Make History Exciting for Your Kids with Sonlight Hands-On History Kits
Engage your children in world history like never before! Sonlight Hands-On History Kits bring history to life with interactive, creative activities that will captivate multiple age groups and make learning fun for the whole family.
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post for Sonlight. I received free product and was compensated for my time. I am not required to give a positive review and all opinions are my own. See my full disclosure for more information.
In our homeschool, especially when my kids are younger, we enjoy hands-on learning. I feel that including hands-on activities helps my kids stay focused and comprehend the topics better.
However, as much as I want to include hands-on learning, it doesn’t seem to happen as often as we like. It can be challenging to find engaging projects that also go along with the topics being studied. Plus, finding all of the materials needed for the projects is quite time-consuming. Then once you have the materials, you need to find somewhere to store them until you need them. It can be quite an effort to add all of these hands-on projects into our homeschool days.
Sonlight Hands-On History Activities
Luckily, Sonlight has helped make it incredibly simple to add hands-on learning to your homeschool. After using their science curriculum the last couple of years, I know that they’re Discover and Do kits make it easy to fit in science experiments.
However, recently my son and I have been enjoying their hands-on history kits as well. We’ve been using the Hands-on History: World History I kit, which is one of three they offer.
This kit contains many fun projects that are all combined into one, easy-to-store box. The projects are perfect for ages 6-9 with adult help. The kit is designed for use with their World History I curriculum, though it also stands alone. Continue reading to find out how we use it with a different history curriculum to enhance learning.
What’s Included in Sonlight’s Hands-On History: World History I Kit
These kits come with just about everything you need to complete nine projects that feature a variety of activities and time periods. They include a fantastic instructions booklet and materials for the nine projects already separated and labeled for each one.
The projects include:
Archaeology Dig Kit
Miniature Yurt
Laurel Wreath
Dragon Puppet
Chariot
Greek Vase
Clay Cylinder Seal
Senet Game Board
Trojan Horse
Instructions Booklet
As a busy homeschool mom, one of my favorite parts of the hands-on history kit is the Instructions Booklet. This booklet truly makes these projects open and go. At the beginning of the book is a two-page supplies list for all of the projects at a glance. Each project lists the materials that Sonlight provides in the kit and any materials I need to provide.
Instructions for each project follow the supplies list. The project begins with a section that you can read to your learner that includes some background information. The difficulty and parent time required follows this with levels from 1-3. I find this helpful when planning.
Materials needed for the project are listed again, along with any advanced preparation necessary. Then come the instructions. These are step-by-step and they’re illustrated! I’m a visual learner so I really appreciate the pictures depicting each step. Each step is separated into what children can do and what the parents should do. The instructions end with a Bonus Idea to have even more fun with the project.
Project Materials
Along with the instructions booklet, the Sonlight Hands-On History Kits also include the materials for each project. My favorite part of this is that each project’s materials are in its own labeled baggie. Common household items are all you may need to include. How convenient for a busy parent!
I especially appreciate the variety of projects. This kit includes a game, projects with wooden pieces, some that require painting, creating with clay, and even an archaeology dig. So often it’s easy to get into a rut with projects and crafts. I like that Sonlight has kept the activities for this kit interesting.
How We Use Sonlight Hands-On History Kits as a Supplement
As I mentioned earlier, the Hands-On History Kits are designed for use alongside Sonlight’s history curriculum. However, it can also be used alone or with another history curriculum. Using it alone would be perfect for unschoolers, after schoolers, as summer learning, or as part of a unit study. Since they are created for kids 6-9, teenagers can help younger siblings with them too.
We are using the history kits with a curriculum that is not from Sonlight. When I sit down to do my planning, I glance through the instruction booklet after planning my first grader’s history lessons. If any of the projects go along with what we’ll be covering in history, then I add it in.
For example, when my son was studying Ancient Egypt, we did the Senet Game project. First we used the included clay to create game pieces, which we baked. Then he painted one side of the included sticks that are used like dice. After the game was created, then we had fun playing the game over and over. He loves playing the game and will often pull it out for us to play together.
With nine projects included in the kit, we don’t do one each week. I like this because I feel that it makes the projects more exciting when we do get to them. Sometimes doing projects every week can make children a bit tired of them or not as engaged doing them. Having projects just every few weeks keeps them interesting and fun.
Final Thoughts
Overall, my son and I have really enjoyed adding the projects from Sonlight Hands-On History Kits to our homeschool. I like that the projects all come in one, easy-to-store box and are essentially open and go. My son loves using his hands to create the projects. I feel that the projects help him understand the history topics we’re learning a bit more. The kits are definitely worth adding into your hands-on homeschool learning. You can click on the button below to find out more about them.
