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For some history is boring. Maybe it’s because I have a degree in history, but I think it is so sad to hear people say history isn’t fun. It doesn’t have to be, though. There are many ways to make history fun and exciting. It just takes a little planning and some great resources to make it happen.
In our family, we have used The Story of the World (SOTW). We were sad when we finished all four books because we loved them. We especially loved The Story of the World Activity Book that accompanies each volume. Much of my inspiration comes from these books. You don’t need them, though, to come up with fun ideas.
Here are some ways I have learned to make history exciting over the past several years.
Table of Contents
- Ways to Make History Fun
- Making History Exciting is Easy
Ways to Make History Fun
1. Use Literature and Biographies to Make History Fun
Finding the right books to add to your curriculum makes history even more exciting. The Story of the World provides an excellent list of additional literature on the topics covered for the week. You can also search your local library or ask a librarian to help. You will be amazed at how much is out there.
There is a lot of historical fiction for kids. Not all of it is long chapter books either. Many are in picture book format. Some are well suited for older kids, too.
One author that writes some wonderful folktales is Eric Kimmel. We found a lot of his books when we were studying ancient history.
Some popular book series to consider are:
- Heroes of History– These are a great book series for younger and older readers. Check out my review to learn more.
- Christian Heroes: Then and Now– Learn about fascinating people in history. Click on the title to read a review of one of the books in the series.
- Dear America– If you want to look for a book in the series for a particular time period, this site is very helpful. They also have videos.
- Magic Tree House– You will find a list of the books in the series along with fun games.
- My Name is America– Here you can find the list of the books in the series, time period, and reading levels.
- American Girl– Find a complete list of their historical fiction stories.
- The Royal Diaries– This is a Wikipedia list of the book and T.V. series. You can still find them in libraries, Amazon, Thrift Books, and other stores even though this is an older series.
- The Horrible History series-This is one of our favorites! We also watched the T.V. series, too. Kids will love it.
- Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales– In these graphic novels, kiddos take a peek into American history. They are a lot of fun and kids will learn a lot too.
- Who Was? series- Find a list of the books and activities to go along with them. Plus, it was turned into a Netflix series which was a lot of fun.
The book series above all do a great job making history come alive for kids.
Another place to find some great living history books is over at As We Walk Along the Road. Leah has a list of books for grade levels. If you look at the spreadsheet, you can also see what books are historical fiction and what historical period they fit in. It is super!
2. Art and Music to Make History Even More Fun
Art and music fit so well with history. It is also another great way to make history fun. Look at the culture you are studying and see what types of art and music they had. Include this in your study.
Look at the arts and crafts that people of a particular time period created. Was a particular culture known for its pottery or weaving? Try to replicate it in your history class. If a country was known for its sand art, try doing it, too. Each culture has things they did that made them unique. Find out what it is and try your hand at it.
When we were doing very early history, my kids did cave drawings. Later on, we made Egyptian death masks. My kids had a blast.
Music can be fun. Kids can listen to music, make instruments, or learn more about a musician of the time. We found YouTube videos with reenactors performing medieval dances and someone demonstrating the hurdy-gurdy. It was two years ago, but my kids still remember it.
** For fun hands-on unit studies, you may love Homeschool in the Woods. Your crafty kids will love it! You can read my review here.
3. Dress-Up and Role-Play
Another great way to make history a lot of fun is by dressing up and reenacting history. How much fun would it be to get a sheet and make a toga? How about making chariots out of boxes and having chariot races? Or how about tying pillows around you, building a ring, and
Kids will LOVE to dress up and role-play events or
4. Reconstructing Architecture
Look at important structures built in history. Find ways in which your kids can recreate it.
Maybe they can make papier-mache pyramids, a toothpick Eiffel Tower, or create the homes of the cave dwellers in clay.
You can even incorporate Minecraft. In 4-H, the kids built the Parthenon, pyramids, and cave dweller homes in the Minecraft world.
5. Cooking
Who doesn’t like adding food into a homeschool lesson?!
The library and the internet
We made a biscuit that was believed to originated from ancient Mesopotamian times. We even cooked outside over the fire as the Roman soldiers did.
Here is a fun YouTube video by HiHo Kids of kids trying recipes from ancient times.
Another way to incorporate cooking is by having a feast. At the end of your study of a particular culture, you can celebrate by having an authentic dinner.
If you need some places to start looking for recipes, check out The ESL Nexus. She has some great books and sites listed. Some you can probably find in the library or find very cheaply at Thrift Books or eBay.
6. Museums and Virtual Field Trips
Museums and living history museums are some of the best ways for kids to see history and have fun. Many museums incorporate areas for kids to explore, and some have lesson guides for teachers to prepare for the trip.
Living history museums are my absolute favorite! They have reenactors and a village from a certain time in history. You can read more about living history museums at The Importance of Living History Field Trips in Your Homeschool.
Virtual field trips are cool, too. I recently discovered you can tour Gettysburg online. My kids had fun seeing the battlefield and getting a sense of what it looked like to those fighting long ago. To Engage Them All has an extensive list (around 250!) of virtual field trips. Take a look.
7. Movies and Videos
Another fun history activity is adding movies and videos. You can search YouTube, History Channel, and many others for videos on a topic.
Many people have created lists on Pinterest of movies you can rent or watch on Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. All of these resources have great shows, documentaries, and movies that cover a variety of time periods and cultures. It is a fantastic way to make learning fun. Check out Learning in Color blog for a list of historical movies for kids.
You can find some other sites with movie ideas on my social studies Pinterest board.
8. Google Earth
Google Earth is another fantastic way to make history exciting. With Google Earth, you can explore famous places in history. You can go to Italy and see the Colosseum or visit the Taj Mahal in India. We even visited the Eiffel Tower, Arch de Triumph, and the Great Pyramids.
Google Earth allows kids to see historical places and how they look today.
9. History Games to Make Learning History Fun
Gameschooling is such a great way to make history fun for kids! It is amazing how many games are out there and for so many age groups. We have several I’ll share.
Egyptians
If you’ve been studying Ancient Egypt, you will want this game. It is a fun trivia game for kids. The best part is that there are different levels of questions. This way young kids (or not as knowledgeable) can have easy questions while adults can have more challenging questions. You need to collect a complete set of Egyptian God/Goddess cards to win.
I bought this game used on eBay. If you hunt a little, you may be able to find it.
Homeschool in the Woods
Home School in the Woods not only has fabulous hands-on history unit studies, but it also has fun file folder games you print and play.
We have made a game for Greece and Civil War review. Each game is a little different, so kids don’t feel like they are playing the same game. All, however, are fun trivia games. Perfect for review.
Trailblazer
In this American history game, players must race their way across America answering trivia cards. It can be quite challenging. However, you can choose questions from a particular time period on your turn. It may or may not help you.
In the end, you are also assigned points depending on the level of difficulty of the question.
Continent Race Game
Byron’s Games creates fun games! In Continent Race, kids practice their continents and the countries on each continent. This would be a great way to learn where countries are located while you study them!
Maestro Mastery
Maestro Mastery is another fun game from Byron’s Games. In this game, kiddos use a memory game format to learn about composers throughout history. I love using this game, so kids can learn about the styles of music throughout history. It fits in nicely with history studies.
Other Games You Might Enjoy
- Free Online Games on American History by Mr. Donn
- Free Interactive Games, Activities, and Stories About Ancient Civilizations by Mr. Donn
- Gameschooling History by Gameschool Academy (board games and card games for pre-history to modern-day)
Making History Exciting is Easy
A great site that will help you find books, movies, video clips, games, and apps for different historical periods is Homeschool History! It is run by Notgrass that publishes history materials. For a very low price (I mean LOW), you have access to a list of materials to help make history fun for your kids.
Including all or some of these history activities will help make history exciting for kids. What it all comes down to is bringing history to life. If kids can see history is more than facts, but real people and events, they will have fun.
How do you make history fun?
***Updated from January 2019 with more ideas added!***
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I absolutely love the idea of incorporating dress-up and role-play into history board games!
It adds an extra layer of immersion and excitement, making the learning experience more engaging for everyone involved.
Not only does it bring historical characters and events to life, but it also encourages creativity and teamwork.