book of the centuries

10 Wonderful Art and Craft Ideas for Homeschool History

homeschool history

As homeschooling mamas, we often have a love-hate relationship with art and crafts. But understanding the value of the activity can help motivate us to not only find more crafts for our children, but to even enjoy them ourselves. When teaching history the Charlotte Mason way, craft activities can be a wonderfully creative way to change up your homeschool history lessons.

homeschool history

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Scroll down for 10 crafts for you to use with your children. 

Homeschool history and Charlotte Mason 

One of the main aims of the Charlotte Mason philosophy is to help children develop relationships – both with the topic they are studying and those around them. Craft activities are an incredible way to achieve this.

By enjoying a hands-on activity in your homeschool history lessons, your children will have something tangible to experiment with and explore. They have a chance to put their own slant on a history project and express their understanding in a fun and practical way. Additionally, children will build their own memories and visualise historical events and figures as they work their way through each project. 

Another key aspect of Charlotte Mason philosophy is nurturing children’s ability to express their learning. Whether this is through an oral narration where they repeat back what they have learnt or through a written narration where they summarise the points they felt were important from their reading. But a history craft, and the discussion it inspires, is also a perfect way to have your child narrate what they understand in a natural, organic way. 

10 Homeschool History Crafts

1. Timeline 

Having a history timeline is an ideal way to visualise the order of historical events. Children can be their own historian as they record the dates and events of different periods. 

A fun way to do this is to create a history timeline on the wall or large poster board, like this one. Children add their own items or images to each historical period. They can add whatever they like: paintings, collages, photos, or little facts. 

For the time of the Prophet Muhammad, Peace Be Upon Him, you can use some free Seerah timeline images by signing up here.  

If you are pushed for space or prefer to keep the timeline contained, your children can keep a timeline notebook in a Book of Centuries. Purchase Our Muslim Homeschool’s very own Book of Centuries HERE, complete with an Islamic calendar! 

2. Build Al-Aqsa 

Masjid al-Aqsa is a place so rich in history that people dedicate their lives to it without ever knowing everything. As Muslims we have a special connection to this place and it makes a valuable addition to any homeschool history curriculum. 

Help your children bring the site of al-Aqsa alive by building their own 3D model. Using cereal boxes, plastic bottles and any other junk materials from around the house, children can get hands on with this activity. Use this diagram to get an accurate idea of the layout of the building and its surroundings.

This is a chance to talk about some fantastic moments in Islamic history such as Isra and Miraj, the Crusades and Salahuddin Ayoubi. 

Homeschool history

Related: How to Teach Islamic History + Book List

3. Who’s Who Game 

In history, there are numerous people for children to remember. Turn this challenge into a fun game by making “Who’s Who?” cards.

How to Play:

  • Firstly, create individual cards for each important person you are studying.
  • Secondly, include physical descriptions, achievements and general clues explaining who they are.
  • Then, one person picks a card at random and keeps it hidden.
  • The other players have to ask questions to guess who is on the card. 

The beauty of this game is it can be replicated for any time period, whether the Wars of the Roses during the time of the Tudors, or the Civil Rights Movement in the US.

As an example, take a look at this Who’s Who game of the Battle of Hastings from the English Heritage website.

4. Family History Journal 

As mentioned, Charlotte Mason stresses the importance of children building relationships with the information they are learning. What better topic to relate to than that of your own family history. Life has changed so significantly over the past few decades that you wouldn’t have to research that far back to find interesting things for your children.

Use the instructions here to make your very own family history journal. It’s important to allow children the freedom to express what they have learnt in their own way. Over time, let them draw, write, paint, or stick in photos and collages. 

5. Shoebox Time Periods 

This craft is extremely versatile and can be applied to whichever time period you’re studying. Use materials and items from around your house and grab a shoebox. Inside the shoebox, build a scene that represents a scene or location from your history lesson.

Here are some examples: 

  • If studying Ancient Egypt, you can build a pyramid, add the river Nile, and draw hieroglyphs around the side.  
  • For the Victorians, you could fashion a traditional Victorian street in London, complete with small toy models that children used to play with. 
  • If studying the American Civil War, you can build a depiction of the Battle of Gettysburg from 1863.

Use this link for further instructions and shoebox diorama ideas.

6. Famous Buildings 

Using model clay or playdough, you and your children can help each other to recreate famous historical buildings. Look at photos or documentaries, and discuss the history of the buildings as you work. You could build:

  • The Great Wall of China
  • The Colosseum in Rome
  • Pyramids
  • The Ka’ba
  • The Lincoln Memorial, etc.

7. Time Travelling Homeschool History Passport 

As you go through your various history projects, help children feel connected to and excited by the many different cultures and ways of life you are discovering. A great way to do this is to encourage children to keep their own record. 

Using the notebook tutorial for the Family History Journal, create a Time Travelling Passport. Children can draw things they discover about different time periods, stick in images they find during research, or note down their narrations. This craft can go alongside your Book of Centuries [insert purchase link here] and together they will make a wonderful record of your child’s historical discoveries and learning journey. 

Another great addition to this activity would be the Magic Treehouse books [insert Amazon link here]. This series features two children who travel back to different time periods in a magical treehouse. Your children can use their passport to document their own time-travelling adventures! 

Related:  Get FREE Seerah Timeline Images HERE

8. Get Cooking 

If there is one thing the internet has an abundance of, it’s recipes! What’s more, some recipes are child-friendly and will make a lovely addition to your homeschool history curriculum. Using different time periods and cultures, you can have themed cooking sessions. Try some of these to start off with:

homeschool history

9. Historical DIY

The next time you venture to the park or a local nature walk set your children a DIY tools challenge. During the Stone Age prehistoric people utilised stone, trees and leaves to craft basic tools. See what your children can create and bring home as a prehistoric souvenir. They could even draw their creations in their Time Travelling Passport! 

If you need some ideas, check out these engineering challenge ideas!

10. Learn Through Art 

Artistic expression has changed significantly. From cave paintings of mammoths to Michelangelo’s depictions of the Book of Genesis on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. A great way for children to connect and relate to these works of art is to try and replicate them for themselves. 

Because of the wide range of art projects to choose from, this project is perfect for children of different ages. They can pick any image they feel comfortable with, whether it’s a cave sketching, Egyptian drawings from tombs or complete Tudor paintings. 

Don’t forget to add the dates of the original works of art in your Book of Centuries!

UK 🇬🇧 | USA 🇺🇸 | CANADA 🇨🇦  | AUSTRALIA 🇦🇺 

Related: How to use a Book of Centuries 

Creative homeschool history for everyone

As you can see, homeschool history lessons don’t have to mean reading long biographies and composing written narrations. Craft activities are a creative form of narration and an opportunity for your child to spend time with the information they have encountered. Therein lies the beauty of the Charlotte Mason philosophy – you can mould the lessons to suit you and your children!

Teaching Islamic History with Charlotte Mason + Book List

Charlotte Mason

Charlotte Mason emphasises the importance of well-written and inspiring books, or ‘Living Books’. Parents find themselves scrambling for recommendations and booklists for their children’s subjects. When we get to history, the book search becomes even harder. Not because we can’t find decent books, but there are so many to choose from, it’s difficult to know which books will suit our family values. As Muslim parents, we need books which portray other than the Western world’s view of history.

Scroll down to find the book list of children’s Islamic history books I recommend!

This Blog-post contains affiliate links. For more information, see Disclaimer.

How to read like Charlotte Mason

The Charlotte Mason method places living books as its central focus when educating children. When they cannot read a book for themselves, it should be read aloud to them. In exposing children to a nutritious diet of elegant literature and wholesome prose, they can absorb knowledge and maintain it. 

By gradually reading decent books, children develop knowledge and intelligence by making important connections in the material they are exposed to. The beauty of Charlotte Mason’s approach to education lies in its simplicity. Being exposed to a superb selection of books is all your child needs for an enjoyable and successful education. 

How to choose Charlotte-Mason-approved books 

One of the most common questions when starting the Charlotte Mason method is: “What is a living book?”

A living book is a book which is:

  • well-written
  • provides children with new ideas
  • a book your child finds enjoyable
  • inspiring and impacts the reader
  • literary in style, where possible. (However, they do not always have to be stories)

Now, this is why it is often difficult to narrow down a solid list of living books; because it will look different for every child. Where one child may find the ‘Just So Stories’ by Rudyard Kipling delightful and entertaining, another child might find them boring and difficult to understand. 

However, well-written books are easier to identify among the bookshelves in a store or library. Finding living books is a skill you develop over time, so try not to get too overwhelmed in the early stages.

Does Charlotte Mason include Islamic history?

When researching the Charlotte Mason book lists, it can be easy to assume the history curriculum doesn’t favour an Islamic look at history. Some of the books appear to favour an Anglo-Saxon version of events, complete with the wonder of the British Empire and the valiant efforts of the crusaders. 

Charlotte Mason

However, it is important to remember that the Charlotte Mason approach is an educational philosophy, not a boxed-and-ready curriculum. You don’t have to purchase the book lists from her schools in order to benefit from her teaching advice. There is an entire world of published books to embrace, so feel free to go out for yourself and find books which suit your children and your family.

Living books inspire children, preferably in a literary way. We can easily apply this principle to Islamic books and tailor our history lessons to suit our Islamic values. Remember, we’re not looking for textbooks, and we’re not looking for books which display disjointed facts and condensed learning objectives. 

Reading and your Book of Centuries

As well as living books, a Book of Centuries will prove to be an invaluable resource. After reading a passage from a history book, help your children find the correct timeline page. They can write or draw something to represent what they heard when you were reading. Find out more about using a Book of Centuries here:

RELATED: Muslim Homeschool Curriculum – How to Use a Book of Centuries.

The Our Muslim Homeschool Book of Centuries comes with the added bonus of extra pages during the timeline of the Prophet Muhammad SAW. This gives you space to dedicate extra details to that important period and dive into the lifetime of the prophet in fun and engaging way. It also includes a timeline featuring some important dates in Islamic history from 570CE – 1924CE. Purchase yours here [link to the Amazon listing].  

Like most history lessons, it can be difficult to keep the seerah engaging for your children. By using a Book of Centuries, your child can actively engage with the stories and decide for themselves what to include in their book. For more information and guidance on keeping your seerah lessons fun and engaging, check out this post [insert blog post link here]? the seerah one is not published yet.

Book list of Islamic History Books for Kids

If you need a book list to get you started, check out my list of recommended reading for history:

101 Seerah Stories and Dua by Goodword (Ages 3-8)

Amazon UK | USA

Lore of Light: 1 by Hajjah Amina Adil

Amazon UK | USA

The Muqaddimah – An Introduction to History by Ibn Khaldun (Ages 16+)

Amazon UK | USA

A Journey Through Islamic History: A Timeline of Key Events by Yasminah Hashim (All Ages)

Amazon UK | USA

The Life of the Prophet Muhammad by Leila Azzam and Aisha Gouverneur (Primary school)

Amazon UK | USA

The Age of Bliss Series by Tughra Books (Ages 9-12)

Amazon UK | USA

The Leadership and Legacy Curriculum by Rabata (All Ages)

CLICK HERE

Muhammad: His Life Based on Earliest Sources by Martin Lings (Ages 16+)

Amazon UK | USA

Muhammad Messenger to Mankind by Nur al-Din ‘Itr and Usman Ali (Secondary School)

Amazon UK | USA

Muhammad the best of creation: A glimpse of his blessed life by Sayyid Muhammad Ibn al-Alawi al-Maliki and Amjad Mahmood (Ages 16+)

Amazon UK | USA

A Philosophy of Education (The Home Education Series) by Charlotte M Mason (For parents)
Amazon UK | USA

Your ideal homeschool 

Home education gives you the freedom to choose the topics important to you and your family. The Charlotte Mason method is particularly useful for this. The focus isn’t on the subjects you study, but how you present them to your children. Using the books above, a Book of Centuries, and a relaxed approach, you can make history lessons meaningful and enjoyable for you AND your children! 

Related: Homeschool History Curriculum | Islamic & British CLICK HERE

How to Start Homeschooling UK

Launch Your Homeschool is an online course that will hold your hand and walk you through the beginning stages of homeschooling, built upon the framework of the Charlotte Mason philosophy.

I teach you how to craft a curriculum for your homeschool, how to choose the right resources and plan out your year to create a homeschool experience that aligns with the values and beliefs of your family. Whether you are homeschooling in the UK, or elsewhere in the world, this programme will help you give your children an incredible education at home. 

I show you the essential teaching techniques that you’ll need to know to get started. There’s even an entire module on how to manage your time so you can still cook, keep the house tidy and take care of yourself, all whilst homeschooling your children!

Interested?

Launch Your Homeschool enrolment is currently closed.

Doors open Summer 2022, insha’Allah. 

JOIN THE WAITING LIST Herehttps://ourmuslimhomeschool.com/courses

Peace and love,

Homeschooling curriculum

A Week in our Homeschool | 11-15th September 2017

Muslim homeschool week

Take a peek into our homeschool week! In this blog post, I am excited to share snippets of our week!

This week was officially our 2nd week of using the homeschool curriculum Ambleside online. So far, I have found using a set curriculum strangely liberating!

Up until this point, I have always enjoyed piecing together my out curriculum. However, with my work online and my homeschool shop growing, I wanted to find something that took the pressure of me a little. So far, Ambleside online’s curriculum is doing just that!

Our Muslim Homeschool uses affiliate links in blog posts and sidebar ads. See Disclaimer for more information. 

Monday 11th September

Monday usually means recovering from a busy weekend! This Monday we kept things simple with morning school, Quran class and then a trip to the park. Today was also the first time we read from A Child’s History of the World and we loved it!

Muslim homeschool week
Pizza and Shakespeare!

Muslim homeschool week
Baby doll goes first!

Muslim homeschool week

Tuesday 12th September

Tuesdays are usually busy day for us, and this Tuesday was no exception!

With swimming, French AND wrestling classes all on one day, we struggled to do all the subjects that I had planned.

We managed most things, but we didn’t have time to read from Our Island story or Understood Betsy. Don’t worry.. we made up for it later in the week!

Muslim homeschool week Muslim homeschool week

Wednesday 13th September

The boys had fun today adding to their Book of the Centuries. We added in the historical figures Harun al-Rashid, Charlemagne and King Harold II . We also managed to start reading Understood Betsy, but my boys were not impressed! I will keep persevering!

In the afternoon, the boys went for Quran classes and Muslim scouts. Muslim homeschool weekMuslim homeschool week

Thursday 14th September

Today we read from the Burgess Animal Book and my children really love it.

They have learn so much about Rabbits and the rest of the rabbit family from the two chapters we have read. The stories are rally engaging and are a wonderful way to introduce children to biology and natural history.

We are currently in the middle of landscaping the garden, but with the torrential rains and storms we’ve had all week, nothing has been done for awhile! But the kids are enjoying the mud!

Muslim homeschool week
Happy toddler!

Muslim homeschool week

Friday 15th September

On Fridays the books are put away and we go outdoors!

This morning was spent exploring nearby woodland.

Muslim homeschool week nature walk

Muslim homeschool week nature walk
He spotted a hare! Run!

Muslim homeschool week nature walk
If you were a hare which way would you go?

Muslim homeschool week nature walk
Are you in there?

We didn’t have any kind of agenda today except that I asked them to find a leaf to take home to paint into their nature journals.

It’s been a long time since we used watercolours and I wanted them reintroduce watercolours by painting something simple.

I had a go too and it was so relaxing! I’m very keen to add to my nature journal again!

Muslim homeschool week Muslim homeschool week

Unfortunately, because we were having too much fun in the woods, and because I forgot to bring my watch, we got home too late to go to Friday prayers at the mosque. Astaghfirullah. Next week I will be better prepared insha’Allah.

In the afternoon, after their French class, the children spent time with their grandparents!

Muslim homeschool nature walk
That light….

Today, whilst out for our walk, I was struck with gratitude; how fortunate I am to be spending my days with my children and walking outdoors in the beautiful British countryside today.

In the thick of it, sometimes forget how blessed I am but being outside reminded me of how lucky I truly am. It forces me to slow down and reflect. There is something about the light in a forest, the way is peeks through the canopy and illuminates pockets of the woodland floor, that always strikes me. There so much to learn from being still and observing creation.

This week with Ambleside online has gone very well. Although we have fallen slightly behind in our reading of Understood Betsy and Poetry, I am confident we can easily catch up insha’Allah. The only thing left to do this weekend is work through the next chapter in our Islamic studies books.

I have really enjoyed sharing our week with you, and I hope you enjoying reading about it!

If you have any questions, please leave them for me in the comments below and I will try to answer them as best I can.

Peace and Love,

Dr Gemma Elizabeth