Colonial Day is Coming!

In order to bring American history alive and understand how children of the past lived, Caughlin Ranch 5th grade will be hosting the 11 annual Colonial Day!  Colonial Day is a culminating activity to our Colonial America unit of study.  During the day students will play, eat, and even dance (thanks, Mrs. Jackson!) as children living in colonial Williamsburg in the 1770s.  Colonial Day 2012 will be on Thursday, October 11 (note the day has been changed from its originally scheduled day due to picture day on the 12th).

An informational flyer asking for parental help went home in Friday's, September 28, Folder. We will need parents to prepare food, cut cloth, and assist in the rotation activities during the day.  In my classroom, students will be making and dressing corn husk dolls, the more helping hands the better!

To make the event as historically accurate and fun as possible, we encourage students to dress in a colonial fashion.  For girls this means a dress or skirt.  I will provide each young lady with an apron, and the girls will be making their own mob caps.  For the young gents, I suggest they wear football/baseball pants or roll up pants to simulate breeches, knee length pants, and tall socks.  A dress shirt and, if possible, a vest or dress coat, will complete their outfit.  Boys will be fashioning cravats, precursor to the tie,  out of material.  Don't rush out to purchase clothing--raid every closet in the house.  One of the best dressed colonial lads I ever saw wore his mother's full sleeved blouse and her vest!  If you do decide to buy something, try Savers or one of the other used clothing stores.  Old Halloween costumes can be fashioned into colonial clothing, too.

Below are some examples of student clothing from last year: 

Colonial Ladies

Colonial Lads