One of the easiest ways to reinforce the story of Pocahontas, or reward a kindergarten class after learning about her, is to watch the 1995 Disney movie "Pocahontas." The movie is accurate in most respects, according to Pocahontas.org, but does take liberties, especially with respect to dress and Pocahontas' animal friends. This should not be your sole way of teaching about Pocahontas, but would be a fun activity to watch the week of Thanksgiving or during rainy recess periods.
Pocahontas grew up living with her Native American tribe, but when she was captured by the colonists, she chose to be baptized as a Christian and married an English settler. She later toured England and was treated like visiting royalty.
Have students talk about the differences and similarities in her life with the Native Americans and her life with the English colonists. Focus on the clothes, food and activities, as these are the easiest for the children to understand. Pictures of both types of lives, including Pocahontas' official English portrait, can help them come up with ideas. You also can ask children which life they would prefer and why.
Pocahontas is often credited with saving the Jamestown settlement in Virginia when she saved Capt. John Smith. It is also said that she used to play in the settlement as a little girl, often hiding in the fort.
You can have the children design their own Jamestown fort, either on paper or with building blocks. They can create hiding places for Pocahontas and add areas to the fort for the settlers' protection. Each student or the class can do research on the fort before building it to make the fort more historically accurate.
Pocahontas was actually not the name of the Native American princess. Her real name was Matoaka and her nickname was Pocahontas, meaning playful one.
Have your students come up with a word or phrase that describes them. You or an assistant can look up the actual translation for the word into Algonquin, Pocahontas' language, or you can allow the children to make up a word that represents their English word. Have the children create name tags with their new nickname and pictures.