Time Team History of Britain

I used to watch the Time Team TV programme when it first aired, I think it was about 17 years ago... With our recent interest in Archaeology, I came across this really great book by the team: The guide to the history of Britain, through its archaeological sites.

I bought it mainly for myself but something interesting happened last night. I was watching the TV programme that goes with it and Reuben not only was really interested in watching with me (we then went on to watch another...)  but he pulled out the book and was trying to follow the illustrations and photos of the sites. Not bad for a nearly 5 year old! He was particularly interested in the Mesolithic era and the hunter gatherers!
You can watch the programme here: The way we lived

The book is very useful in a home education environment as it is a great reference tool and relates to real places we can visit in the UK as well as being connected to the programmes we can then watch together.

Make your own excavation pit

To continue our archaeology theme, this is our next project: make our own pit!!!
Isaac especially really enjoyed the pit at the Jewry Wall museum so we thought it would be a good idea to make our own.


Is this a find?

Looks like a Roman tile

So off we went to look for resources and ideas and we came across the most excellent Hands on History website by the BBC. Amongst the videos and resources, there's a section for families and lots of very interesting activities. Including a make your own pit download.

Archaeologists find out about the past by discovering artifacts, examining them and then recording what they have found, this activity takes you through the three processes and encourages the children to feel like the real thing. You can add both organic and non-organic objects to the pit and find out if they rot or not and how long it takes them to decompose.

Download the activity here.

Archaeology at Charnwood museum

We all do love a good museum! After our new found love of history and archaeology, thanks to the holiday in Normandy, we appreciate our history even more. This morning we spent a happy couple of hours at Charnwood Museum in Loughborough, here's some of the things we did:

 

 

A model castle to build, after visiting Mount St Michel in Normandy the boys have a good
idea of what an imposing castle and moat look like

Reuben loves the microscope, he can analyse fragments of archaeological finds as well as
modern organic matter like wood and insects

Building a castle

Brass rubbings without the paper...

The microscope is connected to a screen so Reuben can have a proper look

Comfortable with the equipment, we have a small microscope at home but this setup is very
special to him

Reuben zooms in and out and has learnt how to focus

The giant oak tree in the museum, you can just about see the glass walkway under which
lies a local dinosaur!

Working out the best strategic way to build a castle