the Boston Massacre, the Boston Tea Party, the "shot heard 'round the world" in Lexington, the creation of the Declaration of Independence and George Washington taking over the Continental Army.
Kids can put on a play for peers and parents in the classroom about some aspect of the Revolutionary War and its precursory causes. For example, a great play is always the reenactment of the Boston Tea Party. Children can help make colorful costumes of the Native American people, British military and colonials, and settings can include the ship from which the tea was dumped into the Boston Harbor, as well as London, where the British Parliament established the unacceptable rules and taxes on tea.
Using a colonial map, children can draw and label a dotted line that highlights the locations of some important Revolutionary War battles and other historical locations. These may include cities such as Boston (Boston Massacre, Boston Tea Party), Philadelphia (Declaration of Independence), Saratoga (British troops surrender in a hard-fought battle) and Yorktown (another huge battle won by American forces).
On a smaller scale, kids could also make a map of Paul Revere's famous midnight ride from Boston's North End to Lexington and Concord. Through Cambridge and Medford he rode between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 2 a.m., stopping at houses to warn folks that British troops were on their way, and kids could plot stops on a pre-drawn map or make their own.
Younger children, especially, will love to do Fourth of July crafts in celebration of the freedoms gained by Americans after the Revolutionary War. Arts and crafts can include coloring fireworks or making firework bursts out of different color pipe cleaners. The pipe cleaner fireworks can then be hung in the classroom.
Children can also create their own American flags using red, white and blue construction paper. Have the kids research what the first flag looked like and then have them design their flags to emulate the flag of that period in history. The children's artwork can be hung on a Revolutionary War bulletin board display.
Finally, classroom activities that teach the daily chores and various duties of the colonial family can include a sewing craft, spinning wool into yarn lesson and learning about gardening and farming.