Help kids learn about early american settlers by learning about a common home for colonial americans with this fun, hands-on wattle and daub house school project. This easy-to-make colonial america project will help kindergarten, first grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, 4th grade, 5th grade, and 6th grade students about American history for kids. I will show you how to make a wattle and daub house l explore the various colonial america settlers in our hands on history unit for homeschoolesr. Today we have a fun history project – building a traditional Wattle & Daub house from the early settlers era.
Wattle and daub house
We’ve moved on from studying about Early Explorers and are now studying Colonial America. As we began reading about the Jamestown Colony we took a closer look at how they built their homes – wattle and daub houses. Wattle & Daub Houses are made by using a woven lattice of wooden strips called wattle and then daubed with a sticky material usually made of some combination of wet soil, clay, sand, animal dung, and straw. Wattle and daub has been used for at least 6,000 years, and is still an important construction material in many parts of the world. It is super easy and such a fun american history activity for kids; let me show you how to build a wattle and daub house. This wattle and daub house school project is fun for kindergartners, grade 1, grade 2, grade 3, grade 4, grade 5, and grade 6 students studying American History for Kids. I love project that make history come alive and this United States history project is lots of fun!
Our hands-on history lessons for kids with fun activities make learning exciting and memorable, and I can’t believe how much we’ve discovered already! This is part of our lesson on america original colonies which includes Jamestown worksheets and Dutch and Sweedish Settlers history.
Wattle and daub house school project
We choose the size of our miniature house based on the size & number of sticks we found laying around our backyard. It was about 16” x 16” x 12” tall. We started by putting thicker sticks in the four corners, putting at least 2-3” in the ground. We then added one stick in the middle for all sides except the front which we left open to see inside our house.
How to make a wattle and daub house
How to make a wattle and daub houseWe then used gathered sticks and dried vines to weave through the sticks on all three walls all the way up to the top.
Early Settlers in Colonial America
Then we mixed up some soil, water, and straw.
How to make daub
Goofy used his hands (Mommy used the shovel) to fill in the walls with the mud & straw. (We opted not to use dung!!)
How to build a wattle and daub house
Then we laid some branches over the top and added more straw (no pointy roof for our wattle and daub house). Here is the back of our Colonial Wattle & Daub house.
How to make wattle and daub
We stuffed straw into socks to make mattresses (stuffed like they did in Colonial times).
Wattle and daub houses
Wattle and daub housesThen we added the mattresses, wood for a fire, kettle for cooking, and some people to complete our house.
American History for Kids
Here is a close-up of our three-walled Wattle & Daub Colonial House.
Colonial America for Kids
It was a super fun project that made Colonial times come alive to my Kindergartner. Now he wants to know – what’s next?!?!?
Colonial America for kids
Colonial America for Kids takes kids on a journey back to the first permanent settlements in America to learn about colonial life with lots of hands on projects like eating Gruel, making a Wattle & Daub house, and creating a tin lantern will make the settlement come alive.
- Start off our Colonial America for Kids history unit with a look at the first permanent English settlement in America – Jamestown Activities. (Don’t forget to grab these FREE Printables Jamestown for Kids Book to Read, Color, and Learn)
- Talk about the Pilgrims, make costumes, learn how Squanto taught the settlers to plant crops, write with a quill, make simple Johnny Cakes and a traditional colonial toy – marbles!
- Explore the life of the Dutch and Swedes in America as you try creating homemade butter and build a log cabin.
- Finally discuss William Penn and the Quakers will kids enjoy making traditional silhouette art projects, a colonial punishment stock, and so much more.
- Make a wattle and daub house
History for Kids
Check out one of or MANY engaging, Free history lessons for kids or go to American History for kids including lots of fun, hands on activities, blank timeline template, and lots more printables. Plus don’t miss free Who Was Series biography report templates, historical fiction books for kids arranged in chronological order or Digging into World History Curriculum for the whole family to learn together!
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- Learn about Middle Ages for Kids with lessons and activities about Medieval Castles for Kids, Knight for Kids, Medieval Church for Kids, Medieval Art: Music, Tapestry, Giotto for Kids, and Door in the Wall Study Guide
- Make a teepee, dig for arrowheads, color our printable books and more in this Native Americans for Kids lessons – East Woodland Indians, Comanche Plains Tribes, Southwest Tribes of the Navajo and Hopi, Pacific Northwest Tribes, Florida’s Seminole tribe
- The Colonial America for Kids lesson takes kids back to the first American settlements in the 13 colonies Jamestown Activities, Pilgrims for Kids, Dutch & Sweed Settlers, Pennsylvania William Penn for Kids, plus free printable Jamestown worksheet pdf reader, preschool Thanksgiving printables, and how to make a wattle and daub house school project
- Make westward expansion for kids come alive – 1783-1898 including Lewis and Clark for Kids, Oregon Trail for Kids, Pony Express for Kids , Gold Rush, and the Transcontinental Railroad, plus Westward Expansion for Kids reader and Wild West Worksheets
- American Civil War for Kids lesson with Civil War Coloring Pages, free People of the Civil War flip book, Civil War Worksheets, and Civil War Games for students
- Modern US History resources – U.S. History timeline printable, free Titanic for Kids Reader, World War 1 worksheets pdf, Roaring 1920s for Kids, 1930s Great Depression for Kids, life in the 1940s America for Kids Anne Frank for Kids, free World War 2 workshets pdf, 1950s for Kids, Rosa Parks Worksheets pdf, printable Martin Luther King Jr for Kids, life in the 1960s for Kids , 1970s for kids reader, 1980s for Kids, 1990s for Kids, life for early 2000s Kids , and review with American History Worksheets
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