We started our study of Ancient Greece with a lot of reading. There are many books on Ancient Greece that you can read for free online. We enjoyed reading one by Helen Grueber. We also read a stack of books from our library. If you want ideas for children's literature books, check out the Travel For Kids website.Our first project was painting amphoras. We used black acrylic paint on terra cotta flowerpots. I also found an amphora coloring page. I saw another project using scratch art to make a paper representation of an amphora. (You color really hard with red crayon, then cover with black tempera paint, allow it to dry, and then scratch your pattern onto the "pot".) I think if we study Greece again sometime, we will try this.
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| Lighthouse of Alexandria papercraft |
Next, we made jewelry by glueing a coil of hemp cord flat onto 1 1/2-inch circles of cardboard, painting them with gold paint, and glueing "jewels" in the centers. These were glued along lengths of cord for necklaces. Bigger circles with smaller jewels glued around the (top) outside edge were used for belt buckles on thick gold ribbons. Here is an idea for a Greek costume.We also made "bones" out of Sculpty to play Knucklebones.
In ancient Greece, the knuckle bones from legs of mutton, were thrown to prophesy the future. They were also used like dice for gambling and, most frequently, for playing the game which is still known today as knuckle bones.
How to Play
Knucklebones may be played by two or more children, though interest may flag if there are more than four. The game consists of performing various 'figures' -throws and catches of the bones- in a chosen sequence. The names of the figures may vary in different regions, but most of the movements are the same all over the world. A basic and ancient knucklebone figure is even depicted on a Roman fresco from Pompeii. The player tosses all five bones into the air and tries to catch them on the back of his hand. Then he throws these up and catches them again in his palm. The score each player obtains can be used to determine order of play in succeeding figures.
To play the figure called 'ones, the first player throws the bones onto the ground. He picks up a single bone, which is then called the jack': he tosses it into the air, picks up one of the bones on the ground, and catches the jack as it falls. He transfers the picked-up bone to his free hand and throws the jack again, repeating the movements until all bones are held. If he drops a bone, misses the jack, or moves another bone, he is out, and must repeat 'ones' on his next turn before starting another figure. Next, he goes on to twos, in which the bones must be picked up in pairs: 'threes, in which he picks up three bones and then one, and fours, picking up all four bones at once.
How to Play
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| Playing knucklebones |
To play the figure called 'ones, the first player throws the bones onto the ground. He picks up a single bone, which is then called the jack': he tosses it into the air, picks up one of the bones on the ground, and catches the jack as it falls. He transfers the picked-up bone to his free hand and throws the jack again, repeating the movements until all bones are held. If he drops a bone, misses the jack, or moves another bone, he is out, and must repeat 'ones' on his next turn before starting another figure. Next, he goes on to twos, in which the bones must be picked up in pairs: 'threes, in which he picks up three bones and then one, and fours, picking up all four bones at once.
We documented our study with various coloring pages and notebook pages. And we wrote our names using Greek letters. The biggest disappointment about Greece was that we never got around to having a feast. Oh, well! There's always modern Greece!
Online Books
- Famous Men of Greece
- by John H. Haaren
Attractive biographical sketches of thirty-five of the most prominent characters in the history of ancient Greece, from legendary times to its fall in 146 B.C. - The Story of the Greeks
- by Helene A. Guerber
Elementary history of Greece, made up principally of stories about persons. - The Story of Greece
- by Mary Macgregor
Stories from the history of ancient Greece beginning with mythical and legendary stories of gods and heroes and ending with the conquests of Alexander the Great. - Streams of History: Ancient Greece
- by Ellwood W. Kemp
Presents the chief geographical features of Greece and historical sketches of the life of the people at four stages of their development: Age of Homer, Persian Wars, Age of Pericles, and Age of Alexander the Great. - A Story of the Golden Age of Greek Heroes
- by James Baldwin
This book paves the way to an enjoyable reading of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, by presenting the legends about the causes of the Trojan War woven into a continuous narrative, ending where the story of the Iliad begins. - Old Greek Folk Stories Told Anew
- by Josephine Preston Peabody
A child's first book of Greek tales containing many of the shorter myths. - The Children's Plutarch: Tales of the Greeks
- by F. J. Gould
Twenty-one stories are an ideal introduction to the characters that figured prominently in the history of ancient Greece. - Diana and The Golden Apples/The Trojan Horse
- downloadable MP3 files of old children's records.
- Greek Myths
- Storynory free audio stories
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| Greek Theatre masks (2013) |
