Some love history; some not so much. Since everyone has to learn it, why not learn history by adding some drama to the experience.

Hi! My name is Danielle and I have homeschooled my kids from Pre-K through high school. When we started homeschooling, I was concerned my kids may not be able to participate in some of the fun activities like drama that I was able to do growing up with a public school education. I quickly found out that I had nothing to worry about. There are a lot of ways to fit drama into your homeschool. 

Fall into History

A fun idea we did in the fall was called “Fall into History.” This time of year kids love to dress up, so we thought it would be fun for them to choose a character they had been studying in history, write something about that character, dress up like them, then present as that character.

One year, my daughter chose to be Eleanor of Aquitaine. While for many years we have opted to make a costume, this year we chose a fun medieval dress that was out for Halloween and worked perfect for her character. That dress was used multiple times in the next couple of years and later passed along to a friend, so we got a lot of use out of it. 

Each week in our homeschool group, the kids learned something new in history. That year the focus was on medieval history. To expand on our studies, my daughter did some research and learned a little more about Eleanor of Aquitaine. She wrote up a little one-page history of Eleanor and read it through multiple times so she would be familiar with it to present it well. When the day came, she dressed up, including the all important hairstyle, and presented her paper to our group.

Choosing an Historical Character Even for the Younger Students

That same year my son decided he wanted to be Richard the Lion Hearted. Again, we chose to buy a costume that represented his role well, and he made a sword and shield to go along with it. This costume was also used for a very long time for many different roles he would choose to act out throughout the years. Being younger, I helped him as he learned some more about Richard, then let him decide what he wanted to tell us about Richard the Lion Hearted for his presentation. He embraced his role as Richard, presented to the group, and enjoyed being in costume all day.

During lunch with our community, we enjoyed many of the delicious treats fall has to offer.  It was a great time for all the kids, and a fun opportunity to dress up and add a little drama to the day.

What about the Older Students?

Since most kids study history throughout all of their years of school, this activity could be fun for any age. Middle school and high school students could even make a bigger event out of it or do a play based on a specific event in history. (Learn how to write a play based on an historical event here.)

If you've ever been to a Renaissance faire, Civil War reenactment, Pioneer settlement or a theme park, you see people playing a role whether they are on the battle field or just wandering around the grounds. They stay in character the entire time. The older kids could spend the entire day in character and do something special for the younger students during lunch or at the end of the day. The sky is the limit!

You Can Fit Drama into Your History Studies

Sometimes the academic classes consume so much of our day that we forget to include the arts or don't make time for them. By integrating drama into your history studies, you can fit drama into your homeschool even if it is just for one day. It gives the kids an opportunity to play a character and to learn more about that time in history.

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Ready to dive into drama with a play from history but still don't have a lot of time? Make it a short one this fall with A Reason to Be Thankful Thanksgiving play for your younger students or something a little longer for your older students like the Macbeth 30-minute play.

How about writing your own playscript with How to Write a Playscript about an Historical Event drama curriculum.

Thanks for joining us!

Danielle at homeschooldrama.com