Teach History by Throwing a Party

I love history!

I even pick up history textbooks and read them for fun. There! I admitted it!

However, not every child is born loving history. So, I have looked for ways to bring history alive, to make it fun. We read historical fiction, make timelines, look at maps, watch movies, make crafts, time travel in the kitchen, create radio dramas, and write poetry.

We also throw parties to study history! We love to have fun when we homeschool.

Yes, we do!

We have had medieval banquets, archaeology digs, luaus, 1950s sock hops, Victorian teas, and Ancient Greek Olympics.

How Hard Is This?

Doesn’t that sound like a lot of work just to homeschool history? you ask.

Well, yes and no. We love parties, so I am motivated if it means people I like, good food, and lots of wholesome fun! My kids love parties, too.

Here is why we learn history when we plan an event like a sock hop or a medieval banquet. We have to research history to create an authentic experience. We dig deeper than normal to find out what they wore, what they ate, exactly what they did, where they did it, and why they did it.

When we planned our Ancient Greek Olympics, we learned that the games were a form of worship to their idol/gods. They opened each day by committing everything to one or more of the idol/gods or idol/goddesses. We decided to open our ceremonies in prayer and commit the whole event to Jesus. Then we learned about all the events and how they competed. In the process, we learned about Greek city-states and their relationships with one another. We discovered some funny stories along the way.

The event itself was so fun. Dads, older siblings, and friends all joined us to good-naturedly compete (families against families) in a variety of events. We cherish the memories.

The same thing happed when we planned our medieval banquet. We learned all about nobility and the different titles to discover who would sit “above the salt.” We also learned about knights, jousting, and tournaments, even though we ended up using pool noodles for our own jousting tournament. Again, we had several homeschooling families. We laughed, ate good food, and made memories for our children that will last after I’m in Heaven.

Here are Some Ideas:

Ancient Times: Archaeology Dig, Ancient Greek Olympics, Passover Feast,

Middle Ages: Medieval Banquet, Morality Play & Pageant

Modern Times: Luau, Victorian Tea, Sock Hop (1850s), Square Dance (wild west), Come as Your Favorite Decade Party (20th Century), Miniature Golf Tournament (1920s)

What’s involved in throwing an education event, or history party?

Plan the time and day
Choose location (keep in mind how many people will be coming and the weather if it’s outside)
Put Together Outfits (it’s always fun to dress up)
Plan Decorations
Invent Activities
Create a Flexible Timetable
Come Up with the Menu
Put one person in charge of the flow of the event

How to Keep it Simple

Delegate where you can

Put one person in charge of the flow of the event
Let another person in charge of set up/decorating
A different homeschooling parent can be in charge of tear down/clean up
Put one person in charge of the menu/sign-up

Have everyone pitch in

Borrow decorations (we gather everyone’s wooden salad bowls for our medieval banquet)
Let everyone who come bring food
If everyone helps set up and clean up, it will go much quicker

Remember that we all have an imagination. I created a huge meatloaf because we couldn’t afford to roast a whole pig. Even though the meatloaf looked like Alf (an old TV character), I told everyone to imagine it was a roasted pig. We still laugh about the Alf meatloaf today.

So, how about you?

Are you ready to plan a party to learn history?

Let me know if you do! I would love to see photos. After all, history should be fun!

If you like history or want to learn more, you will love these podcasts:

A Hero for All Times: George Washington (Life Lessons from American History
Life Began in a Garden (Life Lessons from Ancient History)
Don’t Be a Nimrod (Life Lessons from Ancient History)
Because He Loved Her: Sarah (Life Lessons from Ancient History)
The Real Kingdom and The Counterfeit (Life Lessons from Ancient History)
The Legend of Atlantis and Bull Leaping (Life Lessons from Ancient History)’

Happy Homeschooling!

Meredith Curtis

Meredith Curtis is the host of Finish Well Radio. She is the author of Quick & EZ Unit Study Fun, Let’s Have Our Own Medieval Banquet, Let’s Have Our Own Archaeological Dig, Let’s Have Our Own Ancient Greek Olympic Games, and Travel God’s World Cookbook.