Research the original 13 colonies. Look at the climate and ecology, main economic activities, political system, religious denominations present, major population centers as well as maps and images of the towns.
Select a position along the East Coast at random. Close your eyes and stick a pin in the map or roll a set of dice to pick a latitude. This tells you where your colony will be and will help you think about the conditions there and how you could organize your own colony.
Decide on a name for your colony. Considering the climate and ecology, think about the way the colony will sustain itself. You might decide it is mainly agricultural, in which case you should look at what can be grown where your colony is. If you decide your colony is based on mining or trapping, you need to look at the minerals or animals in the area. Present this information on your poster board in writing and by incorporating it into images of the colony.
Make a plan for how the colony will be organized to meet the needs of this form of production. Work out who will get to vote, what on and how they will do it. Use the information you gathered about the real colonies as a guide. Describe this on the poster board .
Make a list of the political policies your colony follows. Consider the sorts of questions that would be important to the colonists: How will the colony approach the native people? Does the colony advocate slavery? Is worship of any kind freely permitted? Write down all of this information on a poster board.
Draw a map of the colony and a map or image of its main town. Draw one for the first decade after the colony's founding, another for 10 years later and another a further decade later. Add these drawings to the poster board.
Write an account of a colonist's typical day in the colony, describing his work, family, problems he faces and what he does in his spare time. Write this on a separate sheet, fold it and tape it to the poster.
Present the poster board to the group, explaining all the decisions that you made. This works best if several people or groups within the class have produced poster boards so that students can look at the different approaches that could be taken.